Darkness Depths

“You requested my presence?” Ms. Wilson questioned upon entering the bridge.
“We need the map, blondie.” Clairette pointed out, wielding the main controls to the submarine.
“Yes, I’m sorry for not being here earlier.” Ms. Wilson opened the map quickly and spewed off directions for Clairette to follow. Juliet eyed the map-reader, noticing how the map is neither glowing or how Ms. Wilson is completely fine. Until Juliet looked at the veins in her eyes.
“Miss, are you alright? Your eyes look a little…weird.” Juliet mentioned, a little weary of the wealthy woman.
“I’m fine, Juliet.” She snapped viciously.
“Alright! I’m sorry! Come on Lugnut, let’s go visit Jess.”
Noon, surface time, arrived, and a large luncheon was served for the team. They ate and conversed, but Juliet poked at her food, contemplating on returning to the map. Ms. Wilson eyed the youth, alert and guarded, as she talked with the others.
“You okay, love?” Jess asked, noticing the vibe from Juliet.
“I’m feeling a little sea-sick.” Juliet lied as her eyes darted to and away from Ms. Wilson.
“I’ve been working on some way to counteract the symptoms with this medicine I’ve made. Would you like to be the first, girly?” Abioye offered kindly.
“No, I just need to lay down. And I told you not to call me ‘girly’.” Juliet excused herself from the table and acted out her fake ailments. She heaved and gagged until she was out of earshot, then snuck through the halls. She passed workers and navigators, attempting to look like she belonged.
Juliet finally reached the hall heading toward Miss Wilson’s room. She lightly jogged to the closed doors and carefully opened it, snuck inside, and closed it behind her.
“She knows. She knows. She knows.” Multiple hushed voices repeated inside Juliet’s head.
Juliet grabbed the map, shaking off the voices in her mind. She opened the map and saw a marker showcasing the current position of the Potestas.
“How does this know where we are?” Juliet thought, before a surge of pain caused her to collapse.
Her eyes grew dark again, and the sound of footsteps echoed in her ears. She tried her best to crawl under the bed, using the bed skirt as cover. Her eyes returned to normal, and her once-rapid breath slowed down. Juliet glimpsed at the door opening, and a pair of heels entered the room. The legs moved toward the bed and halted at the foot of it. Juliet’s heart pulsed increasingly fast as she remained silent. She heard the map close, and the sound of Ms. Wilson’s voice mutter something under her breath.
Juliet’s eyes opened wide as she felt her heart being squeezed, a knot forming in her chest. Her vision became distorted and her veins protruded from her body, becoming more than noticeable on her skin. The room and her surroundings began getting curved and inaccurate, as loud, horrifying voices boomed in Juliet’s mind.
Then Ms. Wilson dropped to the ground, letting out a harrowing shriek toward Juliet, at least that’s what it seemed to the young lady. Ms. Wilson’s teeth were sharp, and her eyes were pupil less and yellow. Her veins were black, and her nails were jagged. The muscle on her body seemingly vanished, and only bone remained. Her legs moved in inhuman ways as she grabbed Juliet by the arms. Juliet could only see the demonic Ms. Wilson, as everything else in her eyes was utter darkness.
The youth kicked Melanie back, and the older woman let out another deafening shriek. Juliet cupped her ears as she dropped to the ground, a kick followed afterwards.
“Rlbb ej Lmghr.” Is what was chanted repeatedly around Juliet as more blows made contact.
Back in the dining room, Lugnut picked up the faint screams of Juliet, and rapidly exited the room.
“Lugnut? What’s going on? Lugnut!” Jess raced after the speeding robot, Abioye close behind.
The three zipped by the bridge, intercepting the snacking Clairette. She was taken by surprise as she questioned the speeding trio.
“Guys what’s happening?!” Clairette probed as she caught up to them.
Then Juliet let out another yelp for help, sobbing violently. A pleading Ms. Wilson could also be heard, seemingly asking for assistance. Lugnut barged into Ms. Wilson’s room, Abioye, Clairette, and Jess immediately after.
“What’s going on?! What did you do?!” Jess grabbed Ms. Wilson by the collar, despite her worried and stressed expression on her face.
“I…I don’t know! I walked in and saw her hiding under my bed. I tried carefully pulling her out but her eyes were…they still are…this black void.” Ms. Wilson stammered.
Juliet was on the floor in a full fetal position. She sobbed and sobbed, blood slowly coming from her ears and eyes.
“I have to get her to the medical bay. Lugnut, come with me.” Abioye picked up the youth, cradling her in his arms.
“No. I have words for Lady Wilson.” Lugnut replied, a semblance of rage in his voice.
“I’ll go with you.” Clairette declared.
“I didn’t do a thing! I was trying to help her!” Ms. Wilson defended.
“Do you know what’s going on with Juliet?” Jess pulled Ms. Wilson closer, the anger emanating inside her. Abioye ran Juliet out, Clairette following close behind.
“Weapons system, activated. I want you to tell use everything you know, or else I will end your life.” Lugnut threatened.
“Lugs…Lugs what the hell?” Jess turned to Lugnut, Ms. Wilson’s clothes still in her firm grip.
“I…I didn’t do anything! I walked in and saw her under my bed! I wanted to know what was wrong! I don’t know what’s going on, you have to believe me!” Ms. Wilson explained as she began to panic.
“It seems she is telling the truth. Weapons, deactivated.”
“Lugnut, that was uncalled for.” Jess scolded as set let go of Ms. Wilson.
“This unit refuses to let anything happen to Juliet.” Lugnut stated, walking out of the room.
“We need to see what’s wrong with Juliet, come along, Wilson.”
. . .

All Juliet could feel was the bumps of movement as Abioye ran her through the halls of the submarine. Her eyes were shut, and she was slipping into unconsciousness . But she could still see the horrific visions that manifested within her mind. Everything was a mixture of menacing red or black devoid.
“I got you, child. Don’t worry. Come on, stay with me.” Abioye encouraged, as he entered his medical station.
“Come on, Juliet. You’ll be okay. Wake up. Be that strong girl we all know.” Clairette chimed, worry obvious in her voice.
Abioye set her down on a sterilized table, and requested Clairette to retrieve him a bag of smelling salts. He gathered several supplies and made a special brew, made from rare herbs. He grinded it to a fine paste, and applied it to Juliet’s closed eyes.
“God. God I’ve never seen anything like this. I don’t know what it is.” Abioye stammered as he continued applying the paste.
“Whatever it is, just save the dam girl!” Clairette necessitated as she handed him the smelling salts.
“I haven’t been one for religion or prayer, but I think we just about need some of that right now.”
Abioye the created a gel-like mixture and force-fed it to the unconscious young lady. He then waved the smelling salts over her nose, making her reanimate into the conscious world.
Juliet gasped for breath as her ailments disappeared. The veins protruding from her skin seeped back into her body, and the blood ceased coming out. Juliet looked around, capable of seeing everything normally. Her eyes returned to its normal, jovial blue. However, they showed signs of exhaustion.
“Are you alright?” Abioye asked, cautious.
Jess, Lugnut, and Ms. Wilson entered the infirmary.
“Juliet!” Jess cheered as she hugged her tight. Juliet returned the hug, as she sobbed quietly.
“What happened?” Lugnut questioned once Jess let go of the young lady.
“I can’t…I can’t explain it.” Juliet coughed.
“She needs rest. There’s a room she can stay in here in the infirmary if you’d like to keep a closer eye on her.” Ms. Wilson returned to her professional mannerisms, peculiarly wiping away her concern.
“Do you want to stay her, Stonebridge? Or do you want to go to your room? There’ll always be someone keeping you company, I promise.” Abioye gestured to Lugnut, standing stoically above all the others.
Juliet smiled and let out a weak laugh. “Thanks, Lugnut. Where should I go, you mechanical moron?”
“I suggest the medical bay…you biological bumbling idiot.” Lugnut robotically joked.
“I guess…I guess I’ll stay here then.”
“Good. Abioye will take care of you. I got to go back to driving the ship. Feel better, Juliet. You scared the hell out of me…” Clairette trailed off, reminiscing what transpired.
“I will, thank you Clairette.” Juliet expressed.
“You had me scared, kiddo. I almost beat Miss Priss over here.” Jess teased, glancing at Ms. Wilson.
“I’m glad you’re feeling alright again. You had me worried as well. If you’ll excuse me, I have other matters to attend to, now that this one seems to be resolved.” Ms. Wilson informed in her classic manner.
“I’ll be sure to bore you with my stories, Stonebridge.” Abioye jested. “Come, let’s go put you in a room.”
“You know I’ll visit you as much as I can. You should only be in here for what, a day?” Jess comforted.
“I’m not going to let…this keep me down. Don’t worry about me too much.” Juliet grinned.