Ghosmoure Saga: Discovery Ch. 01

Ghosmoure Saga: Discovery

Chapter 1

*-*-*(Author's Note: I'd like to say thanks for taking the time to read my work. I did not expect this opening chapters to be this long but here we are. I had to split the first chapter into two because it reached to 7,000 words and these opening chapters would set up the story and character dynamics, with the smutty chapters showing later as the story progresses. Also, this would be a slow burn smut, I'm afraid this won't have a quick fix of fucking just yet, if that's what you're looking for. With that said, constructive feedback is most welcome and I'm sure I missed some errors and typos. Anyway, thanks again for reading and hope you stay tuned until the end: End Author's Note)*-*-*

The waters were trying to turn us away, it did not help that the wind were as troublesome as the currents too as the Esmeralda's engine were working double time as I steered the wheel to and fro like a madman, trying to swerve us into manageable waters. This sneak of a squall had turned the ocean from crisp paradise blue to a sudden dismal grey-brown, the very air itself alive with the nervous litany of a lightning storm. Unending sleets of rain pattered down the glass of the wheel cabin, making visibility difficult, but I could feel the swell and rhythm of the ocean waves reverberating through the frame of the Esmeralda and I trusted my instincts more than I trusted the high-tech equipment my sisters brought.

It seems it would take us a bit later than the expected schedule to arrive at our destination but it was better than getting sunk in the middle of nowhere.

I felt as Tanner stumbled down the steps behind me, what-with the boat being jostled like a toy in a bathtub. I didn't turn to face her, however, my eyes up front, sensing which waves were the weakest and which ones would kill us. An incoming rogue wave, thirty feet high, snuck up from my starboard side and I let the wheel loose, spinning the thing fast and the Esmeralda narrowly evaded getting up-turned over. Picture frames and books, everything that hadn't been bolted down, flew across the air in the wheel cabin. Tanner cursed and I finally turned around to see the chaos of the room strewn about. At least we aren't sinking in the ocean floor of the Pacific. My sister, Tanner, got knocked down on the floor in a dangle of my drapes, looking frazzled and annoyed.

A familiar look was on her face, the kind that was best to be anywhere but her immediate vicinity. But there was nowhere else to go, being stuck in a boat with her. The satisfaction at seeing the famed Dr. Tanner Ghosmoure, multiple doctorate and renowned academian, being sprawled on my ship deck like an idiot lifted my spirits and threatened to make my lips break in a grin. I learned since I was a kid to keep my face neutral, stone-faced. Her blue-grey eyes was almost like the sky on the cusp of a tempest themselves. She wore a wetsuit on despite having no plans on getting in the water. My sister was more than prepared just in case the ship was ever going down.

Not that it would, not on my watch.

I bit down my tongue to swear her off like we did when we were children. Mom and Dad weren't here to break us off like they used to and I just might throw her overboard should she starts making her signature demands, so I keep my lips shut for the moment.

"Why aren't we making a straight line for the landmass? Satellite shows our pathway had been zigzagging for the better part of an hour now," She demanded as she tried to stand up and I rolled my eyes away from her. I cast my hand out to the outside waters, "Can't you see the waves I've been dealing with? We go straight into those waves, The Esmeralda will go under. I've only seen waves like these on a Category 4 hurricane!" I was about to add more when the waves coming our way caught my periphery. I turned back immediately and grabbed the wheel, "Hold on to something!" was all the warning I could give before spinning the wheel hard to port to evade another rogue wave.

"Oof!" Doctor Emmalyn Tanner Ghosmoure was sent a-tumbling once more, rolling across the deck and ended up splaying herself, ass up, in the most undignified of manners.

I couldn't help myself. I let out a guffaw. If only my hands were free I could--

The boat suddenly lurched, my heart stopped, my head banged against the wheel with a loud whack! I feared the worst as the ship was almost angled forty-five degrees askew, midair, before settling once more with a bone-quivering splash on the ocean. I tried to mitigate such maneuvers but that was the third time the keel had to hit the water like that. The Esmeralda was one sturdy gal but even she had her limits.

I saw stars for a split second and I feel a bruise forming on my forehead where I hit the wheel but still I keep my eyes on the horizon for anymore surprises.

After fifteen minutes of steady sailing, it seems the seas were calming down, the squall having passed by us. By then, a trickle of blood was flowing down on a small gash on my brow where I hit the wheel. I tear of a cloth from shirt and wrapped it around, looking all the more piratey. Kit was going to have a laugh at what I look like.

I turned to see my older sister crumpled and lying on a bunch of my stuff, her dark auburn hair tangled in front of her face, groaning. I suppressed a smirk, with only the barest twitch of my cheeks as a tell. Tanner looked up to me with darkening eyes but I knew her well enough that she was trying to be the bigger (wo)man and move on like nothing happened. I reached a hand to help her, but she waved it away and I had to stop my eyes from rolling. Again, stone-faced stoicism was the key when dealing with my older sister. Any form of ridicule or mockery would earn me a clap in the ear (Granted, we are grown adults now, such childish acts of violence are beneath Dr. Ghosmoure, so I'll probably instead get a soul-shattering glare for the better part of the foreseeable future.)

The wheel cabin was a mess and probably any part of the ship where the stuff hadn't been bolted down to the wall or the floors. I made sure vital equipment were properly sealed before the journey for this very possible scenario so we wouldn't have to worry about stuff that we need to get back alive or getting squished by.

I looked closely and saw what had caused Tanner to tumble down the floor, a long green footlocker had come loose of its little cubby and knocked her on the shin. Weird. I made sure that footlocker was secure. Made extra sure, especially because of its contents. Faded yellow paint that had once formed the words U. S Marine Corps faintly visible above. I kicked it back and found the ratchet strap deliberately loosened.

I turned to Tanner, "Did you unfasten this?" I asked, pointing to the heavy olive-green footlocker.

"I was looking for more space, I found none. I need someplace more secure and dry for my other equipment to remain intact. That footlocker looked optimal for my uses.... I may have loosened it a bit before the squall struck. Did not get a chance to refasten the ratchet," she said with as much dignity she could muster. But I saw the tips of her ears slightly turning red which was cute. It was rare for her to make mistakes and virtually impossible to get an apology. This was the closest I could get.

"What's in the box, Lee? Are those military markings?" Some of her cold poise returned.

"Nothing," I lied smoothly.

Her dark red lips turned downwards into a frown, merely a millimeter but that small act made the room colder than arctic waters. She knows I am lying, most likely by instinct. I was trying not to instigate an argument for as long the duration of this expedition but she made it difficult. I know she would disapprove of the contents of the box. It was a hobby of mine but she'd think it brutish and unrefined if she were ever to take a peek inside.

A shadow with blazing golden locks appeared at the door of the Captain's Wheel.

"Holy Shit guys! That was insane!" A bundle of golden haired curls bounced on the doorway as my younger sister, Kit, joined us, an exhilarated grin fixed in her lips. I quietly thanked my lucky stars for her sudden arrival. Talk about good timing. The footlocker forgotten, and hopefully, dropped and not worth of Tanner's time.

"That was anything but exciting for me." I replied, crossing my arms. "How fares the engine? The hull? Any leaks?"

"Oh come on," she waved it off, giving me a joking tap on my forearms, "Isn't this your life? You should ease up a little. You're starting to remind me of a certain someone," her neatly groomed eyebrows did a little dance, like fine golden worms, referring to one auburn haired Dr. Ghosmoure. "And aside from more lubrication for the crankshaft pulley and more coolant, the Esmeralda will hold," Kit went on, "As for the hull, the old gal can still make it, just don't drop her off a waterfall like you did back there. Christ! I was in midair for a few seconds! That was almost as good as a climax!" Kit squealed.

I grimaced at the idea, "Eww. Too much information, Sis. TMI," I groaned, bending over to pick up the scattered picture frames, glasses and cooking utensils that got thrown about during the sudden storm.

Tanner only ignored Kit and her eccentricities, appearing to focus on her weather detection equipment that had taken up a quarter of the Wheel Cabin. She may not seem like it, but I know she heard all the remarks Kit made. Kit gets a pass in her books, I don't. Something with having several doctorate in Kit's name as well, living up to the legacy of the Ghosmoure clan. Noted, not as many as Tanner but it certainly is far more than I will ever have. And for that reason alone, in Tanner's eyes, I have stained the Ghosmoure name.

Tanner recollected her expedition notes. Good thing she had the heavier machinery stuff tied down. Those thing would have squished her. Not that they were of any use thus far, not being able to detect that sudden change in the weather or the ship-shinking waves we had just survived. ass

Sentiments I keep close to my heart and not my mouth.

Which is why having Kit here was a mixed blessing, being the bundle of blonde joy that was our go-through between me and Tanner. I don't know how could I have stand it if it had just been me and Tanner. However, the thought of Kit being flung overboard nearly made my heart stop in fear. She was smaller, the smallest of us siblings. Perhaps it was just my tendency as her older brother to look out for her. She was my favorite sister to be sure, never disparaging of me and always had that look of amazement in her eyes on me as if I was an adventurer of sorts. I didn't have to worry about Tanner, she may not look like it but she could take care of herself and glare at a shark make it take her to shore if the need arise. But Kit? Yeah, I showed her affection that I didn't get from Tanner. Which is a lot.

"Tell me please you didn't just hung on to dear life like this is some carnival ride rather than a scientific expedition?" I asked, exasperated. Kit came towards me and had to stand on her toes to tighten my makeshift-bandage on my forehead. She smelled of sweat and lilacs, "Relax, Lee. Don't get your panties in a bunch."

I only sighed.

It was Kit's turn to roll her eyes at me, "Fine, fine. I'll double check the hull," she turned to leave but did a quick 180 and added, "And then maybe when we're not getting thrown about like a toy in a God's bathtub, we'll see to having dinner, yeah? It's been a while since we've had dinner altogether. Aaahhh, good times, good times." And Kit was away, whistling a jig while she went below decks to check on the hull.

My smile disappeared as I turned to my other sister, "Tan, are you sure there aren't any squall ahead? Those waves could've sunk us."

"Negative. Nothing is showing up on satellite." Tanner replied stoically.

A moment of silence passed between. I returned to my survey on the wheel. The only sound came the splashing of the waves against the keel of the Esmeralda, the soft billow of the darkening Pacific winds and the soft clicks of Tanner's keyboard. I decided to break the silence first.

"Is it too late to try and convince you two back to port?" I made to sure to ask Tanner that out of earshot of Kit. The old sailor in me was trembling with bad juu-juu. It was inevitable being a sea captain. The sea was a vicious, unpredictable bitch at times, colder than Tanner and just as fickle as Kit. And these here waters we're treading is by far the most treacherous I've ever sailed yet. This was not how I was imagining spending my week.

"What's our position?" I inquired.

A series of clicks and clacks as Tanner's fingers worked like that of a maestro before a barely audible chime sounded in her computer, "3,000 klicks north east of French Polynesia and 700 klicks south of the equator."

So far away, I thought. the farthest I've ever sailed from home. I'd be lying to myself if I didn't feel any sort of fear. But it was better this way. No other boat were willing to take my sisters up on this crazy "expedition", as they'd like to call it. I already tried my best to discourage them when they put up their plan before me. Heck, I wasn't even on the top of the list of their proposed captain. They know I won't approve of it, would even try my best to discourage them.

But I know them, how they think.

Published scientists, the both of them and already have a score of scientific articles written between the two, and from what I gathered from their social media posts, their peers think them among the smartest of their generations. But these two would've eventually find ways to sail these waters on their own if they found no one willing. It was about one minute and twenty three seconds after I had a fight with them when they presented forth this scheme of theirs on going to this hastily planned expedition when I realized they weren't going to stop just because I said no.

If they could not find a willing captain, then they would've just rented a boat and sail it themselves. They have the money. They have the plucky stubbornness of being a Ghosmoure. I saw the glint in their eye and how their shoulders were set. I swore under my breathe then, before rushing after them.

Now, five days later, we are getting close to our destination. Whoop-de-dooo...

I did my work in silence once more. Tanner set up just behind me in the captain's wheel. I heard the clack-clack sound of her fingers against the keyboard. Quick and easy, she had assured me. The waters would be restive, she said. Get to the island, extract samples and data and get the heck out. Weather would be fine she said. Yeah, right.

I thank dad for whipping in me the incessant instinct of constant maintenance of any seafaring vessel when I was a kid. Practically drilled it into my very fibers. There were times I hated the man then but when Esmeralda held against the thrashing of the squall, I had to begrudge the ghost of my father for his harsh lecture.

But that storm though... Never seen anything like it.

One moment we were sailing steadily towards the island, almost a week in our journey, blue skies and favorable winds all around. Then in just under five minutes, the sky darkened, cloud formation coalescing into something I have never seen in my life, as if an invisible hand of providence gathered the clouds together, a pillar of blackness in the far distance. My hair stood on their ends and what followed after was, probably, the best sailing maneuvers I have ever done to bring us through to safety. Just thinking about it brings me to sweat still and as I look forward towards the horizon, towards the island, I just know in my bones that squall was not the end of it.

"Are you sure there aren't anymore surprises in store?" I asked Tanner, with the slightest hint of mockery in my tone. I was a little bit pissed at her for bringing me here, even more that our youngest sister Kit was here, in a potentially life ending expedition. So I had to let some aggravation loose, one that I have been keeping since the expedition began.

Besides, it was just a light jest. So light that a normal person would not have caught it. I could not help myself. The sound of clacking stopped and I did not need to turn to feel Tanner's grey gaze on me. Tanner always did look down on me, metaphorically and literally. She was taller by five inches than I am. Not as muscle bound as me but her taller stature made it so that I had to look up to her to keep eye contact. She had that look that had ingrained in me when our parents were off in travels and whatnot. She became me and Kit's babysitter. And under her house, she did not suffer insolence, which I gave her aplenty growing up. When Tanner babysat, her rule was a dictatorship, not a democracy.

I turned around I immediately realized the folly of my taunting her, subtle as it was.

Tanner looked to me grimly. Her grey eyes almost glowering as her entire countenance darkened. That kind of look would have whipped me in submission.... if I was still nine that is. I simply leaned back and rested my elbow against the wheel, calm and relaxed looking. Not let her know the pounding of my heart against my chest, a reflex that had been honed in me for the first fourteen years of my life.

"Tan..."I started, calmly and reasonably, it was time to voice my concerns for this trip. We were adults, damn it. Emotions must not cloud and warp reason and logic, "I just sailed us through a squall that took us by surprise, one that could've overturned a ship if its crew had been caught unaware. One that didn't pop up in your computer, expensive and high tech as it is. It's not too late yet for us to turn. We're closer to Bora Bora now than Hawaii and it would only take a handful of days of travel."

She didn't reply, not outright. There was just the sound of the waves against the keel, the discordant harmony of a sea in a storm between us. She was always had been cold as the Atlantic. Her long wavy sunset-auburn hair, though beautiful, always draped her face and cast her visage in shadows, making her wispy grey-blue eyes glow in darkness. In a tone that invoked ridicule she replied, "What are you so scared of?" she said with a tilt of her head.

"What am - -I--", I stuttered, couldn't believe for myself. Did I had to spell it out for her? Looking at her confused look says I did have to spell it out for her, "--I don't want to watch the only family I have left on this earth drown and die, especially on my boat and my watch!"

She looked down, not ashamed nor ridiculing but thoughtful, trying to process my words. I could see the cold calculating machinations of her scientist self, whirring inside her head, weighing the variables.

Then she looked up and met my gaze again and nodded. "Noted."

"Not-...."Noted"? Just like that? Noted?" I couldn't believe it. She had always had been a singular minded creature. A creature that hungers for only excellence and success no matter the cost. One that our parents nurtured to its limit. She was a child after their own image. A true Ghosmoure, as they liked to say when they think I am out of earshot. Whilst I.... I was me.

To Tanner, she can just turn off her humanity like a flick of a switch. "You know how I detest to repeat myself, Lee. We already had this discussion. Me and Kit would not miss this opportunity," Tanner reiterated coldly.

I threw my hands up in aggravation, "There really is no talking to both of you is there?"

"None." She said, turning her gaze away from me and already on her computer once more. With a shake of my head, I turned back to the wheel, overlooking the waters before me. I grit my teeth in exasperation. More dark clouds were stirring in the horizon. The waters slightly turning virulent with each wave going below the Esmeralda. "Are you really that afraid?" She asked, suddenly.

I didn't turn to face her. "Call it instinct, intuition, whatever. Something isn't right with... with these waters."

"This coming from a man who ran away from home and lied about his age to work on a crab fishing boat since he was fourteen?" She arched a neatly trimmed auburn eyebrow, recalling how I ran away from home when I was fourteen as if it was just a phase, a childish outburst to her. My eye twitched, my heart pounding harder as my blood raced through my ears. I breathed deep, trying to calm myself. There were more to that story but that was a longer conversation and one that most probably result in yelling and throwing things. I just needed her to see to reason to go back to calmer waters as soon as possible.

"Yes," I answered her question. "And this is precisely why you should be scared too. There's something in the wind. In the stars and in the waves. It just makes my bones...... unsettled."

Something must've shown in my face because when I turned to look at her, she looked shook. Eyes wide and unblinking, blood drained from her face. There was something else I wasn't telling Tanner, and Kit as well. For as long as I could remember, I would occasionally get dreams. Weird, nonsensical dreams. Mostly they were euphoric dreams, like my consciousness being adrift amidst a slow lazy river made up of the stars and gases of endless nebulae. Or be awestruck at the grand majesty of the ever expansive symphony of the universe. Sometimes, just sometimes I would get the faint recognition of some sort of..... presence, watching over me. Indifferent, kinda like how my father would watch over me when I decide to jump into the lake while he reads a book on the port nearby. I always felt calm and well at ease.

But ever since we've started this expedition, the ones I got were nightmares instead. Five nights of nightmares with each one becoming worse and frightening than the last. Nothing concrete, nothing that could easily be put into words. Mostly I get feelings from them and some imagery that is difficult to describe. I'd find myself in the deepest, darkest depth. I know it was deep underwater because of how cold and oppressive weight of the earth's ocean pressuring me to explode like a blueberry only I'm conscious and still alive. Amidst it all, I feel a stirring in the water. A predator in the shadows. So big I could feel it as its mere flicker of movement would send me to a great torrent underwater. I would be helplessly swept away and yet the thing in the shadows merely growled, unaware of my presence. I'd wake up in cold sweats in the middle of the night, almost rushing out of my hammock in the wheel cabin, the vestiges of the nightmare so vivid I have trouble setting reality and dream apart the first few seconds after waking up.

When I saw the shocked look in Tan's face I thought I had gotten through to her. But she immediately composed herself and stood her ground on her decision. "We sail on," she said and I found myself praying for the first time in years to whatever providence there be, if there are any.