Complex Relationship Ch. 02.2

Both men then exited the boat followed by Ashley, who to Brandon's surprise, seemed to go quite willingly. It was then that Brandon saw Ashley's step-father came to the back of the motorboat and understood that he had been played.

After this development it came as no shock when Ashley got into his boat and put a syringe to his neck and pushed down the plunger. Brandon was pretty sure he had been drugged the same as Mel and Katy. Ashley then got back on the speed boat and untied the lifeboat from the motorboat. Brandon's boat floated away onto the sea that was getting quite choppy under the influence of the gathering storm. The last thing he heard before he passed out was a thump as something hit the floor of the life boat. Everything then faded to the sound of the motorboat accelerating away carrying with it two new friends and a woman he had been beginning to really like and even love.

He next awoke spitting water. It appeared the storm had capsized the boat he was tied to. By some miracle it still had an air pocket under it and so he had not drowned while he had been unconscious. When he was completely awake he realized his predicament and immediately set to untying the ropes. He was fortunate that the rope they had used was not really meant to get wet and therefore had weakened under the onslaught of the storm and the tossing of his body.

After a few minutes work Brandon managed to free his hands and it was then that he noted what the thump he had heard before passing out was. Someone had thrown him a personal flotation device from the speed boat before it took off. It had also, somehow, not escaped to sea when the boat had flipped. Brandon grabbed it and put it on while treading water before working out a way to get on top of the capsized boat. He figured he stood a better chance on it than under it. Once on top of the boat he used the rope that had bound him to the boat to tether himself to it so that he would not lose it if a wave swept him off it.

He held on to his boat not sure whether he would survive the storm, or ever see his home again. He then thought of Katy and Mel and a new fire lit in him that the storm would not dowse. He would save them if it was the last thing he did, and if possible he would get an explanation from Ashley. Whose side was she on, his or the kidnappers? Brandon hung on to the boat rolling with the waves not knowing the answer or his fate, but determined not to give in. One thing was fairly clear to him, the men on the boat, and maybe even Ashley had not wanted him to survive.

**************

"But, I did survive," Brandon thought to himself as he watched the sun rise over the sea from his fern bed on the beach. Now it was time to get some answers. As soon as he could fully see his surroundings he would take stock of how best to continue to survive and then, begin his search for the others.