So...it turns out that my dead parents enjoy harassing me in my sleep.

That's new.

Literally, anytime I tried to shift my mind away from them in my dream, my parents would pull me into hugs and kiss me obsessively, often muttering the words: I love you.

At first, I was grateful for the gesture. It was nice to see my parents; to hug them and kiss them, even though I knew it wasn't real. Also, I had to admit I was rather flustered at the thought of James saying the words: I love you in my sleep. I hardly knew the guy for two days!

Thankfully the words were just a figment of my imagination; a rather annoying one at that. Eventually it got to the point where I was pushing my parents off of me and running down an endless hallway. It was quite the dream, indeed. Though, if anyone else had taken their place, I would have absolutely called it a nightmare.

I opened my eyes to the brilliant night sky, and a very empty room

A couple feet away from my head was a white piece of paper. I sighed as I stretched to grab the piece of paper and open it.

Breakfast is in the Dining Hall. Conner will take you there at eight.

I looked up to the skylight, and frowned when I realized that I had no way of telling what time it was. I missed clocks.

Originally, I made the plan to wait for Conner to show up at the door; knocking perhaps? But that plan burned to ash when my stomach loudly grumbled, followed by a rather unpleasant sound.

It looks like I will have to find the dining hall for myself, I sighed.

***

Before leaving, I neatly folded the blanket I slept on and placed the pillows I used in a neat stack next to the folded blanket. Content with my work, I walked out the door with one very important task in mind: finding food.

I ignored every face I passed; including Conner if he had passed me; I honestly didn't know if he did or didn't, and, I didn't have the audacity to care, at the moment.

I followed my instincts alone, letting my nose guide me as it desperately searched for any food-like aroma. I frowned as I walked in a hurry, wishing that James and I hadn't finished off the food in the basket.

Eventually, I reached a wide hallway that weakly resembled a hallway that James took me down when we went to breakfast yesterday.

I happily followed the hallway, only to grimace when I reached a three-way intersection.

I internally groaned, reasonably certain that James and I didn't pass an intersection on the way to breakfast yesterday.

Great, I cursed under my breath, scouring the three separate hallways frantically, only to stop, when I heard a group of voices coming from the hallway to my left.

Suddenly encouraged that I had somehow managed to find the dining hall, despite the maze of hallways that looked almost exactly the same, I happily tracked my way down the hallway to the left, satisfied when the voices got reasonably louder.

I'm getting closer, I sighed in relief, not sure how much longer my stomach could go without food.

I was walking down the hallway, voices getting gradually louder, when the yelling started.

I could easily distinguish the voice as a male's...and he sounded very much like....

"Chandler!" The Queen's voice rang with authority as she reprimanded her husband.

I froze in place, unable to move even if I wanted to. I didn't talk to the Queen for very long, but with our short time together, I got the feeling that she rarely ever raised her voice...let alone yelled. And at her husband?

I shook my head, trying to clear my head, so anything made remote sense.

After numerous shakes, it still didn't.

While the loud yelling continued, I considered my current position, which happened to be right outside whatever room they were having a yelling fest in. Either I could run, hoping that one of them wouldn't hear me or catch me, which seemed rather unlikely considering the volume they were yelling at. Or...I could quietly  wait outside their door and to listen to see if they discuss any matters regarding me; particularly involving marriage. 

I cringed at the thought.

I slowly and quietly moved so I was positioned next to the closed door, moving my head to the side so my ear was aimed at the door, so I could more easily pick out what they were saying inside.

They were loud enough, but despite this, it was still rather difficult to decipher what they were saying.

I soon realized that I had trouble hearing them clearly because it was a group of men that was arguing, and they didn't speak nearly as clear and articulate as the Queen had.

Straining to hear their ongoing argument, I eventually was able make out a few different voices, recognizing the King, Conner, and to my surprise...James.

"How could you?!" James hissed in a hostile manner.

"It was necessary!" The King bellowed.

"It was not!" James argued back. "What it was, was you once again being a selfish coward!"

"How dare you, boy! You know exactly why I did it! You know exactly why it had to be done! Now, I suggest you drop it and return that little smile to your face before you ruin everything!" The King hissed in a malicious tone.

"Why?" James bellowed. "Why was it necessary? So the girl couldn't leave? That is sick, dad! That is absolutely sick!"

"Return to your room, James! Now!" The King yelled, his authority ringing even down the hallway I was tucked away in.

"Why, dad?!" James mocking asked amidst his anger."So you can arrange our perfect marriage while she sleeps in the bed that her parents' murderers gave her!" He screamed in pure fury.

My face paled and I could feel the blood drain away as I felt the suffocating weight of James' words.

My parents' deaths weren't coincidental.

No.

They were planned.

And the people who offered to take me in...?

They killed them.

The King and Queen killed my parents.

***

I wasn't sure when the screaming started, but the newfound numbness inside of me made me not care.

I should have seen it coming, I reprimanded myself as a faint feeling filled my head.

It was so obvious, I cursed to myself in anger, punching my fist violently against the floor.

You were so stupid, I continued as I raised my fist to the ground over and over again, in a painless cycle with tears streaming down my cheeks and my piercing scream filling the air.

I violently shoved away the familiar arms that I once let console me, when they began to wrap around my violently shaking form.

Never again, I vowed darkly.

"What's wrong with her?" James asked in a very concerned voice.

I saw Conner sigh in between my tears and painfully look away from me to turn towards James.

"She heard you," he said in a sure and soft voice, almost as if he was trying to comfort James for his grave mistake.

James' expression rapidly shifted between horror and regret, but it finally settled on sadness.

"Elena-" James cracked in a broken and regretful tone. "I'm so-"

I interrupted him when I pulled myself up, shakily onto my feet, and pushed past him, swaying slightly as I walked backwards so I still faced him.

"Don't." I hostilely hissed in an absolute tone, turning my back so I didn't have to look at him or his murderous parents.

***

Somehow, despite my drunken stupor from realizing that the King and Queen murdered my parents, I managed to find my way back to my room and subconsciously lock the door.

As soon as I finished locking my door, which I was almost certain someone could break through if they really tried, I collapsed face-first onto my bed and fell into a fit of what-felt-like endless sobbing.

Every time I tried to stop myself from pitifully crying myself into a hopeless depression, another happy memory of my parents alive would resurface, which would cause me to intentionally thrash around my bed in anger, desperate to make the pain go away.

I wish it had been me, who was so thoughtlessly slaughtered that day.

I wish I was dead and they were alive, as selfish as it may be, so I wouldn't have to miss them or feel this pain.

I wish I could stop crying so I could actually think rationally for the first time in the several hours I have taken to bawl my eyes out in the privacy of my room.

At first, part of me had expected James to come rushing to my room, desperately trying to apologize on deaf ears. I made up my mind before he ever came; I wouldn't forgive him.

But he didn't come.

Instead, he gave me my space for the remainder of the day, allowing me to cry myself to sleep only to wake up and start the cycle all over again. In my moments of lucidity, I couldn't decide whether he was staying away to kindly give me my space, or because he was too scared or ashamed to face me person-to-person yet. Honestly, I couldn't care less about what he did or said from this point forward; I wouldn't forgive him. Ever.

***

Eventually the next morning came, and with that, a quiet knock on the door.

"Go away," my voice grumbled, cracking from the screaming and crying I performed yesterday. Surprisingly, I haven't broken down today since I woke up ten minutes ago. It was a new record.

"We need to talk." James pleaded in a quiet voice; I no longer found soothing.

"No. We don't." I stated firmly in a raspy voice.

"Elena...please-let me explain."

"I have nothing left to say to you. And, I want off this ship. Now." I demanded with a newfound authority in my voice.

"-At least let me explain-"

I cut him off.

"I think you and your father have already done enough of that, don't you?"

"Not nearly enough! There's still so much that you don't know!"

"I know enough," I said with no emotion, ignoring his desperate and pleading words.

"Elena..." James drew, in a more firm and demanding voice, but still pleading nonetheless. "Don't do this," he whispered.

For the first time in a day, I laughed.

"As far as I'm concerned, I'm not doing anything. Your parents did enough of that for the both of us, don't you think?" I added bitterly.

There was a long moment of silence, though in reality, it wasn't so quiet. We both had a pretty good idea of what the other person was thinking, and we both didn't like it.

"I talked to my mother," he said softly, breaking the wave of silence. "She didn't know. Conner did, though. But, in his defense, he was sworn to secrecy by my father and it would have gotten him killed if had he broken it."

I didn't respond, so he took my silence as a sign to continue.

"Look, Elena,... I've looked into the facts, and I know what happened. I'm trying so hard to understand you, but I can't if you won't talk to me." He paused and placed his hand audibly against the door. "Please, Elena," he pleaded. "Talk to me."

I wanted to tell him: no. That I wouldn't talk to him, no matter the circumstance that him or his parents shoved me into. But that would be too kind.

So instead, I ignored his continued pleads, and once again collapsed into my bed, except this time, I didn't cry. In fact, I didn't do much of anything, but sit there numbly, staring at the stars in the ceiling above me, and wonder how I ended up here; with no parents, no family, and no friends, all alone.

I shut myself in my room for the remainder of the day, not bothering to eat or acknowledge any person who stopped by, which mainly included James and Conner. At some point in the latter part of the day, I think they eventually gave up because the pounding on my door finally stopped.

When night fell, and my body was exhausted from laying in bed all-day and not eating, I chose to stare wide-eyed at my glass ceiling, instead of closing my eyes and falling asleep. I was too afraid of what I would see if I closed my eyes again. Perhaps, I would relive the scene of seeing my parents' limp bodies laying still against the hot pavement; or the moment I met the people who helped kill my parents. Because at this point, I was almost certain that Conner and those six guards were involved, if not responsible, for my parents' untimely deaths.

So there I laid, wide-awake, with my face pointed up toward the ceiling, staring mindlessly at the thousands of stars as night took over the rest of the ship.

AN: You didn't think that James could love Elena that quickly, did you? Sorry, I know it may have been confusing, but I think it worked out quite nicely in the beginning...until the other stuff happened.

WARNING SPOILERS AHEAD:

Ok, so in case you were wondering, yes I always knew that the King was responsible for Elena's parents' deaths. I'm sorry, but it was always a given when I first started writing and planning this story. Yes it's sad and cruel, and it might cause some major issues between characters moving forward, but it happened, and I've been withholding that information for six chapters, so I'm happy to finally spill the tea. For clarity, in case it wasn't clear, the Queen didn't know that the King was responsible for Elena's parents deaths, and what Conner knows isn't clear yet(as far as you know ;) ) And, James(and the Queen) found out about it shortly before Elena did(in between the time that James left Elena and she heard the yelling ), and he got very angry so the yelling started.

I really hope that you've enjoyed my book so far. Some of the first chapter still make me cringe, but we shall venture forward anyways. So far, I'm really happy with where the story is headed, and you are going to start to see some time shifts into the future in the upcoming chapters, which is rather exciting because the more we progress into the story, the juicier the content is going to get.

Thank you, for sticking with me this far. I know how hard it is to read a book that isn't finished and doesn't have a plethora of reads, so I am so grateful that you enjoy my story enough to read it. Hopefully, you are all content with my updates so far. I think I've been updating at least twice a week if not more, which I'm rather happy with. Also, my chapters have been getting gradually longer as you get more content to read, which I hope you are happy with.

Lastly, I'm trying really hard to not leave any end-of-the-world cliffhangers in my chapters because they suck as the reader. Though, I can't make any promise, I am really trying.

Stay tuned for future updates in the near future :)

-Elly6431