Water Rebel

Chapter Thirteen

“We don’t know if he’s alive or not..” Jon started off. 

“He has to be. Do you think the Queen would kill him that quickly?” I asked and looked at the map of the ship he had laid out on our makeshift table. I wondered how he got ahold of it.

He shook his head, “No.. she would use him as bait to draw us in. All of us would need to be there in order for her to kill him. She’s s******c like that.” 

“Okay..” I studied the map, “What if we came in from the ladder again?” 

“No. They know that. We would need to figure out how to get on through the front of the ship. See,” he pointed below-deck, “the brig is down there.” 

“Jon, what if she has just killed him. What if this is all just a trap to get us back, but Logan is already dead.” I bit my nail. 

“He’s not dead. She wouldn’t do that.” His voice was tight. 

“How do you know that?” I pushed him a bit too far. 

“Because I know her.” He snapped at me, his sea greens eyes flicked dark in the candle light. 

“What do you mean..?” 

“It’s a part of my past that you guys don’t know about, and I’d prefer not to speak of.” 

His eyes faded back, and suddenly his face was looking all too similar. The hair color, the eyes, shape of his nose, the way he spoke sometimes, and the olive colored skin. It all matched up to Regina. 

“Oh god..” I breathed, all of these puzzle pieces clicked together in my head. It all made sense, “She’s your mother.” 

Jon closed his eyes tightly, and let out a slow breath. He pulled a chair up and sat down. “She is.” 

“Jon..” I whispered and couldn’t help but take a step away from him. 

“It’s not like that. When I was thirteen, my dad took me and we ran. Away from her. He died not too long after, and I blame her. She poisoned him. All because he disagreed with her. I promised myself that somehow, someway, I would take her down." His voice was almost a whisper,  "Then I met Logan, and you and Yuli. It all seemed so much easier with you guys around.. And now because of my selfish revenge, my brother is going to die. We all are..” he dropped his head onto his arm and sobbed. 

My heart ached for him. This is the first time I’ve ever seen him show emotion. Yulliana got up from the couch and pulled his head to her stomach and wrapped her arms around him. He cried into her new blue blouse for a good ten minutes before he pulled himself together.

 "I'm sorry for being such a wreck…" He shook his head, "I just didn't think this would be so hard." 

"Didn't think what would be so hard?" I asked. Him and Logan were both being weird last night, and now Jon's strangeness traveled into today. 

"Oh.. its nothing." He shooed off the question. Now I'm even more suspicious. 

"What are you talking about?" My eyes narrowed at him. 

He sighed, "you have to promise not to freak out." He stood up, "Logan and I came up with a plan." 

"What are you getting at?" My heart started thumping. 

"He would stay behind, fool the Queen into thinking she captured one of us, and then we would swoop in a day or two later and finish the plan quietly. She expects a big rescue attempt, but we're going to give her a small one, one she can't see coming." 

I was instantly mad. "So you mean to tell me, that Logan voluntarily stayed on that ship?" I clarified. 

"Yes. We have a plan." He sat back down. 

I felt furious because they didn't bother to tell me about this little plan. My fingers grazed over the tan and teal beaded necklace of Logan’s that I wore everyday. He gave it to me a couple years back, when he first had feelings for me. 

My Logan could possibly not come back, all because of some dumb plan they concocted. 

I pushed my feelings aside, if they decided this, then I would go through with getting him back. Being pissed right now is no good. I'll be pissed at him when he is back in my bed with me. 

"Okay…" I spoke quietly. 

Jon looked at me through the side of his eyes, half expecting a big blow up from me. "Is that all?" He asked. 

I nodded. "Yes. But I will tell you this…" I spoke lowly. "If something has happened to him on that ship, I will end you." I threatened him. 

"That's completely fine," Jon smiled, then got back to working on a plan. He went over the entire set up of the ship. From what he could tell yesterday, nothing had changed since he was last up there. 

Tomorrow morning, I am to go down to the cellars and break Logan out, then go up to the deck, hide behind some barrels, and wait for Jon. He was going to sneak into the Queen’s room and take care of business. 

We are going to drive while it's still dark enough out that the ocean creatures are still up roaming free at the surface of the ocean. They retreat back to the dark part once the sun starts rising. 

We sought out a plan that was flawless. Yuli voted for herself to stay behind. She said that she did want to be done with this stuff, and she would cook dinner or something for us. Make use of her time. We agreed, and left at four the next morning. We reached the dock in a matter of an hour. 

He untied the boat and we cruised off to Regina’s ship. Our goal was to just sneak Logan off, try and avoid being caught and avoid fighting anymore. After this, we would just leave her alone for good. 

Jon shut the boat off a few hundred yards away from the ship and let us slowly float close enough to jump onto the netting hanging off the front. The sun hadn’t risen fully so we couldn’t get into the water as of now. I could see the silhouettes of the monsters swimming below us. They wouldn’t expect us this early. 

“Will you be good to climb?” He asked as he tied our speed boat to the netting, then hopped onto the ropes. 

I rolled my eyes, “Don’t even start. I can outclimb you any day.” I said and jumped onto the rope. 

I didn’t dare look up as we were climbing. It would only remind me of how much farther we had to go when my arms were already screaming at me. I thought of Logan, and how he would climb these for me. I paused for a break and let out a slow breath as I clung to the ropes. 

“Don’t stop moving. Your body will give out.” Jon warned me. 

I listened and kept going. I had to be close to the top, judging how far up I was from the water. The sun had risen and revealed the crystal waters below us. 

At least now we were safe to fall. “Just a little bit farther.” Jon pushed us. I climbed harder and faster. We were at the top five minutes later. 

We hoisted ourselves over and quickly hid behind giant barrels. With a quick look across the deck, Jon signaled us to move down a level. I followed.    

“Down there,” he motioned with his head down a flight of stairs, “the cells. You will probably have to pick the lock, but if Mother is anything like she used to be, then the keys will be hanging on the far wall to taunt the prisoners.” 

I nodded and started slowly down the stairs. They led me deep into the ship, the air changed from the muggy warm to a bitter cold mid way down. The iron railing had actually gathered ice. I avoided touching it. But my poor Logan, he was down here somewhere. Probably frozen to death by now. 

“Logan.” I whispered. I wasn’t sure how much farther these stairs went. All I would see was blackness below me. There was no answer. Of course. 

I continued on. A pale light in the distance finally came to view. The shade of it was enough to almost make one sick, not bright enough to be bright but just enough light that it strained yours eyes and made your head pound. The bulb flickered when I stepped past it into a tiny room containing three cells, but they were empty. 

I spun around, there were no other doors down here leading anywhere. Just the staircase going up and this room at the bottom of them. Nothing else. Logan isn't down here. 

My heart began to sink.