“You mean of you finding me.” At this I yanked her hard once more, making her spin back into my chest before gripping a hand at her hip. Then I looked down at her and issued her a promise,
“Oh, make no mistake, my beauty, I will find you and when I do, I won’t bring you pain, I will only bring you truth, one that will make you sorry that you ever ran from me.” At this she yanked herself from my hold and told me,
“I don’t think I like this dream anymore.” I frowned back at her, crossed my arms, and told her,
“Then run from it, after all, it’s clearly what you do best.” At this she looked as if I had slapped her and I nearly cursed my anger. Especially when I was here for the sole purpose of discovering where she was. Instead I was pushing her to do as I expected she would, which was start running from me again. So, the second she turned around and ran towards the door, I growled in frustration, cursing before going after her.
“Fuck! Amelia, wait!” I shouted before running through the vision of the room she had been in and the second I got through the door, it all started to change. Soon I found myself running down a narrow corridor filled with doors, one that continued to branch off, causing me to get lost in the maze. Yet I could hear softly crying and I tried to follow the sound, making me wonder if this was the part of the night where she explained that she couldn’t find her room.
Then finally, when I turned a corner, I saw her at the end. She was staggering down the narrow aisle with her shoes dangling from her fingers. She was also swaying slightly, before she steadied herself on someone else’s door, apologizing to no one before she continued on. I muttered a curse again and made off running down the length of the corridor after her, hoping to catch her just before she got to her room so I could see for myself.
However, the second I saw her disappearing around yet another corner I snarled in anger, hitting out against one of the doors as I passed. I rounded the same corner, only I was too late as I wasn’t met with a door like I had hoped to be. No, instead I was suddenly inside her room. And that was when I saw her.
The image of her as I knew she was now. Curled up on the bed, still wearing her dress, one that had bunched around the tops of her sun kissed thighs. Her shoes remained at the side of the bed where she had obviously dropped them and next to her, was a half-consumed bottle of water. But it wasn’t the water that took my interest, no it was the room’s phone that she was clutching to her chest, the receiver off the hook and in her hand, as if it brought her some comfort.
The sight caused me to stop dead in my tracks and all earlier anger fled me. She looked so lost. So lonely and vulnerable, that all I wanted to do was scoop her up in my arms and hold her through the night. To whisper in her ear that I would take care of her and to beg her to stop running from me. But two things stopped this and the first was when she whispered my name in her sleep,
“Lucius, you promised.” After this I was about to ease her mind and tell her to go back to sleep, when something else caught my eyes. So, I glanced from her sleeping form and found,
Another window.
It was small for a hotel room and as it started to come more into focus, rising from the shadows, the size wasn’t the only thing I noticed. It was the view beyond that had me transfixed. The seemingly endless abyss, that this time wasn’t just part of her Void.
Nor was it a sight that had been conjured up from the random access of memories.
No, this time her dream had quickly become my nightmare, as the reality of where she was had finally come to light.
Because Pip had been right…
My heart was at sea.
Amelia
Chapter 17
Lonely Life at Sea
I woke the next day and wasn’t surprised when I discovered I’d slept most of the day away. Not that I had anywhere I needed to be or really anything to do on this floating hotel. I mean, I had spent the first few days trying to get over being seasick, something that finally calmed once I got used to the movement. I knew most of it was mind over matter as I didn’t like boats, something I discovered after taking the one and only trip on my father’s yacht, that he had naturally named The Catherine. This was actually my mum’s first name, but she always went by Keira, her middle name.
Well, needless to say that after spending the week throwing up, I think it was safe to say that I wasn’t a natural seafaring girl by any means. In the end, my dad had arranged travel for me to get back home after realising that my green skin wasn’t going to change anytime soon. It was also one of the reasons I had chosen to get to Europe this way. I knew it would be the last journey anyone who knew me would think I would take. Besides, everyone always goes straight for the airports and no one ever thinks about cruise liners.
Granted, this particular way of escaping was a little out there, especially as it would take me twenty-one days, eight of which were spent at sea. But I also had to say that the second I stepped on board and we finally left the port in Miami, I could finally breathe. I made myself relax, taking a breath and all with the knowledge that I had made it.
This was all made possible the day after I had left the hotel in my new Dodge, after Lucius had found me. I had driven just under two hours and sold my car to the first dodgy dealer I had come across. I accepted his deal, just because I needed whatever cash I could get my hands on without any questions asked. Of course, it also helped having the car in my new name to convince the guy that I hadn’t stolen it. Not like the first I had, stopping myself from saying so just in time.
After this it was days of bus hopping, knowing that Lucius wasn’t far behind and if I could just get to Miami, then I had a shot at getting out of the States. The flaw in all of this had been my new fear of sleep, which resulted in power naps, asking people sat near me if they could set an alarm on their phones to wake me up. I also made sure never to sleep at night, knowing this was when Lucius would be waiting for me, expecting it.
Hence my drunken phone call and one that even the memory of it made me rub my temple and groan out loud. Gods, but I had even slept with the phone next to me and why? It wasn’t as though I could have expected his call back. He couldn’t trace me here, I made sure of that.
I had just been glad for the opportunity to finally sleep, something only possible as Lucius had given me his word that he wouldn’t try again. And well, as sneaky as the bastard could be, he wasn’t the type to break a vow…
No, just hearts, I thought with a grimace.
But the phone call last night had lasted longer than I told myself I would allow. Something that just couldn’t be helped as the temptation of his voice was just too much to fight against. Gods, how I hated myself for missing him the way I did. Which unfortunately became the worst part about my decision to take a cruise, it was the time it gave me to think.
When I had been on the road all my mind had focused on was the next part of the plan. The next safe place to stop, picking the small towns that would be less likely to have security cameras or other ways that might be enough to track me.
The hardest one had been in Jacksonville when I had no choice but to buy supplies, as I knew it would look a little odd getting on a cruise for a holiday with nothing but the dirty clothes on my back and half empty hand luggage.