WTF

Aaron unfolds his athletic frame from the inside of the case. Cylinders of oxygen, empty water bottles, and energy bar wrappers spill out onto the floor. He stretches and yawns, and then jerks his neck to the side with a sickening crack.

After the shock wears off, and the Curd Queen imperceptibly lists a degree to its port side, Aaron puts on his championship smile and slaps Captain Mel on the back.

"We did our best, Mel. Plan A is fucked, but there's still hope for Plan B," Aaron says. He kicks the now-unlocked case toward an encroaching Jade. Jade stumbles backward and trips.

Cherry Peach stuffs the Bobcat in Aaron's face. Aaron, leverages his long reach, slaps the gun away. Captain Mel picks the Bobcat up. Everyone except Zandra starts inching away. Zandra lowers the lawnmower knife so it's at her side, out of Aaron's reach.

"So, who is on the upper level?" Zandra says, stoic.

Aaron laughs and says, "The better question is this: what so-called spirits were you channeling just now, you fraud?"

Zandra glances over to Rev. Cash. He seems more disgusted with Aaron than her at the moment.

"Demons," Zandra says.

"Tell them I say hi," Aaron says.

"It's not rare for a demon to impersonate someone else. They must've come through to me because they're attached to Captain Mel. He'll see what I mean soon enough," Zandra says.

Because I also have a Plan B.

Captain Mel aims the Bobcat at Zandra.

"You're as full of it as you were back at Gene's bonfire," Aaron says and forces another laugh.

Zandra's bad ankle alerts her to a shift beneath her feet. Her balance is off, and she grips the bar to steady herself.

"So you do remember," Zandra says. "Makes me wonder why you're being so cavalier. You've seen what can happen when the spirits are on my side."

"They're not, though. You fucked this up harder than you even realize," Aaron says. "You should've just gone along with it. Be a good girl and stay in your room. That way only you and that poor bastard upstairs would've gotten fucked. But, no, you had to be difficult, try to take control of the situation, and now look what you did. No one on this boat can survive now. We have to kill everyone instead of just one person, or two if we count you, Zandra."

Nothing is worth that kind of risk unless it's extremely valuable. What's inside those other audio cases?

"Drugs," Zandra says.

"Of course it's drugs," Aaron says.

Cherry Peach makes a move for the exit. Captain Mel points the Bobcat at her and shakes his head. She freezes. The sconces that line the lounge flicker.

"And that's why you're dead, is it? You got into some trouble with the wrong people," Zandra says, trying to thread it all together.

I'm sensing a theme to Aaron's judgement, or lack thereof.

"I knew they were coming to kill me no matter where I went, so I did what any reasonable person would do. I loaded up all my product into audio equipment, signed up for a floating seminar on side hustles, and cut the captain in on the bag I'd make if he could help me die," Aaron says. He walks behind the bar and motions for Zandra to make him a drink.

Fine. My psychic powers tell me he'd be fine drinking grape juice, whether he wants to or not.

Zandra shuffles behind the bar. She dusts a patch of the bar with her sleeve before filling a glass with grape juice.

No ice. The spirits aren't needed.

"I can respect that," Zandra says and slides the glass of grape juice down the bar to Aaron. "How'd you pull off the kill shot?"

Aaron takes a swig of grape juice. Then another. It's gone in two swallows.

"We did what we had to do," Captain Mel says, sounding melancholy.

"Considering the amount of money on the line, it was the only choice," Aaron says. "We invited a special guest, a guy we picked up off the street who looks—or looked—like me. Found him in Milwaukee. In times like these, it didn't take much to convince him. Told him we'd give him a shower, a change of clothes, a cot and three hots if he came to work on the Curd Queen. The captain gave him some bullshit job until it was time. We knew the trigger puller on shore would do it when it was foggy. That's just how those kinds of people work. Always showing off."

Yeah, I can see Glenn doing that.

Then it's just a coincidence that the guy on the upper level—whoever that is—had his pockets turned out.

Ivy sheds a tear and shakes her head. Whatever defenses kept her going up to this point are gone.

"And that's why we're anchored over the Devil's Hole," Zandra says. "Push him overboard and hope no one ever finds him. You two really are shits."

"Spare me," Aaron says and sets the empty glass back on the bar. "No one in this room would've acted differently if you knew how much money we're talking about here. Not even the pretend preacher."

Rev. Cash snorts. "Fuck you."

"Exactly. Preachers don't say things like that," Aaron says.

Jade wraps her arm around Ivy's shoulder.

"So why frame me?" Zandra says.

"Cherry Poppins, or whatever her name is, let slip to you that she had a gun and some ideas about my character. Sure, her gut was right about me, but overhearing you two talking through the vent got me thinking. The opportunity to take you, Zandra, out was too good to pass up," Aaron says. "After all, we've got a bit of history. I'd become very popular with some very influential people very quickly."

You're an asshole, Aaron, but I'll grant that you are cunning. Cunning in the same way a toilet clogs.

Also, am I getting dizzy or is the floor tilting even more?

"So now what?" Zandra says.

Captain Mel grunts and says, "Plan B."

"What is Plan B?" pDano® says with a nervous look at the flickering sconces.

Captain Mel points to a cocktail glass placed on the edge of a high-top table nearby. It wobbles and slides off, splintering as it hits the floor.

That was no spirit.

"There are too many loose threads, too many witnesses, on this boat," Aaron says. "Time to send the Curd Queen to Devil's Hole."

Jade wails.

Zandra fidgets with the handle of the lawnmower knife and says, "You're going to make a lot of fish very, very high."

"The audio cases will be safe until they're recovered," Aaron says.

Will they? In Devil's Hole? Maybe you two didn't think this through enough.

Cherry Peach resumes her attempt to leave the lounge.

"Where are you going?" Aaron says.

"To start passing out life jackets, asshole," Cherry Peach says.

Captain Mel's posture sinks. Zandra notices it.

There aren't enough life jackets. Chad found me one of the few that are around here.

Captain Mel notices Zandra noticing him. He clears his throat in a deep gurgle and says, "It was Aaron's idea. I didn't think it'd come to this."

"It's more Zandra's fault than yours, cap," Aaron says. "She should've gone along with it."

Cherry Peach lands the last step out of the lounge. That's when Captain Mel raises the pistol and fires.

"No!" Rev. Cash shouts and jumps into the gap between Captain Mel and Cherry Peach, offering himself as a human shield. Even with his divine intentions, he isn't faster than the Bobcat's bullet. It doesn't matter, though.

The bullet is for Aaron. Point blank. Right in the back of the head.

And now we get to see what that .22 caliber can do.

Aaron stiffens, relaxes, and then crumples to the floor. The others in the lounge suck at the air and scream at the horror, but Zandra's more interested in what happens as the .22-caliber projectile exits Aaron's head through the back of his face.

Well, look at that. The bullet doesn't exit at all. He'll have his pretty face intact for the funeral. I learned something new today.

Zandra scans the lounge. Along with Cherry Peach, Ivy and Jade also beat a hasty retreat.

They'll waste time looking for life jackets that aren't there. They need to get to the lower level and tell people to leave their rooms and jump for it. It'll be hard to convince them with that gunshot.

"It wasn't ever supposed to get this far," Captain Mel says and stuffs the Bobcat into a pocket. "It was supposed to be easy."

"Yeah, well, no one cares what you think at this point. Feel free to go down with the ship," Zandra says. "Speaking of which, I wasn't kidding about the demon, child. It's latched itself onto you. That never ends well."

I might not be serious about the demon, but the rest is true. You'll see, captain. You'll see.

Captain Mel turns away from Zandra.

pDano® slips away to unplug the karaoke machine from the wall. Cradling the device in their arms, they hurry out of the lounge, dragging a corded microphone behind them.

Rev. Cash brushes himself off and stumbles toward a window. His balance is off, and so is the Curd Queen's.

"God will figure out what to do with you, captain. In the meanwhile, we've got to get downstairs and help these people get off this boat," Rev. Cash says.

Captain Mel stays frozen in place next to the cases.

Maybe he really will go down with the ship.

Much to her surprise, Zandra finds herself linked arm-in-arm with Rev. Cash. They help each other out of the lounge and toward the stairs to the lower level. The windows along the walls of the lounge reflect Zandra's purple gown.

Perhaps that's why Glenn decides to take a clear shot at Zandra with the rifle from shore.