21: What About Our Date?
The HMS Sanguine continued to drift toward the great blue beyond, although it had been growing more grey with each passing hour. Its destiny was bound to the shifting tides and omnipotent waves. Storm clouds continued to surface over the horizon, they stained the clear water an ochre brown and ripply steel grey.
For the captain of the cruise liner, life had taken a toll that was beginning to show on his weathered face. New wrinkles grew under his eyes, his skin tone was growing paler by the day, and sleep deprivation was clouding his thoughts. He sat in his leather cushioned captains chair on the main bridge of the vessel. Before him stood a wooden wheel with an anchor emblem engraved at its center. The giant wheel was more symbolic than a functional piece of hardware.
The Sanguine operated using more modernized equipment now, computer terminals and digital readouts decorated the forward stations. Normally only three or four officers were needed to operate the ship productively. The master of navigation to plot out the course, the second officer XO to highlight the most pressing concerns for the captain, and two engineers to manage the turbines and course corrections. But now the captain was accompanied by a dozen sailors, officers and seamen who managed different aspects of the ship. Dozens of other officers communicated via portable radios that were hand wound.
Captain Hughs sighed noticing just how exhausted they all were. Grease and tar stained most of their uniforms, all of them had been trying to repair critical systems by hand. Many had wrinkled and torn jackets and salt stained trousers. A few had life jackets on, they had physically gone to the rear of the ship and descended via rope to look at the turbines themselves.
Second officer George Castano didn’t even try to parse the information for the captain, all of the reports were bad. It didn’t matter which line he looked at in the stack of written reports, there was no good news. Without any power most of the sailors struggled to run the ship. Many just sat at their stations in dismay, the rest were rushing back and forth giving the captain more written reports. There wasn’t enough radios for everybody and so they had to resort to runners sending orders from the bridge to other parts of the ship.
It felt strange having so much foot traffic coming back and forth through the bridge, it made its spacious confines seem suddenly very small. “Tell me, this storm…are we being dragged into it,” The captain spoke as calmly and clearly as he could. The amount of courage he had summoned to appear in control was vexing.
Somehow his second, George Castano, seemed even more tired than himself. But when the XO spoke it seemed sturdy, likely reflecting his years of service at sea. “Yes Captain, the riptides have taken hold of us. Without the turbines we are being carried at roughly 1 and a half knots in the storms direction.” He paused to look at the compass he held at his side, “We’re moving south due east, and the way my bones ache I would bet were looking at a hurricane in the making.”
The captain groaned, failing to hold his composure. The last weather report indicated as much, updated radar scans were still forthcoming. The captain immediately straightened his back and took up an air of superiority, “Why hasn’t the damn coast guard arrived?” The S.O.S had been broadcasting for days, someone had to know they were suffering.
“It was a mistake,” One of the other sailors whispered, “We should’ve never advertised ourselves as a ‘vampires only’ cruise. No one will come and save us!”
The captain slammed his fist into the armrest, it made the room go silent. “Enough, your all sailors so act like it. Do not give in to fear, act like you’ve got some composure damnit!” His declaration was met by complete silence. The captain studied each of their faces, it was impossible not to notice the fear behind their eyes. But there was something else as well…hunger.
“What is the status of our blood supplies?” The captain asked the one question looming in all their minds. He was a vampire himself, and already started feeling the impact for his sudden dietary restriction.
The second officer cleared his throat, “All gone, we tried to salvage what we could but you can’t keep blood packs safe without refrigeration. We tried putting them in the iced freezers, we hoped the ice would take a few days to thaw…but the heat and sudden humidity has ruined that prospect.”
Just as the greying officer mentioned the spike in humidity, Captain Hughes could feel a thick drop of sweat strolling down his brow. He wiped it away and found all his fingers were coated in sweat. “At least we have water restored.”
“For now…” the second officer responded. The Captain could sense he was starting to expect the worst for everything. A new silence fell over them all, the Captain chewed his inner lip as he tried to weigh the options.
There was only a few reasons to explain why the coast guard hadn’t come to their rescue. The first was pure racism but there were other rational explanations. Maybe they had drifted too far into international waters, or perhaps the storms were interfering with their transponders? The thing that bothered him the most was how their generators failed so miraculously. The word sabotage had been floated around the staff, it was a word he had worked to dismiss. The last thing they needed was suspicion and paranoia adding to their concerns.
“Without any blood…what are we going to do?” This time it was one of the other seaman who broke the silence.
The captain rubbed his forehead, he could feel his stomach tighten. A vampire could get through a week without blood and harbor few complaints. It wouldn’t be long before they met that limit, another day or so. He himself couldn’t hide the fact that his hands were already shaking. “We must remain calm. Fix the generators, get the turbines moving. Barring that we must find a way to extend our broadcast limit, there has to be someone else out there that can tow us to safety or bring us supplies.” He looked out the window, “Also we have to avoid this storm…at any cost.”
These words didn’t sound like orders, more like suggestions. It wasn’t enough to make the other’s in the bridge move away from their own thoughts. “Wait…what if we’re not out of blood?” One of the sailors spoke quietly.
“You’re right!” Another sailor with an open coat realized, “We do have another source of blood on this ship…and its fresh…”
“Not another word,” The captain growled. He looked at each of them in the eye, “That talk ends now!”
All of the sailors sunk their shoulders, a bolt of lightning echoed behind them as if to highlight the mood.
…
The further Rose and Rebecca traveled down into the ship the hotter it seemed to get. The air was thick with sweat and steam. Rose could feel herself perspiring through the spandex outfit, her exposed cleavage was sticky and bounced with each step. Rebecca skipped alongside her, the blouse she wore was also completely soaked in her own sweat. Rose could see the vampires pale skin through the sodden fabric, and her pink nipples poked against the cloth like daggers. Rebecca held a smirk as she pounced with every few steps to allow her girth to bob in the air. Rose found the swaying of the vampires hips enticing, her expressing the perfect mixture of charming and sultry.
Rose Sexton worried that eventually one of the sailors would try to stop them in the halls. They passed by several of them as they journeyed back toward Kyle’s cabin. Each one of them looked exhausted or malnourished. Occasionally one of the sailors would give them a courtesy glance or roll their eyes. Rebecca didn’t even have to mist away when they slid by a trio of sailors in the cramped hallway. Only one of them noticed Rebecca, but seemed more afraid than willing to notify the others.
Rose couldn’t help but feel a little ashamed for how she must’ve smelled, already she needed another shower. She was comforted by the thought that water was fully restored, even a cold shower would be welcoming right about now. “I just want to get back to the room, and take a shower.”
“Maybe I can warm it up for you?” Rebecca leaned in closer so that there shoulders met. The vampire’s cheeks were warm, her eyes soothing to look upon.
Rose felt her stomach do a flip, a breath caught in her throat. She bashfully looked away and almost walked straight into a wall rather than take the necessary right turn.
“So, you never gave me an answer Rosie?” Rebecca continued to keep up her pace, inching closer to Rose with each step. Rose wasn’t sure if she was trying to hold her hand and felt timid as fingertips brushed alongside each other.
Rose regretted it but she avoided Rebecca’s hint by moving her hand up to brush the bangs of her hair away from her eyes. “What are you talking about?”
Rebecca sniffled, “About our date!”
“Oh yeah…” Rose thought about it for a second, “I mean…I’ve never actually dated a girl before, let alone a…” She paused feeling embarrassed.
“I know,” Rebecca finished her sentence and bumped next to her. “But you still haven’t given me an answer?” She sounded playful as she tried and draw out an answer.
Rose didn’t know it but she was smiling. They turned the final corner down the hall, Rose could feel her heart racing. “Fine I guess, but first we’ve got to…” Her sentence was interrupted by the moans coming from the closed door of Kyle’s cabin. They could hear the noise from all the way down the hallway! The sounds of wet slaps only grew louder as they approached. Rose and Rebecca just looked at each other and then back at the door, it was shaking at its hinges.
Slowly Rose reached forward and turned the knob, she could feel a steady vibration through the piece of iron. Slowly she cracked open the door, the sounds of Maggies voice suddenly poured from the room.
“Yes f—ck! Harder, do me harder!” Rose peered through the crack and could make out dark hair tossing back and forth, along with a face buried in a pillow and a shoulder trying to hold herself upright. “Don’t stop! Deeper, you can go deeper!”
“oooh,” Rebecca sounded excited. She placed a hand on the door and forced it open. Maggie’s naked body was exposed before them, she was dripping in sweat while pinned in a doggy style position on the bed. Her knees were bulking under the weight of the towering male behind her. Kyle pressed into her rear, arching his body forward and slamming his hips wildly. Maggie’s soft breasts dangled with each grinding motion, they were plush and tear dropped shaped so that they hanged low to press against the bedding.
Sophia laid on the opposite bed, fully clothed and listening to music. She had her earbuds turned up to full blast. Later Rose would wonder why the stripper hadn’t joined them and their decadence.
Kyle’s muscles were taught, his buttocks firm with squeezing butt cheeks. He grabbed hold of one of Maggie’s breasts and Rose watched as his fingers sank into the soft flesh. For the first time Rose caught a good glimpse of his manhood as it slipped out of the raven haired woman’s groin, only to re-enter with a wet pop. It was coated in their shared ecstasy, and large drops of Maggie’s excitement fell onto the sheets below her legs with each thrust. His grunting was haggard yet it wasn’t born out of exhaustion but of excess. Rose couldn’t help but wonder how long they had been going at it.
Rose just froze at the doorway of the room, Rebecca had to help push her inside and seal the door behind them. A thick coat of steam had collected in the room, sex fueled the air.
Kyle paused for a split second to notice their sudden intrusion. “Hey…” He had to catch his breath, “Don’t mind us…”
“Did I tell you to stop!!” Maggie practically yelled at him and then moaned loudly again as he slammed his balls against her clit with another thrusting slam.
Rose found herself getting wet just watching them, her pearl was itching with forbidden desire. She took a deep breathe and turned away, no sooner had she reached the door to the bathroom did she find Rebecca was already waiting for her. Her clothes were left on the floor, and a sadistic smile had taken place of her usual playful smirk. She reached forward and grabbed Rose’s wrist to pull her inside and shut the door.
“Does that excite you?” Rebecca asked Rose once they were alone. Maggie’s cries of passion could be heard through the door behind them.
Rose shook her head but knew she was lying. She tensed as she felt the vampire embrace her. With quick hands Rebecca cupped the underside of Rose’s exposed right breast. The vampires fingers were gentle as they played with the mounds buoyancy. Rebecca then pulled the spandex layers back to fully liberate Rose’s gorgeous cleavage. They spilled out and hanged free for the vampire to marvel at.
Their lips met, and tongues intertwined as Maggie’s voice continued to bleed through the bathroom door. “Thats right, choke me a little.”
“She can get a little…intense,” Rebecca teased. “I love your freckles,” Her finger danced across Rose’s dangling breasts, tracing the pattern of dots that decorated them, “There so cute.”
“Your the one who’s cute,” Rose reached around the vampires body, felt Rebecca’s soft chest press against hers, and kissed her again.
The pair never noticed the unopened box of condoms left behind on the sink…