“Wh—” His words were cut off as I was jolted back to the present again.
“Brea?!” Lincoln’s voice was panicked as he stroked my hair. My glasses were now gone and it took a few moments to get my head clear enough to answer him.
“Holy shit, are the Darklings still on?” I asked.
“No, the storm fucked the signal or something, the stream dropped right as you went under,” Ben said.
“Good,” I said as I pulled myself from Lincoln’s arms and started running toward the exit.
“Where the hell is she going?” Sully called out as the guys all yelled for me to stop. I paused and turned only because I didn’t want to freak them out further.
“Upper deck. The crew hid something before abandoning ship,” I explained. “We have to find it. I’d bet my favorite alpaca plush the crew renovating didn’t find it.”
“It’s dangerous out there,” Lincoln growled. “We can come back tomorrow.” Refusing to listen to his logic I ran outside anyway. The storm was reminiscent of the memory storm I’d just run though. In fact, they were eerily similar moments and as I slid my way across the deck, I kept seeing shadows, as if they knew it was resemblant and I was getting close to their secret.
My fingers were half frozen by the time I reached the same vent. Years of salty sea air and weather had made it nearly impossible to open.
“Here,” Lincoln yelled, moving me aside so he could try. Soon Ethan was helping as well. Even with all the muscle behind them, it still took five minutes before it even budged. Lincoln pulled out a pocket knife, using it for leverage as he forced it open. The screech the metal let out as he finally got it all the way open was awful and I couldn’t help but wince. That didn’t stop me from shoving him aside so i could grab the box.
The moment I grabbed it and wiped away the spiderwebs surrounding it, I turned and held it up for them to see. Ethan’s eyes widened before he tore off his hoodie and threw it on top, covering the metal.
“Angel, are you trying to get struck by lightning?!” he burst out, keeping it in his arms.
“Whoops?” was all I had to offer.
“We’re heading back, I’m soaked,” Ben declared, already turning and leading the way toward the shore where Ryker and Sully were loading into the SUV. At this point the morning light was starting to backlight through the darkness but the storm hadn’t calmed at all.
I was shivering by the time we got into the SUV and was glad they’d decided to call it for the night.
“Wait, how did you get out here by yourself?” I asked Sully, realizing Ryker had been in the museum and he’d been the only one coming to shore at the time.
“The comms,” Ryker explained. “When you get a hasty ‘Brea’s freaking out and Sully needs you to guide’ directive, you run.”
“Sorry,” I muttered. “This is big though. And I think I know what happened to the crew.”
“You got all that from that vision?” Ben asked. “It was longer than usual but I’m shocked you got all that and this location all in one.”
“They’re desperate,” I answered. “They’ve been trapped here for some reason and I think they needed this box found. It was crazy, I could feel things this time, smell things. Just like I was truly in their timeline.”
“This town has to have a ley line or something,” Ryker said. “Everything, even your new ability, is stronger here.”
The ride back to the inn was short, but still rough as lightning lit up the town in an eerie light. Something about the storm and the energy here had me feeling like something was about to happen. Something big. Like they were building up for something.
I just wish we knew what that something is.
ChapterSeventeen
Brea
By the time we’d gotten back to our rooms and out of our wet clothes, we hadn’t had a chance to open the box. I was asleep before Lincoln and Ben even joined us again. But the moment I woke up that afternoon I was ready to figure out what the spirits wanted me to find.
Grabbing the rusted box from my bedside, I rushed downstairs, only to find that Ethan and Ryker were still missing.
“Go wake them up,” Lincoln said before even saying good morning.
“I’ll grab your coffee,” Ben promised.
“He made some amazing food,” Sully said around a bite as he devoured the brunch Gary had prepared.