Heavenly Seas - Chapter Eight

Elodie woke up in Jamaica, five stone lighter than yesterday. It had to be some sort of dream. Nothing could feel better for her. She nodded at the mirror and then observed her body to check that the reflection matched reality. She had not been that slim since her thirties. She knew what it meant: more cake.

She ordered tiramisu, but she couldn't manage a bite. It was red inside, and the metallic taste made her gag. Calvin’s face had popped out of it

“What do you want?” Elodie shrieked as she stabbed the cake where Calvin’s face emerged. “I know how much you hated me eating cake, but you don't have to haunt me like this.”

“What have I told you about eating so much cake?”

It wasn't Calvin. He's dead and can't come back. The voice was too deep, it wasn't even human. Shaking and finding herself unable to scream, she didn't want to be alone.

She dashed to the buffet. At least with many people around, the hallucinations wouldn't be as bad. At least that was what she thought. Logic didn't seem to matter on a haunted cruise. Maybe the nightmare was coming to an end. Or so she thought. She noticed everyone staring at her and wondering if it was still Elodie.

Calvin would have told her to ignore it. Easier said than done. She doubted anyone else could hear them. Those voices called her every name in the sun in a thousand accents. She tried a little bit of everything, and it all tasted the same: metallic…bloody. She had to throw it back up. She should have known the celebration came at a cost.

She bumped into Gong-Gi and Sook-Jo in the jacuzzi. Somewhat familiar faces, something to take her mind off things. “You two are pretty brave.”

Gong-Gi jumped out of the pool. “Blimey, is that you, Elodie?”

“Yes…”

“You've slimmed down,” Gong-Gi said with glistening eyes.

“How did you manage that?” Sook-Jo asked, with her mouth wide open. “You're nearly skin and bone, it's impossible!”

“I don't know and I don't care. I feel good.” Of course, that was a lie. They didn't need to know that her new body was rejecting all food. Without warning, she hopped into the water. She didn't care that she was still in her nightdress. She paid enough money to do what she wanted. “At least one good thing has come from this cruise. It's about time something good came into my life.”

“So you've not met any of those werewolves then?” Sook-Jo asked.

“Please,” Gong-Gi spat out, kicking the water. “Enough of this madness and nonsense about werewolves.”

“Thankfully, no.” Elodie turned to Gong-Gi, who was licking his lips after a glass of champagne. Her polite tone dropped. “What are you smiling at? Don't you get any ideas? If you think you're getting a threesome from me, you've got another thing coming.”

“Ha!” Gong-Gi splashed Elodie. “You think I would touch you and your crusty parts?”

Elodie remembered their meeting at Gong-Gi’s cabin. “You seemed pretty keen the other day.”

Sook-Jo glared at Gong-Gi, and he wrapped his arms around her. “Don't worry, darling, she's hallucinating. She's just lost her son, so she's all over the place.”

Elodie splashed Gong-Gi back. She was amazed at how the tables had turned. She remembered how Gong-Gi branded Sook-Jo as a lunatic. “You change your mind more times than I change my knickers.”

Before Gong-Gi could answer back, the jacuzzi cracked. A black whirlpool whacked all three of them back and forth. A giant wave engulfed them, and by the time the water returned to normal, they had company: a grizzly and hairy one.

The canine creature licked his teeth and rubbed his furry paws together. “Hello, Puddings!”