The Twilight's observation deck, Chris's favorite place on the ship. This is a place he goes to if he wants to feel free, to feel the soft wind and the moon's soft rays. "Captain?" Chief Murillo's voice cuts through his solitude.
He looks over his shoulder. "What is it?" his voice is deep and void of any emotions.
"The manifest of passengers." Chris took the tablet and swipped through the pages, going directly to the last page. "As you can see, sir, we added another three hundred thousand to the already existing nine hundred thousand. Six hundred thousand are in the engine room, four hundred and fifty thousand are in the gray deck, and only a hundred and fifty thousand are in the Gold deck."
Chris scoffed "Two hundred thousand years of existence and humanity has yet to learn their lesson" He handed the manifest back and smirked "I won't be surprised if one day there will be no more passengers in the gold deck" he leaned on the railings "Is there anything else Chief Murillo?" asking coldly, after he sensed the woman was still behind him.
"Are you not going to reprimand that human for being disrespectful to you?" reminding him of how she spoke to him.
The Gold Deck, a few hours ago:
"What's the matter with you? Are you really so miserable and cold that the joy of others irritates you endlessly?"
Chris advanced toward Cecilia with a slow, threatening gait, his eyes burning with intensity. "The other deck is the control deck. You can go anywhere on this ship, but if you ever set foot on deck zero, it will kill you. And if you ever disrespect me again...I will kill you myself." The captain's ominous declaration made Cecilia's heart race with fear, rendering her mute in front of the gold deck crowd.
The present;
"It is enough that I threatened her, the old man told me a use for her aside from being the ship's canary," Chris smirked at the revelation that he had just learned
"If I may be so bold, what did the archangel tell you that your demeanor softened?" She stepped forward to stand side by side with Chris. "That woman bothers me. How could the ship bound her when she is still alive?"
"You asked what that old fart told me?" With a grin, he revealed what he learned: "He said she is going to give me peace."
"Sir, isn't that a bit bothering? With the word peace, Triple-A could mean death." Murillo explained, not to mince words, as her concern and worry were evident.
"What's the difference? In less than two years, that's where I'm heading anyway. So why delay the inevitable?" Chris scoffed at the concern thrown his way.
"I know that you are worried that your tenure as captain is ending, and that the archangel reviewing your performance is just around the corner. There is still hope; we have time to turn things around." Gently placing a hand over his shoulder as a way of encouraging him.
Chris nudged the hand off. "Hope? There is no such thing!" He declared with a low growl, he then glared at his Chief Cook. "You are not to say anything to anyone, understood?"
"Aye, aye, Captain, don't worry." Chief Murillo assured Chris of her assistance. From their perch high atop the observation deck, the two then looked at Cecilia sitting sheepishly in a corner, watching her as she tried to avoid making eye contact with any of the passengers.
Cecilia left her seat, making her way out of the gold deck, looking for a place where she could be alone with her thoughts. She nearly jumped when she felt a cold hand on her shoulder. "Don't hurt me, please!" She squealed so loudly that it caught the attention of the passengers, cringing on the floor with her hands raised in surrender.
"I'm not here to hurt you, Ms. Bermudez," Chief Bustamante chuckled
Cecilia slowly opened her eyes and saw the Chief Officer smiling at her. She quickly got up and fixed herself. "Sorry, reflex," she nervously chuckled. "What can I do for you, sir?"
"Our voyage has been delayed until tomorrow at six in the evening; till then, you are granted shore leave," he nodded at the human and left. He then stopped and looked back at the human. "I heard you and the captain argued. He is gentle if you get to know him. If he said anything hurtful, please accept my apologies on his behalf." Chief Bustamante bowed and continued on his way.
Cecilia gave a shy smile upon hearing the apology. Bustamante left, her eyes lit up when she realized, "I can go?" She looked around and, like magic, she saw a set of stairs leading off the ship where there were none just a while ago.
The moment her feet hit the concrete, she ran as fast as she could, not bothering to look back. "I'm not going back there," she promised herself.
On her way back to her grandfather's house, she dreaded the intersection filled with ghosts, but at that time, all she could ever think about was getting home. Upon reaching the intersection, she was dumbfounded when the ghosts all ran away, except for the ghost that was lingering around Andres. Cecilia stopped. "It's him again," she thought to herself. Looking at the drunk Andres and the ghost watching over him. Cecilia shook her head and continued to run home.
Upon entering their home, she quickly locked the doors behind her. "My, you're early today, child," Ernesto said behind her, making her squeak a little.
"Pops, why are you already awake? Shouldn't you be…" She wasn't able to finish her sentence; she accidentally glanced at the clock and saw the time "Eleven? But I've spent almost an entire day on that ship."
"Ship? What ship?" Her grandfather asked as he prepared Cecilia's dinner, "Come on, child, have your dinner." She sat down, utterly confused. "Well, go ahead, eat your dinner, then wash up and go to sleep. I heard that the fishermen caught lots of fish today. You're going to have a tough time selling them tomorrow."
"Don't worry, Pops, your granddaughter is charming enough to wow anyone into buying our fish," she boasted. This made Ernesto laugh. He then saw her unkept hair, and he took one of Cecilia's headbands to neatly tie her hair. "Hey, pops, how is your heart? You are taking your meds right on time, right?"
"Of course, child, don't worry. I am taking good care of myself," Ernesto smiled at her, assuring her of his good health.
"Thanks, pops." When Cecilia turned around to eat her dinner, the old man discreetly glanced at the bottle of pills, that have been empty for a couple of days now. "Come on, food is about to get cold." He nodded and sat down, and the two shared a hearty giggle while having their late-night dinner.
As always, Cecilia woke up at three in the morning, slipped into her vendor attire, gathered her things, and marched to the market. On her way there, she kept alert for the ghost of the old woman. She held her breath when the two of them crossed paths, but inexplicably, the old woman avoided her. "This is no longer a coincidence," she told herself. "Excuse me?" The old woman turned; the expression of fear on the ghost puzzled her. "I noticed since last night, you're avoiding me."
The old woman fidgeted with her hands. "Why would I not avoid you when you boarded the accursed ship?"
Sensing the old woman's great fear, she probed a bit more, "The Twilight? What about it?"
"It's not the ship that we ghost fear, but the man that is its captain; he sends terror throughout our essences." The ghost lady replied, her voice trembling with fear.