Young Writers Society

The rational part of her mind knew that there was no way she could have helped them. They were on opposite sides of the ship when the ship sank.

Eliza reached for the new vines and started rewrapping her foot. Did they suffer? Or did they fall unconscious before the water filled their lungs? Eliza pictured Martha frantically swimming, her face blue from the lack of oxygen, her eyes filling with desperate tears.

Quickly, Eliza shut her eyes, shaking the image from her head. She finished wrapping the new 'bandage' and unwrapped the tarp. She shook the tarp, trying to dry it.

Martha's grave was on the other side of the island. John was lost at sea. Eliza was the only one alive. Three other people were alive, and they had also lost friends and family.

Maybe she could help her friends by keeping her new companions alive. Eliza covered the hole, smoothing its edges the best she could.

"I brought the rocks," said Susan. She was dragging them by a leaf. Eliza smiled at her.

"Great! I guess now we'll need to put the rocks on the tarp," said Eliza.

Week 9-- Post 5/5-- 193 words

"Yeah, we just need to space these out and make sure the tarp is not going to fly away in the wind, and I think we need to put one or two stones in the middle to weight this down towards the center of the pit, if I remember correctly," said Susan, smiling back, "and then we're done, well mostly, just need to find a container of some sort to put water in. And then all we need to do is wait for the sun to work its magic."

Susan sat down next to Eliza in the sand, dragging her makeshift sleigh closer. She took out a couple of stones and started by placing them opposite each other.

"Come on, let's get started then," said Susan.

Week 9 --- Post 5.6/5 --- 126 words

Jack pried open the hard exterior shell of the coconut before unpeeling the husk, quickly tearing it apart but also being careful to not tug it so hard that he could risk spilling everything. At last, the damn coconut opened its insides to him, and although he planned on sharing it with the group, instinct took over and he slurped up its contents. He felt the cool liquid travel down his throat, not only satisfying his thirst, but also provide some nutrients. He didn't eat or drink coconuts often, but he knew it was full of fats, and therefore, calories. A necessary ingredient for survival.

Although, it didn't really quench his thirst. It was, what? Half a cup? Barely anything. He knew he could take a finger or a spoon and eat the creamy white insides of the coconut that had some moisture and even more calories, but to survive under the sweltering sun, his body needed much more water. They needed water.

Jack was about to crack more coconuts, but he wasn't sure he had the strength or the anger to spend more time hitting rocks with it. Shoving his pride down his throat, he carefully held the opened coconut and the unopened ones before heading over to Susan and Eliza in mild shame. Just several hours ago, he was thinking that these girls were like his daughters all grown up that he had to protect. Now, he had to ask them for a survival skill. That was a bit hard to not feel ashamed of.

"Do any of you know how to efficiently open coconuts?" Jack asked, trying to sound nonchalant as possible as he dropped the uncracked coconuts on the sand next to them.

He then stared at the giant hole on the sand with a tarp covering it. "What in bloody hell are you girls doing?" he asked, not even bothering trying to hide the irate tone. He couldn't help that he was miffed; he spent all this time trying to open some goddamn coconuts and here they were, playing with sand? Were they even trying to survive?

Susan seemed to cower at his words, but Eliza quickly jumped to her defense. "We're making a solar still," she said, narrowing her eyes at him, not letting his words affect her. "It's Susan's idea to get fresh water. What have you been doing?"

So she was a snarky one. Lovely. Because he knew that she knew. She had to have been watching him as he tried to angrily open the coconuts. Now here he was, practically cradling the singular coconut in his hand.

"Calories," he said quickly, taking a finger and lining it along the white milk of the coconut in his hands. "This will fill us up." Well, he wasn't wrong, but that wasn't really the reason why he decided to do this in the first place.

"Actually," Susan said sheepishly, pointing at the coconut, "can we use that? We need a container for the solar still. We can use the shell of the coconut."

Jack stared at the tarp again. Solar still. He had no idea what that was. "What exactly does it do?" he asked.

Susan smiled and opened her mouth to talk, but Eliza interrupted to her.

"Oh, don't worry," Eliza said quickly, glancing at Susan before looking back at him. "It'll work all right. No need to explain again."

Jack sighed. "Alright," he said, tilting the opened coconut over to them. "Let's eat this first, and then you can use the shell. But also..." He glanced between the two of them. "Seriously, do any of you know how to open a coconut?"


Some time passed, and Susan had fetched some spoons so they could wipe the coconut's white nutrients clean and reuse the shell. Susan was also the one who helped Jack figure out how to open a coconut.

"The stress point is here," she said, pointing at the very tip of it. "You may have accidentally dropped the rock there and not know it. You can see it when you put the two halves together." She picked up the hollow shell and fused it, demonstrating how it cracked by lining it along with her finger. "See? You can see the crack branches off there. It's the highest stress concentration and weak point."

With that information, Jack was able to open the remaining three coconuts with ease. This time, it only took one or two throws of the rock for him to hear a crack, indicating that the coconut opened. Although it wasn't much, the three of them were able to get some water, and for the time being, he felt full.

"You can see water forming!" Eliza later said excitedly, pointing at the coconut shell beneath the transparent tarp.

Susan shyly smiled, scratching the back of her head. "It might take a few hours for it to be enough for a person," she said softly.

Jack let his gaze fall between the two of them. Somehow... their roles have reversed. Yesterday, he was the one taking charge and telling them what to do while making the mental reminder that Susan was not at all useful.

But now, Susan of all people was the one they depended on. Huh. He did not expect this, but he was grateful of her expertise.

He was about to suggest that they make another solar still contraption, but then they heard shrieking in the distance.

Moira was running towards them, looking frazzled as ever.


Week 10 -- Tsunami -- 918 words

When Jack started to figure out how to crack open the coconuts, Moira had drifted away. She wasn't sure why, but she knew that she didn't have much to contribute to what was going on. She would come back in a moment, but maybe she could find something else of value. A source of water or more food. Maybe more firewood so they could try to cook.

Whaat she wasn't expecting was to find two boys. They looked maybe middle school aged, and their clothes were tattered.

"Excuse me," said the tall one with dark hair and blue eyes. "I'm Austin."

"And I'm Perry," said the short one with red hair and freckles." Can you help us find our boat?"

In her shock and surprise, Moira wasn't sure how to react. "How long have you been here?" She finally asked.

"A few days," said Austin. "We went fishing, and we ended up here. We lost our boat."

Moira's heart was beating out of her chest. "You weren't on the Anastasia?"

"What's the Anastasia?" Perry asked.

"Stay right there," Moira finally said. "Okay?"

Then, she found the rest of the group, her face white.

"There's someone else on this island."

Week 10 -- Tsunami -- 186 words

"Someone else on this island?" Jack repeated in disbelief. Immediately hope rose back to the surface: what if it was Olivia? Was she still alive?

He knew the others lost loved ones. He knew that. But he couldn't help but feel the stinging hope and selfishness that he wished it was Olivia that Moira saw, not anyone else.

"Who?" Eliza asked, reading his thoughts out loud.

"Two boys," Moira said softly, her eyes wide in fright. "I think..." She trailed off, unable to finish her sentence.

"Two boys," Jack repeated again, slowly this time. "As in, children." He paused like he was trying to decipher what to do with this information. "You're saying there are children who survived the crash too?"

His voice was full of doubt. He couldn't help that the words came out more venomously than needed. His body was exhausted, he was irritated that he had zero sleep, and deep down, his heart was one tiny crack away from breaking in half.

"No," Moira breathed out, seemingly trying to fish for the right words. "They didn't come from the same ship as us. Not the Anastasia."

"So..." Eliza began when Moira didn't say any more words. "They came from a different boat?"

Moira nodded. She looked spooked. "Yes. A fishing boat." She fidgeted with her stance, brushing a strand of hair behind her hair. "I can't believe I'm saying this, but I think... I think they were..."

"Ghosts?" Eliza said a little too quickly, leaning in with her eyes wide. She didn't even wait to hear her response. "I knew it!" she said a bit too proudly. "I knew it. There really was a ghost that night. I told you guys and none of you believed me. There are ghosts on this island!"

"Now now," Jack grumbled out, pushing up his glasses for a moment to pinch the bridge of his nose in frustration. It seemed that the only other older adult of this island was also a ghost believer, so this was not going to be easy to dismiss now. "Let's not jump to any conclusions here. Maybe you're just dehydrated? Here," he said, bending down to pick up a cracked coconut to hand to her. "Here's some water."

Moira shook her head, but took the coconut anyways. "I promise you, I did see them," she said. "I saw them."

Little Susan finally piped up. "I think Moira should take us to them," she said sheepishly. "I hope they're not ghosts, because if they're alive like us... we should help them."

"Susan is right," Eliza said, coming to her defense. "Maybe you're right that ghosts aren't real. But that just means that what Moira said must be true then, right? She saw real people. We need to help them too. They're kids. And kids need help, isn't that right, Jack?" She let out a soft smile, but Jack could see the beginning edges of mockery.

This girl was good. Olivia would be proud of her taunts and ability to get under his skin. He didn't want to admit this, but he was hoping his daughter will one day be as confident as Eliza.

"Fine," Jack said in defeated voice. "Let's see what this is about, but when we come back, we're going to set up a few more solar stills. Okay?"

Moira nodded, turning her heel to go back where she came from. "Okay, follow me," she said, leading them deeper into the forests.

Week 10 -- Tsunami -- 581 words

Susan was thrown into a whirlwind at what had just transpired in the past few minutes. One moment, they'd been building a solar still, she'd felt like a useful part of the team for the first time since they'd washed up on the island and she was ready to announce that the project was done.

Then there had been a visit from the coconut rage monster who had asked for their help and she had actually been of some use. Jack had even looked grateful which if she was being completely honest had taken her by surprise. She supposed grumpy military types that tried to pretend like they'd known all along were just in the movies, or maybe Jack was just one of a kind. Either way it was a win win situation.

That had been until Moira had run in from wherever she had wondered off to, looking all shaken and pale and as if she'd seen a ghost which was unsettling because it wasn't anywhere close to even being dark yet. Ghosts weren't allowed to haunt people during the day were they?

Then the story of how Moira had run into two boys had followed and Susan was instantly uneasy once again. It was the seem feeling she'd gotten last night and it couldn't mean anything good. And then Jack had once again broken the illusion of a movie by being all logical about it but the other two didn't seem inclined to agree with that. She decided to step in by injecting some logic of her own and surprisingly everyone had gone along with it.

However, with Moira's declaration of "follow me", she'd headed right for the thick forest and Susan almost instantly regretted her decision now that they were actually going to do it. Every instinct in her body screamed at her this was a bad idea but in the spirit of the movies her sister loved so much, she put that aside to follow the rest of her companions into the dark scary forest. What could possibly go wrong?

They entered from the same spot they had last night as they made their way in, quickly passing their temporary campsite from yesterday. As they walked, the vegetation around them seemed to get thicker and thicker, the trees seeming to get taller and wider. Susan's uneasiness was also growing and the silence was starting to get to her a bit.

Jack was talking to Moira a little further ahead from the two girls. Susan could probably listen in if she strained her ears but she didn't want to pry and it was probably Jack giving Moira a thorough interrogation anyway. She could just imagine Jack going full interrogator about describing the place, the kids, what they'd been wearing and the exact words they'd spoken.

Eliza on the other hand, seemed a little quieter. She was probably remembering her own experience from the night before and trying to connect the dots on that. Susan took a deep breath. She had to break the silence somehow.

"So you think its a ghost?" asked Susan, tentatively, her volume probably a little lower than she would have liked what with the creepiness currently surrounding.

"I think so," said Eliza, "Look I know it seems weird and none of you believed me yesterday, but I know I wasn't just being paranoid. Something really happened."

Susan held up her arms in surrender. "Hey, I believed you. I didn't say you were making it up. Now I didn't see anything or hear anything but I definitely felt something. Well not like felt more like instinct....oh god I don't even know what I am saying right now. Basically I mean that I had a bad feeling about things yesterday, and I could tell something was wrong. I believed you."

"Thank you," said Eliza, "I can't be the only one with a bad feeling about this."

"Oh you're definitely not," said Susan, "but back to the question, you really think that Moira did in fact run into a ghost?"

"Yeah," said Eliza, nodding, "who else would just be hanging out in the middle of the jungle?"

"Good point," said Susan, "well I am getting that uneasy feeling again, so it might just be ghosts or who knows, it could just be this forest because wow this place is a picture perfect location for a horror movie. I mean the way the trees have grown, how thick this vegetation is, this might as well have been a movie set."

"I suppose we'll find out," said Eliza.

"Yeah, I think we're about to go meet the cast," said Susan, "and I'm sorry, I've always wanted to say a dramatic line like that, you know like a catchphrase, I've always wanted one."

Eliza smiled at her. "Come on, let's speed up a bit, we wouldn't want to get left behind in this forest now, would we?"

"Oh most definitely not," said Susan, speeding up " we should try and catch up to those two."

The two of them sped through the dense foliage, doing their best not to lose sight of Jack and Moira in the trees. It was getting so thick that it almost seemed as if the trees had grown around something they were trying to hide. Susan shook her head at these thoughts. She'd watched far too many horror movies with her sisters. Her brain was starting to play tricks on her. And then she ran into something stringy that clung to her face, a cobweb.

She quickly slapped it aside, dusting it off and homing the resident of said cobweb was not currently on her person. Shrugging it off, she continued but it got worse. Low hanging vines and several other cobwebs, this ones large and quite visible started to appear in their path the deeper they went. As if that wasn't enough a chill seemed to set in the deeper they went.

The logical part of her brain reminded her that inside dense forests, the temperature would drop, and thick vegetation and an abundance of cobwebs wasn't exactly a monumental thing that had never happened before. It was probably just stupid paranoia.

"This is starting to get very spooky isn't it," said Eliza.

"Yeah, no kidding," said Susan, as the temperature seemed to drop a few degrees just at that realization. She ran into another cobweb, "I am so regretting my decision to suggest we come out here."

"Well, its not that bad," said Eliza.

Suddenly a twig snapped somewhere. Susan's already racing heart started to beat even faster, goosebumps starting to appear on her skin.

"What was that?" she whispered.

"Why are you whispering?" asked Eliza.

"It just feels like the thing to....AHHHHHHHHHH." Susan stumbled and almost fell as she jumped backward.

"What's that? Oh my God," Susan mumbled, stumbling over her words.

"Its just a squirrel," said Eliza, who looked like she was trying desperately not to burst out laughing.

Susan frowned and looked down. Sure enough, a small brown critter was scurrying away. As she watched, it scurried up the nearest tree and out of sight. Susan blushed bright red.

"Is everything all right?" came a voice from up ahead. It was Jack.

"No problem, I just...umm...hit my leg on something. Its under control now," said Susan quickly.

Eliza frowned at her.

"Please don't tell anyone," said Susan, trying for a puppy dog look. Eliza rolled her eyes.

"You need a pinky promise?" said Eliza.

"I'm not five," said Susan, rolling her eyes.

"Sure," said Eliza, "come on, let's go deeper into this creepy forest." Susan gave her a 'are you serious look?' as the continued past yet another set of thick vines.

That was when the light started to dim around them. At first, Susan ignored it. After all, with the amount of trees in the area it was only natural for it to get dark, but the further they went, the dimmer the light seemed to get. Looking up, she could make out the sky looking dark. The time couldn't have been any later than late morning or early noon which on an island like this should be when it was brightest, but yet it looked like a rainstorm was coming in, the only difference being there were no clouds to indicate that is was about to get stormy. The conditions were simply getting weirder the further they went in and none of that was helping Susan with her ever increasing sense that something wasn't as it should be. It really was getting far too close to a horror movie for comfort.

"Do you think we maybe walked in a bit too far?" asked Eliza suddenly.

"Why?" asked Susan.

"I mean, we've done a lot of walking here and run into nothing," said Eliza, "the whole place is like the absolute perfect conditions for ghosts or generic spooky activity but nothing's happened so far. Do you think maybe Moira doesn't quite remember where she's taking us?"

"If she doesn't remember, why would she just keep going, there's no need for that," said Susan, "she can just turn around and suggest we search another area, which I personally think would be a very smart option. Have you noticed just how weird everything is? Literally, the sky itself is darkening, and the temperature is continuously just getting worse, there's even a chilly breeze, which is weird because with how dense this forest it, that's not even possible."

"Well, okay I noticed those too, and yeah I do think this place is haunted but how bad can it be?" said Eliza.

"Very, who knows what souls could be trapped here," said Susan, "it would make perfect sense too, a stunning island on the outside, and a dark secret inside this forest."

"Okay, that sounds like a blurb for an adventure story," said Eliza.

"I know, but, if we don't see anything in the next few minutes, can we please just suggest that we get back," said Susan, "and not just because I am very much terrified, also because we need to get some food and all, and work on a shelter of some sort to spend the night. We can't just camp out in a clearing again."

"Alright, but in a few minutes," said Eliza, nodding, "I don't like this too much either, but isn't it better to know if something is out there when we're looking for it, rather than having it jump as at night?"

Susan shuddered. "I didn't need that image in my head but you do have a point. Much better to deal with this while its still daytime." She looked up at the sky that might as well have been early evening if not full on nighttime by this point. "Or at least when its supposed to be daytime."

A few steps further and they were facing what looked like a set of very thorny looking bushes, planted right in their path. It almost looked like it was the border to something, an elaborate fence. Susan shook her head again. Her imagination was really starting to run wild now.

"So do we have to go through that?" asked Susan.

"Jack and Moira made their way through," said Eliza, "I don't think its a good idea to split up."

"Its never a good idea to split up," said Susan, "alright, let's do this then, might as well add a few more cuts to the thousand or so I already have from all that glass and debris."

The two of them plunged through the underbrush, moving slowly to avoid as many spiky thorns as possible. It was a stressful couple of minutes as they waded their way past the spiky sea and emerged into a sort of clearing. It looked like somehow Susan's hunch was correct.

The underbrush might as well have been a wall surrounding what was facing them right now. In a darkened clearing where the sunlight clearly should have been brighter, and the temperature should have been far warmer stood and old dilapidated town.

"Oh perfect," said Susan, sighing. It was almost too much now. "Of course there's a creepy ghost town in the middle of the creepy forest. All we're missing is a ghost." She knew she sounded ridiculous but she had to get it off her chest, it was either that or break down crying.

Week 10 --- Tsunami --- 2061 words

Eliza and Susan joined the others at the edge of the town. The four of them stood silently together, staring at the place.

Finally, Eliza broke the silence. "What is this place?"

"I have no idea," said Jack, "but it looks abandoned."

"No kidding," muttered Eliza. The remaining buildings looked shoddy and broken down. As if they hadn't been lived in for decades... And they looked a little familiar too. "Wait, I think I've seen this before."

Jack stared at her. "This particular place?"

Eliza shook her head. "No, but something like this. In my history class in high school, we watched a documentary about WW2. Refugees from war-torn countries would build their own little villages and try to survive."

"Do you think this is one of those villages?" asked Susan.

"No, the war never came to the Caribbean," said Eliza. "Unless this was a result of another war." A shiver ran up her spine. "Do you think anybody lives here?"

Jack furrowed his brow. "Maybe those kids." He turned to Moira. "Is this where you saw them?"

Moira, pale, shook her head. "No, nowhere near here. I don't even remember seeing this. Besides, I would've told you if I saw an abandoned town."

Jack pursed his lips. "Then why did you-?" He paused before sighing. "Alright, maybe those kids are staying here. They could use this for shelter. Did they give you their names?"

Moria nodded. "Austin and Perry. Austin was taller, and he had dark hair and blue eyes. Perry has red hair and blue eyes."

Eliza eyed the silent huts. Paranoia crept up. "Unless they are ghosts. They probably drowned, and now they haunt this place waiting for their next victims." She backed away slightly, raising her walking stick defensively.

Jack crossed his arms. "Be reasonable, Eliza. Ghosts aren't real."

For once, Eliza didn't bite back. "Oh, of course, you're probably right. Children would search for the nearest shelter, right? Maybe we should split up and cover more ground."

She scanned the town. "Let's meet back over there." She pointed to a broken-down hut.

"Works for me," said Susan.

Jack looked between the two, looking skeptical.

"We're not going to run screaming for the hills," said Eliza, calming down a little. "Susan and I will go this way; you and Moira go left."

"It's never a good idea to split up," said Susan. "What if something happens?"

"I know, but we have to find those kids," said Eliza. "We have to help them." Susan bit her lip, but she nodded.

Finally, Jack nodded. "Okay, good luck. If you find those kids, come back here immediately and find us."

Eliza nodded. "You got it."

They went their separate ways.

"Do you think the kids are here?" asked Susan as they walked past the shoddy huts.

"Probably," said Eliza. "I mean, there's no way they could be ghosts, right?"

Susan raised her eyebrow. "You told me you thought it was a ghost back in the jungle!"

Eliza grimaced. "I'm just trying not to go crazy, Susan." She balled her fists. "I hate it. I hate this so much."

Perhaps realizing the double meaning behind Eliza's words, Susan stayed quiet, but she patted her shoulder in assurance.

"This is so creepy," she said. "When do you think the ghost is going to come out?"

Eliza shrugged, a small smile tugging her lips. "I don't know-" She stopped walking.

"What is it?" asked Susan.

"Do you hear that?"

Susan stayed still, but she shook her head. "I don't hear anything."

"Exactly," said Eliza. "We're in total silence."

Week 10-- Tsunami-- 597 words

The two of them stood in the middle of the path. Susan nervously fiddled with her thumbs, but Eliza stood stock still. She watched the trees, trying to find birds or other wildlife, but there were no animals.

After a moment, Susan said, "You're right. There aren't even any birds chirping." Eliza, half-hearing her, nodded. "Where even are the birds?"

"I don't know," said Eliza, tightening her grip on her walking stick. "It's a little odd, isn't it?"

"More than odd," said Susan, walking a little ways past Eliza. She stopped next to a picket fence, its paint so faded Eliza couldn't tell what color it used to be. "It's strange." Susan ran her finger over the fence. "Maybe this place scared them away."

"Maybe the ghosts scared them away," said Eliza. Susan smiled lightly.

"Now you're speaking my language."

There was a small shack next to Eliza, and its door was partially open. Eliza gestured toward it. "Let's see what's in there."

She forced open the door, which creaked loudly. They went inside the dusty shack.

It was a one-room house, as evidenced by a metal rack in the corner. There was something on top of it, which Eliza guessed to be the mattress. The air was musty, and there were cobwebs in the corner.

"Look," said Susan. She pointed at a desk by the window. They edged closer. Eliza saw a cracked, gray cup. "There's some writing too."

Eliza narrowed her eyes at the piece of paper. It was hard to decipher what was on it, as age had worn it down. Eliza delicately lifted the paper up and held it against the window, hoping the sun would help her out.

"Does it work any better?" asked Susan. Eliza shook her head.

"No, I don't see-" Eliza stopped. "Wait, I think this was supposed to be a diary entry. See, this is the date on the top, but I can't read it."

She scanned the writing, making out more words.

"It's been weeks," she read slowly. "No one has come... hungry... things have been getting worse...Arguments...Deaths...He-"

"What is it?" asked Susan. She was growing pale. "What were you going to say?"

Eliza, stomach churning, glanced at her and swallowed hard. She looked back at the paper. "He's coming. That's the last thing this person wrote."

"What does that mean? Who's coming?"

"I don't know," said Eliza. "I can't read the rest of the writing."

Susan shivered. "This place creeps me out. Let's find the others." Eliza nodded and followed Susan to the door.

But they never made it.

The door slammed shut, making them both jump. Susan turned.

"What was that-?" Susan made a choking sound, her eyes widening. She made a blood-curdling scream, pointing behind Eliza.

"What is it?" Eliza asked, heart jumping to her throat. She whirled around and gasped.

A man, who Eliza was pretty sure she hadn't seen in the shack with them, stood in front of her. His sunken, black eyes bore into her own, his scraggly hair rested against his chin, and he raised a yellowish, pale, bony hand. He took a step toward them. His mouth opened, showing black, broken teeth, and a terrible sound came out.

Susan screamed again, banging on the door. Eliza, absolutely terrified, raised her stick and brought it down on the man. To her increasing horror, the stick went through him, but the man disappeared into a whisp of air.

"Get out of the way," Eliza shouted. Susan backed away, shaking all over, and Eliza raised the stick again and hit the door with all her strength.

The door flew open, flying off its hinges, and the girls stumbled out into the clear air.

Week 10-- Tsunami-- 597 words

Jack and Moira headed towards the heart of the town, passing by dilapidated huts that looked like it was made out of stone, wood, mud, and straw. Jack had no idea how it survived this long, but he admitted that he was impressed; it had withstood the test of time, and that was an admirable masonry success.

"Which way should we go?" he asked to Moira.

Even though Moira was the one who seemed to beckon for them to see these (probably imaginary) kids, she seemed on edge like she didn't want to be here. In fact, she was standing really close to Jack, like she was using him as a human shield. Why she had lead them all to this place, he didn't know. But they were here now, and he was too tired to turn back around with a failed mission.

"Maybe we should check one of the buildings," she said in a wispy voice.

So clearly, she didn't know where she was going either. Jack sighed. Okay, they'll just go into this one building, and then they'll call it quits and meet up with the other girls. No ghosts, no shenanigans.

"Alright, let's go in here," he said, pointing at a big building that actually looked like a makeshift warehouse. Perhaps it was made out of parts of a boat or plane.

With a stiff grunt, Jack moved the metal door to the side and peered in. It was dark, but whoever designed this place did a shoddy job just like the rest of the buildings, but he could respect that they had installed windows to brighten the place up.

The place was incredibly dusty and full of cobwebs. Sand had some in and completely flooded one corner of the room, and although it had also flooded other parts, he could still see some furniture sticking out. Namely chairs, tables, and drawers. He wondered if they were crafted on the island or perhaps found on a shipwreck, but either way, they all looked like they were one poke away from crumbling into dust.

"I don't see anyone here," Jack said, turning to leave.

"Wait!" Moira said, grabbing his arm. "Maybe we should check to see what's in this building."

He raised a brow. "I thought we were looking for the kids?"

Moira pursed her lips and sighed. "I know. And we are. But this is an abandoned town. It has so much history that we don't know about."

Jack thought over this. She was right; this was probably a little town that was never in any history books. They were the firsts to see this. But... he couldn't shake the feeling that they shouldn't linger around.

"I suppose," he said through a sigh. "We'll look around quick, then." He glanced around. Not that there's a lot to see, anyways, he thought to himself.

Moira haughtily went through some of the drawers of very dusty clothes while Jack examined the furniture. A nearby table appeared to have nice craftmanship, although he noticed there were some scratches on it. He squinted closer at it. It looked like... there was a word.

Curiosity piqued, he dusted off a layer of dirt and sand and cobwebs off the table to examine it closer. It was a word, although not one he could recognize. It was scrawled messily with something sharp, perhaps a knife, and it looked like it was colored with a crusty deep red layer. Perhaps... rust.

Akuji, it read.

"Hey, Moira," Jack called, still staring at the name. "Does the word Akuji mean anything to you?"

"It will soon," an airy shrill voice said.

He looked at the direction of the voice, about to ask her why she was talking like that. But Moira was not on the side of the flooded sandy corner.

"Did you say something, Jack?" Moira said from the other side, causing Jack to flip his head around in shock.

"I... never mind," he said in disbelief, not knowing what just happened. Did he just imagine that..?

His arms were getting goosebumps, and suddenly he felt cold. Without even asking, he firmly grabbed Moira's arm and quickly walked out the building with her, closing the door behind him.

He looked over and half-expected her to complain, but she seemed to hold on to him even tighter. Maybe she was scared.

"We should find those boys," he said after clearing his throat, letting go of her.

And then, like clockwork, another voice was heard.

"Miss! You're back!"

Jack looked ahead, not recognizing the voice. Two boys were standing across from them with the exact same descriptions she had given out before.

Week 10 -- Tsunami -- 775 words

The two of them stumbled out, Susan grabbing Eliza before she fell flat on her face from jumping around with a twisted ankle. She steadied the girl, who pointed vigorously at the door they'd just come through nearly decapitating Susan who just managed to duck.

"Careful," Susan said in a stage whisper.

"Put the door back," shouted Eliza, "that thing might follow us."

"Oh crap," said Susan," sorry, didn't think about that." She ran grabbed the fallen door and tried to push it back towards the doorway. The thing was ridiculously heavy.

"Little help please," she said.

Eliza dropped her stick and hobbled over. Together they pushed the door back towards the doorway and with a sudden burst of adrenaline they managed to lift it up and slam it back into place. Luckily, it appeared whatever was inside didn't want to come out after them, either that or it couldn't.

"You think he'll come after us," said Susan, still trying to wrap her head around what exactly she'd seen. She stared at the door, hoping it wasn't about to fly out and hit the two of them.

"Considering how long it took for us to close that," said Eliza, "I don't think so, if he wanted to come after us, he would have by now."

"But maybe we shouldn't stay here and find out if our theory is true," said Susan.

"Good idea," said Eliza, turning to leave. Susan nodded and turned back to the door for a final glance. Inside it quite possibly the strangest and scariest thing she'd ever experienced had taken place. What she'd seen could only mean one thing. Her hunch was right and there were indeed ghosts on this island, scary and potentially very dangerous ghosts at that.

"Susan are you coming or not?" yelled Eliza from behind her. Susan shook herself out of her trance. What was she doing staring at a haunted house. She needed to get away.

"Let's go," she shouted and ran towards Eliza. The two girls took off, not quite knowing where they were running to in the town but somewhere far away from the corpse like man. Susan did her best to stay level with the hobbling Eliza whose sudden maneuvers in the house hadn't done her any favors with her leg.

It was only after getting a decent distance away that they stopped to quickly catch their breath. Eliza immediately leaned against the wall of the nearest house. Susan stood next to her, bending down to try and catch her breath.

She was still shaking as she stood their, sounding like she'd just run a marathon. She was sure her hair and clothes were also probably a complete mess, first from the ridiculously thick jungle they'd trekked through and then whatever this was. Eliza didn't look much better off herself although she didn't seem to be quite as out of breath as Susan was.

They'd stayed there for a few minutes, both of them still trying to catch their breath. It was Eliza who broke the silence.

"So I think we definitely did spot a ghost back there, didn't we?" she asked.

"Yeah, I don't think there's much else that can explain the look that that person had. It was so....well dead looking if that even makes sense," said Susan, almost laughing at the sheer absurdity of the situation they had ended up in.

"Yeah, I think so," said Eliza, "definitely looked like a walking corpse or something. I know I'm not getting that image out of my head for at least few months."

"Yeah," said Susan, "that's prime nightmare fodder right there, which is just about perfect to add to the situation we are already in." She let out a sigh. "And to think this was just supposed to be a relaxing cruise."

"Yeah," said Eliza, "who could have ever imagined this sort of thing would happen."

"So, are you okay?" asked Susan, "your leg wasn't doing too well in the morning either was it? I don't think all that running and then bashing that guy with the stick we did would have helped it in anyway. Oh and thank you by the way. That was amazing what you did. All I did was freeze up and scream uselessly as always."

"No, Susan, don't beat yourself up over that, you've done plenty for us with that solar still, your skills are just different okay, not useless, never tell yourself that," said Eliza, smiling, "oh and my leg is paining as always but its manageable, I somehow managed to pull all of that off without damaging it further."

"That's great," said Susan, "thanks again for saving me."

"No problem," said Eliza, "so, umm...what do we do next then? We can't just stay here."

"I think we should try and find Jack and Moira," said Susan, straightening up and moving away from the house she was leaning on. "Probably shouldn't call out to them in case some other ghost tries to follow us but we can search for them."

"Sounds like a plan," said Eliza, also pushing herself away from the wall.

The two girls set off again, this time at a much more sedate pace as they kept their eyes peeled for any signs of Jack or Moira or even the two boys that Moira had seen. By now they could both agree the boys were definitely ghosts but keeping out for them or any other ghosts wasn't a bad idea either.

They made their way among he dilapidated shacks that made up the village. With the sort of haphazard way that most of them were built it was impossible to guess when in history this town had been built. It was certainly old but the way that it was made almost made it seem as if it had been built a long time ago but added to every now an then. There was an eerie sense of a village that had been built across time by many generations and Susan could believe it, despite how crazy it might have sounded.

The weird mix of time periods wasn't the only strange thing about the village however. Most of it didn't seem to have been built out of regular wood or clay. Quite a few houses looked like they'd once been boats or planes, stripped of their wood and metal to create a strange combination that formed the various huts.

"You think maybe the survivors of a shipwreck built this village?" asked Susan, suddenly. Eliza turned away from the spot she'd been staring hut.

"Would make sense," said Eliza, "except there's one problem, why would you build a village in a place this dark, cold and far away from the actual land? Wouldn't any survivors have wanted to be spotted by a ship out at sea?" This place is like the worst location they could have picked, not to mention just how creepy it is."

"Well maybe this wasn't always this creepy, what if this village only became this creepy and unreachable after ghosts started to haunt the area. Think about it, it coul..."

"Susan run," said Eliza, taking off suddenly.

Susan frowned, looking towards Eliza. A few feet away from her stood another figure, this one even more imposing than the one in the hut. It looked like the corpse of a sailor from a time long past, someone on a passenger ship if the uniform was anything to judge by, not that Susan knew too much about sailing but she'd watched her share of movies. The figure started to move towards them. Susan did the only sensible thing and took off after Eliza, running towards one of the shacks.

She saw Eliza throw the door of the place open and run in. Trying to put the memory of what had happened in one of the huts the last time out of her mind, Susan followed suit.

She ran as far as her tired legs would allow, marveling at how Eliza was somehow going on better than her despite the twisted ankle. With a frustrated grunt, Susan poured as much speed into her legs as possible and ran for the door, sliding to a stop in front of it before she crashed through the wall.

She slipped inside the door and quickly slammed it shut, leaning back against the close door to catch her breath. She gave Eliza a small smile. Luckily for her sanity, only Eliza was there to return her smile, it looked like this particular shack was empty of ghosts or at least any ghosts that wished to be seen by them.

"This... is... getting... crazy," managed Susan though short breaths. "Why did we have to get stuck on a haunted island of all things? Why couldn't it just be a dessert island or something? Not having food and water would be so much better than getting scared to death by whatever those ghost are."

"This definitely isn't a paradise island," said Eliza, nodding. "I knew it. The whole place looked too much like paradise to not hide a dark secret like this."

"Yeah, wheneve... something....lo...looks good, its always hiding something," said Susan, "that's...o one thing that the..the movies get right."

Eliza simply nodded and held a finger up to her lips. "Catch your breath. We have to wait for that thing to disappear and get out of here. We have to just grab Jack and Moira and zoom right on out of here. This place can't be safe. And its not like there's anything useful in here anyway."

Looking around at the hut Susan could see what Eliza meant. The furniture inside looked like one good sneeze would quickly finish it off. There didn't seem to be any equipment there either. Nothing that resembled some kind of radio, lighter or something useful like that. Not even an axe which Susan felt would have been an appropriate thing to have in a haunted shack but apparently real life didn't work like that.

They stood there in silence, once again leaning against something catching their breath for the second time in the past half hour or so. This was starting to be an elaborate came of cat and mouse, and the bad part was that they were the ones being hunted.

It took them a few more minutes to catch their breath and thankfully the ghost that had been chasing after them had not managed to make it all the way to the door and knock which meant they were safe in there for the time being. Once Susan was sure that she was able to stand straight and breathe properly, she moved away from the door and inside the hut.

"So where to next?" asked Susan. "Are we going to just go out there and wander until the next ghost scares us into running once again?"

Eliza laughed at the expression on Susan's face. "Let's hope not, because eventually we're going to run out of energy to keep running. All we need to do is find Jack and Moira. They can't be that far away right? I mean this isn't a that big of a town. They've got to be her somewhere, I highly doubt they would have left without us."

"Yeah, no, I don't think they would have left us behind," said Susan, "of course there is a chance that maybe they thought we left them behind."

"Oh my God, I didn't think of that," said Eliza, "what do we do now?"

"Your companions are still within the walls of this village," came a voice from somewhere deeper in the hut.

"What was that?" chorused the two girls, exchanging identical looks of shock. Without having to exchange a word, the two of them proceeded to run out of the hut at full tilt once more, away from whoever, whatever had spoken.

"We really need to find those two," said Susan, as Eliza caught up to her.

"Yeah, this is getting to a whole new level of creepy."

Week 10 --- Tsunami --- 2004 words

The town was strange. For one, it appeared to be stuck in time. And it was in shambles. Still, it might not be that odd if it weren't that for the fact that they had been shipwrecked on a deserted island.

Earlier, the others had suggested that the boys that Moira had seen were ghosts. Moira actually hadn't been thinking that, but nonetheless, she went along with the group.

Susan and Eliza had gone in one direction, and Jack and her had gone in the other. They were walking for a bit when Jack had asked something about Akuji. Then, the same boys they were searching for caught her attention.

"Moira," said Austin.

"How do you know my name?" Moira asked, certain that she'd never given it earlier.

"We know everything about you," said Perry. "We've been waiting for your arrival."

"Our arrival?" Moira asked skeptically.

"It's been a while since we've had anyone new join us," Austin explained. "This is such a nice little town, isn't it?"

Moira didn't know how to respond.

Week 10 - Tsunami -- 169 words

Eliza and Susan walked through the town much quicker than when they first got there. This time, they walked in tense silence, looking over their shoulders with every step.

At one point, Eliza thought she saw a shadowy figure reaching toward her out of the corner of her eye. She had whirled around, cricking her neck, and staring at the space it had appeared. It was only after Susan begged her to realize that it was a tree that Eliza resumed walking.

How many more ghosts would step into the light and terrorize them? And whose voice was that? Another ghost, probably. Eliza's thoughts wandered back to the first shack they entered.

He's coming... But who? Who was this person that sounded so ominous? Was it the ghost who spoke to them? Susan's voice broke through her thoughts, startling her.

"There they are!" she said, pointing ahead. The familiar people met her gaze. Finally, people who weren't going to do anything terrible to them?

A wave of relief washed over Eliza, and she shared smiles with Susan. Eliza hobbled toward them, Susan keeping pace, which Eliza was grateful for.

"Jack; Moira!" said Eliza, waving her hand. Her companions turned. Despite his irritation with them this morning, he looked relieved to see them, although concern flashed across his face. Moira looked the same, but her face had gone white, and she didn't look like she knew how to speak.

Eliza looked at Susan, finally noticing how pale and shaky she looked. Eliza supposed that she herself looked the same.

"Oh, we're so glad to see you," said Susan, and her hands shook with every word. "We were so scared, and we found something, and there are ghosts, and...and-"

"We need to get out of here," said Eliza, cutting off Susan's nervous babbling. "This place is-is"

"Creepy!" said Susan.

"Oh, miss, you found your friends," said a much younger voice. Eliza froze and leaned sideways to see in front of Jack. Two boys matching Moria's description stood in front of them.

"We're so glad," said the shorter boy (Perry?) "After all, the more, the merrier."

"Oh," said Eliza, dumbly. "We've been looking for you." The boys smiled, in unison. That was creepy.

"That's very kind of you, miss," said Austin. "And, Susan, this town isn't creepy at all. We were just telling Moira and Jack how nice this town was."

Susan squeaked. "How-How do you know our names?"

"Ever since you've arrived on the island, we've been watching you," said Perry. A chill ran up Eliza's spine. "We needed a way to get you here, though, so Austin and I set out to get you."

Jack exchanged glances with the others. "Why did you want us here?"

"First, would you join us for breakfast?" asked Austin. He extended a hand toward Moira, who didn't move. "You must be starving."

As if on cue, Susan's stomach rumbled. She jumped, and a hint of blush tinted her cheeks, but she shook her head, glancing at the boys.

"Uh, no thanks," said Moira, taking a step back. Eliza unconsciously did the same. "We appreciate the offer, but we better be going."

The boys stepped forward, their feet hitting the ground at the same time.

"But, you've only just arrived," said Austin. Was it her imagination, or was his skin getting pale?

"No, Moira's right," said Jack firmly. "We're going now." He reached around Eliza to pull Susan closer and started ushering them all away.

"That's not very nice," said Austin. There was no mistake now. His skin was ashen grey, and so was Perry's.

"We've been waiting so long," said Perry. His lips became blue.

Susan moaned suddenly, and Eliza knew why. Other people were appearing behind the boys.

Ghosts. Looking exactly how they had died.

"Ok, time to go," said Jack.

"RUN!" cried Eliza. The group turned, breaking off into sprints.

Ghosts appeared as they ran, trying to grab them this way and that. With difficulty, they dodged every encounter, turning left, deeper into the village.

Her foot, bursting with pain, was almost enough to kill Eliza. She heaved every breath, sharply inhaling. Her vision swam, blackness spotted her eyes.

Fearing that she would get outran, Eliza latched onto Moira's hand. Moira squeezed back, almost cutting off circulation. Moira grabbed Jack's hand, and Susan took Eliza's walking stick and grabbed her free hand.

If the situation wasn't so terrifying, the group would look so comical.

Jack took a sharp turn, nearly running into the ghost of a half-eaten man. Eliza nearly gagged when she saw it. But the momentum kept going. Moira was sharply pulled back, but Eliza was in arm's reach of the ghost.

Susan shrieked, and she ran forward and kicked the ghost in the middle. It disappeared.

"Nice one!" said Eliza, panting heavily. It was getting harder to run straight. She could barely see Moira.

God, why couldn't they stop running?!

A large house that could've been a meeting place was coming up. As the group ran past, a large gust of wind blew toward them, knocking them off course. What felt like twenty hands pushed them towards the house. The door flew open, and the four of them landed inside. The door slammed shut, and there was silence.

They laid in a heap, gradually pushing themselves off until Jack was left in the original spot. He groaned, raising a hand to his head.

"Is everyone alright?" he asked. Only panting was heard. Eliza could barely hear him over the pounding in her head.

She wheezed, holding her stomach and curling up. She had never felt pain like this before.

"F-Fine" she breathed, sharply inhaling. "Never...better."

She felt him and the others get up, but she stayed on the ground. The room swam in front of her; her vision occasionally spotted. "Just give me a few minutes."

"Eliza," said Susan, somewhere above her. "Are you-"

"Sorry to break up the chat," said a cool, deep voice that felt oddly familiar, even before they entered the town, "but I'm so very glad I caught you all before you left. You see, there's something very important I need to discuss with you."

Week 10-- Tsunami-- 1,031 words

Life was good. Or well, the afterlife, really. An army of ghosts to command, an entire island to explore, the ability to look so dashingly handsome after hundreds of years. What wasn't to love? Surely it couldn't be the non-existent threat of death looming over him with days and nights dragging on in a never ending spiral that would've sent any healthy man straight to the nut house.

Captain Morgan sat on a branch atop the highest tree in the area, looking down as the group or sailors tried to make their way about the town.

Like chickens without heads... he thought.

The children were some of his favorite pawns. They touched the hearts of many sailors before, for some reason everyone always wanted to help them. Not to mention his old crewmate, Billy. He'd lost quite a bit of his flesh before he died, but he was still trustworthy when it came down to following orders. None of them seemed to understand the bigger picture though. The Captain understood the pain of eternal suffering.

"Oh curses on me, he who is left with ability to use my brain for more than needless wandering. I think it's just about time to get this show on the road."

Captain made his was to the warehouse, where he had instructed his minions to lead the sailors to. He would hope they'd be smart enough to make their way here willingly, however he wasn't opposed to letting his friends use force. Which, before long, he found out was exactly what needed to happen.

The crew came crashing into the room and laid on the floor for a moment before they came to their senses. As they began to rise and check on one another, The Captain stepped out of the darkness to where he could be seen.

"Sorry to break up the chat," he said, "but I'm so very glad I caught you all before you left. You see, there's something very important I need to discuss with you."

He smiled as he watched the confusion on their faces.

"Now I know what you must be thinking. You're going insane, right?" The Captain began to walk back and forth in front of them, not bothering to look their direction, "Don't you worry sailors, we've all been in your place before. There isn't a soul on this island that set sail with an intent to end up here."

"Who- are you?" The man asked.

The Captain did a dramatic turn in their direction, "They call me," he performed a small bow, "Captain Morgan."

"You're... you're a ghost?" One of the girls chimed in.

"Well, you could say that." The Captain nodded.

"So then..." She seemed nervous, "you mean, they called you captain..."

The Captain looked at her. Should I kill her? Susan is her name, right? I want to kill her. He shook his head and waved his hand dismissively, "That's neither here nor there. The point is, you're stuck and you need help. Consider me your saving grace."

They looked at him hesitantly.

"There are things on this island that will help you find your way back home, and I'm willing to help guide you to them."

"Why should we trust you?" The man asked, "None of this makes any sense."

"Oh Jack," The Captain shifted closer to him, "Getting you all off this island helps me as well. I can't have foreigners coming here ruining our little paradise. It's bad for the economy!"

None of them looked convinced.

"Besides, perhaps it would interest you all to hear I could reunite you with the friends and family you've lost on the way here?"

A twisted smile creeped on The Captains face as he watched the group suddenly pipe up.

week 10-- tsunami-- 630 words

Jack stared at Captain Morgan with a deer-in-the-headlights look. He was skeptical, angry, and terrified of everything that was going on right now, but suddenly it all washed away when this ghostly pirate brought up one thing: he could reunite them with the friends and family they lost.

"They're alive?" he breathed out. "Our family. Friends. They're... on this island?"

"Jack!" Eliza hissed at him in a dizzy state, trying to be the sensible one here this time. He couldn't help that the Captain pulled the one card that may work on him.

Captain Morgan's lips turned upwards into a sinister smile as his beady eyes stared at him. "Oh, yes, they're on the island, alright. Doing quite well. Wouldn't you like to see them?"

Jack couldn't help it. He screamed and lunged at the man knowing full well that he had no physical form, and as expected, went right through him.

The Captain let out an amused laugh that sounded a bit like a hyena before disappearing and reappearing across the room. "Now, now," he said, wagging a finger in front of him. "You don't want to mess with a holy figure such as myself. You should direct your energy into freeing your wife instead. Oh, she's dying to see you."

Anger and hurt flashed across his face, and he wanted to lunge again.

"Moira, Susan!" Eliza said weakly as she held on to her bad foot, still hissing through her teeth. She gestured at him, and the two of them quickly rushed to hold him back. They weren't that strong and he could admittedly tear right through their grip, but he stopped anyways and grit his teeth through a glare instead, knowing full well he couldn't physically do anything.

"You said you can help us find our way back home," Moira said softly, stepping in to the role as the next adult to handle the situation. Her voice was shaky, but she looked like she was trying to be as composed and brave as possible. "How?"

"Well, I'm glad you asked!" the Captain piped up, grinning again. "See, I've seen travelers in all the weary years of my life, but not one group succeeded me. They have all failed. Failed! Such sadness. But it is okay now. Their souls are controllable with my fingertips now. They're actually quite fun to puppet around."

They all looked up at him, horrified.

"How is that supposed to convince us?" Eliza asked with an exasperated voice.

"Oh, did I ramble again?" the Captain mused out loud. "Silly me. My head is in the clouds these days. Literally, sometimes."

He coughed despite probably having no lungs or capability to breathe. "Allow me to say the riddle out loud," he said rubbing his hands together.



He looked at them all unexpectedly.

"I don't understand what that means," Eliza said. "What does this mean?"

Moira turned to Jack, eyes wide, "Jack, didn't you mention Akuji to me before?"

Jack's face turned pale. "Yes, but I..." He couldn't seem to finish the sentence.

Finally, Susan spoke up after being so spooked from today's events. "If we do this, we can see our family?" she said in a wavering voice.

The Captain pounded his chest. "You have my word. But I must warn you: every time you think or say his name, the more he will be borrowed in your mind. And I daresay, it's quite fun to watch when that happens."

Week 10 -- Tsunami -- 604 words

Susan stood there processing what had just been revealed. Her family, her father was alive and well, and somehow on this island with this man. Or at least that's what he seemed to say. He could also mean that maybe he would find them a way to get back to their families after they did whatever task that he needed them to do. That would also make a lot of sense. Then Susan came up with another far darker explanation. If all these ghosts were actually sailors that had once been stranded here, then maybe her father was a ghost on this island, and he'd being caught in the shipwreck.

She shook her head. That couldn't be right. That shouldn't be right. Her father couldn't be gone like that. It must be the second option. It had to be the second option. If it wasn't, she didn't even want to think about what she might do. It would be the end of her, she knew that much.

The the Captain spoke one last cryptic line. "You have my word. But I must warn you: every time you think or say his name, the more he will be borrowed in your mind. And I daresay, it's quite fun to watch when that happens."

From the entirety of their conversation, this is the statement that stuck her as the most truthful. Somehow, whether it was the smile on the Captain's face, the way he pounded his chest or his general demeanor as he said that line, she believed every word of that, especially the last line. He would enjoy whatever horrors lay in wait for him at the hands of this Blah Blah Blah. If thinking his name was bad, it didn't hurt to follow that particular piece of advice.

Susan turned to the others.

"Then it seems pretty clear," said Susan, "all we need to do is avoid thinking or talking about He Who Must Not Be Named, which is a line I never thought I would get to say outside of a joke but here we are. And I guess we should think about trying to solve this riddle that..." Susan stopped dead in her tracks.

As they turned to look at Captain Morgan, he had vanished. They were standing alone in a long abandoned warehouse that was in the process of falling apart. It was as if no one had been there at all but she knew this wasn't some random hallucination or a day dream. All four of them have seen the Captain and imagined him saying the same thing. That was too much evidence to dismiss it as one person going crazy. Mass hysteria was a thing but mass hysteria usually didn't blow you off course into abandoned warehouses to meet crazed pirate captains.

"So...I guess he told us everything we need to know, so we have to do the rest ourselves," said Eliza.

"Yes, this riddle must have the answers that we need to know in order to find my...our families," said Jack.

"Then why don't we try and figure this riddle out," said Eliza, "does anyone remember the full thing exactly. We should probably write in down in case we forget."

"Yeah, I remember," said Susan. She took a deep breath. Her dad needed her at the moment and she couldn't save him by sitting in a corner and crying. She had to make herself useful. "Do you have anything to write on? I have a pencil with me, well I always do, just a habit, I had a notepad too but it must have been lost during the shipwreck." Susan produced a pencil from her pocket. It was still a bit soggy looking, because she'd forgotten to lay it out in the sun to dry but hopefully the lead was still usable.

"Okay that needs to be sharpened. How about we look around here, see if we can locate some kind of paper and maybe a knife or something that can be used to sharpen the pencil," said Eliza, taking charge of the situation since Jack still seemed to be conflicted about something, probably thinking of his own family. From what Susan had seen so far, Jack was definitely dealing with having lost someone, and the Captain's words had rattled him quite a bit. Moira, on the other hand seemed a bit better off. She grabbed Jack to go look for something in the corners of the warehouse. It looked as empty and abandoned as everything else had but it was better to try and look for something rather than give up altogether.

"I guess I'll take the other side then," said Susan, "you shouldn't be walking around, so just stay put Eliza. I really don't think your leg would be upto that right now with all the running and jumping and falling that we just did." Even though Eliza was putting on a brave face and trying to act like she was fine with a smile Susan could see that she was currently in a world of pain and gritting her teeth as she spoke. She was most definitely not fine judging by how fast she was breathing and how it looked like she was going to sink to the floor in a dead faint any second.

"Are you sure you don't need help?" said Eliza. She was trying for a comforting voice but it came out as more of a pained hiss.

"I think I should be the one asking that question," said Susan moving towards Eliza, forgetting about her search. She gently took Eliza's arm and put it around her shoulder. "Come on let me get you a seat somewhere. You should not be standing." Eliza opened her mouth to protest but Susan shushed her.

"You've done so much for me and the team and forgotten completely about taking care of yourself. Now its my turn to repay all that. Please let me help you. Okay, its not a bad thing to let go and allow someone to help you once in a while. It doesn't make you weak or anything to let someone help you. In fact its the strongest thing a person can do to admit that they need help. Or at least that's what my father always told me." Susan couldn't help the tear that made its way down her face at that memory.

A hand gently wiped it away. "Hey, its alright, we'll solve that riddle somehow and find him okay. We won't let Captain Morgan do whatever he wants to with them, no matter what."

"I thought I was the one supposed to be comforting you," said Susan, looking up at Eliza.

"Well you looked like you needed a little comforting yourself," said Eliza.

"I guess we can comfort each other then," said Susan, smiling widely. Eliza returned her own pained smile.

"Yes we can."

The two of them carefully hobbled over to one of the corners of the warehouse. The place looked relatively clean but in the darkness they were in there was no telling how much dust and grime could have been on that floor. Unfortunately, at that point they didn't have the time or the tools to actually care about that. After shifting her foot around it like a giant windshield wiper to make sure there would be no surprises waiting for them on the floor Susan let herself lean against the wall, gently getting Eliza to lean on it as well.

"Shall we take a seat then?" said Susan.

"I'll take a seat," said Eliza, "you should keep looking. You can't let Jack and Moira search this whole place on their own."

"I'm sure they can handle a good chunk of it by themselves," said Susan, "they are adults after all."

"I think we're adults too, right?" asked Eliza.

"In terms of age, yeah I suppose. Its only been a year for me. Technically we are still the children in this equation," said Susan.

"Equation?" asked Eliza.

Susan gave her an apologetic smile. "Sorry, force of habit. I'll try not to do that again."

"I'm just teasing you dummy," said Eliza.

"Oh, sorry," said Susan.

"And you're saying sorry again," said Eliza.

"Well, I apologize for being sorry, Ms...hmm....I don't know."

"Hamilton," said Eliza, "My full name is Elizabeth Hamilton."

"Ah, nice to meet you Ms. Hamilton," said Susan. "Why did I sound so silly just then?"

"I have no idea, Ms?" said Eliza, raising her eyebrows questioningly.

"Danvers," said Susan, "Susan Danvers."

"Someone's a fan of James Bond," said Eliza, smiling, "but anyway, pleasure to meet you too, Ms. Danvers."

"My sisters are big fans, and I suppose I think they aren't half bad myself," said Susan. The two of them shook hands, Susan trying not to burst into laughter. Given the situation they were in, Susan couldn't imagine what was happening at the moment but she was enjoying it somehow, despite the fact that she should currently be cowering in the nearest corner crying.

"What are we even doing right now?" said Eliza, as the two of them gently slid down the wall until they were sitting side by side on the floor. Eliza stretched out her leg, letting it catch some much needed rest from supporting her weight through what had been far too much running for a single morning on a twisted ankle.

"Well, whatever it is, I like it, it definitely beats moping around," said Susan.

"We probably shouldn't get carried away though, Jack and Moira definitely look like they're very focused on finding a book and a knife. If they catch us chatting and joking, I definitely don't think Jack is going to be in a forgiving mood."

"Yeah, I was just thinking that myself, as fun as this is, getting yelled at by Jack is definitely going to ruin the mood and the last thing we need is to have an argument amongst ourselves when we all need to be working together to get to our families, whatever Captain Morgan meant by all his cryptic statements."

"Yeah, well I'm fine for the moment. Thank you so much for that by the way. Why don't you join the search while I brainstorm some idea while getting some rest in this corner?"

"No problem," said Susan, smile getting even wider if that was even possible. "I'll go look for things then. Do you need to hear the riddle again or do you remember the full thing?"

"Um, I think it wouldn't hurt to hear that again. Its all a little fuzzy from the pain of you know," said Eliza, gesturing towards her leg, "its crazy what a little pain can do to your priorities when it comes to memories."

"Yeah," said Susan, "okay, let me recite it, I don't think I can replicate that exact tone that Captain Morgan used to make it sound like this very cryptic prophecy or something but I do remember the words."

"Well, you're not Delphi, I think that's fair," said Eliza.

"Listen up then," said Susan. Taking a deep breath she recited, "



"That definitely still sounds like a very confusing poem, which I think is basically the definition of a prophecy," said Eliza, "or at least that's what Rick Riordan would have you believe."

"I think J.K. Rowling would also agree with that," said Susan, hauling herself to her feet. "Well, I'll let you decipher that then, time for me to go find a book. Usually not a very hard thing because my room is literally covered in books but for once it looks like its going to be a challenge."

With one last laugh exchanged, Susan turned away and back to the warehouse. Jack and Moira seemed to have already finished looking through a good chunk of the place and somehow they'd either not seen her and Eliza talking or they were pretending that they had seen nothing. Hopefully it was the former because the latter couldn't lead to much good.

Susan walked over to the one corner that looked like it hadn't been looked at yet and began her search. She brought her sweaty blouse up to her face to cover her nose. It smelled like death and it was very much wet but desperate times called for desperate measures. In a choice between developing a sneezing fit and having to smell her own smelly clothes for a few minutes, she would choose the second option every time.

She began her search methodically, looking through every inch of the warehouse bit by bit, using her feet to feel for things that could be hiding in the darkness that they were engulfed in. The last thing she wanted was to find a knife by accidentally stabbing herself with it by poking her hands in the wrong place.

It wasn't the most exciting of tasks that she'd done but the thought of her father kept her from losing hope as she fruitlessly searched through every ancient bit of furniture she could trying not to accidentally destroy everything. So far, she'd managed to get away with only collapsing just the one table which hadn't even been her fault. She had literally just tapped it with a finger and one of the tables legs had snapped apart.

Over on the other side of things, Jack and Moira didn't seem to be having too much luck of their own either. They'd been quiet ever since they had begun their search and despite the fact that Jack was frantically laying waste to nearly everything in sight in order to try and find something, there had been no declaration of "I found it".

It had been nearly fifteen minutes since Susan began searching that she finally heard Jack speak up in an excited voice. "I found something," he called out, "I think its an old sheaf of papers. They look like they might just fall apart at any moment but I think they'll do just fine for what we need as long as we're careful about handling them"

Susan whirled around the see Jack carefully hold up some ancient looking yellowed parchment. Moira was walking towards him from where she'd been searching herself and she gave a quick nod.

"That should work. Susan, did you have any luck finding a knife?" she asked.

Susan shook her head sadly. "I've looked everywhere I could think of, but there just doesn't seem to be anything in here."

"Well there simply has to be," said Jack, "it looks like this warehouse is one of the oldest buildings here and there are artefacts from so many time periods here. There has got to be someone in all those years that brought a knife to this island, or at least an axe or hatchet or just something sharp."

"I'll keep looking," said Susan, quivering slightly at the light in his eyes.

"Come on, let's do the same, " said Moira, "give the parchment to Eliza."

Jack nodded, some of the slightly crazed look vanishing as she quickly walked over to Eliza and gently handed the parchment to her. Susan saw him whisper something to her, probably asking if she was alright. Nodding to no one in particular, Susan turned back to the task at hand, looking for something sharp as Jack had put it. There definitely had to be something. The odds that they wouldn't find a knife were the astronomically low ones, not the other way around.

Five minutes later, Susan finally felt her leg hit something hard on the floor. Frowning, she bent down carefully to examine what it was. When she could make out what it was in the dark, she breathed a sigh of relief. It was a knife, a small rusted looking letter opener to be exact.

"I found something," she called excitedly, waving her arms. She could hear as Jack and Moira immediately rushed over to investigate.

"Is it a knife?" asked Jack.

"Looks like a very old letter opener," said Susan, pointing at the tiny knife on the floor.

"That will do just fine," said Jack, quickly tearing off a piece of his shirt and picking the knife up by the handle.

"Don't want to accidentally catch anything," he elaborated at Susan's questioning look.

"Okay then, where's the pencil?" asked Moira. Susan quickly produced it from her pocket. Jack immediately began to sharpen it as he walked over to Eliza and took a seat on the floor next to her.

"Might as well sit down and discuss this riddle," said Jack.

"Maybe we should try and get back to the beach first," said Moira, "I'm don't want to spend anything but the minimum amount of time in here."

"No, Moira, lets figure out where we have to go to do this task first, what if its right in this village, we'd waste a lot of time going back and forth and Oli...our loved ones may not have that kind of time. Every second counts right now," said Jack. Susan nodded and took a seat next to Eliza. Moira, on the other hand, looked like she wanted to protest that statement but she seemed to realize that Jack wasn't about to take no for an answer and sat down in the mini circle they had formed.

Susan quickly recited the riddle/ prophecy/ bad poem again and Moira wrote it down carefully on the parchment. Once they were done, she tossed the pencil back to Susan who proceeded to drop it, look embarrassed and then quickly tuck it away in her pocket.

"Okay, looks like we can start solving the riddle then," said Eliza, "I have a few theories on some of the lines now that I've had some time to really think about it."

"That's great Eliza," said Jack, "let's begin then."

"Let's find our families," added Moira.

"Time to solve a riddle to save someone's life," said Susan, head spinning with how much it sounded like a cheesy line from a movie. I didn't exactly exactly plan on getting shipwrecked on a haunted island either so I guess that's an appropriate line.

Week 10 --- Tsunami --- 3046 words