Water Rebel

Chapter Nine

I contemplated it all the way home, then when we walked inside, the first thing I told Jon was that Yulianna was staying home. 

“What?” she asked when the words came out of my mouth. I almost regretted it. 

“You heard me.” My voice was stern. 

“Well why? You can’t just expect me to stay here all day not knowing if you guys are alive or dead.” 

“Yeah, well I also don’t expect you to go with us when you can’t stand the things we do Yulliana.” I could feel the tears prick at my eyes, my voice was starting to get louder. 

“I never said that I can’t stand them.” she yelled back. 

“Pretty much did. I don’t want this life for you. You are getting out now.” I said. I could feel Jon and Logan’s eyes on me. They were silent,  and not quite sure what was happening between Yuli and I.  Before they had time to ask, and before Yuli had time to start sobbing, I walked up the stairs. 

I dropped my backpack on the carpeted floor and plopped down on the cot. My head fell into my hands. I felt like a jackass. Yulianna had the choice to stay out of this life from now on. She can go and be happy and life a crime free life. That's what she deserves. She's too young to be sucked into all of this. 

“What was that all about?” Logan asked from the doorway. 

I looked up at him, he leaned against the wood cooly. “She doesn’t want to be a part of this, so I’m letting her go now so that she doesn’t run away on her own trying to escape our life. I would like her to not hate me if she chooses to leave.” 

“Well what makes you think she doesn’t want to be a part of it?” He walked over and sat on the cot with me. 

“She told me. At the store. She has so much more going for her Logan. Yuli isn’t like us. She can have a life like she wants and be happy.” 

He nodded, “If that’s what you feel. Then okay.” 

I leaned my head onto his shoulder, he reached a hand up and smoothed my caramel brown hair back. Just the slightest touches from him calmed my nerves. I lifted my head and looked at his face, studying his features. The freckle by his earlobe, the curve of his lips, the thick black eyebrows, and chocolate brown eyes. I traced his sharp jawline. This was all something that I couldn’t bare to think about never seeing again. 

“What are you doing, you weirdo.” He laughed at me. 

I rolled my eyes and smiled, “I was trying to admire your handsome face, but nevermind..” I used my over dramatic voice. 

“Oh hush..” He said and kissed me, pushing me back onto the cot. It had been a while since I actually felt his lips. Like since yesterday. For me that was a lot. 

He pulled my shirt off, I followed his motions. I knew that Jon and Yuli could hear everything downstairs, but I didn’t care at the moment. 

For now I just wanted to savor my time with him. Yesterday he was right, we had almost lost each other twice. I don't know what I would do without hin here. 

At dinner time, after mine and Logan’s activities upstairs, Jon wouldn't keep his mouth shut about it. He gave us crap left and right. Making jokes here and there. I was about ready to punch him by the time dinner ended. 

When the night was finally coming to an end at about 9, we were sitting downstairs, Jon in the recliner, Logan and I on the small sofa, and Yuli was curled into her bed. Not speaking to any of us. They all agreed that she shouldn’t be going tomorrow, and she was actually upset about it. I was relieved. One less thing to worry about. 

“So, we have a boat,” Jon started off a checklist, “Weapons, ropes, the plan to get on the ship, and remember. No killing the Queen. If things get bad, just abort. Killing her will start a riot. Just put her in her place. Throw her overboard maybe."  

I wondered why he was all of a sudden persistent about not killing the Queen. Usually our game plan ended with killing the Queen. 

"Logan are you ready for tomorrow?" Jon asked. I thought it was slightly weird, maybe he was just asking if he was ready since Logan is the one who does all of the heavy work. 

Logan nodded. I looked at him, his face seemed almost clouded over. He noticed me watching him and pulled me close to him, cuddling me. He was up to something. I can't place my finger on it, but I could tell there is something there in the back of his mind. 

I decided to ignore my feeling. I will talk to him about it later. 

The plan to get on the ship was going to be complicated, but it would have to work. They have a ladder going up the bow of the ship, but no one on the lookout by it. By now with as many times as we’ve tried to destroy the ship, we have figured out all of the rotations of the guards, and how many would be there. They were all too high in themselves to bother watching the back of the ship. So that’s where we were going to go. 

The rest of the night was peaceful. I went upstairs to our bedroom at about 10:00. While stripping from my clothes of the day, a set of hands snaked around my waist and Logan nuzzled my neck. He placed delicate kisses from my jaw down to my collar bone. I leaned into his touch. 

"Why have you been so lovely lately?" I spun in his arms. He's always affectionate but never this much. 

He paused and looked out the window behind us. He shrugged, then leaned in and began kissing me. I kissed him back. He groaned and lifted me up. Then placed me on our cot. He was soon ontop.

Although I was enjoying kissing him, he ignored my question. I broke the kiss, he looked down at me, slightly disappointed. "You ignored my question." 

He chuckled, "I didn't ignore it, I just don't know how to answer it." He tried to resume the kiss, but I placed my hand over his mouth. 

"You don't have to be afraid to tell me how you feel." I reminded him. I just know his mind is racing with 

emotions he doesn't know how to express. 

He sighed and rolled off of me so he was sitting on the edge of the cot. "I'm not afraid. I'm just worried." He shook his head and looked down at his feet. 

"About...?" I sat up with him. 

He motioned with his hands, "everything. You told Yuli not to come, and said that it was so she can have a better life, but I know deep down its because you're worried she will get hurt out there." He looked back at me, I opened my mouth to protest, but he kept talking. "Its not a bad thing, its just worrying about someone you care about deeply. Someone you love. That's how I worry about you." He grabbed my hand. "You doing things like this scares the hell out of me, I can't bear the thought of you getting hurt out there." 

I blushed, he pretty much just said that he loves me. I mean I knew it all along, and I felt the same but we've never said the words. 

I kissed him on the cheek and rubbed his neck. "I love you, Logan." I decided to take the first step, the big leap, the dreaded words. 

He turned his head towards me, our lips merely an inch apart. "I love you." He breathed back, then slammed his lips against mine. I didn't stand a chance as he pushed me back onto the bed. 

The next day, I woke up before Logan. I slipped out from under his arms and got dressed in my water suit. I made my way downstairs to find Jon sitting in his recliner. He was dressed and placing a dagger into a pocket on his sweat suit leg. He zipped the pocket up and looked up at me. "Good morning." He said. 

"Morning." I said back. I felt a little extra tired today. Logan kept waking me up in the middle of the night. Not that I'm really complaining, as I enjoying being with him intimately too, it's just definitely wearing on me today. I'm exhausted. 

About twenty minutes later, Logan came downstairs dressed, and damn, he looked sexy in that black and blue suit. It hugged every muscle just right.

“You guys ready?” Jon asked, he was in his straight black suit. He spoke quietly to avoid waking Yuli up. She was curled up on her cot in the corner with a pile of blankets draped over her. She slept as if she was in a nest. She likes to be surrounded my warmth and feel snuggled in. I always thought it was strange considering the weather is always like a thousand degrees. Even at night its still hot. 

I nodded to Jons question, then we left. The boat was a couple miles away. Hopefully it was still there. Jon tied it to a doc that we made a few years back. No one knew it existed. 

It took us about an hour to walk there. Sure enough, the boat was there. I wasn’t with them when the guys went out and got it, so I was surprised to see how souped up it was. It was white with blue racing stripes and a turbo engine. 

“Sick.” I admired the shininess of it. 

“Yeah, it’s too bad that it’ll probably get ruined today.” Jon said and climbed into the driver seat. 

I climbed into the boat and sat in one of the four chairs. That is too bad. Jon started the engine and drove off towards the ship that we could barely see in the distance. It was only about a ten minute drive to get within swimming distance. 

With ease, we dove into the water and swam to the back end of the ship. One thing that we never bothered to think of, was the two giant propellers on the end of the ship. It was a bit difficult, we got blasted away a few times, but eventually pushed our way through them and hung onto the ladder. 

    The climb up was difficult, especially where the bow curved and the ladder felt like it was barely hanging on with a few screws. I now could see why no one bothered to watch over here. This place was sketchy for anyone to climb up. I knew that the water just right below me if I fell, but the nerves still made me white knuckle the cold metal bars. 

    We are almost there, I told myself. When we finally reached the top, Logan was the first to go over. We heard grunts of guards, and one attempt to yell for help before his voice was cut off. By the time I got over, five men had been gutted. 

    I tried my hardest not to cringe and the blood coating my boyfriend, or the dead people on the floor. 

    “Let’s find ourselves a Queen.” Jon said and headed for a stairwell that led to the chambers below deck. 

    I followed him. The wooden planks were cold on my bare feet and creeked every time we took a step. Plus, we couldn’t see ten feet in front of us because the fog was so thick this high up. 

    The ship changed as went down the stairs. The floors were now covered in carpet, and you could hear the sound of a TV playing in a room at the end. Jon kicked the door open, only to see about thirty guards turn their heads to us. 

    “Impostors!” One yelled in a heavy Brazilian accent. 

    “Run.” Jon said. We all darted to the top of the stairs, “Guys. I’m starting to think that this was a very bad idea.” 

    “Same.” I said between breaths. 

    We made it back to the deck, only to be surprised by fifty or so more guards. All weapons in hand, ready to kill us. 

    “I didn’t think there would be so many.” Logan breathed. 

    “Let’s get out of here.” Jon said and started fighting his way to the edge of the ship. His first priority always, was getting us out of places safely. He never cared about finishing a mission, he only did it for the thrill of it. 

    I swung my leg out and kicked one of the guards in the chin, then clocked another with a right hook. Logan was behind me, fighting his way through. Most of the guards flooded to him because he was doing the most damage. 

    “Let’s go!” Jon yelled, he grabbed my hand and pulled me to the edge of the ship. I didn't have time to contemplate the jump as Jon practically threw me over board. He was right behind me.

    I expected Logan to be behind me.  I angled my body so I shot to the side, instead of straight down to the dark part of the ocean. I didn't want to travel there again. When we were a hundred feet away from the ship, I looked behind me, expecting to see Logan. My Logan, but he wasn’t there. I turned around in the water, panic was starting to set in. Logan. He isn't here. 

    I started paddling back to the ship, but Jon wrapped his arm around my waist and pulled me back. “We can’t go back.” He said through clenched teeth. 

    “Logan!” I screamed. My throat instantly turning to gravel. No no no.