Overboard (7 page)

“I need to know... I need to know what happened to my
sister, Brenna,” Hallie asked with her feelings ranging from
sadness to anger.

Brenna gave in to the visions that began to bombard
her fragile mind. “I need to think, Hallie,” she said, feeling as
if she were ready to lose control. “I can’t breathe. I can’t
think...”

It was a rainy night. Morgan had invited Brenna for a
midnight swim hours before, but when the sky turned dark and it
began to pour, Brenna tried to cancel their plans. But Morgan
wouldn’t hear of it. She said she had to discuss something
important with her. So, Brenna met her by the dock, and they took
the rowboat out on the lake.

Sinking deeper into her raincoat, Brenna asked over
the loud roar of the rain, “What are we doing out here, Morgan? We
should go back... This is dangerous!

“Stop being such a wimp and live a little,” Morgan
said with a devilish twinkle in her eyes.

“That is exactly what I plan to do,” Brenna retorted
sarcastically. “I want to live, not die!”

“I really don’t understand what Dylan sees in you,
Brenna,” she commented, rowing the metal rowboat towards the center
of the lake. The metal groaned with each movement of the heavy
wooden oars, and the rainwater began to gather in the bottom of the
vessel. “He is so much more adventurous... You’re so safe! So
boring!”

Brenna brushed off her comments, worriedly looking
out at the black water which surrounded the boat.

“I like to live my life dangerously,” she said
stopping the rowboat halfway across the two-mile wide lake.

“What are you doing?” Brenna asked, panicking as she
watched Morgan remove the oars from the side of the boat and place
them into the vessel.

“We are staying put,” she told her, adjusting her
rain slicker as the downpour became more intense.

Hyperventilating, Brenna begged Morgan, but she
ignored her. “Morgan, we have to go back! We are going to sink out
here, and you know I can’t swim!”

“You have something I want,” Morgan said menacingly,
grinning wickedly.

Brenna recognized her expression.

Morgan was the rich one. Morgan’s parents gave her
whatever she wanted without question. She was used to getting what
she wanted. Like when they were seven years old and she wanted a
doll Brenna got for Christmas. She cried and cried until Brenna’s
mother gave it to her with the promise of buying another one for
Brenna, but that never happened.

Or the time when their parents brought them to the
playground. There was a big wooden play set, complete with fortress
and slide. Morgan claimed the slide on the playground for herself,
and Brenna decided to disobey Morgan’s orders, going down the shoot
first. By the time Brenna climbed the ladder for another round on
the slide, Morgan was waiting and pushed her off the wooden ladder.
Brenna flew through the air, landing on her arm with a crack. It
was broken in two places.

That was the kind of friend Morgan Seymour was... She
was the leader of their little pack. Brenna, Marissa and Hallie
were just followers. As long as they obeyed her, she was the
sweetest person to be around, but she was rotten to the core. If
you had something she wanted, watch out!

“What do you want from me, Morgan?” Brenna asked,
fearing her reply.

Morgan smiled, giving Brenna a chill that went up her
spine. “I want Dylan, Brenna, and you are going to give him to
me.”

Brenna stared at her in shock. “But― Morgan,
please... I...”

“I want him!” Morgan whined, grasping an oar.

“He is not mine to give, Morgan. Dylan has a mind of
his own, and he wants to be with me!” Brenna shouted at her,
feeling trapped and afraid.

“He’s mine!” Morgan shouted, swinging the oar and
hitting Brenna on the side of her head with it.

Semi-conscious, Brenna fell back into the bottom of
the rowboat. Shaking, she ran her hand through her hair, feeling
her wound. When she brought her hand to her face, it was caked in
bright red blood. Sobbing, Brenna asked, “What did you do?”

“Why did you have to talk back to me, Brenna? Why
couldn’t you just give me what I wanted?” Morgan asked cruelly,
dropping the oar and standing before Brenna.

Brenna stared back at her in disbelief as her tears
mixed in with the raindrops.

“He is mine. He wants me... But you don’t get that.
You just won’t go away,” Morgan rambled. “So, I am going to make
you go away...”

Morgan reached for the oar once more, and knowing
what she had planned, Brenna kicked her as hard as she could in her
gut. The sudden impact made Morgan lose her balance. She fell off
the rowboat and into the water.

When Morgan resurfaced, she was five feet out. Brenna
watched as she bobbed along the surface of the water, trying to
swim back towards the boat. “I am going to kill you,” she growled,
reaching for the rim of the boat and trying to climb back in.

Without thinking, Brenna scooped up the oar and swung
it like a baseball bat until it made contact with Morgan’s
skull.

Morgan howled as she sunk back into the water, using
her remaining strength to stay afloat. “Are you going to kill me,
Brenna?” she asked as blood streaked her face. “You don’t have the
guts...”

Brenna stood up on the small vessel and looked down
at her in the water. “I don’t want to, Morgan,” she cried, still
grasping the oar.

“I am going to take everything from you,” Morgan
ranted. “I won’t stop! Everything you have will be mine!”

Brenna knew Morgan had always been jealous of her.
She had loving parents. She had a good boyfriend. She had people
that genuinely cared around her. Morgan had nothing. Nothing but
money. She wouldn’t stop tormenting her until she was dead...
“Please, Morgan... Don’t make me.”

“I’ll kill you!” Morgan shouted.

Holding the heavy, wooden oar over her head, Brenna
brought it down on Morgan’s head. She heard a crack that was
similar to the sound of thunder as it penetrated the silent night.
In shock, Brenna realized she had hit her so hard she broke the
oar, splintering it into two pieces. When her eyes made contact
with Morgan once more, she saw the horrific sight of her friend’s
lifeless body, floating along the surface of the water.

Hyperventilating, Brenna began to struggle for
breath. Her breaths came out in ragged expirations, and she felt
faint.

Shaking, she grabbed her chest, feeling her heart
ache. The feeling of her heart beating over a hundred beats per
minute made her legs begin to buckle.

Suddenly, Brenna realized she wasn’t the only one
standing atop the rowboat. Confused, Brenna looked beside her and
saw a familiar face.

“I am Chelsea,” the girl smiled.

Brenna stared at her confused. She seemed unaffected
by the elements around her. She was completely dry. She stood next
to Brenna like an angel of mercy. Not a hair out of place.

“I... I didn’t mean to,” Brenna told her.

“Shhh... I am going to take care of everything,”
Chelsea told her calmly. “Now, let’s row back to shore.”

Brenna followed Chelsea’s instructions, leaving
Morgan’s body in the water. Once they reached the dock, Chelsea
told her to remove the broken paddle and her boots.

“No dog can follow a scent through water... There is
no chance with this rain that your scent will be on this boat,” she
told Brenna, kicking the boat away from the dock so that it floated
back into deeper water. “It wouldn’t be uncommon for a boat to
drift away from the scene of an accident...”

Brenna stared at her silently, untying her boots.

“They will be able to follow your tracks in this mud.
So, once you are done taking off your boots, you are going to drag
your feet along the mud. The rain should wash away any evidence,
but if it doesn’t, it won’t look like a boot print.”

“Why are you doing this? Why are you helping me?”
Brenna asked, slowly awakening from her shock.

“I am your other half, Brenna,” Chelsea told her.
“Your stronger half... I will always take care of you. You are
apart of me.”

Chelsea wasn’t real... She was just a coping
mechanism that Brenna’s brain thought up. Chelsea was able to think
clearer and took over when Brenna wasn’t ready to deal with her
problems.
It is funny what will happen when you are hit over the
head with a paddle
, Brenna thought with a sad smile.

“Just tell me the truth,” Hallie begged.

Brenna began to walk to her room, but Hallie blocked
her exit.

“You are not leaving until you tell me the
truth!”

Then Brenna snapped. Her posture changed, and her
inner storm suddenly went silent. A sense of calm washed over her.
Her heart stilled, and her breathing decreased until each
expiration was inaudible. In a deep voice that she didn’t
recognize, Brenna heard herself say, “Your sister got what she
deserved.”

* * * * *

An hour had passed since Hallie ran away in tears.
Brenna sat quietly in her room, feeling as if she were looking at
the world through new eyes. She had regained her memories and
realized what Chelsea was. She was no longer the confused girl that
boarded the ship a few days ago. She felt like a new person. She
was fearless.

Suddenly, there was a knock on her door.

“Come in,” she called.

Dylan entered, forgetting to close the door behind
him. “Is it true? Did you kill Morgan?”

“Me?” Brenna asked with mock disbelief, placing a
hand on her chest.

“Hallie came to me crying. She said you practically
admitted it,” Dylan explained, enraged.

“Hallie is still grieving,” Brenna told him calmly.
“She doesn’t know what she heard.”

“Well, what did you tell her then?”

Brenna stared at him squarely in the eyes. “I told
her that her sister deserved what happened to her.”

Dylan stared back at Brenna, appearing surprised.
“What?”

“I told her that Morgan deserved what happened to
her,” Brenna told him matter-of-factly. “I don’t regret saying it.
Hallie has to understand her sister wasn’t the saint she
remembers.”

“What has gotten into you, Brenna?” Dylan questioned
angrily. “Have you lost your mind?”

“No, I have just regained it,” Brenna told him,
watching as Orman entered the room soundlessly.

He was obviously drunk, holding a half empty wine
bottle in his hands.

“If you had anything to do with Morgan’s death or
Marissa’s disappearance, I won’t help you, Brenna,” he told her,
fuming. “I don’t want anything to do with you!”

She watched as Orman crept up behind Dylan, taking
hold of him and throwing him against the wall. “Stay away from
her!” Orman screamed at him. Before Dylan could react, he turned
over the wine bottle and broke it over Dylan’s head.

“Orman, no!” she screamed, but it was too late. She
watched as Dylan collapsed on the floor unconscious.

“He shouldn’t have screamed at you like that...
Didn’t he know you are my girl? No one talks to my girl that way.
Now, I have to finish him,” Orman rambled with malice in his eyes,
holding the broken bottle in his hands.

Brenna stared back at Orman, shaking. Her heart began
to pump harder in her chest. Orman had hurt Dylan. Dylan... Her
only love. He was the reason for everything. He was the reason she
had to kill Morgan... She had to kill Marissa, because she knew
about Morgan’s fling with Dylan... He was at the root of everything
she had done, but she couldn’t bear a world without him.

The idea of losing him made her panic inwardly.
Knowing better than to show emotion while Orman was watching,
Brenna had to think quickly. But the answer came to her when
Chelsea appeared to her....

She was standing in a corner, staring back at her.
“This is your chance to shift the blame...”

Brenna nodded back at her before she disappeared,
realizing she could use this situation to her advantage.

“Your mine, Brenna... Don’t you get that?” Orman
asked her, appearing frustrated. “We can get revenge on everyone
who wronged us... No one will stand a chance. They will never catch
us. Not with my money. We can hide all over the world.”

Brenna calmly stood up and walked calmly towards
Orman. She stood close, staring into his eyes. “Let me finish it,”
she whispered, running her hand along his arm until she reached the
bottle.

He nodded, handing Brenna the broken bottle.

She took the spout of the bottle in her hands as she
caressed Orman’s face with her other hand. “Don’t worry, Orman,”
she told him quietly. “This won’t hurt a bit...”

Without warning, she kicked him in the shin, causing
him to lose balance. He landed on the floor with a hard thud as the
air escaped his lungs in a single whoosh.

Brenna threw herself and landed on him, bringing down
the broken bottle on his abdomen. In a frenzy, she stabbed him over
and over with the jagged edges of the bottle. She watched as Orman
lost consciousness...

When he breathed his last breath, Brenna was by his
side, holding his hand. “I’m sorry, Orman,” she told him. “But you
are going to save my life.”

Brenna looked back at Dylan as his eyes began to
flutter. She ran to him and crouched down before him. “Dylan, wake
up!” Brenna cried, feigning fear. “Dylan!”

His eyes fluttered open.

“What the hell happened?” Dylan asked angrily,
sitting up and then regretting the decision when pain rattled his
skull. “Where’s Orman?”

“Orman went crazy! He tried to kill you,” Brenna spat
out without breathing, keeping Dylan’s eyes on her. “He was going
to kill me, but I caught him off guard. I had to defend
myself...”

Dylan grabbed Brenna, holding her tightly in his
strong arms.

“Oh, God,” she cried, trying her best to appear
frantic. “He killed Morgan, because she rejected him... He killed
Marissa, too. She told me he got mad when she wouldn’t go out with
him again. He was going to kill us all!”