Heavenly Seas - Chapter Nine

Just as they thought they were about to be eaten by a wolf, they woke up by the promenade. Sook-Jo's sheep jumper appeared on her. No idea where it came from. Elodie found herself lying between Sook-Jo and Gong-Gi by the poolside.

Elodie rolled her eyes. She was certain journalists would be the death of her one day. As much as Elaine drove her to insanity, at least she had proper credentials. Lang Tai thrived off gossip to the point he was kicked out of his own country. If only someone could come along and break his neck.

"Sook-Jo,” Lang Tai greeted her like an old friend. One look at his grubby suit and toothless smile made Elodie heave. She observed the way Sook-Jo’s shoulders clenched. “Who did you suck off to get on this ship?"

"What!" Sook-Jo gasped.

"Shut up!" Gong-Gi roared, taking the words of Elodie’s mouth.

"I'm impressed with you," Lang Tai said, patting Gong-Gi on the back. "Two women at the same time. Not bad for a washed-out pop star."

"Stop it!" Sook-Jo begged. Elodie had theories about the connection between Lang Tai and Sook-Jo. She would not be surprised if her thoughts were wrong. Lang Tai had the infidelity vibe. Whatever Lang Tai wanted from Sook-Jo, Gong-Gi had.

She thought of Lang Tai’s poor wife, unaware of his disgusting actions. And he had the nerve to say young people had no decorum. He got away with too much.

Elodie had no regrets punching Lang Tai in the face, the stomach and in-between his legs. Lang Tai plummeted onto the floor.

"You're a spineless coward!" Gong-Gi hissed, kicking his head.

It took Lang Tai a while before he could bring himself up. He leaned over with his fingers hovered over his right ear. "I'm sorry?" He laughed. "I didn't catch that!"

Gong-Gi crossed his arms. "You heard me!"

"Honestly, you young folks have no sense of humour." Lang Tai put his hands on his hips and laughed. "I compliment you all and you choose to beat me up."

The music couldn't have been more out of place. A string quartet in white jumpers played theme tunes of children’s TV shows. The only one Elodie could recognise was Thomas the Tank Engine. She had seen and heard it all, she really had.

Elodie took a sigh of relief when she saw Captain Mortville limping around. “Captain! I’m so glad you're here.” She pointed at Lang Tai’s bruised eye. “Sort this idiot out for me. He's harassing us!”

Captain Mortville said nothing. Elodie noticed a difference in his skin and his eyes were yellow. Captain Mortville ripped Lang Tai's head off his body and devoured it.

Sook-Jo screamed, pulling a gun from her jumper sleeve and with one bullet, Captain Mortville fell to the ground and disintegrated.

The once white coats of the string quartet were stained red. The music continued.

“Where the bloody hell did that gun come from?” Elodie shrieked. “We could have all been killed.”

“You'd rather have that than a zombie apocalypse?” Sook-Jo asked.

“That gun is not real!” Gong-Gi said, panting with his eyes closed. Pacing around, his voice got louder. “There's no werewolves, vampires.or zombies. It's all rubbish. It's drugs! They've put something in our drinks! We are hallucinating.”

“Yes!” Elodie rolled her eyes. “We all just happen to be hallucinating the same thing.”

Josephine came screaming with wool spilling from her hair and pockets. Running in panic, she left rainbow strings wherever she went. It was a miracle she didn't trip. “Oh no!,” she said.

“What are we gonna do?” Elodie asked. “We’ve got no captain.”

“Don't worry,” Josephine screeched, pulling up the will behind her. “I can knit a new captain. I should have done that in the first place.” Josephine shook her head. “For goodness sake, no matter how many times I knitted the captain a foot, it never worked.”

“Wait!” Elodie observed the remains of Lang Tai and Captain Mortville. “Was that the captain’s toe in my drink? He was still walking about, dead?”

Josephine tidied up her mess with the click of her fingers. “The real captain died ages ago! But bless him, he always loved Chinese food!”