Heavely Seas Chapter 15

It took at least two hours for Apollo to adjust to his birth name. He responded to both Heath and Apollo, but the latter seemed to have fit. He never wanted to be here in the first place. Nearly every day he resisted the urge to steal a lifeboat and sail away. The only thing that stopped him was where would he go? He could never bring himself to leave his family behind.

As for the friends he made, he felt like he had known them for a lifetime. He forgot most of his life before the cruise: including the fiancé waiting. As days, weeks and months bleed into one. The only thing keeping Apollo in sync was the sun and the moon. Some people never returned from the port; perhaps they were the sensible ones.

The amount of murders and mysterious disappearances unfazed people, it had become a joke, even a meme to some cabin crew. The corridors had been converted into catacombs. Victims stripped off their identity.

Whoever the bones belonged to, they were loved ones. Someone out there was missing them. The creatures that flew by him, perhaps they were once human too. He dared not approach the lifts in fear he would never get out. The jumper Josephine knitted for him was to keep him safe, it could have been taken in so many ways.

Safe from harm or death. Though he wondered how long the protective charm would work. If Josephine keeps getting younger to the point of being fazed out of existence…Apollo dreaded to think what would happen.

In some situations perhaps death would have been the better choice. The light ahead of him was a welcome site. He could not help but peek through the broken cabin doors out of sheer curiosity. He regretted it every single time. Each body looked more grotesque than the worst.

He tripped up some battered bodies before opening the door. Greeted the sound of thunder, the puddles washed away the blood on his shoes. By the deck Sook-Jo cradled Gong-Gi in her arms. From Apollo’s angle it was a scene taken from a romantic movie. It was a comforting sight until he got closer. Sook-Jo’s tears dripped into Gong-Gi’s wounds.

“Gong-Gi!” Apollo cried out, dashing to their side. The puncture wounds on Gong-Gi’s neck stained his white clothes.“What happened?”

The first thing that came to Apollo’s head was why didn’t Sook-Jo cry for help? Then of course, what would be the point? Who would answer the pleas? Perhaps she had already done it, but nobody came. The man was breathing, but only just. “Let’s get you some help.”

Apollo lifted Gong-Gi’s head, but is stopped by him. “You can’t. You need to let me die…Or I’ll become one of them.”

“You’re bleeding out!” Apollo said. “You can’t go, what about all the people who love you.”

“Theo attacked me. If I live, I’ll become a vampire like him.”

“What?”

“Apollo… Elodie killed Calvin, and you’ve got two sisters in Busan. You should go and see them when you get the chance.”

Apollo was only able to process one thing at a time. He had lost two brothers but gained sisters. “So… you were my father the whole time?”

“Yes, and I see it now. I’m sorry you had to go through what I did. I’m sorry for my failures.” Gong-Gi looked over at Sook-Jo and used all his remaining strength to pull open his jacket. A dagger slips into Sook-Jo’s lap. “I appreciate you both…do it!”

“Do what?” Apollo asked.

“Kill me before I turn into a monster.”

“I can't…” Sook-Jo whimpered. “What about your girlfriends, and Taeyang?”

“Life goes on.”

Sook-Jo wiped tears from her cheek. “I'm sorry for you calling you a monster.”

Gong-Gi nodded, coughing blood. “All good.”

Apollo only knew fragments of their relationship through whispers and arguments. Regardless of what his mothers had written and said about them, they cared about each other. Apollo could tell from the tearful smiles that there was love between them. Sook-Jo squeezed Gong-Gi’s hand with her right hand, then stabbed him in the heart.

The time he spent with his father didn’t seem long enough. Sook-Jo’s laughter ended the moment Gong-Gi took his last breath.

Apollo didn't know what was louder: the alarms or the thunder. Above the sounds a voice bellowed across the sea. “This is your new captain speaking!”

It sounded like Lord Clarence Figgs. Even his own children weren’t allowed to call him father. Elodie got slapped for every pet name she gave him, and she had a dozen for him.

“Can all survivors please come to the sundeck on deck 13.”

“That sounds like Lord Figgs…” Apollo whispered.

“Perhaps it is.” A luggage trolley drifted towards them. Sook-Jo couldn't take her eyes of Gong-Gi. “I can't leave him.”

“I’ll help you carry him in the trolley.” Apollo was true to his word. Even assisted in carrying the trolley as Sook-Jo held Gong-Gi’s stiffened hands.

They didn't have far to go. Of all the thousands that embarked on Heavenly Seas, only a fraction were there. Each one of them had a jumper with the exception of Elodie.

“Heath!’ she cried, scurrying to hug him. “Thank God you're safe…” The first time in years she hugged him sober.

Apollo shook his head. “I know the truth, Lady Figgs.”

“The truth?”

“Father told me you killed Calvin before Theo killed him.”

Elodie’s entire body spasmed as her lips wobbled. “That doesn't make any sense,” she gasped. “Your father died, and Theo wouldn't kill anyone.”

Apollo didn't believe her: a dying man had no reason to lie.