Inside the Haunted

Inside the Haunted

Part 2

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The Seahawk was the name of this ship that we were going to fix. It was an okay name, but it sounded more like a pirate ship’s name rather than an ocean liner. But hey, who was asking me right? Anyway, we were on our boat, staring up at the Seahawk with intensity and (in my case) fear.

“Bernie…are you sure it’s the exact same?!” I asked, my voice cracking. Bernie looked my way and frowned.

“Yes, but there’s a different name. But the map location and description of the boat match. The one that your parents were on was called the ‘Mariner’. It’s odd, and I don’t like it.” He said. I nodded in agreement.

“You know, you don’t have to do this…” Bernie said to me. My mouth was clamped shut, but I opened it again when Bernie spoke.

“NO! Bernie, I have to do this for them. I don’t care if it’s haunted or not, I have to fix this ship for them.” I said firmly. Sanchez ran up to us with a huge grin on his face and his toolbox in his hand.

“Boss! We found a way on. iVamos!” he said, running towards the front of the boat. I ran past Bernie and chased after Sanchez to get ready to go on the Seahawk. I was marveling its sides; they seriously needed some new iron sides and a paint job to go along with it. And the railings on the sides would also have to be fixed. While I was pondering all of this, that’s when my heart skipped a beat at what I saw.

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I saw her…the girl from my dream…Emily was on board of the Seahawk! What was a small girl like that doing on this ship all alone?

“Oh my gosh! Sanchez, do you see her?!” I screamed. Sanchez looked around wildly, and then looked at me.

“Maddie, what are you talking about? I don’t see any girl but you.” He said, winking at me. I was too distracted to see him do that however. There she was, plain as day, staring down at me and smiling, but Sanchez was acting totally clueless.

“C’mon, don’t joke around. You know you see her. She’s right there, standing by the railing…” I said, pointing her out. Sanchez followed my index finger right to her, but I couldn’t see her in Sanchez’ eyes. What in the world was going on? Now Sanchez looked really confused and worried. He put his tan hand to my forehead to check if I was getting the flu.

“Madigan, are you okay?” he asked me seriously. Whoa. The only time anyone (besides Bernie) ever called me by my full name was when I was in trouble or when they were serious. Sanchez was usually trying to make everyone laugh and try to take life with a joke in his pocket, but now, he was very serious. I’ve never seen him like this.

“Yeah Sanchez, I’m okay…” I looked towards Emily again, but she had vanished. Where did she go?

“Alright, if you say so…” Sanchez said softly. Finally, our boat pulled up to the Seahawk and we set a ramp out to an opening on the starboard side where a huge hole was. We all filed out onto the ramp and started walking towards the Seahawk. That was the last time we ever were on Gus’s boat.

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“Hey Madigan, can you tie off our boat to the Seahawk? We’ll wait for you inside.” Sanchez said. He was still worried because he was still using my full name. Oh great. Now he was going to say something to Bernie about me and I probably wasn’t going to be able to fix the ship with them. I nodded and walked back to our boat while the others walked inside. I grabbed a rope from Gus’ boat and started walking towards the Seahawk again. Suddenly, an invisible force threw me back. I screamed as I was thrown off the ramp, the rope still in my hand. I grabbed onto the edge with one hand and tried to hang on until the others came. Then, I saw her again. Emily. She was standing on the dock, looking down at me, her face pale.

“You mustn’t go onto this ship…” she said. This was unbelievable. Unbelievable.

“Why-why not?” I asked, my voice shaking. My fingers were slipping…

“It is…bad.” She said, her voice shaking along with mine. She started to look around wildly, for someone or something?

“Emily, please tell me.” I said, ignoring the fact that I was about to plunge thousands of feet into the sea below. She smiled.

“You know my name. Good. Remember it for later when you need me.” She said. I was now utterly confused.

“For later? Emily, what’s wrong with this ship?” I asked her. She opened her mouth to tell me, but blood appeared on her face and her hands, dripping onto the ramp connecting the two ships. She screamed with terror.

“H-he…I can’t tell you!” she said. She screamed once again and disappeared.

“EMILY!” I shouted, my voice echoing off of the water. Sanchez and the others finally arrived. He slid along the ramp and grasped my hand and pulled me up. I was still pretty shaky from my encounter with Emily. Then I noticed that some of her blood was on my hands.

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“Madigan, are you sure you’re alright?” Bernie asked me for the zillionth time.

“Yes Bernie, I’m fine.” I said shortly. I was still thinking of Emily.

“I don’t know about that. You look awful and you’re still pretty shaky.” Bernie said. It was nightfall now and everyone was sitting around me, looking restless. Because of me, we had lost almost a full day of ship fixing. I felt awful and Bernie was probably right: I looked awful.

“I think Maddie should stay on our boat for a while.” Gloria said. I shot an ungrateful look in her direction, but her eyes were fixed intently on Bernie’s. He looked sadly at me.

“She wants to stay. Right Madigan?” he asked. I nodded.

“I’ll be fine by tomorrow morning. Don’t worry about me.” I said to Gloria, trying to reassure her.

“No you’re not! You almost fell into the Atlantic Ocean! There was blood on your hands from who knows what, AND we lost a day of ship fixing!” she said furiously.

“I don’t know about you Bernie, but I’d take a better hand in raising my daughter if I were you.” She said. Everyone gasped and looked between Gloria’s furious face and Bernie’s thoughtful one. He looked at Gloria, then me, then Gloria again. He couldn’t possibly be thinking what I was hoping he wasn’t thinking…

“Madigan…I think you should stay on Gus’ boat for a few days…just to be sure that you’ll be okay.” Bernie said. I set my mouth into a firm line and looked away from everyone.

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I hated them. I hated them all, even Bernie. Didn’t they know I was fixing this ship for my parents, just for them? Or were they too selfish to see that? They must be. They wanted all the wealth for themselves. I didn’t want any of that. I just wanted to live up to my parents’ greatness. I heard a knock on my bedroom door and I stiffened my back.

“Who is it?” I asked coldly. I heard Bernie’s voice sigh.

“It’s me Madigan. Can I please come in?” he pleaded. I paused for a moment. It wasn’t Bernie’s fault that I was here. He always tried the best he could.

“Yes.” I said. Bernie opened the door and walked towards me. I hugged my knees to my chest.

“Madigan…I-I’m…” he was obviously upset. I reached over and hugged him close, taking him by surprise.

“Bernie, don’t be upset. It’s not your fault.” I said tenderly. I let go of him and his face was looking down on me with love.

“Madigan, you know I wanted to let you do this tonight, right?” I nodded, waiting for him to continue.

“I just didn’t want you to get hurt. I thought I was doing the right thing.” He said. I nodded and smiled at him.

“You did Bernie. It’s what my parents would have done.” I said.

There was a sudden explosion, upsetting the boat and setting off flashing colors into my bedroom. Bernie and I fell over each other and I whacked my head off of the chair he was sitting on.

“What-what was that?” I gasped, rubbing my head. Bernie grasped my hand and pulled me up.

“I don’t know. We better go check it out though…” Bernie supported me on his shoulders and we walked out to the deck. Gloria was standing on the ramp and looking horrified.

“Gloria? What is it?” Bernie asked her.

“Sanchez…” she said. Then, she fell over in a dead faint.