Chapter 4: The Possessions Begin
The morning after Callista’s eerie appearance, the tension aboard *The Ocean’s Legacy* was palpable. Josue and Larisa had barely slept, their minds consumed with the haunting events and the ghostly girl's plea for help. They knew they had to act quickly, but nothing could have prepared them for what came next.
At breakfast, the dining hall buzzed with whispers and uneasy glances. Josue noticed passengers flinching at shadows and casting nervous looks at one another. Something was amiss, and he felt a growing sense of dread.
“Do you feel that?” Larisa asked, her voice barely above a whisper.
Josue nodded, scanning the room. “Something’s not right.”
Suddenly, a blood-curdling scream pierced the air. Everyone turned toward the source: a young woman standing at the buffet table, her eyes wide with terror. She was staring at a fellow passenger, an older man, who was laughing maniacally and clawing at his own face.
“What’s happening?” a passenger shouted, rising from their seat.
“Help him!” another cried out.
Josue and Larisa rushed over to the man, but as they approached, his laughter turned into a low, guttural growl. His eyes rolled back into his head, and he lunged at Josue with surprising strength.
“Get back!” Josue shouted, dodging the attack. He grabbed a chair and used it to keep the man at bay.
Larisa grabbed a nearby tablecloth and threw it over the man, trying to restrain him. “We need to get him to the infirmary!”
Several crew members rushed to assist, and together, they managed to subdue the man and carry him to the ship’s infirmary. The entire time, he continued to laugh and thrash, his voice echoing eerily in the corridors.
“What the hell was that?” Josue asked, panting as they secured the man to a bed.
“I don’t know,” Larisa replied, her face pale. “But did you hear his laugh? It sounded just like Callista’s.”
Dr. Patel, the ship’s physician, entered the room, his expression grim.
“What happened here?”
“We’re not sure,” Josue explained.
“One minute he was fine, the next he was attacking us and laughing like a maniac.”
Dr. Patel examined the man, his brow furrowing.
“I’ve never seen anything like this. It’s almost as if he’s possessed.”
“Possessed?” Larisa echoed, disbelief in her voice.
“By what?”
Before Dr. Patel could answer, the man began to convulse violently, his laughter growing louder and more distorted. Josue and Larisa exchanged worried glances, realizing that whatever was happening, it was spreading quickly.
They left the infirmary and made their way to the bridge, where Captain Richards was already fielding reports from other passengers and crew members.
“Captain, we have a serious problem,” Josue said, urgency in his voice.
“What now?” Captain Richards asked, his patience clearly wearing thin.
“Passengers are showing signs of possession,” Larisa explained.
“We just restrained a man in the infirmary who was laughing like Callista and attacking people.”
The captain’s expression darkened.
“This is getting out of hand. We need to contain this before it turns into a full-blown panic.”
“We need to gather everyone in one place,” Josue suggested.
“Maybe the main dining hall. We can monitor them and try to figure out what’s causing this.”
Captain Richards nodded.
“Agreed. I’ll make the announcement.”
Within minutes, the ship’s PA system crackled to life.
“Attention all passengers and crew. Please proceed to the main dining hall immediately. This is a mandatory assembly.”
As the announcement echoed through the ship, Josue and Larisa helped guide passengers to the dining hall. Fear and confusion were evident on everyone’s faces, and Josue felt a pang of guilt for dragging them into this nightmare.
Once everyone was assembled, Captain Richards took the stage.
“I understand you’re all scared and confused, but I need you to remain calm. We are dealing with an unprecedented situation. Some passengers have shown signs of… possession. We’re doing everything we can to keep you safe.”
A murmur of panic rippled through the crowd.
“What do you mean, possession?” a woman shouted.
“Like, by ghosts?”
“It sounds insane, but yes,” Josue replied, stepping forward.
“We believe it’s connected to the ghost of a young girl named Callista. She’s been haunting the ship, and now it seems she’s possessing people.”
“Possession? This is ridiculous!” a man scoffed.
“You expect us to believe in ghosts?”
Before Josue could respond, another scream tore through the hall. A middle-aged woman in the back began to convulse, her eyes rolling back as she let out a chilling laugh. Passengers scrambled away from her, shouting in fear.
“Get her to the infirmary!” Larisa shouted, rushing toward the woman.
Several crew members helped restrain her, but as they did, two more passengers began to show similar signs, their bodies jerking uncontrollably as they mimicked Callista’s haunting laughter.
“This is spreading too fast,” Josue said, his voice tight with anxiety.
“We need to isolate the possessed and find a way to stop this.”
Captain Richards nodded grimly.
“Everyone, please remain calm and stay where you are. We’ll get this under control.”
Josue, Larisa, and several crew members worked tirelessly to separate the possessed from the rest of the passengers. It was chaotic and terrifying, with Callista’s laughter echoing eerily through the hall. The possessed passengers seemed to gain unnatural strength, making it difficult to restrain them.
“We need to figure out what’s triggering this,” Larisa said, her face pale with exhaustion.
“There has to be a connection.”
Josue thought back to their encounter with Callista’s ghost.
“She asked us to find her mother. Maybe that’s the key. If we can find her mother’s spirit or remains, we might be able to stop this.”
“But how do we find a ghost?” Larisa asked, desperation in her voice.
“I don’t know,” Josue admitted.
“But we have to try. Maybe there’s something in the ship’s records that can help us. We need to find out where her mother’s body went after they jumped overboard.”
Captain Richards, overhearing their conversation, stepped forward. “We have detailed logs of everything that’s happened on this ship. I’ll give you access to them. Maybe you can find something useful.”
“Thank you, Captain,” Josue said. “We’ll start looking right away.”
Leaving the main dining hall in the hands of the crew, Josue and Larisa headed to the ship’s archives, located deep within the lower decks. The archives were a labyrinth of filing cabinets and dusty records, chronicling the ship’s long history.
“Start with the logs from five years ago,” Josue said, opening one of the cabinets.
They sifted through the records, searching for any mention of Callista and her mother. Hours passed, and just as Josue was beginning to lose hope, Larisa let out a triumphant shout.
“Josue, I found something!”
He rushed over to her side.
“What is it?”
Larisa held up a logbook entry.
“It’s a report from the night Callista and her mother died. It says that after they jumped overboard, a search was conducted, but only Callista’s body was recovered. There’s no mention of her mother’s remains.”
“Do you think her mother’s spirit is still out there?” Josue asked, his heart pounding.
“It’s possible,” Larisa replied. “If her body was never found, she could be trapped, unable to move on.”
“We need to perform a ritual to help her pass on,” Josue said.
“But we’ll need something personal to her. Maybe something that belonged to her or Callista.”
“Callista’s mother was known to wear a locket,” Larisa recalled.
“It was said to contain a photo of Callista. If we can find it, it might work.”
“Where would it be?” Josue asked, feeling a spark of hope.
“Maybe in the lost and found, or with the ship’s stored belongings of deceased passengers,” Larisa suggested.
They hurried to the storage room where the ship kept personal belongings that had been left behind or recovered from deceased passengers. The room was filled with boxes and crates, each labeled with names and dates.
“Start looking for anything from around the time of Callista’s death,” Josue said, opening a crate.
They searched frantically, rifling through the belongings. After what felt like an eternity, Larisa let out a gasp.
“I found it!” She held up a delicate silver locket, tarnished with age but still intact.
Josue took the locket, feeling a strange sense of reverence.
“This has to be it. Let’s get back to the dining hall and try the ritual.”
As they returned to the dining hall, they were met with a scene of chaos. More passengers had succumbed to the possession, and the crew was struggling to maintain order. Callista’s laughter echoed eerily through the room, mingling with the cries of the terrified passengers.