The winds were howling, the waves were crazy, racing with each other, trying to get higher from one another, thunders grumbling loudly, sky getting darker.
If there was something positive left it was just hope, Lisa lifted her eyes up to find her face shadowed by Edgar's chin, she could only put her faith in him.
She liked the way he was taking care of her, for a moment she felt safe, but right after a loud peal of thunder startled her.
The boat was swinging back and forth in the arms of the waves, it felt as if the river was trying to throw them in the cyclone.
As if it couldn't get any worse, the rain started pouring, "It has never been this crazy before!" The oarsman held the oars tightly and tried to row away from the waves but the waves carried their boat, swung it higher, and threw it away with such pressure that their boat flipped.
The oar jumped up and struck Edgar's head which caused him to faint, all those grumbling of thunder and roars of angry clouds disappeared and what was left was a whisper, a creepy whisper.
"You did it! You killed her!" A joyous whisper startled Edgar and he woke up finding himself in front of Lisa.
"Edgar, I'm scared!" She was drowning "I had my faith in you!" another gasp made him wake up, and this time he really woke up.
She was restless making splashes, and her hands wouldn't stop moving, "Edgar!" She called out to him.
"Lisa!" He was far away from her, he saw the oarsman swimming away.
And that moment Edgar knew that he had to do anything to make her survive, she saw a strange look on his face, a look she never witnessed before, anger, rage, or something similar.
He swam with all his energy, against the tides and wind, and held her waist right when she lost her senses.
"I got you!" He gritted his teeth as he forced himself to swim as far away from that cyclone as possible, Edgar looked around to find Ben, but he was nowhere, so he held Lisa tightly and swam where he saw the oarsman swimming and after a while he saw a small island.
He swam to it and brought Lisa to the beach "Lisa wake up!" He yelled but she was unconscious.
He compressed her chest and kept repeating the process until she was finally awake and the first thing she did was coughing breathlessly.
As soon as she caught her breath Edgar embraced her, she had her eyes closed and she hadn't fully recovered yet, but she could feel Edgar embracing her, he had tears in his eyes.
This is when he knew how deeply he cared, and at that moment he became strong for her, strong enough to protect her for as long as his heart beats.
When Edgar finally put her under a shelter, he saw someone swimming toward this small island, it was Ben and from inside the trees came out the oarsman.
Ben reached the island and lay on the beach heavily breathing putting the bag aside. This is why he was late, he was finding their drowned belongings.
"I'm glad you guys are back because I was coming to get you!" The oarsman stood straight with his hands buried in his pants pockets.
Ben approached him and punched him straight across his jaw.
"Leave him, Ben! He owes us nothing!" Edgar called out to him.
"What of humanity Ed?" Ben yelled.
"Humanity has nothing to do with the dark business!" He responded while the oarsman held his jaw and moaned with pain.
"How's she?" Ben looked at Edgar.
"She will be fine!" Edgar nodded.
Afterward, they collected the woods to prepare for the night that was just right above their heads, and after starting the fire Edgar and Ben sat together and waited for Lisa to wake up.
"What's next?" Ben asked.
"I realized the cyclone that was on our right is now at our left, which means that our destination is behind us now, so in the morning we will get to Nantes, it won't be far away anymore."
Edgar had caught a rabbit and had it put on the stick he found in the jungle, its hands were tied with a small vine, and he was roasting it.
"I am not talking about your plans to get her to Nantes!" Ben threw a wood log in the fire "I am talking about her!" He looked Edgar straight in the eyes.
"Don't tell me you haven't had any… that kind of contact with her yet?" Ben winked.
Edgar knew what he meant and it somehow made him furious "This is the point! For all of you having an intimation in a relationship is important but for me? For me it's different!"
He couldn't maintain eye contact anymore "We aren't even in a relationship!" He smirked.
"You are in love boy!" Ben smiled at him.
"I don't know." Edgar seemed broken somewhere as if something about it didn't please him.
"What do you mean?" He asked when Edgar put a finger on his own lips and pointed toward Lisa.
"Yeah, I forgot she can hear too!" Ben whispered, "You are not escaping this discussion the next time!" He added.
Edgar sat beside her and watched her sleep until he fell asleep.
In the morning Edgar woke up realizing it was too late since they had been sleeping and if Lisa found herself on an island she might be frightened.
But to his surprise, there was no sign of her, his heart started racing, Edgar got up and rushed out only to find her sitting by the seashore with Ben, she was talking to him and laughing.
Edgar had his gaze stuck on her face "What have you done to me? How am I supposed to move on from this?" He thought.
The waves were loud enough to keep his thoughts to himself, he approached and looked around.
"When I woke up he was gone!" Ben said and then excused.
Lisa stood up and smiled at Edgar, he was feeling nervous around her lately.
She looked at the waves and looked back at him, probably trying to find words as Edgar, then as soon as he opened his mouth she raised her hand "Ssh!"
"Just close your eyes and listen to it!" She whispered, he did as he said, and she closed her eyes too.
"What do you here?" She asked.
"Sound of waves!" He replied.
"What else do you here?" She asked.
He focused and smiled it felt as if the seagulls and waves were making a beautiful rhythm, a soothing rhythm.
The next thing he felt was something against his chest, as he opened his eyes he looked down, it was Lisa resting her head on his chest, it felt as if he froze, his heart was pounding.
"I don't know why but this heartbeat of yours is just… I don't know what to say, I can't stop listening to it!" She emitted a deep breath and right before his hand was about to land on her waist they heard a sound.
It was Ben clearing his throat, they both jerked back and avoided eye contact for the rest of the day.
The sea wasn't calm so it wasn't going to be the day when they were going to leave.
So the night came and while holding a stick in her hand with rabbit roasting on it, Lisa demanded something that made Edgar choke on the bite he had in his mouth.
"I have heard you sing before I want you to do it now again!" She requested.
It was mesmerizing how after losing almost everything she had such a high spirit, there was nothing in her that wouldn't make Edgar like her.
Somehow he agreed to sing "What song do you like?" He asked.
She smiled and thought for a while as her eyes looked up at the sky to find a hint but then she excitedly blurted "Go with something from Backstreet Boys!"
Edgar's parents forbade him from living a normal teenage life so he used to sneak out at night and spend his fun time with Ben, he listened to music a lot and watched movies with him, this is how he developed his love for singing.
He thought for a moment and cleared his throat, with a gentle humming he sang
"Although loneliness has always been a friend of mine
I'm leavin' my life in your hands
People say I'm crazy and that I am blind
Risking it all in a glance
And how you got me blind is still a mystery
I can't get you out of my head..."
Somehow in the middle of it his eyes traveled to her eyes and a contact happened, while Ben stared at the ground enjoying the song, they were staring in each other's eyes.
There was no smile just a conversation, an expression of undeniable affection being born in them for each other.
Edgar looked down as he hummed back at the end of the song and Ben clapped with a cheerful scream.
Ben approached Edgar and patted him on his back while Lisa was lost in the spell of his gaze.
She didn't know but Edgar knew that the spark that just bornt would turn into a flame that would destroy their lives forever if they didn't put it out now.
While what she felt was completely different, and she still wasn't sure about her feelings.
"Am I falling for him? Or is it just a phase?" She was thinking.