Decked

Ughhh...I grazed him. Missing twice isn't like me. But there is a strangeness about him.

'Could he be like me? Then again Ive never met anyone like me. And I didn't peg them on being as eccentric as this one' I rose to me feet.

Now I just have to follow the trail. Walking out of the cargo hold and up the stairs proved to be a tad more difficult with the vessel now swaying to its own beat.

I turned to look at the door of the engine room and shook my head.

'Nothing seems to be amiss in there..'

Walking up the spiral staircase I found myself back in the entertainment lounge. Unfortunately the floor was now scarce of love. People don't take too kindly to their game of roulette to be disturbed by the waves.

It was also getting late other than some staff it was a ghost town. Looking down at my black heels I could see that the blood trail began to thin near the stairs to the next floor but something rubbed me the wrong way.

I decided to remain in the casino for a little while longer.

" Excuse me miss are you perhaps lost?"

Twirling around I decided to make this quick. I stared into the brown eyes of another crew member. Tied around his neck was a blue scarf but his outfit was the same as all the others on this vessel.

I stepped closer and ran my fingers across his chest.

"No no I think ive found where I need to be officer"

I gave him a seductive smile as I stared at his unchanged expression. 'Cant fool these eyes big boy'

Glancing at the stains next to us he seemed to follow my gaze and looked at the blood on the floor.

As if a light bulb went off inside his mind he stared at my " perplexed" expression and calmly spoke.

" Don't worry Miss. A passenger had an unexpected incident due to the heavy rocking of the vessel earlier. They've been taken to the emergency room on F1. "

Seeing that I was unconvinced by his story he placed his gloved hands on my shoulders and with a frightening amount of clarity spoke again.

" We on the Concordia pride ourselves in the care and safety of our passengers M'lady. If you feel insecure about whatever you've seen. I can walk you to your room. "

' Hmph. Walk me to my room. Is that how you get every damsel in distress.'

Looking at him I shook my head and thanked him.

" Thank you for the reassurance. Its nice to know there are honest men around...See you later officer."

I could hear his sigh of disappointment as i turned away from his request.

" Almost got her O'niel. "

" Yeah next time maybe be a little less reassuring it'll help you snag sum' "

" shut up privates"

" we know she's not fiddling with yours"

The sound of a high five echoed in the silence behind me. Passing by the hallways of F2 it seemed as if the second half of the games had started.

Most were in their rooms asleep as of now while others took the time to ease their minds with a bit of smoke out a window. Some however loved the guilty conscience.

I could feel their gaze on my body. Each one of them undressing me with their filthy eyes. Whistling and cat calling were the extent of their habits. As their were still sailors on the floor doing their rounds. I couldn't see the blood on the carpet anymore.

Although all the floors had the same carpet this one was clearly a bit worse for wear. And bloody and other questionable stains had already bathed the floor since the start of the voyage.

I finally returned to the first floor. As usual it was quite and peaceful. Not a single soul made their presence known. What they're doing behind those closed doors was none of my business but on my trip here I could see that some had a few extreme tastes.

Resching the infirmary door. I stared at the health insignia and thought to myself… 'Just 1?'

Knocking on the door I was expecting to find nothing but the door slowly creaked open. Revealing a more than intimidating woman. She was short petite and I was sure that her back hurt more than anything her patients came in with.

My eyes twitched a little as she innocently stared at me as if waiting for a complaint. I continued to look down at her and questioned.

" Excuse me love have you seen a black haired boy recently? I was told he was brought to you because of some scary incident." I did my best to put on a concerned facade.

Her eyes lit up with an strange glee. " You must be his wife Im so sorry you had such a bad fight. But he wanted me to assure you that he is all better now-"

" Really now? Where is my love?" I said through my teeth.

' wife..this kids got definitely got a problem. Or this nurse does to believing such an obvious lie...With my charm? How could I be any man's wife?'

She looked at me curiously. "Oh he went back to your room after I bandaged him up"

Looking at my shocked expression she continued

"Did you not see him on the way here? He said you'd come to thank me before looking for him. Guess he was right after all. "

" Yeah.. thank you for helping us get through this difficult time. Im sorry."

"You're very welcome miss Pin"

I already didn't want to stay here any longer. I left the infirmary and headed towards my bedroom

The familiar 13 was now swaying back and forth.

Staring at the door and gave an unsurprised look

'Empty'

Cocking my gun from beneath my coat I twisted the knob and opened the door.

Surprised there was nothing in the room just a note on the desk.

" My darling , Oh my baby , Oh my rag time gal…I ache from the wounds of your obsession. I know I have hurt you darling but you could never put a hole in me as big as the one in my heart. Unfortunately I must be gone before we can reunite. Parting is such sweet sorrow."

I slammed the note onto my desk and looked towards my window.

" Alright Mr. genie. Before we land I hope you can make my wish come true. "

I turned to look at my Mirror. My skirt suit was a bit unkempt. The dark gray skirt along with its matching peplum jacket made my figure even more alluring to the eyes. The jacket was not as slim fitting as the skirt as I had things to keep hidden within it. Every now and then my eyes would glance at the insignia that lay on my breast pocket.

" Dimora…Cosi lontano "

A faint memory began to play within my mind.

Small hills of green and brown in the distance. A manor that sat cosily upon one of the plateaus. Fields of wheat and rye extending beyond the eyes could see.

My mother dressed exquisitely sat under the shade of an umbrella held by a older man. The chair she was in seemed to be moved off the gazebo and closer to me. My father sat further away on the gazebo watching me. I couldn't see his face clearly a haze was cast by the smoke of his ciggar but their eyes also seemed trained on someone else. Behind me a little boy. His features unclear but I could tell he was my own.

"sorella, seguimi!"

I reached out to him as he tried to run away. But reach was too short.

" fratellino aspetta" I tripped onto the grass. And when i looked up he was gone.

Drip. Ah my eyes. They were tearing up. Whispering to myself

" presto fratellino. aspetta ancora un po…but first time for the genie to grant my wish."

I headed out of my room towards the deck. I wiped away the tears in my eyes and walked up the staircase towards the deck. Pulling out a timepiece from a pocket i could see that it was nearly 9 PM.

The vessel would make landfall soon. As I made the final step. I could see a fine mist lurking above the staircase. It slowly trickled below deck as if it was running water.

Looking up at the two stacks I could barely make out the steam from from the fog. The ships lights allowed me to navigate through the fog without my trouble.

At the bow of the vessel sitting on a wooden bench

was a familiar face. However he peacefully sat with his eyes closed and a bandage wrapped around his arm.

I circled around him and slowly inched until I was mere feet away from him.

" My beloved. Why must you torment my heart so?"

" Dont worry darling. I'll put you out of your misery soon enough." I pulled the small pistol out of my jacket and aimed it at his temple.

" Have I actually done anything worth killing me? All I did was sleep in your bed."

" Where I come from that is a sign of disrespect. And disrespect is dealt with swiftly and quietly. And you're lying some valuables of mine went missing"

The slightest clicking could be heard.

" Hmm. Alright. " He finally sat up and gave me a serious expression.

I dont know why but my body instinctively flinched when he looked at me. ' What was that? '

Ignoring my reaction he continued. " Although to me my flesh has already paid the price. It seems you desire more from little old me. "

I looked at his poor form and overall stature and questioned him.

" You don't look as if you have anything I want. "

He het out a small chuckle and spoke again. " I wasn't lying when the called me a Genie. Ask me anything and I'll tell you the answer. " A maniacal smile appeared on his face.

Bang! Shards of wood and splinters were now scattered across the floor and bullet shaped hole bore through the bench.

' He's serious…Im sure of it now.'

I continued to stare at him. His cheeks bled due to splinters cutting it but the smile on his face remained. He did not even flinch.

" So are you going to ask your question? You only get one."

Silence remained on the deck of the vessel for what felt like minutes but only lasted a few seconds.

" Where is Maci Lucciano..?"

" Ahhh that's easy I know where your brother is."

In my shock I forgot to ask the most obvious question before me.

"Where is he?"

He seemed to think about his next words carefully. Or at least he pretended to.

" You'll find him when you arrive in Dreamland. In the city of New London."

My mind felt as though a weight was lifted off of it. I was finally headed in the right direction. I was one step closer to finding him. A tear fell from my cheek onto the moist wooden floorboards. I silently lowered the gun from his temple

As my mind eased itself of stress suddenly an alarm was raised in my head. I immediately raised my guard again. " How did you know he was my brother….?"

" You did. " He sat on the bench still grinning