Chapter Twelve

James

Reuben actually came to me to talk. Not just about something that happened that was funny like she normally would, but about something serious. Something so personal, that she probably wouldn’t have told me if it weren’t so late. Maybe I shouldn’t bring it up until she does. She probably won’t even remember she told me, because she looked like she was in dire need of sleep. Hopefully, she went straight to her room. She was smart, so she would know when it was time for her to go to sleep. Although, she was much like her Dad, meaning very stubborn. I should go and check on her, just in case. I was already dressed. Well, in my pajamas, but I walked out into the long, empty hallway. It was so quiet, weird because normally people would constantly be walking through here. This was such a complex place, and yet Reuben treated it like it were her home. I was getting close to Reuben’s room. Maybe a few hundred more feet, when I got a sense that something wasn’t right. As if something was going to happen, but I didn’t know what. I was a few feet past the stairs up to the deck when I heard a blood curdling scream. Little did I know it would be the last thing I heard out of Reuben’s mouth for a while. I flew up the stairs and out the door, but there was nothing. No sign of anyone. I figured maybe I was hearing things. There was a liquid substance on the tarmac, but it was too dark to see, so I thought nothing of it. ‘Ok, back to Reuben’s room.’ I say to myself. There was still a weird feeling, like something was lingering in the air. The closer I got to Reuben's room, the more nervous I became. After knocking on her door three separate times, I gave up. Maybe she wasn't in the mood to talk anymore. I still had a weird feeling, so I knocked again.

"Reuben? If you don't answer I'm going to come in."No response.

"Okay Reuben, I'm coming in, don't say I didn't warn you."

I opened the door, not knowing what to expect. Maybe she was listening to music loudly, she's always listening to loud music. I pressed the button that opens the door, and peeked my head in. There was nothing except her laptop which was sitting open on her bed. The recognizable apple on the back of the screen glowed. She had what I'm guessing was her own covers on her bed since they didn't look like any of the others. This made me think of how often she was here on the ship, in this room. I wonder how much of her life Reuben has spent on this ship...how many nights she’s stayed here. Could it have been days, weeks, and months even? Maybe I could try calling her phone, I’m pretty sure the ship has its own “cell phone service.” I took out my black iPhone 5s and went to my ‘recently called numbers.’ Reuben’s was the first number. I tapped on her number and put the phone up to my ear, waiting for Reuben to pick up. Instead, I was surprised to hear her recognizable ‘T.N.T.’ ringtone by AC/DC. I began looking around, and found her phone under her bed. I hung up, and noticed she had her iPhone charger plugged into the wall, so I plugged in her phone and put it on her night stand. This is not right. Maybe I’ll just go to sleep, she’ll probably turn up in the morning. Then I began thinking about the possibilities of why she hasn’t turned up. Could she be hurt? Could she have collapsed from earlier? What if she needs help? I B-lined for Nick’s sleeping quarters, thinking that he would know what to do. After I told him, he went to the main part of the ship and began looking through the cameras. Finally, he went to the upper deck cameras, and we both noticed blood. He then rewinded the tapes and found Reuben standing on the deck. She was always fascinated with stars, and the sky. I guess it somehow calmed her down. She began to go in, but turned around. Then Red Skull was suddenly behind her, and when she turned around, he smiled at her. It looked like she gasped, and suddenly Viper was behind Reuben, and knocked her out. Viper grabbed a hold of Reuben, and they disappeared. I looked at Nick, and at the same time we said “This isn’t good.”

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