The Ghost Ship of Haven

The Ghost Ship of Haven is the fifth part of the Town of Haven fiction.

Sypnosis
"Sudden news came that one of the group`s friends have been kidnapped. In order for them to save him, they must find out the mystery behind the infamous ghost ship that haunts Haven every Halloween."

Plot
It is the day before Halloween. The group was sitting in an umbrella table outside of Salem Cafe talking and preparing for Halloween. Everything is normal until Mei can be seen running towards them.

"Guys! Guys!" Mei screamed in horror. "We have bad news!"

"Calm down, Mei!" Evelyn responded. "What is this bad news that you want to tell us?"

Mei takes some time to breathe after she ran too fast. "Its Orion! He`s been kidnapped!"

The three were shocked in horror after hearing the news. "Kidnapped!?"

"Mei-" Jashley tries to comfort Mei. "-Calm down, take a seat, breathe, and calmly explain to us how it happened."

Mei takes a sit and drinks a cup of water offered by Dexter.

"I was heading to Orion`s house to return one of the books that I borrowed from him. As soon as I knocked on his door, no answer. He usually opens the door the second time I knock. But I knocked four times, yet no one responded."

Mei continues the story

"I went to the side of his to see if he is just cleaning his car, but he's just not there. And strangely, there was a note stuck on a tire from his car."

Dexter questioned, "Do you still have it?"

Mei hands out the note from her bag, reading the following:

"If you are one of his friends, we have kidnapped Orion. If you want to see and save him so badly, you must do what we told you to do: Find out about this so-called "curse" that made the infamous ship known as the S.S. Louisiana, roam the beach waters of Haven every Halloween. We left some diving gears for you in a bag beside the lifeguard hut. There will be a key left near the docks that are for a speedboat beside it. Once you succeed, bring evidence to us. We`ll be on a nearby yacht."

Evelyn shivers in fear. "What do they want with that ship? What do they want with Orion?"

Jashley responded "I don't know. But we have to do what they want us to do. For Orion"

The four ran towards the lifeguard hut on the beach and quickly wore the diving gears. These gears also have special communication technology that can make them speak with each other underwater. They also found the speedboat key and drove towards the presumed spot where the S.S. Louisiana sank. They stopped the boat and dove into the waters, hoping to find the shipwreck.

Deeper...Deeper...Deeper... they found nothing. However, Dexter quickly spotted a long broken pole covered in seagrass.

"You guys..." Dexter spoke. "I think we found it"

Even though they're in real life, they can feel a horror ambiance music playing in their head.

"I`d say let's explore the inside first." Evelyn responded.

The four enter the room of what appears to be a grand staircase of the ship. The ceiling and walls were destroyed, making it exposed. They later explore the deeper parts of the staircase, only to reach the bottom of it.

The group later explored the dark hallway. As soon as they opened the headlight of their diving gear, they find the hallway filled with skeletal remains of what appears to be some of the passengers of the ship.

"They are holding their life jackets." Jashley suspected. "They must have tried to reach the staircase before wearing them when the ship sank."

Evelyn later supported her theory. "Judging by the way their bodies pile up, the water must have come from the hallway, and it must have been strong enough to knock these people over. So it could mean that this ship sank too fast."

They entered a nearby cabin of the hallway, its walls were destroyed like a bomb explosion. A skeleton can be seen holding something while his skull was laying on a desk. As if he was writing something.

Mei opened the skeleton`s hands, revealing a small box. They quickly swam to the surface to ensure its contents don't get destroyed by the water.

Mei opened the box, only to reveal a letter:

"It's my fault. It is my fault that I doomed the ship. I shouldn't have created that bomb. But I have to, they threatened me by pointing a gun towards my sister. But I did what I have to do. I'm just glad my sister is safe, but it came at a high price. And I'm going to accept it. Farew-"

The last portion of the letter was washed from the water.

"We need to take this to the yacht! This might be the chance to save Orion!" Evelyn quickly spoke

"But what if this is all just a trick?" Mei questioned.

"I`d say we devise a plan," Dexter answered. "There was a compartment in the speedboat with bottles full of the cocktail. If one of us is sneaky enough, they can place them in the engine room and ignite them."

"I'll do it." Evelyn responded. "Since I have great speed, ill reach the engine room in no time."

The four returned to the speedboat and drove towards the yacht. As soon as they reach the yacht, they grabbed the walkie talkie that was laying on a couch. Evelyn quickly grabbed the cocktail bottles and sprinted towards the engine room, knocking anyone out when she was seen.

Dexter silently crawls towards the room behind the area where they would meet with the evidence. While crawling via the vent system, he can see Orion tied in a chair. A man later appeared and questioned Orion.

"I said, do you know any of the ship`s flippin` curse!?" The man yelled.

Orion coughs "I told you! I don't know any of this so-called Lousiana Curse!"

"Lies!" The man yelled. "They're better to be here or else I'm going to kill you."

Dexter reached the room behind the area where Orion was kept, opening silent the door towards the area, hoping to rescue Orion silently.

Jashley appeared in front of the man with a rolled paper in her right hand, hoping it would make the man think its the evidence. The man was later distracted from Orion and Dexter because of Jashley.

"Shhh!" Dexter whispered while cutting the ropes that tied Orion in a chair. "Were here to save you. Mei is at a boat waiting for the rest of us."

Jashley spoke in front of the man as soon Dexter freed Orion. "You want the evidence? Here you go!" Jashley threw the rolled paper towards the man. "Now Evelyn!" Jashley spoke via the walkie talkie. Orion knocked out the man before jumping on the water with the others.

Evelyn ignited the cocktail bottles with a match and sprinted to the waters before the engine room blew up. Completely destroying the entire yacht. Killing the man and his goons.

Mei helped the others board the speedboat and quickly returned to Haven. "You alright?" Mei asked Orion. He later responded to her with a nodding yes.

Hours later, they returned to the beach to see the S.S. Louisiana in its "ghost ship" form. Blaring its horns before disappearing towards the moon.

"Who`s excited for Halloween?" Orion questioned.

"Me! Its better than diving into a creepy shipwreck just to save a werewolf." Jashley answered. The group then laughed and returned to the town, hoping to prepare for Halloween on time.

Trivia

 * While creating this story, the ship was almost named "S.S. Lusitania" rather than "Louisiana".
 * Originally, Orion was going to be punched by the man while he was tied in a chair when the man said "Lies!". This was later scrapped due to Orion knocking the man out before jumping off the yacht.
 * When Mei yelled out the news that Orion has been kidnapped is a reference to a Nancy Drew game "Ransom of the Seven Ships". In it, a character named George tells Nancy Drew that "Bess has been kidnapped!".
 * The yacht scene and the cocktail explosion scene were a direct reference to the musical film "Pitch Perfect 3".