L. Marie Adeline- S.E.C.R.E.T

maybe that was the terror. Then it died just as quickly. Where was everyone? If a crew
was piloting the yacht, where were they? Inside the cabin I threw my clothes on, crossed
the bar area and made my way to the stairs leading up, presumably to the captain’s
bridge. When I opened the deck door, I heard the downpour, the harsh rain slapping the
wood with loud echoes.
I saw the black sky above me.
“Not good,” I muttered, shutting the door. The portholes were blurry with rain. But I
needed to nd someone from the crew, to tell them I was here and to nd out the plan,
if there was one. I punched the door open again, and braced against the rain, now
streaking sideways and pricking my skin. I was about to head to the bridge, when I
heard a voice. I thought it was coming from a speaker on the yacht, but it was actually
coming from the deck of a Coast Guard tugboat that had pulled up next to the yacht.
From the deck, a tall man in a white T-shirt and jeans yelled my name through a
megaphone.
“Cassie! My name is Jake! You must disembark now! We need you o this boat, right
away, before this storm gets any worse. Come here and I’ll grab your hand. I’ve been
sent to rescue you.”
Rescue me? Were it not for the very real weather, causing very real panic, I would
have assumed this was, indeed, my rescue fantasy. But there was a storm to survive, and
this man’s tight expression made it clear to me that this wasn’t part of the fantasy at all.
I was in danger. I clutched a rail, my tunic soaked to my skin. Was it really safer in that
tiny little boat than on the enormous solid yacht? Nothing was making sense.
“Cassie! Come closer and grab my hand!”
I stepped out onto the deck and saw the churning sea around me. Wave after wave
smashed high over the deck, slapping my legs, sending gallons more water over the
polished wood and into the blue pool. Another wave hit, this time sweeping me o my
feet and onto my hip with a bang. I sat there, legs splayed, frozen, as I do in times of
abject panic. I could no longer hear Jake’s voice, just the sound of the angry, black sea. I
grabbed onto a lower rail, afraid to stand up. I had the doomed sense that if I let go, I’d
be washed over the side of the heaving boat. Before I knew what was happening, an
arm like a tree trunk grabbed me around my middle and lifted me off the ground.
“We have to get off this boat, now!” Jake bellowed.
“Okay, then!”
What can I say? I ailed like a scared, wet cat in the driving rain. I clutched where I
could, but his T-shirt was slippery and I couldn’t get a grip. I went over the side of the
boat, felt the sharp sting of the water. For a second I went under and could see only the
churning above my head. I screamed underwater, soundlessly, and felt my body bueted
by the swells until at last my head emerged and the scream pierced my own ears. I
pulled in a fast breath and had just a second to see that if the boats moved any closer to
each other, I would be crushed. Before I could gure out what to do, I saw Jake
struggling through the waves to reach me.
“Cassie! Calm down!” Jake yelled, splashing towards me. “You’re gonna be okay, but
you have to relax.”