Chapter 1
Ian looked over at his friends Jeff and Jared. They were all on the cross country team at school, and made it a habit to run on the beach at six in the morning. It had the best sunrises. And as long as they jogged along the path, the run was pleasant.
They started on their path at a nice slow pace. The air was nice and crisp, and the sun was just rising about the horizon. It was beautiful and perfect for a morning run.
“You guys asking anybody to the dance on Saturday?” he asked. He wasn’t planning on going, but decided if the guys were gonna go, he might try and see about finding a date… Or not. Maybe he will just go solo. He just couldn’t get past the hurt.
The twins just shrugged. Neither of them were in a hurry to find a date either.
“I was planning on asking Julie, but I saw her making out with Ben yesterday, so I changed my mind,” Jeff says in a huff. He had had a crush on Julie for a while, but didn’t have the guts to ask, and after seeing her with him, he didn’t think it was worth it.
“Dudes, I just broke up with Amber, and I’m not ready for a dance,” Jared grumbled. He was still angry over the whole thing. He didn’t understand what he did! Why? And was he ready to discuss it with his best friends?
Ian hadn’t heard about this yet. Jared had been quiet the last two days. And anybody who knows Jared, he is anything but quiet. Something bad must have happened.
“What happened?” Ian took the chance to ask. He wouldn’t delve in if Jared said he didn’t want to talk about it. He was cool with that, but it was killing him not to know.
“I caught her and Jake out behind the school getting hot and heavy…” Jared growled. The memory still made him see red! It hurt so much! He really liked Amber. She was cute, and fun…
“Dude, I’m sorry about that, man! I didn’t know!” Ian sympathized.
He’d caught Becky in the same situation not a month ago, and it still killed him. Which is why he was still single. He didn’t know if it would be worth trusting another girl with his heart like that.
“I know. I am keeping it quiet for now. The only satisfaction I got was giving Jake a black eye,” Jared smirked.
“That’s how he got the shiner?” Jeff guffawed. He couldn’t believe it! He wished he was there to watch his brother rain down hell on the pretentious prick.
All of us had to stop because we were all laughing so hard. All of them had wanted to beat the crap outta him recently. He is just getting worse! Thinks everyone is below him because he’s QB! Seriously? Get a life!
“Yeah, he’s been telling everyone he got into a fight with some biker,” Ian chuckled. He should'a known that guy was lying. Not that he could hold up against a biker.
“That lying wimp! He can’t even come clean about stealing my girl from me. And after I beat the crap outta him, Amber was all like, ‘‘baby, it’s not what it looks like. This was a mistake, I still love you, don’t leave me…’’ and she tried to kiss me. But I wasn’t going to listen to her lying to me any more, so I just left,” Jared finished his epic tale of betrayal.
“I feel for you man,” Ian said, patting Jared on the back.
“Thanks man,” Jared smiled at him. Jared knew about Becky. He was starting to wonder if there was a girl out there who wouldn't cheat her way up the ladder of popularity in high school.
The shriek of a gull caught their attention.
Normally they don’t pay attention to birds, but something about this one sounded different… Like it wasn’t really there, or maybe it was an echo. And it was circling something.
Then, like outta nowhere there was an old ghost ship lying on its side.
“Dudes, when did that thing get there?” Jeff asked. He was confused, because they pass this way every day, and not once had they ever seen anything like this. It was cool, and a little intimidating.
“I dunno, man. Should we call someone or something?” Jared asked. Something about this sudden appearance of the ship had warning bells going off. Like flashing red alarms telling him to get someone else to take care of this and they should just keep going along with their run.
“Who the hell do you call when you find a ghost ship on the beach?” Ian asked. “Is there like a hotline or something?”
“Well, should we call the cops or something?” Jared tried again. He really didn’t like seeing it there, especially with the sinking feeling in his gut. He didn’t want to admit he was scared, but, well… He was shaking in his running shoes.
“I got a better idea,” Ian said with mischief in his eyes. He was ready for some trouble, even if it was just for a moment. He wanted to forget about betrayal and girls, and school. He just wanted to be 18 and hang out with his buddies.
“What?” The twins echoed. They both knew Ian was gonna get them into trouble. They could feel it down in their bones… But, hey! What are friends for?
“Let’s check it out!” Ian insisted and started for the shoreline.
Jeff and Jared didn’t see any problem with Ian’s suggestion, as long as they didn’t take too long, and it was just really quick. Plus they’d never leave their dude hangin’. So they just followed with a shrug.
“Ian, wait up!” They called out together.
As they caught up with Ian, a strange foreboding came over them. A feeling like this has happened before…
Something was not right. That sinking feeling Jared had felt was back, tenfold. They needed to turn around and just call the cops! This was not a good place to be…
“You guys feel that, right?” Jeff asked. He was starting to feel it too.
“You mean the feeling of deja vu?” Jared responded in a whisper.
“Yeah, that,” Ian answered.
There is something about this ship that was repelling them as well as calling them to it. Was it morbid curiosity to see what was left of an old ship, or was it about the adventure of finding treasure?
The sand beneath their feet tried to suck them into the ground, preventing them from moving forward. However, the wind at their backs was fierce and pushed them onward.
Tromping through the sand, they stayed their course with trepidation running through their veins.
Ian looked at his friends as they made it up to the ship and swallowed the lump in his throat. He wasn’t gonna lose face with his best friends just because he’s got a bad feeling about this.
In front of them was a hole in the haul of the ship, large enough for them to slip through.
To be honest, it was amazing it made it this far with a whole this big… Shouldn’t it be at the bottom of the Pacific, not washed up on the coast of California?
“Well, what harm could come from a little look-see?” Ian joked.
