Elizabeth and the Vampire's Cabin(32)

The whales began to "spyhop". They poked their heads out of the water and acted as a captive audience. Elizabeth finished her song with, "Now back at the homestead, where the air makes you choke. People don't know you, trust is a joke. Don't even have pictures, just memories to hold. Grows sweeter each season, as we slowly grow old." Arthur belted out the ending chorus, "Walk on the ocean! Step on the stones! Flesh becomes water. Wood becomes bone!" The pod, sensing the song had ended, gracefully dove under the water and swam off. One breached, another tail flapped, and Elizabeth would swear one actually waved at them with a pectoral fin.

"That was beautiful, Elizabeth. You have Austin's singing voice."

"Thanks. I usually love that song. But the part about the homestead with air that makes you choke and memories "'growing sweeter"'...That reminds me of Aaron's cabin. I felt like I couldn't breathe in there. And I didn't particularly like life with Austin, but my memories of life with him were getting a lot rosier after a month in that suffocating cabin."

Later, during what was to be the last paddling shift of the day, Arthur got into the water and took his turn at propelling them. He wasn't in there even thirty minutes when a group of flying fish were swarming the boat. Elizabeth pulled him out of the ocean and shouted, "Dinner!" As flying fish jumped into their boat they began to feast. They got blood from the fish on their hands and savored the mouthwatering rawness of the fish. It wasn't long before the swarm was over and Elizabeth and Arthur had completed their surprise dinner.

"That was a big swarm," Arthur remarked. "I wonder why they suddenly started flying like that..."

Elizabeth threw some of the remnants of the fish she had eaten off the boat. Arthur started doing the same as well. And then Elizabeth saw a giant, gray shark, with frightening black eyes lift its head above the water and gnash its teeth on the remains of her fish. It shook its long, pointed nose at her. She looked over to Arthur's side of the boat. Another shark appeared and gobbled up the remains Arthur had thrown into the water. Elizabeth stared at the shark and she struggled to recall its name. She couldn't recall. All she knew what that it was dangerous. Vague memories from a marine biology class she had taken, but didn't pay much attention too, alerted her to get away from these sharks. There was a school of them and she could see their fins in the water. She cursed herself. The sharks were in a frenzy from the blood of the fish Elizabeth and Arthur had eaten. Elizabeth took a deep breath and reminded herself that Jaws was only a movie, and these sharks would not attack their boat. And then a shark attacked the boat. Her mouth opened in shock and Arthur let out a bloodcurdling scream. A shark literally jumped up from the water and sank its teeth into the side of the boat, its curved teeth hooking into and gnawing on both the inside and outside of it. Please don't let it bite into the hull and sink us, Elizabeth thought. And then she sprang into action. If she wanted to survive she could not let this attack continue. She grabbed the shark and pulled it onto the deck. It thrashed wildly and Elizabeth was frightened the weight of the mighty shark would sink them, but the boat continued to float. She pummeled it with her fists until it looked unconscious. Then she sank her teeth into it and tore it to bits. It was only when there was no more flesh to devour that she realized Arthur had also sunk his teeth into it and was lying tired, and covered in shark remains, on the deck. Elizabeth looked around. The sharks had fled. They had seen their companion disappear from the water, become frightened that they too could be dragged from the ocean, and quickly fled.

"Elizabeth," Arthur said. "Thank you. I think you may have saved our lives."

"You're welcome, but it's the least I could do. I'm the one who wanted to go sailing in an antique boat. You're parents aren't going to be pleased if I bring you back home covered in shark bites."

"Honestly, I don't think they would care. They would probably blame it on me. I doubt they even reported me missing."

"You've been missing for a month. Your parents have probably been on the local news, showing your picture and begging your kidnapper to let you go. When we get back, we're going to find out they demanded a police investigation and had search parties scouring wine country. Aaron has probably cost tax payers thousands of dollars by kidnapping you."

"I don’t think so," Arthur said looking depressed. "My parents once kicked me out of the house when I was thirteen, and when a cop brought me back home they told him I ran off. When he left, they were pissed that he brought me back and said I was kicked out the day I turn eighteen. They didn't do that, but both of my parents have been talking about how happy they will be when I finally leave. They were always saying they wish I would walk out the door one day and not come back. Well, they got their wish. And all of my friends probably assume I finally took advantage of being an official adult and got away from them."