11 'Wolf?” She Rasped.

Ten days seem like a gargantuan amount of time. Dawn had stolen a bottle of Advil from the hospital. Once again she took two of them and waited for the fever to subside. She hoped that by bringing her temperature down she would be able to slow the symptoms. As soon as they settled down to sleep, Dawn felt the ship sailing, breaking the waves headed out into the ocean for a long voyage. Along with Cole, she slept in that small tiny bed. The soft movement of the ship over the quiet water of the sea was like a lullaby. The kids slept peacefully.

In the morning, when she woke up, she noticed that her breakfast was spread out on the table. She got up and freshened up before having it. Cole woke up later and followed her suit.

Wake up, breakfast, lunch, dinner and sleep—that had become the routine for the two of them. In the next week, they rarely met the sailor. Cole was beginning to get agitated and short-tempered because of staying inside all the time. He had played all the games that were on Dawn's cell phone. He had read everything that the sailor had given for them to spend time. And by the seventh day, he was irritated as hell. Throwing the magazine down that was about various types of boat accessories, Cole watched his sister furtively who was having her chicken wings. He crossed his arms and said, "I want to go out. I don't like it here."

Dawn paused eating and stared at her brother with a glance that returned the source of nuisance that was in the air. "You can't. This is the part of the deal. If we go out, the sailor who brought us in might lose his job." She continued to bite another piece. "Only three more days are left, so please behave. It's not that I like this entire scenario." She threw the chicken on the plate. Even she was the edge. She plucked out an invisible particle from her jeans.

"Oh really?" Cole said with a hard smile. "I am in this situation because of you." Saying that Cole poked his tongue harshly into his cheek and inhaled a long breath.

Dawn's breathing became ragged as she looked at her brother's insolence. She gritted her teeth and became silent to disengage from the conversation.

Cole pointed his finger at her and lamented, "I want to leave this room now. You take me out or ask that sailor to take me out."

Dawn closed her eyes and clenched her teeth. She had a twitchy feeling about this. She wished that Cole would shut up but one look at him and she judged that he wouldn't stop. "You don't know what you are talking about!" She got up from her chair and walked to the round glass window that showed the ocean from the inside. From the past seven days, Dawn got fever everyday and every time she would eat the medicine. However, last night her fever spell came within ten hours. Her body was trembling and she even noticed her foot converting into something knotty. Somehow she managed to get the medicine and stayed up with a covered blanket, stuck to the wall as her teeth chattered. She didn't know what she would tell her brother. The change was difficult in her.

She gulped remembering that and then turned around to look at him. "Cole, I will ask the sailor, okay?" But Cole was already looking somewhere else.

Obviously, the sailor didn't agree. He even scolded and accused them sternly for trying to sabotage his career for helping them. Dawn lowered her head. The sailor left the cabin after placing the dinner on the table with loud noise.

That night Dawn and Cole sneaked to the deck when it was almost 2AM. They hoped that the staff wasn't there. When they stepped on the deck, Dawn took in a long breath of the salty air that the ocean had to offer. There was dim light on the deck and they managed to stay hidden under the staircase that led to the Captain's Cabin. "Don't go in the open. Stay beside me."

"Okay," Cole said excitedly. He sat there and looked at the clear sky that was littered with so many stars that he had never seen in the city he lived in.

The ship sailed gently on the waters. The waves beneath reflected the stars blurring their shapes as if erased by a rubber. Her thoughts floated on how she would begin her journey, when suddenly from the corner of her eyes she noticed a gigantic wave rising in the ocean. Her mind froze for a moment.

"Cole, look there," she said feebly pointing in that direction. The wave had neared.

"Run!" she said as adrenalin gushed through her body. She got up and pulled Cole back inside but by then the wave only a few meters away. "Cole!" she shouted in anxiety realizing that he was rooted to his spot in fear.

The wave hit the ship. The water lashed on the deck forcefully making the ship sway like a drunken person on the pedestrian path. It half sank into the water. "Run, Cole, run!" she squealed. And then she felt it—the surge of adrenalin in her body. Her limbs became numb, her vision blurred and through that hazy vision, she saw Cole running back inside, disappearing into darkness. Dawn stretched her hand out to stop him. A strong wave hit her that carried her gliding her across the floor slamming her into a wall. After that she didn't know what happened.

Dawn woke up after what seemed eternity. Soft ripples of water that crashed on her washed her body. She was drenched completely. She felt sickly and unsteady. She got up and studied the surroundings. She was still on the ship but she didn't know where she was. She squinted her eyes. The stairs were right next to her. She went up and it was eerily silent. There was no one outside. It was early hours of the morning. Not taking any chances, she dragged her body sluggishly to her chamber as discreetly as possible. Thankfully in the past one week she had studied the location of her room in the map that was adhered to the door and memorized it. When she reached there, Cole opened the door. His eyes bulged and he threw his arms around her. "Dawn," he said in a shaky voice. She stroked his hair and closed the door behind her.

"Yes- yesterday when you weren't there, the sailor had come and instructed me to stay inside. They said that a grey wolf had attacked them out of nowhere. They didn't know how the wolf managed to stay hidden for so long. They chased it away expecting it to jump in the ocean." Cole stopped and looked at her with red eyes. "I was so scared for you. Where were you?"

"Wolf?" she rasped.