"Dad?" I asked again. "What is it? What's wrong?"

The happiness left his eyes as soon as it came. "Lauren...Zac...We still haven't found the boat that Lindsay, Taylor, and Isaac are on. Now, we have the feeling that their heading in the wrong direction, but we don't know why the captain would steer them the wrong way. Do you two?"

"Uh, dad?" I said, focusing my eyes on him. "The boat...Well...Two men came on before we sailed. Their hijackers, dad. Their the reason we sailed without you. Their the reason my arms have these rope burns. Their the reason I got thrown overboard. Their the reason Zac had to risk his own life for mine. Their the reason all this ever happened. Their the reason..."

Dad's eyes misted over. "Lindsay is on a boat with hijackers? Oh no! This is bad. Very, very bad. Well, do you have any idea which way they were headed?"

"Um, I think they were going in the direction of Mexico." Zac spoke up.

"How do you know Zac?" I asked him, surprised he knew that.

"Because, we started off west, and we ended up north. Mexico is close to where you went over board, but I don't know if that's where they were headed." he told me. (*AN - Sorry if this info is wrong, I'm making it up.)

"Oh. Gee, your smart, Zaccie," I said.

"Don't call me Zaccie. Only my sister's call me that, and I hate it!" Zac smiled.

"Oh well, I like it." I replied, and turned away from him, before he could say anything more.

"Come on, we have to get you into the helicopter. We don't want you to stay here any longer that you have to." Dad said, ushering both Zac and me into the helicopter. My stomach twisted in knots when the helicopter lifter off the ground. I'm afraid of heights, and every time I got in an airplane, I can't sit by the window, or else I'll faint. It happened once before. I hid my face in Zac's chest, so I couldn't see out the window.

Zac gave my dad a questioning look. "She's afraid to look out the window. She doesn't like heights," He explained to him, ruffling my hair.

"Ohhhh, I see." Zac patted my back. "It's OK, Lauren, I'll switch seats with you, if you want to." He offered.

"Thanks, Zac!" I said, and unbuckled my seat belt. We switched spots, with much difficulty, considering it was only a small space to move around in. As soon as I was settled, I laid my head on Zac's shoulder and pretended to be asleep. I knew my Dad was wondering what I was doing, but I didn't want to have to tell him. I was to shy to tell him I was in love. He wouldn't understand. He would think I was too young to be in love, and that I was just setting myself up for a bad fall. I should know. He's said it before, and I didn't want to here it again. The first person I wanted to tell, was Lindsay, but she wasn't around.

Thinking of Lindsay, made me think of "The Island Dreamer" and thinking of that made me think of Jack and Bill. My stomach churned at the thought of them. Even I wasn't anywhere close to them, I still got nervous even thinking about them.

As soon as the helicopter landed, we went to the Jameson Marina, asking if they'd seen any signs of Lindsay, Taylor or Isaac. "You want to know if they've been spotted?" a man asked us.

I nodded my head vigorously. "Well, yeah we've seen them..." He said, a smile on his face.

"Really?" I asked. "Where? Tell me! Please?" I added.

"I'll do better than that." He walked out of the room, closing the door behind him.

I looked at Zac, and then at my dad. "What do you think he means? He'll do better than tell us? What's that supposed to-" I was cut off by the scream that came out of my mouth.

I gazed open mouthed as Lindsay, Taylor, and Isaac walked in, towels wrapped around them, shivering. "They were asking about you two," The man said.

"Lauren! Dad! Zac!" Lindsay cried, throwing the towel off herself, and giving all three a hug, which was kind of hard for her to do, but she managed. "Lindsay! I was so afraid! I thought you would be overboard too!" I cried.

"Ditto that," Lindsay said, and hugged me harder. "I can't believe I'm still alive!" said Lindsay, still shaking.

"Lindsay's right," Talor spoke up, coming behind her. "You don't realize how important your life is until it's almost taken away from you."

"I know." I said solemnley. "And I, personally, hope I never go through anything like that ever, ever, EVER again."

Email: angelkiss14@hotmail.com