Catherine stepped into the boiling shower as the steam coated the one mirror in the small room and it began to feel more like a sauna then a bathroom. She tilted her head back under the curtain of water pelting off of the bathtub running her fingers through the curls as they turned straight when watered. The water felt good on her back, massaging her skin, making her feel like she was laying on one of those massaging beds and having someone kneed the knots out of her like a roll of dough.
She squirted a dime size amount of shampoo in her fingers and began working it into her hair, the aroma of the lather filling the bathroom. Catherine rinsed once again, the soapy suds cascading down her face and body like water trickling down a waterfall. She dug into her scalp with her fingers moaning as the feeling was euphoric. However, nothing is as good as getting your hair washed by your hairdresser. They just know the secret to making it feel so good.
When Catherine opened her eyes to grab the soap bottle she screamed and fell backwards against the tiled wall. A little girl, who looked like her eldest daughter when she was eight, was standing in the shower with her. The girls dress was wet with blood, as it dripped into the water and down the drain, making a trail of red. In her hand she held a white teddy bear, the one that resembled the one from the picture, and on the plane.
Come play with me�the little girl said and smiled, blood trickling out the sides of her mouth. Come play with me in the depths of the ocean�she said and then vanished.
Catherine wasn�t quite sure what to make of what just happened. She didn�t even know if she was dreaming or in real life. Everything seemed to be like an old horror movie, one of the slasher flicks, the ones where the main characters always die.
Gil heard his wife scream and a thump from in the bathroom and bolted off the bed and ran into the bathroom. A mist of steam was making it hard for him to see, but he could see his wives outline in the shower curtain. She was leaning against the wall, sliding down into the tub, the water still pelting on to her bare back. Gil wasted no time in ripping open the curtains making sure that his wife was not injured.
�Catherine what happened?� Gil asked, sitting down on the side of the tub and turning off the water. He grabbed his wives shoulder when she didn�t respond, �Catherine, answer me,� he repeated, this time hoping to get a response out of her.
Catherine was still in a daze. Her eyes were glued on the other side of the tub; she was anticipating the sight of the little dead girl again. It had been the most horrific scene she had ever witnessed in her life. The girl looked cold and scared. She had seen numerous corpses of children in her job, but this one, this one was different. She was special.
�I- I,� Catherine stuttered, her eyes wild with fear. �Come play with me�come play with me in the depths of the ocean�� she whispered and then began to cry.
Gil�s ears perked at the familiar sound of the words escaping his wives lips. They were almost identical to the words the little girl in his dream the previous night had said to him. At the thought of the little girl his mind went back to the traumatic state his wife was in, in that dream, and the flames and blood that was flowing all down her face and body. Gil wondered if it was the same little girl.
�Did the little girl say that?� Gil asked as he held his wife closer and tighter.
All Catherine did was nod her head. Her lips refused to move.
�Come play with me�come play with me in the flames of hell,� Gil whispered, and Catherine�s eyes met his.
She watched as he undid the bandage that was around his hand and revealed a burn in the shape of a crown, one the Queen of England would have on the top of her head. How did her husband get such a unique burn and why did he lie to her about cutting his hand.
�I saw her too Cat, I saw her last night in my dream. She was such a horrid girl, her dress was bloody and on fire, and the white teddy bear she clutched in her hand, it was exactly like the one we thought we saw at the bottom of the ocean. The things she did in my dream�you gave me this burn, you were cold and then very hot, it was like she�s trying to tell us something�something that happened to her�� Gil explained before his wife could even utter a word.
Catherine stared in awe at her husband; everything he had explained was almost like what she saw. It was the same girl, she was after them. But why? What did they do to deserve this torture and mind games? There had to be something she wanted them to see, she must want them to experience what she did�just before she died.
�Did she say her name?� Catherine asked. Her wet body beginning to tremble as water beads stuck to her skin like honey.
�No, she never did,� Gil replied and placed a towel around his wife. �But, yesterday, after you had a nightmare, you breathed a word before passing out. It was Evelyn. Maybe that�s her name.�
Catherine had no recollection of this freak out that hr husband was talking about. This made Gil wonder if it was all apart of his dream he had the night before, or if she really did have that sudden burst of movements and she just doesn�t remember. Everything after exploring the coral reef was a blur, and there was no definite line between fact and fiction any longer. This girl was making them go insane.
�We need to go,� Catherine mumbled, as she looked deep into her husbands eyes. �We have to get out of here, it�s not safe.� She said, tears flooding her eyes again.
�Where can we go Catherine? We are stuck on a boat in the middle of the ocean with no land around for miles. We can�t go anywhere.�
Catherine didn�t want to hear this bad news. She especially did not want to hear it from her husband, there had to be a way to get away from this girl. They could swim, they could take the boat and go to the closest land, and they could radio for help. Anything besides just sitting in this boat in the middle of the ocean and getting readings from the supernatural. Catherine stood up in the shower, stepping out and over her husband as she grabbed her sundress that was draped over the chair in the bedroom and headed upstairs.
Gil just followed behind like a lost puppy, wondering what his wife was thinking about, what ideas she was creating in her mind to get them out of this nightmare. They walked through the galley and back out to the boat deck. It was like d�j� vu from when Gil followed his wife out here after the rogue waves. He watched as she paced up and down the lengths of the boat deck, her hand tangled in the curls of her wet hair, her mind deep in thought.
Just beyond his wife, sitting out in the middle of the ocean was a big dark splotch, like an ink splatter on a canvass. That was not there when he was up on the boat deck a few hours ago. The yacht didn�t drift; he had made sure that the anchor was securely placed in the sea bed before leaving the bridge. There was something out there, it didn�t look like a piece of land, and it looked more like a boat.
�Catherine,� Gil said, never taking his eyes off the dark figure in the distance.
�WHAT!� she snapped at him, looking up at him and seeing he was staring at something in the distance. When she looked she could see the black shadow in the distance. �It�s another boat, maybe we can ask those people for help. I knew we weren�t the only ones out in this god forsaken ocean.� Catherine exclaimed and ran to the stern of the ship.
She flicked the switch on the electric winch that housed the long chain that went to the anchor as it slowly began its ascent out of the murky water. The winch could not go fast enough, Catherine wanted to get to that help before it decided to take off and the really were stranded out in the middle of the ocean without help. After five minuets she could see the anchor under the surface of the water as it secured it self in the small cubby on the side of the boat. Catherine turned off the winch and looked up at Gil who was already at the command station at the bridge. He saw that the anchor was lifted and sped off in the direction of the ship in the distance.
Catherine climbed the short steps that went up to the top deck where her husband was pushing the yacht to its top speed and wrapped her arms around him. She felt safer around him then anyone else, and right now she needed his protection. Catherine was scared of what that little girl was capable of doing to the two of them. She was scary, scarier then the monsters that are shown in horror movies, and scarier then her biggest phobia. She was unpredictable and her presence lingered in every room on the yacht like a bad odor. She could be hiding, waiting, anticipating when to appear next, and what she could have in store for them could be worse then their wildest dreams.
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The little girl was standing on the deck of the ship that was in the distance. She was dressed in her yellow sundress, free of burn holes and blood, and was still clutching her white teddy bear in her hands. A smile was plastered across her face as her eyes were fixed on the yacht that was heading in her direction. She knew she could trust these people, she knew that she could count on them to come and visit her. To help her get away from the death and darkness that reeked havoc on this old cruise liner for the past fifty years.
�Come save me�come save me from the darkness within�� she whispered and disappeared leaving only her teddy bear on the deck where she stood.
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