Ravens, Monsters, & Phoenixes by Cree Synster - HTML preview

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ravens, Monsters

& Phoenixes

By Veronica S.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Authors Note:

            Let me start by saying this. Don’t ever go on a cruise if you’re in a relationship and don’t plan on taking your boyfriend/girlfriend/spouse/significant other/whichever you wish to call it. Especially if you’re a teenager. Things will happen that you likely will regret whenever your back.

            Names, appearances, company names, etc…have been slightly modified to protect identities. The main character, Vei (pronounced V-ay), is my own perception of myself in many ways. She is my ideal self, with most of my real details, and some modified details, something I’ve always wanted to have, etc…

            What I will tell is something that really happened to me, with some minor modifications. (reasons stated in last paragraph).

Also, I, just like Vei, take interest in all sexes. If you have a problem with same-sex love, flirting, kissing, etc… than drop this now. I’d rather have my book read by people with open minds, than with people sticks up their bums about the subject. With that being said, let’s let out story begin =)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter One: Arrival

 

            “Don’t forget to change, honey!” I heard Mom say. I gave a sigh. We had just entered our snug little room, on this ship. This had come as a complete surprise to me and my mother. Dad decided to surprise us on Christmas, so here we are now. I smiled to myself at the thought. I loved my parents, but it was always interesting to see the new twist they would add to things.

            I shook my head of the thought as I felt Dad accidentally bump into me, trying to get the suit case on the Queen-sized bed. There was the bed on the right side of the room, a small bedside table, a large curtain hanging from the ceiling (you know…the types of ‘curtains’ they have between hospital beds), and a small sized sofa that transformed into a bed. The large bed was light blue in color with snowy white pillows. I silently walked over to my sofa and sat myself down on its tacky-green fabric. I looked across the walls. The wallpaper was a deep sea blue-green color. The wall opposite of myself had a dark brown desk with the typical ‘welcome’ brochures and ‘safety’ brochure. I shook my head and looked at the large, flat screen TV. Well, it was large for what you’d expect to be in a tiny ship room. I smirked and looked outside of our sliding glass door, to my right. There was a small balcony that currently over looked the city of Miami, Florida.

            I lived in Kingsland, Georgia. A small town in almost the middle of nowhere that could see Florida from their backyard. It was warm most of the year, got mega humid in the summer and quite brisk during the winter. Dad said we needed the cruise to escape ‘the real world’ for a week. I made a face at the thought. ‘Getting away from the real world’ meant me dropping the internet for a week, and being unable to call OR text anyone. Yes, scream, I know, it’s agonizing. Especially for a seventeen year old girl, such as myself!

            “When’s dinner?” I asked to no one in particular as I searched for the black remote to turn the TV on.

            “Seven tonight, sweetie.” I heard Mom say. I gave a nod as I flipped through the channels. Not a lot of channels to choose from. I should have guessed.

            “Go on and explore the ship, meet us back here at about 6:30, ‘kay?” I heard Dad ask. I gave a nod as I stood up and turned off the TV. I gazed down at myself. I had on a black, strapless/sleeveless dress that went down to about my waist, where it fanned out into a flat-black tutu style. The torso section was raven black with a few buckles down the middle. My legs were covered with black/white striped tights and my favorite pair of white, knee high, platform, combat boots. Yes, you heard right, WHITE combat boots. I don’t like being all dark in my style. I wouldn’t call myself ‘gothic’ either. I dress according to my mood, so some days I’m bright and sunny, other days I’m rather dark, and sometimes, I am just a hot mess.

           

 

            The ship had nine floors. I figured out only three decks were important to me though. The second deck (aka as the Arne deck) held all the restaurants, the eighth floor (aka as the Frits deck) held two large pools and a casino, and the ninth floor (aka the Kees deck) held a library on the far right end and a dance floor on the far left end. In case you are wondering about the names, the ship is run by a Dutch line, hence the Dutch names. I had just wandered around the three floors, getting my bearings before heading back to the room. I changed into a dark violet halter dress that went down to my knees. The dark purple dress highlighted my olive-toned skin. My hair was about down to the center of my back and raven black with deep-purple tips. The purple came in different hues and shadows, depending how the light hit it. My parents hated me dying my black hair, but hey, I loved purple!  I pulled my hair back into a high ponytail and pulled on a silver necklace with a pretty sapphire-blue sapphire stone in the center. It was a gift given to me from my boyfriend, we were in a long distance relationship. My parents, however, did not approve of me being in a long distance relation, so they still considered me single and always gave me a death glare whenever I mentioned him. I rolled my eyes at the thought of my parents’ displeasure towards my boyfriend as I put on a simple, thin black liquid eye liner on my top lid. I didn’t use a lot of make up. More often than not, I try to use none. Less is more in my mind when it comes to makeup.

 

            The food was yummy at dinner. The service was quite good too. The soda cost us three dollars, but everything else was included in the ‘final’ cost of the Cruise. At least, that was what my Dad said. I had myself a large steak. I am thin for my height. I am about 5 ft 10 inches and 135ish lbs. I have high metabolism too. My mother complains about my bad eating habits, I simply tell her ‘I am using it while I have it mother!’

            “Oh, Victoria.” I heard my mother say. I visibly cringed. I HATED my real name, so I got everyone to call me by my own personal nickname, Vei (pronounced V-ay).

            “Don’t cringe….There will be a dance tonight!” She said enthusiastically. I raised an eyebrow. Dance? I loved dancing, whether it is hip hop, ballet, jazz, and everything and all between. She smiled.

            “It starts in about an hour. There is no dress code, but please…try not to dress as dark as you normally do.” I smirked as I sipped on my soda. Mother and father gave up on attempting to ‘dictate how I dress’ when I turned thirteen.

            “I’ll see what I can do.” I said simply as I excused myself from the table and skipped over to the elevator. I waited patiently for the doors opened. I raised an eyebrow. There was a hot guy inside!

            He had long dark red hair and a little bit of facial hair along the side of his chin. He had dark brown eyes and milky white skin. He wore a dark brown T-shirt and black pants. He didn’t seem to notice me as we went up one floor. I smirked and left, going over to my room, secretly hoping I spot him later.

           

            I changed into a short sleeve black top and a plaid mini skirt that had fishnet-netting beneath it. My legs were covered with badly torn up black fishnets. My shoes were black tennis shoes, which were designed specifically for dancing. This meaning, there wasn’t ‘hard’ grip on the ground and it was easier to shift movement between the ball and heel of my foot. I grabbed my room key, tucked it inside my raven black push-up bra and headed out. I honestly didn’t need the push up, but hey, a little boost was always sexy in a man’s (or woman’s) eyes. I gave a laugh at the thought. Oh, a tease and flirt I was…

 

 

 

 

Chapter Two: So Wrong

 

I had entered the dance floor whenever the dance was just beginning to pick up. The dance floor was pretty large with comfortable-looking booths lining the walls with a glass table in the middle of the half-circle booths. It was dark with flashing, moving lights. The lights made intricate designs on the floor in a circular motion. I looked to my right; there was the DJ behind a half wall-half glass barrier. He was sitting at a desk with a computer, supposedly doing requests. I smiled to myself as I let the rhythm take control of my body, so to speak. I loved to dance and I love music. I just kind of what whatever my body feels like doing, without caring for the eyes/stares I may potentially get.

I danced along to the music, not really dancing with one particular partner. I occasionally danced by or with a group of two or three other dancers. The DJ played the ‘Top 40s’ type of music from our time. Meaning, hip hop, pop, trance/dance, and some rock n’ roll type music. I danced through it all. My dance style, whenever I am not dancing with a particular group, involves a lot of large body motions, combining different styles. I like jumps, spins, large arm/hand movements, and quick feet movement.

I lost track of time and frankly, I didn’t give a damn. Later though, when I was almost on the brink of exhaustion, I spotted a dancer that had been on the floor just about as long as I had been on it. He had medium length raven black hair, beautiful crystal-blue eyes, and light milky white skin. He had on a raven black bandana, a black jacket, a raggedy looking white T-shirt, somewhat-baggy black jeans and black shoes on. I smirked, hearing a latino-dance style song come on and made my way smoothly over to him, passing the other dancers.
            Our eyes locked and I saw him gradually get closer and closer as we danced. My eyes just couldn’t leave his handsome blue hues. I smirked, hearing a slight pause in the song. I stopped my body from moving as he took a single step towards me, now only a few inches away from me. I smiled a seductive smile, hearing the song pick up again. He put his hands on my shoulders and I put my hands lightly on his arms. We danced closed together like this for a few seconds before I felt myself move closed to him. I knew I was loosing control completely of my body’s movements.

We kissed. It was only a brief peck, but it was still a kiss. I smiled as we kept dancing, his hands moving down to my waist. I moved my face close to his and we kissed again before I felt him press his nose close to the rear part of my cheek, him breathing in my scent as we danced. He moved his hands lower to my hips. All the while, my mind was racing with thoughts of ‘This is wrong! Stop!’ but my body refused to cooperate with my mind, knowing my boyfriend at home may be a little mad, if he found out. The terms my boyfriend gave were simple, ‘I don’t care if you kiss or do anything with anyone else. Just don’t do anything more than kiss and don’t have sex’ but lately, he seemed to be getting rather…protective of me.

I tried to brush the thoughts out of my head, but it was fruitless. I heard the song end and I breathed hard, me and him sitting down heavily onto the booth. He smiled at me and I smiled back

“What’s your name?” He called out loudly towards me, trying to beat the blasting volume of the music around us.

“Vei! Yours?” I called back towards him. He smiled.

“Flynn! Nice to meet you!” I gave a nod before hearing the next song begin. I let my head hit the back of the booth lightly and smirked, hearing Flynn curse.

“Damn it! Just when I got too tired!” I chuckled at his remark. We sat there, mainly just catching out breath as we listened to the music play. I smiled, hearing a heavy bass song come on after about three songs. He gave me a sly smirk and stood up, walked over in front of me, and offered me his hand. I wrapped my hand around his, and he helped pull me to my feet.

We danced along to the music. We avoided the drunks that were beginning to come to the floor. I heard the DJ say, “It is now midnight, and we are now 18 and over only!” I ignored the rest of his words. I was six days away from being eighteen, close enough in my eyes.

As the song came to a finish, I said loudly, “I better head back! My parents might be getting worried.” He gave a nod.

“I hope I can see you sometime during the rest of the cruise, Vei!”

“Hope to see you too, Flynn!” I called out happily. I kissed his cheek and exited the club. I smiled with relief, feeling my heart in my head. It was beating so hard! Not just because of the flirting with Flynn, but because of the hard dancing as well. I gulped as I thought of my boyfriend.

I managed to bring along my stuffed bear that he gave me. All I really wanted to do now is snuggle up to him and hope that what I had with Flynn was strictly/purely a ‘one night stand’ type of deal only. I was afraid of getting emotionally attached to him, knowing I would likely never, ever, see him again after the cruise. I bit the inside of my lip as I opened the door to my room.

Parents were dead asleep in the room. I silently entered the room, closed the door, and turned down the heat ever-so-slightly. I changed into my pajamas and curled up on my bed. I cuddled up to my bear and yawned as I felt myself slowly drift to sleep. Whatever I dreamed that night, I can’t quite recall, but my worry was still there when I awoke.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter Three: Winning Reluctant Hearts

 

I awoke the next morning. I gave a lazy yawn, hearing Mom turn on the TV to the news.

“Did you have fun last night?” She asked me. I gave a sleepy nod as I sat up and ran my fingers through my hair. I had bed head. I shook my head slightly and tried to smooth out my hair.

“What time did you get in?”
            “Around Midnight, where’s Dad?” I asked.

“Breakfast, you got thirty minutes to get ready, meet him there, and eat with him, then you’re free to do whatever.” I gave a nod as I got to my feet and got dressed. I chose my lime green bikini with a black T-shirt and light blue shorts.

I met/found my Dad on the Arne deck. I ate quickly, my mind on Flynn. He was like poison in my veins. I wanted to forget about him, but I just couldn’t get him out of my mind. Every time I thought of him, his eyes were the first thing to pop into my head.

“I’ll be heading to the pool, Dad.” He gave a nod.

“Just meet us back in the room, same time as before.”

“Ok, see you” I said as I stood up and headed to the Frits deck to hit the pool.

 

I spotted Flynn, him appearing to be napping on one of the lawn chairs. I walked over to him and saw him open his eyes. I smiled.

“Hi.” I said quietly. He smiled back at me,

“Hey.” He said, friendly enough. My eyes wandered. I could see him in clear detail now, compared to last night. He had a tattoo on his right arm of what looked to be a large pendulum. I always wanted a tattoo, but knew my parents would kick me out of the house if I got one. Something I couldn’t afford quite right now. I shook my head and sat down next to him.

“I just got done swimming, just kind of laying out now.” He said with a lazy yawn. I nodded.

“You danced well, last night.” I offered, trying to start up a conversation. I saw a smirk tug at his lips.

“Thanks, you were good too.” I laughed sheepishly, looking to the side. I wasn’t blushing, thank dear God above.

“So, where are you from?” I asked, trying to learn more about him.

“Northeast. I’m currently in Florida now though, trying to go to college and living with my grandfather” I nodded. “What about you?”

“I come from a town in the middle of nowhere, GA. I’m on my senior year and I’ll be graduating in a few months” He gave a nod of approval.  I looked up at the roof; they had opened it up slightly to let in the sunlight. Apparently, the upper deck had a sunroof and glass floor on the library so the sun could seep down and warm the pool/guests on the cruise.

Flynn and I continued to make small talk for the next hour or so, just getting to know each other better. I found out that he enjoyed dancing as a hobby and was Russian, just like myself. He wasn’t too sure about his past. Apparently, his dad may have been his real dad, despite currently holding the status of ‘step’. I didn’t understand it and wasn’t going to bother digging and prodding around. I know some people were sensitive to their past.

We ended up walking to the Kees deck together. The club was now barren. It was a little cool as well. He sat down on the booth and I sat about two seats away from him. Flynn gradually got closer to me. He wrapped an arm around me and I laid my back on his chest, propping my right leg up on the booth. He lightly caressed the side of my leg as he held me with his other hand. I kept quiet as he kissed my cheek. I felt his hand gradually move closer to my hip. I felt myself shift my position slightly, moving more upwards as I moved my hand down to my hip, to keep it from potentially exploring “private” territory on me.

He smirked and kissed me. I kissed him back, but only briefly, allowing only a peck. Flynn gave me a disappointed look for a quick second before kissing me again. Once more, I only pecked his lips.

“Only a peck?” He questioned softly, after a few more repeated attempts to hold a longer kiss with me. I gave a nonchalant shrug.

“I’m a flirt.” I said almost silently in response. He smirked and kissed me again. Only this time, I reluctantly held it longer. He seemed to smile into the kiss. I only held it though for a second or two longer before breaking away from his lips.

“Better.” He said quietly. I mentally gulped as I looked up at him. The lights were still dim in the area, so it was somewhat difficult to make out his features. He slid his hand carefully above mine and tried to go under my hand. I pressed down hard, my eyes narrowing. He kept silent as he relaxed his hand for a moment before attempting to kiss me again. I turned my head away. He frowned and sighed.

“I need to go out for a cigarette, wanna follow?” He offered. I shrugged, standing up with him and brushing myself off. I didn’t care for cigarettes. I’d never, ever smoke one, but I could stand being around others who did.

We walked outside together and he lit up a cigarette. I watched him silently as he took a drag off of it. He smiled faintly at me for a moment. I looked away. I knew he was admiring me. He seemed to give a low, almost sadistic chuckle. I narrowed my eyes and looked quickly over at him.