Sea Sick: A Horror Novel

“I know,” he said to her. “I’ve changed too. I think it would be impossible not to have. We still need to put a stop to it, though. Someone is responsible and they need to pay.”


Tally nodded at him. It seemed as if she was finally back on his side. “You still think it has something to do with what is down in the cargo?”

“No,” said Jack. “Donovan showed me everything. He’s as clueless about all this as we are. The cargo is full of money and pharmaceuticals – normal pharmaceuticals. The money is just a payoff to some dodgy Tunisian official. Plain old corruption.”

“How can you be so sure he is telling the truth, Jack? He shot you.”

Jack shrugged. “I’ve spent the last two weeks getting to know the guy. He seems on the level.”

“Maybe it’s just an act.”

Jack frowned. “What are you getting at? What happened after Donovan shot me? He said that you two talked about things, so you know he’s like us, right? That he keeps repeating the day like us?”

Tally nodded. “I know. He told me. He was expecting us that second night when he shot you. He planned to get rid of you so that he could be alone with me. Killing you was okay, he said, because it wouldn’t be real – just like what he was planning on doing to me.”

Jack’s stomach sloshed. “What do you mean? What are you saying?”

Tally looked Jack in the eyes just as her lids filled with tears. “What do you think?”

Jack lost his breath. He had shared a drink with Donovan, night after night, and the whole time he had been hiding the fact that he had…that he had…


Jack couldn’t even say the word. He closed his eyes and shook the thought away before it destroyed him. It hurt too much to think that his mistake, getting shot by Donovan, had cost Tally so dearly. Jack being killed was indeed temporary (except for the bruising the next day), but what Donovan had done to Tally would be with her forever. There was no reset for rape. No wonder she had hid herself away from Jack; she didn’t want to be reminded.

Jack held Tally in his arms and they kissed. Neither of them instigated it; it just happened. They kissed until midnight stopped them.



Day 216

Jack awoke in a rage, but managed to calm himself down as memories of Tally, lying beside him, soothed him. She was gone now, of course, but somehow he still felt the warmth of her body next to his. He hoped that he could find her again today, that she would not resume her avoidance of him. Although, if she does, I don’t blame her. I’ve been spending all of my time with the man that raped her.

The clock read 1403. Jack had wasted a few minutes in a fuzzy daze as he thought about Tally, but now that those thoughts were gone his mind returned to vengeance. Donovan was an immoral beast that needed putting down. Jack had dealt with monsters like him many times before, during his career as a police officer. He should have been able to spot the man’s true nature, but instead he’d spent two weeks making merry with him. It made Jack feel sick.

I’m going to make him pay.

Jack got out of bed and decided to forego his usual shower. He got dressed immediately from the clothes in his luggage and also removed the unopened Glen Grant bottle. Then he stormed out of his room towards the elevators.

On his way to the upper decks, Jack could not keep still. He paced the small enclosure of the lift and cursed beneath his breath. He felt unsteady, his body coursing with adrenaline, but he also felt strong and powerful, ready for action. It was even possible to put aside the sickness and anxiety he felt as his heightened senses brought with them feelings of nausea.