4 Hours Earlier

Camie’s Perspective:

“Don’t be ridiculous” Xavier said loudly, “Obviously nothing is going to happen, people do this all the time!”

My friend Quinn was skeptical of the random trip that Xavier found in a newspaper, and loudly protested our going. 

“It will be fine Quinn,” I assured her

“Yeah whatever,” she said.

“Why are you so nervous Quinn?”

“I don't know, its just weird” she responded 

After about an hour of begging for Xavier to finally convince her to tag along. We all got ready and headed to the dock.

 Hot air filled my lungs as I stood on the wooden dock with my friends, awaiting the arrival of The Zania. It was the hottest day of the whole summer, and just as I was about to open my mouth to complain about the terrible heat, a loud horn sounded in the distance. Knowing that the boat was approaching would have been nice considering the obnoxiously loud noise almost sent me flying off the dock. Luckily, Quinn was there to grab my arm, preventing me from flying onto the innocent fish that were going about their day. The boat was surprisingly already at the dock by the time I found my balance again. Numerous employees were standing on the yacht, waving and smiling in their matching outfits. One of them stepped forward to help us board the impressive vehicle.

 “Please watch your step,” the man said as we boarded and immediately went to look around the massive yacht.

 Quinn and I jumped in surprise when a loud buzz interrupted our snooping; we all stopped walking and looked around to find where the noise was coming from. A large loudspeaker was hooked into the ceiling, and we all sat to listen to the deep voice that began to greet us from it. The man introduced himself as Mitchel Huntz, and though it was expected that the person giving a free boat ride was crazy rich; Mitchel Huntz was a name that I recognized from various marketing and business meetings. Apparently, he is supposed to be one of the best, if so, what is he doing here? I began to worry about his motives for a free yacht trip. I heard he wasn't necessarily charitable. Right as I was about to tell my friends about my knowledge of Mitchel, I hear Xavier gasp as he steps onto the boat deck. 

“Woah” he said with a smile on his face

Surprisingly, we were already in deep water, and very far away from the dock that we just left minutes ago.

“I didn't even feel the boat move,” I said confused.

Though he may think that the speed of this potentially threatening vessel is cool, now that I know who is behind it, I don't know how to feel. Anxious thoughts plagued my mind as I tried to relax. It was just a fun yacht trip, yet something in my gut tells me that it could be more than that. I walked back into the lobby and headed straight for the bar. Hopefully a drink would help me mellow, since obviously, I'm being a little paranoid. 

“You look so uptight Camie,” Xavier said. “I thought you were for the yacht trip.”

“I am, and i’m fine, don't worry”

 I wiped off my sweaty hands and took a long sip of my pink colored drink. Just as I went in for another sip, Quinn ran up to me and grabbed my arm. 

“Let's go take pictures on the deck”

I nodded and followed her to the large open area of the boat. As we walked, I made eye contact with one of the servers standing in front of a large metal door. He scowled at me and I nudged Quinn.

“I wonder what’s behind there.”

She looked over then simply shrugged and smiled at me. 

“Let's go look. Maybe it's another lobby or something.” she said.

As we were about to go ask the scowling guard about the mysterious door another beep sounded from the obnoxious loud speaker.

“Lunch is served in the dining room”

Quinn's eyes grew wide when she heard this. “There's a dining room?! Wow!” 

Quinn completely forgot about our question and began to skip to the dining room. I rolled my eyes at her excitement. Her fear from earlier completely disappeared. Unfortunately, mine was only getting worse.

 Once we arrived at the large dark red dining room, a stoic server directed us to our seats. The dining table was a gorgeous dark wood, and multiple famous artworks surrounded it. As plates were being served to each of us, I couldn't help but think of the workers that were on the boat. Did they live here? They barely seem like real people, more like robots. As the day went on their demeanor completely changed from the smiling workers that greeted us earlier. They never say more than they needed to, only providing snappy 2 word answers to any comment or question. 

“Does anyone want to go for a swim after we eat?” Xavier asked

I snapped out of my trance and nodded in his direction.

“Sounds fun,” I responded, trying to sound as sincere as possible.

Honestly, I don't want to go on a swim, but I should probably act normal if I want to find out what is going on. It seems like just as Quinn and I were about to ask the wrong question when we were immediately directed away.

I waited until after lunch to slip away from the group. I completely forgot about the swim I promised Xavier, and walked up to the man who I saw in front of the door an hour earlier. 

“Are you lost?” He asked me in a sarcastic way.

“Is this where the captain is? I would love to meet him” I asked, trying to persuade him to let me through.

“Unfortunately that is not possible,” he said.

“Really? Because I just want to say hi, it would only take a second-”

Then, the door behind the man began to squeak. Michel Huntz appeared from behind it, almost like some sort of supper villain. He smiled creepily at me and walked out to shake my hand.

“Hello. My name is Michel Huntz, and you are?”

“Camie Bardot. It's nice to meet you, I think we work for the same company. I've seen you around-”

“Yes I know.” He said plainly.

The rest of our conversation consisted mostly of awkward silence until he said,

“Why don't you and your friends join me for dinner tonight? Around 7:00 perhaps?”

“Sure that sounds good,” I said uneasily.

The conversation felt forced, and after every sentence his plastered smile would diminish into a harsh scowl. I remember seeing him around but he never really paid attention to me. I walked to the railing overlooking the ocean view to think, when suddenly I heard loud footsteps approaching me. I panic and turn around ready to face whoever was sneaking up on me.

“Woah, Camie it's me, calm down. What are you doing?” 

I turn to see Xavier looking at me with a puzzled expression.

“Oh sorry, I thought you were someone else,” I said.

“Uhm, okay. You promised me to swim Camie, let's go before it gets dark.”

I am really tempted to say no but instead I agree and roll my eyes. I did promise him, and again I am in need of another distraction from this whole situation. I will try to find out more during dinner.

I really do enjoy swimming. It did relax me a bit, but after a couple hours of hanging out in the ocean with Xavier, I was starting to get hungry. Luckily it was almost time for dinner. As we climbed the steps to the deck, we heard the voices of two guards. I quickly shushed Xaviers talking and told to listen.

“2 hours left,” one of the men said.

“You know what you have to do,” the other responded.

“Of course sir,” the man responded before he grabbed a heavy looking barrel and walked away.

Xavier looked at me with a surprised look on his face. As soon as I saw the men leave I climbed the steps and grabbed Xavier’s hand to pull him into a corner to talk. I could see a clock on the wall from the corner of my eye and I saw the hand hit 7:00.

“What were they talking about?” Xavier said, confused.
“I don't know Xavier, but like I said before, something is not right”

“Yeah I see it now, but maybe it was about work.”
“I don't think so maybe-”

Another screech sounded from the loud speaker. 

“Time for dinner,” the voice said.

We were about to disregard the message and continue our conversation, when one of the workers ran up next to us and demanded our presence at the dinner.

“You must go, he has worked very hard to put this together for you all,” they said.

“Just give us one moment please. We will go in a sec-” Xavier said.

“You must go now!” the worker yelled.

Xavier and I immediately started walking in the direction of the dining room, giving each other weird looks the whole way there.

“Sit,” Michel said to us as soon as we arrived.

We took our seats and tried to silently find a way to let Quinn know what was going on.

Before I could Michel, he began to raise his voice out of nowhere. The only thing I could focus on were the large barrels that were stacked in the corner of the room.

“Why are you being so difficult?” He immediately yelled.

“What?” I asked.

“I know you. I know what you are trying to do Camie”

“Camie, what is he talking about,” Xavier said, trying to remain calm.

“You are trying to come after my position aren't you?” Michel said.
“What? No.” I was completely lost.

“Are you not Camie Bardot?”

I nodded slowly trying to figure out what his anger was about. It was true that I was offered a huge promotion in the company but I thought he still worked at the company.

“Yesterday I received a phone call,” he began. “It was the CEO of our company requesting my 30 day notice.” “I thought it was a joke,” he said. “After 30 years of work, why would they do this now?” “That's when I remembered my assistant telling me of some new employee who was quickly impressing the bosses. It seemed unimportant until I realized it was YOU who was trying to take MY position.”

I flinched at the anger in his voice. I honestly didn't even think about who I was replacing 

“What! I wasn't! I didn't know” I said

“Camie didn't do anything wrong!” Quinn shouted in my defense.

“ENOUGH” he yelled.

“You have taken everything from me, I don't mind dying If it means I can do the same to you”

“What are you talking about?” I said, trying to sound unfazed.

He pulled out a gun and I gasped and began to plead for our lives. I watched him closely as he laughed and handed the gun off to the waiter closest to him. The waiter turned towards the barrels and I did not want to stay and find out what this was.

“RUN!” I yelled 

 I immediately began to sprint down the hallway and I heard the gunshot echo in my ears. Suddenly, everything went dark.

10 Minutes Later

“Camie please” “Wake up Camie”

I groggily opened my eyes to find a bloody Xavier holding me above water. We were surrounded by pieces of The Zania and the dead bodies of the workers who were aboard it. 

“Where is Quinn?” I cried.

He didn't answer. Tears began to fill his eyes and the pain of my injuries began to hit me. Xavier must have been swimming in the water during the explosion. Somehow I was able to make it out, but Quinn. She didn't even want to come on this trip. 

“What are we going to do?” I asked through shaky breaths

“I don't know Camie.” “I don't know, '' he repeated, rubbing my shoulder.

Police sirens sounded in the distance and relief washed over my body. I closed my eyes once again as I watched blood turn the water red.

One week later:

After a month of recovery in the hospital and a lot of therapy, I was finally cleared to fly home. I decided to quit my job. I know it was an incredible opportunity, but it feels wrong to continue like nothing happened. Quinns funeral is next monday, and I don’t know if i'm ready to really accept that she isn't here with us, or that I couldn't have done anything to save her. My life is now a mess, and I can't help to think what it would be if only I didn't go on that stupid vacation.