Page 22 of Voyage of Death and Desire

“I need your help.” The door creaks open, and Elliot is standing in the doorway…head attached.

“Is that…is that Kragen’s key?”

“Aye. Is he on the ship?”

“No, they just left.” He rushes to the key and then to the locks holding them in place.

“Unlock them,” I demand.

Elliot follows orders. The pop of the lock is the most beautiful sound I’ve ever heard. He moves to my side, unlocking the locks around my wrists and ankles. The sound of the chains falling to the floor is almost more than I can handle.

“Thank you,” I whisper, wrapping my arms around his thin neck.

“We need to go now,” Elliot says, pulling back.

“How many are on board?”

“Three including me.”

“We’re going to have to kill them,” I tell him.

“I know,” he answers. For the first time in a century, I walk through the door of my room without chains attached.

“Elliot, this has to be a trick. Kragen told me you were dead. He doesn’t make mistakes. This is too good to be true.”

“Why would he do that?” He laces his fingers through mine, pulling me up the stairs toward the main deck. “Kragen’s an ass, but even he’s not that bad.”

I reluctantly follow him to the empty deck. Fog covers the sea around us, and in the distance, theshadows of buildings peek through the open spaces. “Is that New York?” I ask.

“Aye. We’ll have to swim to the coast.” We move to the rail overlooking the sea below. “I’ll jump first. You can follow me.”

“What are ya doin’, Elliot?” a man asks from behind us.

Elliot turns toward the voice. “We’re goin’ for a swim, Felix. Kragen left orders that she be cleaned. Since the ship isn’t moving, I’m going in with her to make sure she doesn’t escape.”

A second man joins the first. “Is that what yer doin’? Takin’ her for a swim?”

“Aye.” The two men share a look.

“Elliot…” I warn.

“I know,” he answers.

I turn, facing the two men. Both smile wide. I recognize them both from their “visits” to my room through the years. “Don’t make me kill you,” I warn.

Both men share a laugh. “Kill us? I think you’re confused, little girl.”

“I’m not confused. I have a hundred years of anger built up inside. I won’t hesitate to use it. Let me go.”

“We can’t do that, wee one. Why don’t you come over here, and we’ll show you what you’re good for?”

Rage fills me. Not a normal rage, but the kind of rage that’s been building for a century. I don’t bother with walking. Instead, I leap from the railing, directly in front of them. Wrapping my arms around each of theirnecks in unison, I twist both hands, ripping their heads from their bodies.

“Elsie,” Elliot says from the railing. “You killed them.”

“Aye, I warned you.”

“How? You…you shouldn’t be that strong.”

---