We’re starting our trip with a long ferry ride. I’ve never been on anything bigger than my uncle’s pontoon boat, floating on the reservoir, drowning worms. I’m regretting every disaster show I’ve ever seen, wondering what stupid mistake somebody made is going to send me to a watery grave. At least the weather has been good so far. Little windy. Hope the waves aren’t too bad.
Oh… It’s time to load up. Mischa already hung over. Hopefully he doesn’t spend the entire trip drunk. Quinn’s…
Later… sorry, had to pull the car onto the ferry. We left it parked and came up on deck. Guess some people walked on. We should’ve done that but getting to the trailhead can be tricky, we were told. We’ll still have to catch a bus and hike back from the other end of the trail, though, so whatever. If Liam doesn’t mind parking his car for almost a month, what do I care. Just hope it’s still there when we get back.
Gonna grab some coffee. Wind is picking up.
Later… Coffee wasn’t a great choice. Writing maybe isn’t, either. Stomach isn’t liking these waves. Mischa’s puked twice, but he looked a little green in the car. Maybe if I get some fresh air. It’s so noisy in here between the mechanical noise and all the people. At least that won’t be a problem starting tomorrow.
Night… So… that was weird. I… I’m pretty sure it was real, but Mischa swears I was seeing things. I think he wasn’t seeing things. I went out on the deck because I was feeling seasick, but the weather got worse so I went back into the observation decks where Quinn and Liam were talking with a couple our age that are doing the trail, too, but meeting up with another couple in a few days, so they’ll be behind us. Seem like decent people. Maybe we’ll see them. Yeah, anyway… I asked where Mish was. Quinn said he was sick and went back to the car to try to sleep.
I went down to the car to check on him, not feeling so hot myself. Maybe closing my eyes for a bit would help, though the lower I went in the decks, the worse I felt. I was pretty unsteady by the time I found the car, holding onto the vehicles on either side as I swayed. I hit the truck beside where we were parked and hesitated for a moment to get my balance. I saw two people in the back seat of the car. One was Mish, the other…
Okay, so I wasn’t feeling good and the boat was moving a lot, but I saw what I saw. At first, I thought they were making out. I mean, it’s Mish. If anyone can go from hungover to horny in the blink of an eye, it’s him. So there I am, standing in the bottom of this boat, just wanting to sit down and shut my eyes and my buddy’s busy getting some. I was annoyed, but I’m not sure what to do. I could turn around head back up, or I could give Mish a few minutes and he’d be done. So, I wasn’t perving, but I didn’t want to go all the way back up.
However, as I was making up my mind, I saw something weird. Like… weird. There were too many arms. And not like a threesome situation. I swear, one arm smacked into the back window and… shit, I feel like I’m crazy writing this, but I saw it. Suckers. A bunch of round suckers writhed across the back window. I don’t care what Mish says. I checked the car, there’s still some round marks if you breathe on it to fog it up. They were definitely fogging things up, but I saw it. Them.
Tentacles. Okay, yeah, crazy, right? But I saw it!
Mish says I’m crazy. I mean, he’d know if there were tentacles, wouldn’t he? How could he miss them? They were flailing all over the back of the car, pushing against the window. Hell, on his face… he’s got this hickey showing at the edge of his beard! He’s saying it’s a bug bite. But it wasn’t there this morning.
I ran to the car and jerked the car door open. He had one in his mouth, others were around him. I’m pretty sure there was one… um… yeah, elsewhere. And all Mish did when I yelled as pull his… its?… head down and swear at me to get the fuck out of there. I started to protest, but they were gone. The tentacles. This guy turned and looked at me with a blush on his face, then pushed me away and pulled the door out of my hand. He looked normal. But I swear he didn’t when I opened the door.
I heard Mish apologizing for me and the guy murmured something before the car started rocking again. I stood there until Mischa gave me the bird through the window.
I went back up on deck after that trying to clear my head. Trying to understand what I saw. It was real. I didn’t imagine it.
When we pulled off the ferry, it was that guy waving us off. Quinn was driving. Mish reached over the backseat and honked the horn as we rolled forward. He waved and smiled at me. I watched him the entire time. As he passed, a little tentacle pushed out from under his coat and waved at me before slinking back out of view. Nobody else saw. He turned and winked at me.
Neither Quinn or Liam believe me. Mischa’s just being a smug bastard like he usually is after a hookup. He said the guy offered him a popsicle to suck on to help with the seasickness and Mish was just showing his gratitude when I so rudely interrupted. He thinks I’m jealous. Ha.