Sea Sick: A Horror Novel

I can’t believe that she could tell a lie like that. No way. I may not know her as well as I would like to, but I know she’s a good person. She tried to protect the children on the Sports Deck and she has a daughter of her own, too. Donovan, on the other hand, is a womanising jackass. But still…I don’t see him doing the things he’s been accused of. He just doesn’t give off that vibe.

Jack couldn’t believe that he was in a situation that now involved a rape accusation in addition to a deadly manmade virus and a supernatural time spell. Coming aboard the Kirkpatrick to relax was the single most stressful thing to ever occur in Jack’s life. Irony didn’t even begin to describe it.

There were likely two places that Tally would be. Either the Sports Deck, if she were still trying to help the children, or her cabin. It was still pretty early in the day, so Jack was guessing the latter. He had a quick think about where she’d led him on the night he’d visited her room. He remembered it was towards the rear of A Deck – the aft. He headed for the elevator and pressed the CALL button, then waited while it descended.

A couple of minutes later, Jack was on A Deck and heading towards Tally’s cabin. A maid passed him along the way, smiling and nodding, but other than that the entire deck was deserted. He thought about which cabin was Tally’s and knocked on the door he thought was correct. After ten seconds of waiting, he knocked again.

Then somebody knocked on the back of Jack’s head and the lights went out.



Day 235

At 1400 Jack did not wake up. At 1425 he managed to stir, his head whirling with a faraway throbbing. Whatever had struck him in the back of the head had been enough to knock him out cold for the rest of the day (or perhaps even killed him) until midnight had come and started things over. His head still hurt, and for the first time ever he had overslept.

Putting his feet onto the carpeted floor of his cabin, Jack eased himself up until he was standing. The room tilted and, for a moment, he thought it was his vision, but then he realised that it was the ship that was rocking. He was usually out in the corridor by then.

Jack went into the bathroom and stared at the mirror. The flesh beneath his eyes was dark and his pupils were wide. He looked tired. He felt it too.

I can’t believe I fell for Donovan’s bullshit.

After leaving the Cargo Deck for Tally’s cabin, Donovan must have followed Jack and jumped him from behind. It was a risky move because the man knew that Jack wouldn’t stay dead. Obviously, Donovan had decided it was time for him to fight back. In a way Jack didn’t blame him, but it now made things very clear to him – that Donovan was one of the bad guys.

He’s going to pay for this.

Jack felt the familiar anger rise up in his guts, but took a deep breath and fought against it. He turned on the tap of the faucet and splashed some cold water onto his face. Forgetting everything else, Donovan had been correct about one thing: Jack was being consumed by his rage. It had destroyed his life once before and now he was allowing it to control him again. Running around the ship like a madman and committing murder would never have been acceptable to the man Jack used to be – the man who was in love with Laura. Once upon a time Jack had believed in justice and doing things by the book.

Now I’ve become something else.

Something still needed to be done about Donovan, but there had already been too much violence. Jack would have to find another way. A way that meant not losing a part of himself.