Julia’s call reverberates through the Narwhal. It’s late at night, and many lie in bed trying to push through the nightmares to get some sleep. But she doesn’t make it easy. Her loud bellowing only adds to the difficulties in getting the rest they so desperately need. After about fifteen seconds of the creature’s moaning, there’s a clattering sound in the darkness of the bunk room as a heavy object strikes the wall and rolls along the floor.

“All goddamn day!” Max shouts.

Batteries have run dry and few working flashlights remain. Max’s is not one of them, so the fact that he’s just launched his across the room doesn’t matter a bit to him. Navigating out of the pitch-black bunks is now a matter of feeling the way to the door where one of the functioning flashlights sits on the floor. Another is kept in the control room, and the last on Lewis’s person.

“Max,” Bill calls outs, “keep it down.”

After destroying the hydrophones the day before, Julia began a routine of constant noise-making, singing and rubbing up against the ship. The distant thumping earlier, as ominous and distracting as it was, was a soothing melody compared to her new habit.

Those on board the Narwhal, faced with a creature that systematically destroyed their only tools to track and learn about her, and could just as easily destroy them, have spent the day trying to keep their heads down. The silence, they’d hoped, would result in Julia losing interest and moving along. But it hasn’t changed her curiosity in the slightest, and her actions have only made the anxiety in the Narwhal grow.

“Oh, shut your trap, Bill!” Max shouts, releasing the pent up frustration within himself. “None of us have a damn clue what’s going on, but clearly this whole ‘keep quiet and she’ll go away’ thing we’re trying hasn’t worked”

“Come on, Max. You’re right, we don't know anything about Julia. But that just means the best we can do is try to keep a low profile. She’s not attacking, so we’re better off trying not to make any waves.”

Max scoffs. “God, at this point, I almost wish she’d do something to end all of this.” He looks up at the ceiling above his bed. “Hey, beastie!” He shouts. “Why not just finish us off, you fucker?” Lifting his arm, he slams his fist into the metal wall three times before rolling over and sighing loudly.

“Oh, for fuck’s sake, Max,” James calls out, “if you got a deathwish, why don’t you just go for a swim? I’ll open the--”

Bang. Bang. Bang.

Julia’s groan fades into the sea and is replaced by three loud thuds against the ship. There are no more harsh shouts, no witty retorts, no words at all. There’s a clamor of rustling bed sheets and pillows as people shift and sit up in their beds.

Bang.

Bang.

Bang.

Again, Julia strikes the Narwhal.

“What the hell did you just do?” James whispers.

Then she hits them again, striking the hull once, but this time with much more force. The Narwhal shrieks, metal grinding against the ground as the submarine slides across the ice. The floor shifts and people fall out of their bunks in the violent chaos. It all ends in just a second, Julia only nudging the Narwhal, but it’s enough. An alarm begins to wail in the darkness, but it only lasts for a moment before it winds back down leaving the submarine silent. And it’s over; there’s no more banging on the hull, or rumbling cries, or light touches. For the moment, she leaves them alone to deal with the aftermath.

Charlie picks herself up off the floor and walks to the doorway. She picks up the flashlight and flips it on. It’s batteries still work, but only just, as it casts a dim yellow light in the room.

“Everyone okay?” She asks.

There’s a collective groan, a mumble of affirmation. No one is hurt. Jessica whimpers quietly in her bed.

Charlie walks over to Jessica. “Are you ok?”

She shakes her head, but a quick glance tells Charlie that she’s not physically injured.

“It’s alright, she’s gone now. We won’t make that mistake again.” Charlie turns around and glares at Max, who rolls his eyes in response.

“It doesn't matter,” Jessica replies. “She’ll come back, she always does. She won’t leave us alone, but she won’t finish us off.”

Her face contorts as she forces herself to stop crying. Instead, she seems thoughtful, like she’s trying hard to come up with the answer to a tough math question.

“She has no reason to kill us,” Charlie says. “So long as we tread carefully, treat her with respect, like any other animal, we’ll be fine.” She bites her cheek, unconvinced by her own words.

Jessica laughs now, a fake laugh with a fake smile. “An animal?” she spits. “Can we stop pretending that whatever’s out there plays by our rulebook? She’s no animal.”

Ernie, leaning down from the top bunk, furrows his brow. “Come on now, sis.”

“Oh, I’m serious! Whatever she is, she’s not normal! I mean, she’s practically torturing us!” She stops laughing, holding her hands over her mouth. “Maybe we’re already dead. Maybe this is hell.”

Ernie steps down from above and crouches in front of his sister. “We’re not dead,” he says, “and we’re going to keep it that way, you hear?”

Jessica shakes her head. “It doesn’t matter,” she says, pushing both her brother and Charlie away before laying down and rolling over.

She doesn’t close her eyes, instead, she just stares at the wall and thinks.

James gets up from his bed too and starts walking out of the room.

“Going somewhere?” Bill calls after him.

“I wasn’t sleeping before and I’m sure as hell not gonna be able to after that. I’m getting a coffee.”

“You want the flashlight?” Charlie asks.

“Nah, I’ve gotten pretty good at walking around in the dark down here. I’ll be fine.”

Piper stands as well and follows James out.

Charlie opts to try and get back to sleep, returning the flashlight to the entryway and slowly feeling her way back to her bunk.

“Charlie?” Elina whispers from the next bed over.

Charlie passes her own bed by and kneels next to Elina’s, placing a hand on her mattress. Elina grabs her hand, confirming that she’s there as even though their faces are mere inches apart, they can’t see each other.

“Hey,” Charlie says.

“Why do you think Julia did that?”

“I have no idea,” Charlie lied, as theories--thoughts she had been having for days--whirled through her head.

“You think--” Elina stops for a moment, thinking about her next words. “You think Jess might be right? I mean, the way she acts sometimes, it’s like she’s intelligent.”

“I think we're all a bit frazzled and need to cool off a bit. Whatever and whyever, she’s gone for now. We should be thankful for that at least.”

“You aren’t denying the possibility.”

“Plenty of cetaceans exhibit intelligent behavior. Octopi too.”

“You know what I mean, and that’s still not a no.”

“El, I’m so sleep deprived right now that I don’t even know if any of this is real. The science-minded part of me can’t make heads or tails of this situation.”

“Well, I’m real, Lee.” She squeezes Charlie’s hand. “And all the parts of my mind are telling me things may be worse than we think.”

Charlie sighs, unsure of her own thoughts, and unsure how to reply. “Goodnight, El.”

“Night.”

Their hands slip apart and Charlie returns to her bed.