Date: Sun, 1 Apr 2012 08:03:08 +0530
From: Samantha Samarasinghe <ss.surene@gmail.com>
Subject: Serenity of the Sea - Chapter 3

For the people who have ACCIDENTLY come across this chapter and are too
young to read it or are in the country whose law makes it illegal to read
it. Stop It And Move Elsewhere... but I cant stop you so if you do read
it.... I hope you enjoy it.

......if you have any feedbacks...either constructive or otherwise..... Let
me know.... I'll try to answer all your emails within a day (if I do get
more than one email)

Email -      ss.surene@gmail.com

Thanks a lot for the emails that I received. Just hope the replies didn't
touch any nerve. Sorry if it did. Never meant to... loved reading the
emails. Never expected to get that many.

I wont keep you any longer.... To a fitness room and beyond!

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(Where I left you off............)

"Where's the rest of the crew?" he whispered to the Captain. The Captain
looked back at Chris with a grave face and simply shook his head. The five
of them were then pushed through a door that led to a dark corridor and
eventually found themselves in a cabin that was now their prison. Simon
clutched on to Chris as close as he could get and started crying. Blake too
stood by his best friend and all three hugged each other for comfort in the
corner of the room hoping that they will see the light of day again.

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Chapter 3 - Into the Blackness

Time.... Has it been a day, a week or a month? Was it just mere hours? It
didn't feel like anything. As if time had just stopped. The lamp showed
them not day or night. There was no window to look out from. There was no
breeze to tell them the currents had changed. Just the stench of damp and
rotting wood that hung in the stagnant air. The Captain somehow managed to
stop the bleeding but he noticed the wound turning a slight blue. Simon was
in shock. Blake was staring at the lamp as if in a trance. Chris had the
urge to scream, kick and vomit at the same time. The Captain tried the door
but it was locked tight.

"Captain,", said Chris, "We're done for, aren't we." More of a statement
than a question.

"Chris! Don't think like that! We're not dead yet. There must be a way out
of here", the Captain hissed back but then quickly put his hand on Chris'
shoulder to apologize for the outburst.

"See to your brother. We need to calm him down and try get him warmed up."
The Captain ordered. Chris looked in every corner of the room hoping to
find something. Unfortunately, his hands turned up empty. Chris removed the
shirt off his back and wrapped it around Simon. Even though Simon's eyes
were wide open unblinking, he moved closer to his brother very much
grateful for the warmth.

"Blake!" shouted the Captain. "Snap out of it". Upon hearing his name,
Blake spun his head round to the Captain's voice.

"W-w-what? We're doomed. There's no hope." he stammered and started
heaving. Chris got up and pulled Blake over to himself and hugged him close
and giving his back a comforting rub. He brought Blake down to where Simon
was and started rubbing the backs of both. Chris was never more scared in
his life than he was now but on hearing the Captain's words, he knew he
must show the others that he was confident and that there was hope.

The door suddenly opened and a plate of rice was pushed into the cabin and
then slammed shut. The aroma that wafted from the dish was not unpleasant
nor did it make them hungrier. At least they were sure, or thought they
were sure, it did not smell spoiled.

"Look, it's best we all eat. If the food's good, we'll need it to keep our
strength up. For whatever may happen." the Captain told the others. Chris,
Blake and the Captain started to dig in but kept enough for Luis and
Simon. After Chris was done with his portion, he started to feed Simon. At
first, Simon refused to take a single grain from his brother's hand but
after much coaxing, Simon finally started. After Simon was done, the
Captain took the plate over to Luis who took it and then grunted in pain as
he tried to sit up into a better eating position.

The food offered by the pirates was not much but none of them were hungry
at all now. They decided to sleep and see what would happen to them next as
nothing could be done by any. Sleep did not come easy and when it did,
nightmares fell upon them like hail from the heavens.

"What? HEY!  Let me go!"

Chris woke up to the noise and looked around. His eyes only took a moment
to adjust to the dim lighting but when it did the sight made him stop
breathing. There were two pirates pulling the Captain to his feet and
another holding a gun up to him. The Captain was thrashing around trying to
break free but their grip was quite strong. The pirates pulled him out of
the cabin and closed the door behind them. Chris quickly turned around to
the others and saw that they were in the same state as he was. None of them
knew what had just happened and they started to fear the life of the
Captain. Luis winced in pain as he pulled himself closer to the boys with
the intention of protecting them.

Again there was no means of telling how long since the Captain had been
taken away from them. Not one wanted to voice the fear that he should ever
return. Now silence amongst them hung in the air along with the stench of
rotting wood. They were all staring at the door not knowing when it was
going to open again and for what reason.

The door did snap open again and the three pirates were back and this time
the first two grabbed hold of Luis' shoulders and dragged him out the
door. Luis was screaming in pain. His legs weakly flailing about trying to
kick himself free. The three boys got to there feet and ran towards them
but it was too late. The door closed just before they could reach it and
all they accomplished was to getting their palms sore from the constant
banging and their voices hoarse from the yelling. It was down to the three
of them them and they huddled even tighter together than before.

Here were three boys, all alone in the middle of a dim cabin. Shadows were
dancing all around them. Their own shadows trying to escape them. They
seemed to be merging with the light. Not only their own shadow but every
bit of darkness that surrounded them seemed to be merging with the
light. Chris looked at the lamp. It was starting to flicker and smoke. The
smell of smoke seemed to get stronger as the flame in the lamp was getting
smaller and smaller until it vanished and without it the darkness engulfed
them. Simon screamed in horror and Chris could feel his brother's
fingernails digging into his skin.

The cabin felt cold. Much colder now. Chris felt as if the cabin was
stretching out away from them and shrinking into them at the same time. He
started to loose his orientation. He started to forget where the door
was. Was it to the right of him or the left of him?

"I'm scared", whispered Blake. Just then the door flew open and cast a
faint glow upon them but the silhouette of two large men were standing
there, holding guns. One came in and pulled Blake out the door and put the
two brothers back into total darkness. The two boys screamed after Blake
but it was of no use. Chris dropped his shoulders into a hunch. He could
hear the waves as it made contact against the outer wall of the cabin. He
felt the waves churn and it was in sync with the churning in his
stomach. He felt his brother shivering next to him.

"Simon? Simon! Listen to me! I'm not going to let them harm you" said Chris
as he softly rocked his brother.

"The other's. Blake. All... all... they've taken him." sobbed Simon.

"Just stay close to me. As close as you can. We'll be alright. I promise
you." whispered back Chris as he kissed the top of his brother's head and
then rested his own on it.

Chris' thoughts were jumping from one to another. From one horrible scene
to another. His mind was filled with them. With fear. He could not think
straight now. Those were all the words he had to comfort his brother. He
tried but could not find any others. His mind was over crowded but drawing
blanks. He could feel the strain on his eyes. But he wasn't sure if his
eyes were loosing focus due to the darkness. He could taste bile in his
mouth. He could feel the sweat run down his back. His armpits were drenched
and his crotch was starting to become itchy. He had no control over
anything. Not even to wipe it off or spit it out. Chris was rooted to the
place and feeling him self become weaker and wither. But those
thoughts. They had a power of its own and a power over him. He could not
block them out no matter how hard he pushed his brain to do it.  He knew
what was going to happen next and just before he could complete his next
thought, the door flew open again.

"Get away from us, you monsters!" shouted Chris and used his body to cover
Simon's. The pirates came in and pushed Chris aside knocking him against
the wall.Chris felt his leg cramp up and he couldn't move. He was
defenseless against them and he could do nothing but watch as they picked
up Simon, put him over their shoulder and carry him out again, closing the
door behind them. The cramp disappeared allowing Chris to run to the door
pounding on it and screaming before collapsing to the ground broken and in
tears. He pulled his knees up close to his chest and buried his head
between them. It was in this position that Chris fell asleep. A blackened
nothingness was all that clouded his mind.

The door creaked open. The light fell gracefully on Chris' strained
features. A hand reached in and grabbed his ankle and pulled him out the
door. More light fell upon Chris' half naked body but he didn't even open
an eye. His arms moved back behind and over his head and finally his hand
was the last to leave the blackness behind.

To be Continued.