Murder Mystery Yacht
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The first thing that caught my eye, was the name of this vessel. The M/Y Murder Mystery sounded like something out of a movie or novel; I couldn’t help but chuckle to myself as I thought about it. As for this yacht, it was an impressive sight to see.
A massive three-masted sailing ship with sails billowing in the breeze and a hull that gleamed in the sun. It looked like something straight out of Pirates Of The Caribbean on the silver screen. There were also four decks below the deck, which made me wonder how many cabins there might be? This was going to be interesting…
“Where are we meeting?” I asked.
“Below deck one.” She pointed forward at a small ladder that led down into darkness. “This way.”
I followed her as she led us down the stairs and into a large room off to our left. In the middle of the room was a long table where six people sat around it—all of whom were decked out in fancy suits and dresses.
They all turned towards us as we entered the room, and I could only imagine their expressions when they saw me dressed up like this. Not to mention my face was covered by a mask, so I could only guess what kind of reaction I’d get. That is until I looked over at Breena. The look on her face told me everything I needed to know—she looked absolutely terrified.
“Oh my,” said one man who stood near the head of the table. He must’ve been the captain or owner of the ship because he had an air of authority about him. “What a fascinating outfit you have there. And what a beautiful woman, too! You do know that this vessel is open for business, yes?”
“Yes, Captain,” I replied while holding back from laughing. “My friends and I are here to take part in your Murder Mystery Yacht excursion.”
“Ah, well that’s splendid!” He smiled. “I’m sure it’ll be fun.”
“Right…” I muttered. “We’ve come all the way out here to participate in your Murder Mystery Yacht excursion. But before we begin, would you mind if I took off my mask for a moment? I need to make sure these guys aren’t in any way related to those men we’re looking for.”
He glanced over at his companions on the other side of the table. “Certainly not. Please feel free to remove it. We don’t ask questions and we don’t care who you are.”
I nodded then pulled my mask off. “Thank you.”
Breena gasped loudly and stared at me wide-eyed. “Who are you?!”
“Just some guy named ‘Tony.’ You can call me Tony.” I shrugged. “Now, let’s get started. Where should we start?”
The captain grinned. “Let’s begin right here,” he said as he pulled out a piece of paper with a map drawn on it. “I believe we’ll begin in the dining hall, where you’ll meet your fellow guests.”
“Guests?” I repeated. “You mean there will be others here besides us?”
“Of course, there will be,” he replied. “We always try to keep things interesting for our customers, after all.”
“So, what does this entail exactly?” Breena asked.
“Well, it varies from person to person,” he answered. “Some of our clients prefer to go along with the story, whereas others want to see who actually did it. Some even think it’s funny if no one is ever really found guilty.”
That made sense… I supposed.
“How much do you charge per hour?” I inquired.
“Our packages start at ten thousand Lira for two hours, and thirty thousand for three.”
“Saints preserve us,” Breena sighed. “I suppose there is a reason you didn’t tell us how much money it cost to rent this boat.”
“As I said before, we don’t ask questions and we don’t care who you are,” the captain said as he laid his hand on Breena’s shoulder. “But we do encourage our customers to spend as much time as possible aboard our vessel, so I hope you enjoy your stay.”
I blinked a few times. “Wait, what?”
“I thought you said you didn’t care who we are?” I asked.
“I said that I don’t care who you are—not that I have any interest in getting to know you.”
“Right. So, if I pay you, will you leave us alone?”
“Absolutely not,” he replied. “We have to provide each of our guests with a private cabin, which means you’ll have to sleep in the same bed together.”
“What?! No!”
“Please, just humor me.” He gestured towards the door leading out of the room. “All of the other rooms are occupied, but you can still use them until someone else decides to join you later. Now, I must insist that you follow me. I’m afraid you’ll have to take your masks off again so I can show you where to put them, so please remain quiet until we’re outside.”
“Fine,” I said. “Do you mind showing us where to put these masks?”
“No, of course not.” He reached into a pocket in his jacket and withdrew several small pouches. “Here, I’ll give you each one. Just put the masks inside and close the zipper. Thank you for being so cooperative.”
Breena took hers and placed it inside the bag. “Is there anywhere to wash up?” she asked.
“There’s a bathroom down the hallway,” he said. “It isn’t very big, so try to be as quick as you can.”
“Will we be able to get more food or drinks?” Breena asked.
“Oh yes,” he replied. “However, I would like you to stay away from the kitchen area. We have a very strict rule about letting anyone near it.”
Breena rolled her eyes. “Whatever.”
***
After we followed him through a maze of corridors, we finally arrived at an open doorway. The hallway beyond was lined with doors, most of which were closed. There were also a couple of windows on either side of the hall.
“This way,” the captain said as he walked past one of the windows and opened another door. “Please, make yourselves comfortable.”
The room was sparsely furnished and consisted mostly of a couch facing a television. A large window looked out upon the ocean.
“What’s that?” Breena asked as she pointed out the window.
“Ah, right. That’s where we’ll be going when we reach the island. It’s a bit farther than we thought, but don’t worry; you won’t need to swim the entire distance.”
“Why wouldn’t we?” I asked.
He looked at me curiously. “Because you weren’t hired to dive in the middle of the ocean, obviously. This is a boat, remember? And if you think you can walk on water, then I suggest you go ahead and do it.”
“I’m not walking on water,” I said as I crossed my arms. “And even if I was, why should we trust you?”
“My name is Captain Arronax,” he said. “I am the owner of this ship, and I assure you that I won’t do anything to jeopardize your safety. Now, please, just relax. You both seem tense, and I’d hate for you to miss out on this experience because of that.”
“He’s telling the truth,” Breena said, nodding to herself. “I’ve seen people lie before, and they don’t look at you like he did.”
“Who was it?” I asked.
“Lulu.” She paused. “She lied to you, too.”
“Oh. Well, thanks for the warning.”
Captain Arronax turned to Breena. “Would you like something to drink?”
“Uh, yeah,” she said as she took a seat on the couch. “Can I have some water?”
“Of course, you may. Please, help yourself.”
“Okay.” Breena grabbed a glass from a nearby table. “Thanks.”
The captain disappeared into another room. When he returned, he had a couple of glasses of water sitting beside him. “Here you go. I hope you enjoy the ride.”
“Yeah, thanks,” I said as I accepted one of the glasses.
“Mmm-hmm,” Breena agreed, taking the opposite glass from me. “You’re welcome.”
I gulped down the entire glass of water in one sip. After I finished, I leaned back against the couch.
“So what now?” I asked.
“Now we wait,” the captain replied as he sat down across from us. “If you want to talk, feel free to speak up. Otherwise, I’ll leave you be.”
“Why did you lie earlier?” I asked.
“I didn’t lie,” he said. “The island is closer than we thought, but I never told you it was in the middle of the ocean.”
“Then what did you tell me?”
“That the island was only two hours by airship,” he answered. “In fact, that was exactly what I said.”
“But how could we fly to the island?” Breena asked.
“As I said, I made it sound more convenient than it really is.”
“How convenient?” I asked.
“Well…the island is actually connected to our world via a magical gateway,” he explained. “It takes a while to open, though, so I figured I’d save time by letting you believe it would be easier than it is.”
“Why?”
“Because if there was a chance my friends would come here, I wanted them to find it easy to get to. The longer it takes them to get to the island, the less likely they are to be able to help us.”
“You’re using us to keep your friends safe!” I exclaimed.
“No, I’m not! They’ll be fine without me here,” he insisted. “I just want to make sure you all survive the trip.”
“I see,” I said. “That makes sense.”
“You understand why I lied, now it’s my turn to ask,” he said. “What do you know about the island? Have you ever been there before?”
“Not yet,” I admitted. “But we should be arriving soon.”
“Good. Then you’ll have plenty of time to prepare for what lies ahead.”
“For what?” Breena asked.
“We’re almost there,” the captain replied. “I can feel it. We’ll arrive in the next few minutes, so try to stay calm until then.”
“Wait, what does ‘we’re almost there’ mean?” I asked.
“It means,” the captain replied, “that I’ve used magic to temporarily slow down time around us. Keep that in mind. The journey will only take a short amount of time, but it might feel much longer.”
“Oh,” I said. “This is going to be interesting…”
The End