“Are we still on a ship?” Aurora whispered, though they were the only ones around.
“I…think so?”
“That’s reassuring.” Aurora pressed one of the glowing buttons on the wall. A soft chiming sound echoed around the room, and they revolved in a circle to see which elevator had arrived. To their left, one of the arches was now completely illuminated, displaying the dove and anchor symbol on either door, before it slid open to reveal a grand glass capsule larger than Gray’s bedroom at the firehouse.
They entered, and Aurora gaped as she scanned a plethora of buttons. "One hundred floors?"
“Guess that explains why this ship is so big.”
Aurora snorted. “Yes, Gray, that explains everything.”
The doors slid shut, and Gray only knew they were moving swiftly upwards when he glanced through the glass behind him to see blurs of changing colors. An ongoing mosaic of winged beings battling leathery creatures with wild eyes decorated the wall behind the glass.
“That’s sort of dark for a cruise, don’t you think?” Gray said, indicating the wall beyond the glass.
He looked over to see Aurora frowning at the paintings. “Do those demon things look familiar to you?”
Gray looked back, but the mural had now morphed into a beautiful mesh of waves and clouds and stars. The elevator slowed and came to a stop at floor thirty. Aurora looked up at the floor number in surprise before glancing, apprehensively, over at Gray.
“Do you want me to come with you?” he asked, trying not to sound hopeful when she didn’t immediately leave the elevator.
“No,” she said quickly. “It’s okay, I think I can manage. I’ll just...I’ll see you around, Grayson.”
Aurora stepped out of the elevator; their eyes met briefly before the doors slid shut, with a harsh finality, behind her.
Nine
AURORA
The glass doors glided closed, and Aurora glanced over her shoulder, eyes locking with Gray’s. She thought she could detect a look of regret in their depths, but couldn’t be sure. Then, he disappeared from view. A sense of loneliness momentarily threatened to bow her spine before she hastily pushed the unwanted feeling away. Now wasn't the time to be anything other than a lone wolf.
Skeleton key in hand, Aurora left the elevators in search of her stateroom. Level thirty was a catacomb of hallways and doors and graceful, curving stairwells. After hopelessly wandering down the wrong hall, Aurora found a plaque on the wall directing her to the correct one.
What felt like days later, she jabbed her key into the old fashioned keyhole, turning the lock. Relief flooded her as she thought of the bed waiting for her inside. When she opened the door, however, the relief drained away like candy streaming from a busted piñata.
“Oh my goodness!” a voice exclaimed in a thick southern accent.
Brielle.
“I can’t believe you're my roommate.” Brielle pulled Aurora by the hand into the impressively large stateroom, though Aurora had no time to take in her surroundings as Brielle was still yapping away. “I was worried they were going to put me with some freak.”
Aurora let out a feeble laugh.
“Isn’t this ship awesome?” Brielle continued. “I’ve only been on a few cruises but never on a ship like this. I mean, one hundred floors? That’s, like, five times the floors on a regular ship! Maybe even more than that.”
“Oh,” Aurora said, wishing she had taken Gray up on his previous offer to accompany her. At least then Brielle would've been flirting with him, rather than talking to her.
“Your suitcase was delivered just a minute ago, actually,” Brielle twittered on. “I swore it looked familiar! I put it on your bed. I hope you’re okay with that one,” she nodded back towards the one on the right. Brielle stopped talking long enough for Aurora to scan the room. It was relatively spacious with two queen sized beds and a sitting area. Everything in the room was just as elegant as the ship in which it resided—from the white silk bedspreads, to the blue crystal lampshades. In other circumstances, Aurora would be thrilled with such a grand room, but sharing it with Brielle might very well kill her.
“For such a massive ship you’d think they’d have enough space to make two bedrooms,” Aurora muttered.
“I know, right? I thought we should all have separate rooms, too. My family always did when we went on cruises. Anyway, I took the bed on the left, hope you don’t mind. I liked the pillows on that one better.”
“No, that’s fine—”
“Do you need help unpacking?” asked Brielle. “I’ve already put all of my stuff away.”
“No…I’m good.”
“Are you sure? I’m really good at—”
“No,” Aurora stated firmly, earning an affronted look from Brielle. “But thanks anyway,” she added as a half-hearted afterthought.
“Well, I’m gonna change into my bathing suit and go up to the pool. You can join me later, if you want,” Brielle offered.
“M’kay." Never gonna happen.
Brielle left to change into her bedazzled bathing suit, and Aurora let out a sigh of relief. Collapsing forward onto her bed, she snatched up the day’s itinerary propped up on her pillow. She didn’t even bother looking at any of the group activities because, frankly, she didn’t care to meet any more Brielle-types. So, instead, she skipped down to scan the most important part of a cruise: the dining section.
Brielle emerged from the bathroom in her sequin covered pink bathing suit with matching wrap—which didn’t cover quite as much as Aurora felt it should.
“Whatcha readin' about?” Brielle asked brightly.
Aurora forced herself to reply pleasantly. “Dinner stuff." Or, at least, not unpleasantly.
Brielle moved to the side of Aurora's bed, reading over her shoulder. Light from the porthole window caught on her pink sequins, turning the room into a cotton candy disco. “Where does it say you’re eating tonight?” Brielle asked.
“Glimmering Grotto,” Aurora answered dully.
“Me too! What table?”
“47…”
“Oh, yay! We’re at the same table.”
Aurora had been afraid of that. “Fantastic.”
“Are you going up to the top for the departure celebration at seven?”
Oh my God. Just leave already. “Don’t know. Probably. Might take a nap or something.”
“Okay, well. I’ll see you up there! I’m gonna go soak up some sun.”
“You do know we’re still in Alaska, right?” Aurora blurted.
Brielle looked confused as to why this should matter. "Yeah...?"
“Okay, have fun!” Aurora said in a falsely bright voice.
“Thanks!” Brielle called back, flouncing out the door.
Collapsing back on her bed, Aurora let out an annoyed growl. Of all the thousands of people on this ship and she ended up rooming with Brielle. Something karmically wrong must have happened for her to deserve this torture. Sitting up, Aurora glanced at her still-packed suitcase. Unpacking was nearly as unpleasant as packing. So, she decided to avoid the process entirely. Removing only the necessities, she shoved the remainder of her suitcase under her bed, deciding she would just skim off of the top when she wanted to change clothes or something.
Aurora stashed her red coat in one of the closets and glanced in passing at the mirror. Her previously straightened hair was now curly from the rain. So much for that, she thought. Stuffing the bulky skeleton key in her pocket, Aurora left her stateroom in search of the rotunda of elevators.
A few other people milled around the mirrored waiting area, all looking to be about her age. Aurora wondered if this was just a cruise for twenty-somethings, which would have been more than fine with her. She’d had quite enough of children under eighteen.
A soft chime sounded as an elevator arrived. Aurora clambered on after the others, pressing the button to the hundredth floor. Might as well start at the top and work her way down. The silence within the elevator was palpable. N
o one spoke. Aurora assumed they were all single passengers as well. Jesus. This isn’t a singles cruise, is it?
One by one, the passengers trickled out of the elevator until it was just Aurora and a fair-haired man who looked to be—shockingly enough—in his twenties. He was slender in a pleasant way, and at least a foot taller than her. Stealing a glance, she noted that his eyes were a bright, aqua blue lined with thick black lashes. His face was flawless. A little too flawless. Where Gray’s face was angular and shadowed with stubble, this guy’s was smooth and rounded, like a sculpture of an angel.
“You should try the sugarclouds,” he said suddenly.
“What?”
“Sugarclouds," he repeated. "You should try them.”
“What are sugarclouds…?”
“Not sure. They taste like a mix between marshmallows and cotton candy, only much more delicious. There are stands all over the ship. Just look for the ones with the revolving pink clouds.”
“Thanks. I’ll do that.”
“The carousel is quite fun, too,” he added, still not looking at her, “and the water slide.”
The elevator stopped at floor seventy-three, and he stepped off. “See you, Aurora.”
Her mouth gaped as the doors closed behind the mysterious stranger.
“How the hell does everyone know my name?” she muttered aloud to herself.
An echoing voice spoke from behind her. “Oh, the Powers know much more than that about you, dear.”
Whirling around, Aurora thought she saw one of the painted angels on the mural beyond the glass winking at her. She clasped a hand over her racing heart. “Did—did you just—?” Her words were sliced off at the end as the elevator started upward again.
Aurora was so disturbed by what had just happened that she almost didn’t notice the elevator had passed the inner cavity of the ship and was now overlooking the open decks below. She pressed her forehead against the glass, taking everything in.
It seemed the higher the elevator rose, the slower it traveled, perhaps to allow the occupants ample time to ogle at the sights below, though it was impossible to take in everything at once. According to the directory above the elevator buttons, this floor was the ship’s Atrium, taller and grander than anything she had seen thus far. A striking, multi-colored glass chandelier hung from the ceiling of the Atrium. It looked as though someone had successfully captured the occurrence of a star bursting in a display of dazzling colors and light.
On floor eighty-four, a crowd flooded onto the elevator—soaking wet—though looking quite pleased. Aurora’s attention moved from the sights of the ship to the people wrapped in fluffy blue towels.
“It’s decided. I’m not going back home,” an Amazon of a girl said, toweling off her dripping hair. “That water slide was everything I've ever needed in my life.”
“Aye!” a redheaded boy agreed in a thick accent—British, or Scottish, or Irish…Australian, maybe? “And the roller coaster? How many blokes can say they’ve ridden a roller coaster on a ship?”
“A roller coaster?” Aurora interrupted them.
The others turned to her, in surprise, as if they’d just realized she was there. It was the redheaded boy who answered.
“Aye," the redhead said. "Incredible, really. You should give it a go. The waterslide, as well. And the carousel. Oh, and the sugarclouds! There are no words to describe them.”
“So I’ve heard,” said Aurora, slightly taken aback by all of these outlandish suggestions. A waterslide on a ship seemed reasonable enough. Maybe even a carousel. But… a roller coaster?
The elevator reached the top deck, and the group of happy dripping people pushed past Aurora, dashing off in the direction of what appeared to be a sweet shop with revolving lollipops and chocolate truffles decorating the outside. Aurora was only able to glance at this a moment because her eyes immediately locked on the roller coaster she had not believed existed.
The track twisted high above the ship and even out over the edge with loops and turns and drops that seemed impossible—even for a typical roller coaster.
“Have you ridden it yet?” a voice said from behind her.
Aurora's heart leapt as she immediately thought of Gray, but knew it wasn’t him as the voice was slightly deeper than his. She turned and saw the fair-haired man who had been on the elevator before.
“Um…no,” she answered. “Haven’t exactly had the time yet. How did you get up here so fast, anyway?”
“Flew,” he said, wearing an unreadable expression.
Aurora raised an eyebrow at the strange boy but didn’t inquire further.
“Would you like to ride it with me?”
Laughing humorlessly, Aurora said, “Uh…”
“It’s perfectly safe.” A slow, Cheshire grin spread across his visage. “Promise.”
“I’m more concerned about you, to be honest.”
“Ah.” He smiled wider now. “Well, I’m perfectly safe too.”
Aurora folded her arms across her chest. “I’ll be the judge of that.”
“Fair enough. So…roller coaster?”
“I don’t even know your—”
“Samuel,” he said before she could finish her statement. “My name is Samuel.”
Aurora paused a long moment. Then, without thinking, she began walking towards the entrance to the roller coaster, passing a handful of vendors—including one selling sugarclouds. Platters piled with fluffy pink mounds sat upon cake tiers. She had to admit...they weren't unappetizing.
She moved towards the cart, but Samuel grasped ahold of her arm. "You should probably wait until after you’ve ridden the roller coaster,” he said. Aurora frowned apprehensively, pulling her arm from Samuel's hand.
“You don’t have to ride it, if you’re afraid,” he said.
Aurora laughed. “Please. I’m not afraid.”
“There are worse things than fear, Aurora,” Samuel said in a peculiar tone.
Aurora glanced at him, but his aqua eyes were fixed straight ahead. “Like what?” she inquired, not bothering to ask how he knew her name.
“Like, being dishonest with yourself.”
This statement took Aurora aback, her brows meeting in consternation as she stopped in her tracks. “Why would you say that?”
Samuel stopped as well, and turned to face her. His eyes were as clear as the Caribbean Sea, and just as deep. Deep enough to hold the secrets of the universe within them. And that scared her more than a roller coaster ever could.
“I’ve changed my mind,” she said suddenly.
“Oh?” Samuel smiled, minutely, as if he’d expected this.
“I don’t want to go on the roller coaster anymore,” she said. “See you later.”
And with that, she turned on her heel and walked briskly away from him, trying to ignore the twisting feeling in her gut.
Ten
GRAY
Parting from Aurora felt...wrong. Like Gray was leaving behind some vital part of himself, which was insane, because they'd met less than a day ago.
He finished placing his clothes in the drawers of his stateroom. He could have sworn they’d been covered in grime from the alley, but they were all as clean as when he’d packed them. Strange, he thought. But no stranger than any other occurrence that day. Reaching into the duffel bag, his fingers brushed against a smooth surface. Removing the object, Gray examined it, turning it over in his hand. It was a round stone, fitting easily in his palm. The stone resembled a garnet, but the red color had a peculiar glow to it, as if a fire burned within. Maybe Luka had left it in there, and Gray hadn’t noticed it when he was packing. His son was an avid collector of random things.
Shrugging, Gray placed the stone in the drawer with his clothes and shoved the empty yellow duffel bag under his bed. He glanced over at the other vacant bed in the room, wondering if he would have a roommate who had yet to arrive. Suddenly, as if on cue, the lock clicked, and the door swung open. A tall, twenty-something man with jet black hair and
a long nose stood in the doorway, carrying a briefcase.
“Hey,” Gray greeted.
The newcomer looked up in surprise. “Oh, hello,” he said in a rather posh British accent. Gray didn’t know much about the U.K., but he did know their accents often revealed precisely where they were from, and sometimes what sort of family they came from. Luckily, Americans were a bit more mysterious, accent-wise.
“I’m Gray.”
“Sevastion,” he said, offering a long-fingered hand, which Gray shook. He had expected the lanky Brit to have weak hands, but his grip was just as strong as Gray’s own. If he had any pet peeve, it was a weak handshake. Like holding a dead fish.
Gray laughed, repeating the name. “That’s a mouthful, huh?”
“It is,” he said, almost apologetically. “Most people call me Sev—except for my mum, of course. She loathes when people call me that.”
“Where are you from?” asked Gray. “England?”
“London, actually. Yes,” Sev answered, placing his briefcase and bag on his bed. “You are American, I presume?”
Gray nodded and spouted off a brief bio. Sev listened in silence as he carefully unzipped his briefcase and pulled out book, after book, after book, after... Gray's voice trailed off as he watched the pile grow larger.
“Something the matter?” Sev turned to look at Gray, who just now realized he’d been in the middle of a sentence.
“Sorry, that’s just a lot of books for one briefcase. And one week.”
“I read rather fast.”
Gray picked up one of the books, examining the cover. There was a dated picture of a triceratops rearing his head as a raptor snapped at him. “Dinosaurs?” he said, almost laughing when he thought of what Aurora had said before about the dinosaur carnival ride.
“I’m a paleontologist,” said Sev.
“Ah. Gotcha. So you go on digs and stuff like that?”
“I did when I was at university. Currently, I work at the Natural History Museum in London.”
Etheria (The Halo Series Book 1) Page 6