Wax Candles

Oh how my head ached once I woke the next morning. I rolled over in the hammock, tumbling onto the floor; a few curse words slipped from my tired lips. Staggering to my feet, I leaned against the wall of the cabin. I stood there for a moment, knowing something was different. While I was trying to read the ship's motions, I came to realize that it was barely rocking; we must have docked. Folding the white blanket Kiro had lent me last night and putting it back into his hammock; I slowly walked over to the steps to the main deck and looked up them. Did I really want to go up and have to face my new fate already? I didn't have a choice really, Kiro was probably going to get Yu to come down and drag me up there anyway. I made my way up the creaking stairs, opening the wooden cabin door to a crack. I poked my head out to see if the boys (better known as "the Freaks" in my world) were there, but no one seemed to be around.

As I stepped from the doorway, closing the door behind me, I realized only one other person was on the deck. Shin, sitting in a meditation position, was seated at the stern of the ship, facing the sea. Where was everyone? I walked over to the blonde boy, tapping him on shoulder lightly. Shin didn't turn around, nor open his eyes, but greeted me in a sweet voice.

"Hallo, you are Carter, no?" he asked me, holding his meditation position.

"Uh, yeah. And you're Shin, right?" I checked with him, leaning against the mast. I watched him sit there like a statue; the only thing that moved was his blonde hair when the wind skimmed across the deck.

"Mhm," he murmured simply; he pursed his lips.

"Okay," I grumbled, "Well where is everyone else?"

"In the town," Shin replied, still unmoving.

"Where are we anyway?"

"Port Royal Jetty."

"Oh," I said, shifting my weight onto my other leg, "Where in town are the other boys?"

"The tavern; Seven Coins."

"Thanks," I nodded, pushing off from the mast and making my way over to the gangplank. Only once did I glace back at Shin to see he still had yet to move a muscle. I watched him for a moment, how could he even be human? He ran like wind sweeping the earth and sat like a stone in the desert; how did he do it? Sighing, I turned and walked down the gangplank, feeling the cool breeze brush my face.

The town of Port Royal Jetty was large, yet the streets were small and filled with people going everywhere and doing everything imaginable. I had been walking for about ten minutes before I reached the tavern. Upon entering, I saw Strify at the bar counter, chatting with what seemed to be a stranger. A goofy grin was plastered to Strify's face and he was waving his arms in every direction as if he was trying to swat a fly away. I smiled slightly, rolling my eyes. It was as if none of those boys knew how to socialize correctly with other people.

As I walked up behind Strify, he spun around on his bar stool to face me, grinning widely. How did these boys know when I was approaching them? Was I really that loud?

"Carter! It's so nice to finally meet you one on one!" Strify exclaimed, his arms flapping about happily again. He receivied a few questioning glances from the other people in the tavern. Strify reached out and pulled me into a hug, squishing me to his chest. I gasped for air; Strify's hold was like a metal claw.

"Nice to...meet you...too, Strify," I squeaked out, "Can you...let me go?"

Strify seemed to understand where I was coming from, letting me out of his embrace. His eyes were butterscotch, just like Kiro's, and they glistened like doubloon coins.

"How did you sleep? Good I hope," he smiled, sipping from a beer glass happily.

"Ew. Beer?" I made a face of disgust, ignoring his question. Strify laughed.

"Beer is for the weak," he chuckled, "I drink rum." He held the glass out towards me, "Care for a sip?"

I cringed at the strong, bitter smell of it. "No thanks." I lightly pushed it back towards him.

Strify smiled, taking another sip. "Have it your way."

I glanced around the tavern; rubbing my arms as if cold. It had only a handful of tables and bar stools which weren't even filled at this time of day. "What's so great about this place anyway?"

Strify shrugged, setting his glass down. "Nothing, but it has the best alcohol in town."

"Right." I paused. "Where are the rest of the boys? Shin told me you were all here."

"Kiro and Yu went to explore I guess you could say," Strify explained, "I decided to stay here with Romeo." He paused. "Speaking of him, where the devil is he?"

I glanced at Strify's glass, it was almost empty. "How many of those have you had?" I asked, wrinkling my nose.

"I'd say about three after I finish this one. Why you ask?"

"Don't people usually drop dead after three?"

He laughed; it sounded like bells too. "No, but maybe they'd drop- over dead tired."

"Hm." I looked around for Romeo, hoping to find the one normal boy from that crazy ship named after a dead guy.

"Ah! There he is," Strify grinned, waving towards the tavern door. "There's Romeo, that little devil."

I turned on my heels, seeing the tall, dark haired boy standing by the door silently; his eyes were looking out the window near the exit.

"Oh, I forgot to tell you," Strify added, then hollered at the waitress for another drink, "Romeo is going to shadow you from now on."

"Shadow me? Sounds painful."

"He's going to be like your bodyguard in other words," Strify corrected me, leaning back against the bar counter. What an odd boy he was, but something about him just made him so lovable.

"Fine," I grumbled, trying to sound upset, "But I'm going out into the town to go look around." I stopped to think. "When are we leaving?"

"I dunno, depends when Kiro and Yu get back," Strify replied.

"Well is it going to be like thirty minutes or more like an hour or two?"

"Oh easily three hours."

"Good. I'm sure Romeo knows when and where to meet up later?"

"Of course, silly. He's more in-tune than I at least," Strify chuckled, grasping the handle to the new glass of rum. "Have fun, Carter."

"Will do," I smiled, but as soon as I turned around I scowled. Stupid, happy, rum drinker.

I reached the tavern exit and approached Romeo, who looked like a giant dog waiting by the door. He wore a large black trench coat, despite the temperature had to be pushing a hundred.

"How are you?" I asked brightly, trying to be open-minded about his reaction to me.

"Fine," Romeo replied dryly, opening the tavern door for me. Okay, so maybe he wasn't going to be the sunshine of the bunch.

"I just wanted to look around the town for a little," I explained to Romeo, who simply followed me like a shadow. "Is that okay with you?"

"Mhm," he muttered, blue eyes darting to every face that passed us.

This wasn't working out how I had planned exactly. Why hadn't I run away from these creeps once I left the ship? I could have just bought myself passage on a merchant ship and gone back to Port Royal where I belonged. But with these boys always around me, there was no way I was going to be able to do that. I only had one choice then; I was going to have to shake them from my trail.