Abyssopelagic

“HELPPPP!! SOMEBODY, PLEASE HELP!! SHE FELL INTO THE WATER!! SHE DOESN’T KNOW HOW TO SWIM!! PLEASE HELPPPP!!!”

~~~~~

“Ugh, there you are! I’ve been looking all over for you!”

Nova turned away from the water and towards the sound of her sister’s voice.

“Um, you do know we’re not allowed out here, right?” Viverra gestured vaguely, “What’s it called again, the bow? Arrow? Whatever. Where’s the security? You shouldn’t be here. It’s not safe.”

“The bow”, Nova answered insightfully, “And I’m sorry Vivi, I should have informed you before I came here, but I didn’t want to wake you up.”

Viverra’s hands flew up in frustration, and her brows furrowed in annoyance “Ever heard of leaving a note? Or a text? Jeez! You even left your phone in the cabin!”

“I’m sorry V, I’ve just got a lot on my mind.”

“C'monnnn”, Viverra tugged impatiently at Nova’s wrist, “I didn’t bring you on this cruise for you to mope around here too!”

“Wait, where are we going?”

“I’m starving and the buffet ends in an hour. Let’s gooo! I want you to eat too. Aren’t you hungry?”

Right on cue, Nova’s hunger sprang to life, like a cat hearing a can of food being opened.

“Alright, alright, I’ll come with you but strictly no drinks. I wouldn’t be able to think straight if I had any”, asserted Nova.

“Here we go again with the thinking! You refused to tell me what’s been bothering you, so I brought you here to help you clear your head, but obviously it’s not working. I feel like I failed you as a sister!” Tears traced paths down Viverra’s cheeks.

“Y'know, the sea is salty enough without your tears going overboard to join them.”

Laughter bubbled up, mingling with Viverra’s tears, “See?! This is what I mean! You make me laugh when I’m crying, but I’m never able to help you in any way!”

“Look around, we’re on a cruise right now because of you! Believe me when I say that you’ve helped me more than you know.”

“So, you’re still not going to tell me what’s going on?”

~~~~~

Tears pooled in her eyes and spilled over, “Do something! My sister is drowning! Please, she’s the only family that I’ve got!” She fell to her knees, “Please, you have to save her!”

“Ma’am, all our crew members and the Captain have been alerted. Lifeboats are being deployed right now as we speak. Given the fact that it’s nightfall, we might take a little longer, but rest assured that we will definitely find her. Please try to stay calm.”

She sniffled and nodded, allowing the crew member to gently help her to her feet and guide her away from the railing.

~~~~~

“So, you’re still not going to tell me what’s going on?”

“It’s not that I don’t want to tell you, but I just wanted to keep this between me and Jayden. I don’t want to bring anyone into our marital problems.”

“Whatever happened to ‘two heads are better than one’? How long are you going to bottle it all up? I might be able to come up with a solution if you let me know what’s been happening.”

Nova felt Viverra’s reasoning break through her wall of reluctance. She turned away from Viverra, and her eyelids fluttered shut as she hoped to stem the tide of unshed tears.

“Jayden is cheating on me.”

“What?! That’s ridiculous! How’d you—Why would you—”

“I found a burner phone hidden in his pillow case while I was changing the sheets a few weeks ago.”

“But—Well, that’s definitely very suspicious, but people have many reasons to own a burner phone. It doesn’t mean that they’re cheating.”

“Then why hide it? Why have I not seen him use it before? Plus, I saw the texts between him and that skank. They were explicitly discussing their affair and how thrilling it was! I checked my contacts for her number, but nothing came up. Maybe it's someone I don't know, or she's also using a burner phone.”

“And you’ve not confronted Jayden?”

“Not yet.”

“Why?”

“Because I don’t know who this woman is! I could call her but I’m sure she’ll let him know. I could get a burner phone myself and call her, but I just don’t want it to be somehow traced back to me. I want to gather all the evidence against Jayden without him suspecting a thing. And then he’ll hear from my lawyer.”

“Whoa, first the cheating and now divorce? This is all too much for me to take in”, Viverra grabbed the railing firmly with both hands, “I feel so dizzy.”

~~~~~

As soon as she spotted the Captain, she ran to him, breathless with panic “My sister—Where is she?! It’s been hours! Where is she?!”

“Ma’am, it is with deepest regret that I inform you that our Man-Overboard Team failed to—”

“Failed?! You failed to find her?! She’s down there in the water! How could you not find her?!”

“Ma’am, please calm down. Maybe the location of her fall was marked wrongly—”

“Marked wrongly?! How could you make such a mistake?!”

“—or a predator might have gotten to her first before we did.”

~~~~~

“Whoa, first the cheating and now divorce? This is all too much for me to take in”, Viverra grabbed the railing firmly with both hands, “I feel so dizzy.”

“This is why I didn’t want to tell you anything in the first place. I knew it’ll be too much for you to handle.”

“Oh, it’s definitely too much. I can’t believe Jayden would be so careless.”

“It’s good that he was. I’d never have found out if he wasn’t.”

“You weren’t supposed to find out.”

“Huh? Wait—", realisation and disbelief flooded Nova, "Did you already know about this?”

Viverra nodded, her eyes deliberately avoiding Nova’s gaze.

Nova’s voice trembled with shock and anger, “And you didn’t bother to tell me?!”

Viverra remained silent.

“Vivi, please. Did Jayden threaten you to keep this from me? I’ll protect you from him. I’ll make sure he doesn’t do anything to you. Please, tell me all that you know. Please.”

“I know everything.”

Drops of sorrow fell from Nova eyes, “What do you mean you know everything? Wha—How? Why do you even know everything? Why didn’t you tell me anything?!”

“Because I’m the skank you’re looking for”, Viverra giggled.

“Vivi, I’m serious! Stop fooling around!”

“I’m serious too. The only person I’ve been fooling around with is your husband.”

Viverra seized Nova’s ankles with a sudden, ruthless grip and hoisted her over the railing as though she was nothing more than a rag doll.

Her lips formed a cold smirk as she watched her sister struggle to keep her head above water.

As the ship continued on its course, Nova dwindled into the distance. Viverra waited until Nova was completely out of sight and then lingered a few more minutes, just to be sure.

Viverra knew there was nothing a cruise couldn’t solve. Now, she had to play her part perfectly and deliver an Oscar-worthy performance.

“HELPPPP!! SOMEBODY, PLEASE HELP!! SHE FELL INTO THE WATER!! SHE DOESN’T KNOW HOW TO SWIM!! PLEASE HELPPPP!!!”

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