They were nearly at the door, and Sakura knew she had to act now if she wanted a chance at surviving this precarious ordeal. She took a deep breath, and before either Mrs. Clark or Tara were aware of it, she moved and, with all her might, rammed herself at Mrs. Clark, thus throwing the woman to the side.
The unsuspecting Mrs. Clark found herself lunged to the right. Her heavy body collapsed onto the dining table and then tumbled down into the booth. Meanwhile, Sakura took her opportunity and scurried over to the kitchenette where she hastily knocked over the knife holder, scattering the sharp utensils haphazardly on the benchtop. With her hands shaking and her body pumping with adrenaline, she grabbed for a weapon.
Tara, who had already opened the door, turned around after she heard the thudding of a person crashing into hard furniture and then the clattering of metal. When she saw Sakura grabbing for the knife, she swore, “Fuck!” Then she rushed forward, only to stop in her tracks as she stared at the blade in the air, pointing in her direction.
As Sakura was warning Tara off with her newfound weapon, she slowly moved toward the door, her escape route. By this time, Mrs. Clark had finally managed to get herself up from the booth and growled in fury and irritation.
“Fuck!” she swore. Coming up behind Tara, she said, “Drop the knife, Sakura. You can’t do anything. There’s nowhere for you to run. We’re in the middle of the ocean.
Sakura adamantly shook her head and continued to sway the knife in front of both women as she made her way toward the door. Once there, she slipped out into the corridor.
Mrs. Clark barked, “Follow her.”
Tara rushed out the door, calling after Sakura, taunting her. “Sakura! You can’t get away, you know. You’re stuck here with us on the yacht. We’re in the middle of the ocean. You’re supposed to die here.”
With her heart racing a mile a minute and her bare legs and feet cold and in pain, Sakura sprinted along the narrow corridor, trying to cut the rope binding her wrists. Of course, it was impossible since both her hands were tightly bound.
It was then she came upon a set of stairs. Without much choice, she hurriedly climbed them and came to the landing where there was a door.
“Sakura!” Tara’s voice echoed behind her, which urged Sakura to open the door and slip out.
The moment she was outside, the intense blast of cold wind and rain greeted her, which made Sakura suck in her breath and close her eyes against the onslaught. When she managed to open her eyes again, she turned and shut the door, at least to slow down Tara, who was clearly only a few steps behind her.
Rain beat down on her, soaking her from head to toe as she scanned her surroundings in a panic. In the distance, all she could see was the dark, stormy sky and angry sea of raging waves, as lightning and thunder struck.
Mrs. Clark and Tara were right. She couldn’t escape. There was nowhere for her to run to. Nowhere to hide. They were in the middle of the ocean.
Feeling sick to her stomach, Sakura was at a complete loss as to how she could escape this death Mrs. Clark had so cunningly planned for her. What must I do?
The door banged open, and Tara came marching out, her eyes dark with malice. “Stop being a fucking nuisance already,” she said through gritted teeth. “You’re wasting my time. You think I want to be here? It’s all your fault that things got this far. Ugh!” She growled in anger.
Sakura took a few steps back as she searched her surroundings in a frenzy, seeking a way to escape. Then she found a narrow alley along the side of the yacht and hurriedly started that way.
Tara saw this and growled in displeasure. “I told you already. There’s nowhere for you to run,” she said. “We’re in the middle of the sea, for fuck’s sake.”
Sakura wasn’t listening to the woman as she struggled her way along the slippery wooden deck toward what appeared to be the front of the yacht. As she was doing so, she continued to search her surroundings, her eyes darting from one spot to another, here and there about the yacht and even toward the distance of the sea. In that instant, lightning flashed, basking the sea in its bright light. For a moment, Sakura simply stared in disbelief.
Had she seen it right? Was she hallucinating?
Boats!
Her heart roared in relief. Oh God! Could it be the Princeton brothers? Had they found out she’d been kidnapped and were now searching for her?
Her mind raced. Yes, she needed to grab their attention. Whether they were the Princeton brothers or not, that didn’t matter if she wanted to survive. But how? Especially when they were in the stormy sea like this, in the darkness of night at that.
She widened her eyes. A flare gun! She needed to find one. There had to be at least one in this yacht. Instantly, she thought of the cockpit.
“Sakura!” Tara yelled her name against the loud noise of the storm. “Stop fucking running already. It’s tiring chasing after you, you bitch. Just give up already, for fuck’s sake.”
Sakura, with her mouth and hands still bound and the knife firmly in her grasp, hurried toward the cockpit at the front of the boat. She noticed light was shining from within and knew instantly that Ray Woods must be the one manning it.
It didn’t take her long to get there, and she didn’t waste time barging right in, brandishing the knife in the air to warn Ray—who was on the wheel—to stay put.
“Shit!” the man said, his eyes wide in shocked surprise. “What the fuck? How the hell did you get here?”
Still pointing the knife directly at him, Sakura scanned the small room, looking for the flare gun. She spotted it sitting behind Ray and was about to make a grab for it when she felt someone pulling her hair from behind and yanking her backward.
“Got ya!” Tara said, a grin on her face.
Sakura found herself struggling as the woman now had one hand around her throat, strangling her, the other around the handle of the knife. Because she couldn’t breathe, Sakura loosened her grip, which gave Tara the opportunity to force the knife off her.
Satisfied the weapon was safely in her hands, Tara let go of Sakura’s throat and shoved the girl forward, causing her to collide against the bench behind Ray.
Ray looked at her as he turned off the engine. “How the fuck did she get here?” he asked, obviously pissed at the precarious outcome.
Tara said, “She escaped, for fuck’s sake. It’s not that hard to deduct. And are we here already?”
The man nodded in the affirmative. Then he turned to Sakura, who suddenly raised herself up and pointed the flare gun at them, clearly warning them off.
“Shit!” Ray said.
“A gun?” Tara muttered in disbelief.
Sakura signaled for them to move out of the way.
At first, both Tara and Ray did move slowly, but then they relaxed when they noticed it was only a flare gun.
Sakura, with the weapon before her, made her way toward the door, where she signaled for Tara to get out of the way.
Tara laughed with amusement. “What the hell are you going to do? You won’t be able to hurt us with that.”
Sakura wasn’t listening to the woman. She took the opportunity and shoved Tara to the side as she raced out the door. Once she came to the middle of the deck, rain pouring down on her, she raised the flare gun above her and fired.
Bang! Bright red and white light shot up into the sky.
Ray and Tara ran out the door at the same time Mrs. Clark finally appeared around the side of the boat.
She shouted, “What the fuck was that? How did she get the flare gun?”
Ray said, “Relax. We’re in the middle of the sea in a storm. No one’s going to see it.”
Suddenly, Tara looked nervous, and she said, her voice shaking, “Yeah? Then what the fuck is that?” She pointed to the east.
Ray looked in that direction and saw lights in the distance. Two patrol boats sped their way.
“Fuck!” he swore loudly.