A trip down memory lane

“Hello, Jessica,” Charles says quietly, staring at me with his green eyes, his expression unreadable. I have never seen that shade of startling green eyes before. I wonder if he is wearing contacts but quickly decide that it is none of my business.

“I’m beginning to think that you and your sister have quite a lot in common. You’re both crazy stalkers.” I say to him, noting that his expression does not change in the slightest.

“Actually, Charlotte and I are nothing alike, but I can see why you would think that. I’m not following you though. I have every right to be here, you see, as the company that organized this crew belongs to Sebastian and me. I own the majority of the shares, in fact. However, I can’t say the same about you, Jessica. What are you doing here?” He asks in the same gentle tone that I’m fast coming to hate. He is clearly one of those people who rarely ever get angry, no matter how far you pushed them.

“I was invited by this guy called Maxwell.”

“That’s good. You’ll love it here, I think. I’m glad you came.”

“I’m sad I did. If I had known that you would be here, I would surely not have come.”

“I know you wouldn’t have. I’ll try to stay out of your way, so please try to enjoy yourself as much as possible.” Charles replies as solemnly as a pious saint, before walking away, leaving me on the deck by myself. I watch him go in irritation, wondering why such good looks, height, and hot bod had to be wasted on a man with such a bland personality. But I’m here to have a good time, not waste precious moments thinking about Charlotte's brother. I turn to face the water, loving the incredible view of the setting sun’s reflection glinting off the water’s surface and the breeze blowing in my hair.

“I’ll have some lovely days here, even though Charlotte’s brother is here on the same ship with me. I know I will.” I think to myself, watching the golden hue of the sun mesmerically. I have no idea how wrong I am.

***

CHARLES

I walk slowly back to my cabin, my mind in turmoil. Had it been I had any idea that Jessica Matthews was going to be on the ship, I wouldn’t have come, even if it would have been weird for both Sebastian and me to be missing. I feel really sorry for her, and I know that she hates me because of what my sister did to her, not that any of it is my fault, but I don’t blame her one bit. If lashing out at me and hating me, or trying to punish me for everything is going to give her even a fraction of peace, then it is fine by me. Thinking about my sister saddens me a great deal, despite the fact that I like to think that I’ve put her memory behind me.

I can still remember when we had been little kids. Charlotte had been normal then, although there were certain things that had indicated the type of person she would turn out to be, now that I think about it. While I had been a nurturing and caring kid, the type that would want to care for and help frail, fragile, and wounded things, Charlotte had been my exact opposite. As a child, she would catch butterflies and other insects and take off all their legs and wings as slowly as possible. That behavior always irked and nauseated me a great deal, and when Charlotte noticed that, it amused her so much that she graduated to torturing bigger animals like frogs, lizards, and even my pet rabbit.

Our mother’s behavior hadn’t helped one bit. She had been a chronic drug addict, who was more interested in where she was going to get her next fix than in training her kids. To her credit, she tried to hide her habit from Charlotte and me, but I knew about it. It is no wonder that my birth father had wanted nothing to do with her. My father … the man has been dead for two years now. Even though he hadn’t been active in our lives, thanks to our mother keeping us from him in a bid to siphon money from him to fuel her habit, he still cared about us and had named us in his will. He was the one who sent me to medical school too.

At least, I was able to form a relationship of sorts with him before he died. His death hadn’t been an ordinary one. It had been murder. Charlotte had killed him in his sick bed in his own house when she was trying to steal his will. She had also killed Sebastian’s sister-in-law, and I’m fairly certain that more deaths than those can be linked to her.

Charlotte is a monster, and I’m relieved that she’s gone. Although we had once been close, we drifted apart over the years, especially after she threatened to kill me more than once. That was when she had been trying to recruit me to join her in doing her dirty work, and I called the police. Calling the police on her did nothing except get her pissed at me, because she always managed to get out, and the charges against her were always dropped. In fact, she had been trying to kill me when she was arrested for her crimes.

It always terrified me to think that some traits of her personality could be in my DNA and I could one day snap like her, or even worse, produce crazy children. It is why I never intend to have kids. I don’t want to produce little monsters who delight in doing evil things. Thinking about all this is saddening me and I can feel a headache coming on. I get up and make my way to the dining area because I don’t want to be alone right now.

“Do you know who that is, boss?” Maxwell asks when I get to the dining area.

“Who?” I ask, not that I’m particularly interested in knowing. I want to eat and leave as fast as possible before Jessica comes down to eat. If she sees me, she would probably lose her appetite.

“The lady you were talking to on deck earlier.”

“Yes. That’s Jessica.”

“Did you know…”

“I know everything, and I will thank you not to gossip about her and let everyone know her business and my family’s. If she doesn’t come for dinner, please make sure someone takes some food to her room, and please, make sure that she’s not disturbed.” I cut in. This man is becoming something else with his lack of a mouth filter.

“Sure, of course, boss,” Maxwell replies, flushing.

I soon realize that I don’t have an appetite, so I leave most of my food untouched and go back to my cabin, where I go through some of my medical journals to pass the time. Sleep eludes me, even though it is quite late and I’m an early sleeper, so I give up trying to sleep and begin to watch a movie on my laptop instead. I lost track of time and by the time it is five in the morning, I’m still not sleepy, but now, I’m tired of watching stuff.

A fairly strong wind is blowing outside, and it looks like it’s going to rain. I love watching rain fall on the water whenever I’m on a ship, so I go on deck, not minding if the rain will drench me or not. It is somewhat dark on the deck, so I don’t notice that anyone is there at first. The rain starts to fall lightly, and I raise my face to the sky, loving the feeling of the rain beating down on my upturned face.

Within minutes, I’m drenched, but I don’t go back to my cabin. Instead, I start to walk towards the railing, not suspecting that anyone else could be on deck at this time. For some reason, I miss a step, stumble, and fall flat on my face in a move that would have been funny as hell, but I did not … cannot laugh. Instead, I scramble to my feet, my heart pounding as I rush over to the end of the railing and look overboard.

When I slipped and landed on the floor, I heard a faint scream, and then a very loud splash that was louder than the sound of the rain. Although I have never heard that splash sound while on a cruise ship, I know exactly what it means, especially when accompanied by that scream. Someone has just fallen overboard into the water.