CHAPTER 6: CATEGORY 4
1326 Words
POV: Dual
Maya
The tropical depression that was supposed to pass south had other plans.
Maya woke to the sound of Rosa's voice in the hallway. Not like the warm, soft voice from the past three days but a sharp voice. The kind you used when something was wrong.
"Señor Croft and Señorita Reyes please come quickly."
Maya pulled on the first thing she found—the same linen dress from yesterday, still slightly damp from the rain. She ran her fingers through her loose hair and didn't bother with a bun.
Julian was already in the great room. His dark blond hair was messy ,wearing grey sweatpants and a white t-shirt with no shoes or jacket.
He looked like someone she didn't know.
"What's happening?" Maya asked.
Rosa was standing by the glass wall. Her silver hair was pulled back tight while her hands were folded in front of her.
"The storm," Rosa said. "It changed course overnight. Category 4 now which is directed for the island."
Maya's stomach dropped.
Julian had been through hurricanes before so he knew what that meant, which is when the wind speeds over 130 miles per hour that could lead to storm surge and days without power. The villa was built to withstand it, but the villa wasn't the problem.
"The boat," he said. "When does it leave?"
Rosa looked at her watch. "Three hours. The last one."
"Last one?"
"The staff is evacuating,all of them and the boat can take twelve people. There are fourteen of us on the island."
Julian did the math in his head.Fourteen people with only twelve spots. He looked at Rosa.
"You're going," he said.
"I'm the housekeeper. I'm not—"
"You're going. That's not a request."
Rosa's jaw tightened. She had worked for the Croft family for decades so she knew when Julian was making a statement versus asking a question.
This was a statement.
Maya:
"Where are the other two spots?" Maya asked.
Rosa turned to her. "The boat is for staff. Señor Croft and Señorita Reyes are expected to stay."
"Expected by who?"
"By the island's emergency protocol. The villa is the safest structure on the island. The owners always stay."
Maya looked at Julian. His grey eyes were fixed on the horizon. The sky was still blue, but there was something at the edge of it that looked dark.
"You knew about this," she said.
"I knew there was a storm system."
"You didn't say it might hit the island."
"I didn't think it would."
"But it did."
"Yes."
She wanted to be angry at him. She wanted to yell at him for not telling her,keeping her here and not putting her on a plane back to New York when he had the chance.
But she had signed the document. She had chosen to come.
Julian:
The next three hours were chaotic.
Rosa organized the staff with military precision. Matteo the chef packed food from the kitchen—canned goods, dried rice, bottled water. Carmen the gardener gathered candles and flashlights and batteries. A man named Luis, who took care of the villa's maintenance, boarded up the lower windows.
Julian helped where he could. He carried boxes , moved furniture away from the glass walls and filled the generator with gas.
Maya worked beside him, no words , just movement and the efficiency of two people who had spent three years learning how to anticipate each other's needs.
She handed him a hammer. He took it without asking.
She pointed to a loose board. He nodded and fixed it.
"Señor Croft," Rosa called from the dock. "The boat is leaving."
Maya:
They walked to the dock together.
The sky had changed. The blue turned grey now. Low,heavy and pressing down on the water like something alive.
The boat was a white speedboat, big enough for twelve people, small enough to feel fragile against the ocean. The staff was already on board. Rosa stood at the railing, holding a canvas bag.
"This is for you," Rosa said, pressing the bag into Maya's arms. "Candles, matches and preserved food. In case the power goes out."
"Rosa—"
"Be careful with each other." Rosa's dark eyes moved from Maya's face to Julian's. "The storm will pass, that is what you say to each other during it might not."
The boat horn blared.
Rosa climbed down the ladder. The engine started and pulled away from the dock.
Maya stood on the shore and watched them go.
Julian stood beside her, His shoulder almost touched hers.
The boat got smaller while the horizon got darker.
Neither of them said it out loud.
Julian:
They chose this.
They could have been on that boat. Rosa had given them the chance. "The owners always stay," she had said, but that was a tradition, not a rule. They could have broken tradition and climbed down the ladder. They could be on the boat right now, speeding away from the island, heading for safety.
They didn't.
Julian didn't say it out loud. He didn't need to but Maya knew. He could feel it in the way she stood beside him, close but not touching, her dark eyes fixed on the disappearing boat.
"We should go inside," he said.
"In a minute."
"The storm—"
"I know what the storm is, Julian."
She turned to face him. Her long black hair was blowing across her face. Her linen dress was whipping against her legs. The small scar on her left eyebrow was the only thing on her face that wasn't moving.
"You could have put me on that boat," she said.
"You could have gotten on yourself."
"You didn't tell me to go."
"You didn't ask."
She stared at each other.
The boat disappeared over the horizon.
Maya:
They walked back to the villa in silence.
The great room felt different now. Empty
With no Rosa in the kitchen , no Matteo yelling about fish or even Carmen watering the hibiscus. Just the two of them, the glass wall and the sky outside, which had gone from grey to green.
Maya had never seen a green sky before.
"We need to board up the rest of the windows," Julian said.
"I'll get the hammer."
"I'll get the boards."
They worked for another hour. Boards over the lower windows while the furniture was pushed against the glass walls then the candles on every flat surface. The canvas bag from Rosa sat on the kitchen counter—canned beans, bottled water, a bag of rice and a box of matches.
At the edge of the horizon, the first bank of clouds appeared.
Not grey.
Not green.
Black.
Like a wall.
Julian:
Maya was standing at the glass wall, watching the clouds approach.
Her back was to him. Her shoulders were straight with her hands at her sides.
She was afraid. He could see it in the set of her jaw, the way her fingers curled into fists.
"Maya."
She didn't turn around.
"Maya."
"I see it."
"We should go to the interior hallway. It's the safest point."
"In a minute."
He walked toward her. He stopped when he was close enough to touch her but didn't touch her.
"We're going to be fine," he said.
"You don't know that."
"The villa has survived worse storms."
"The villa has survived. That doesn't mean we will."
She turned around.
Her eyes were wide and her heart was pounding . She looked like someone standing on the edge of something she couldn't see the bottom of.
"I'm scared," she said.
Julian had never heard Maya Reyes say those words.
He didn't know what to say back.
So he said nothing.
He just stood there, close enough to touch her, feel the heat coming off her skin, and he watched the clouds get closer.
Maya:
The first bank of clouds appeared on the horizon like a wall.
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END OF CHAPTER 6
- Writer
