The Tourist Trap

“Now, Grace, I want you to keep an open mind on this trip,” my mother repeated as she turned around to look at me. I stepped onto the boarding platform and followed the bright pink fanny pack belted across my mothers’ khaki shorts.

 “Alright, Mom, you don’t have to keep repeating yourself,” I retorted. She had been repeating herself the whole flight across the Atlantic Ocean. Yes, I was twenty-three and going on my first Europe trip with my parents, but it was an opportunity I was not going to miss. Especially, if I did not have to pay for food. As soon as we crossed the threshold into the elegant long ship, I knew why she was being so persistent.

"Oh! Wow!” exclaimed the peppy, polo-clad cruise worker as soon as I stepped into the entrance hall. She smiled ear to ear, clapped her hands excitedly and exclaimed, “You guys are going to bring down the program’s age average!” What was that supposed to mean?

The woman continued to greet other passengers and I looked around the lobby. There was not a single person under the age of seventy.

“You knew about this?” I whispered to my mother after I had caught up to her at the front desk.

Without looking up from what she was writing, she replied, “The average age of passengers? Of course, I did!”

“Why did you not tell me?” I answered back quickly.

“This is why you need to do your research dear,” my mother turned and handed me an envelope containing my keys, “as I said earlier, please try to keep an open mind.”

Instead of a cruise, I was going to be spending a week on a floating retirement home.

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By day two, I felt like I was going to go insane. My mother nudged me as I stared blankly at the wall. “Can you stop it with your bad attitude?” she hissed at me, “its going to be a long week if you are just going to mope the whole time.”

 “Mom, just leave me alone…” I muttered and turned away.

“If you want to be miserable the whole time that is your choice,” she said as she got up and moved to the seat next to my father. I stared down at the mashed potatoes I was stirring around with my fork.

Screeeech. The dining room began to grow quiet as the cruise host had taken the stand with her microphone, “Good evening everyone! I hope your trip has been pleasant so far!”

There were chimes of agreement from the crowd and clinking of glassware. The host laughed with pleasure, “I just wanted to let everyone know that we will be sailing through the Pass of Aaric Oathbreaker at dawn. It is very exciting! For those that did not know, Aaric was a Viking raider during the 10^th century who traveled up and down the coastline raiding and terrorizing villages,” she paused for dramatic effect, “eventually the Lord of these lands became so fed up with his attacks that they made a deal. Aaric would leave in peace in exchange for a very generous sum of gold.”

I turned around startled as I heard a sudden snore behind me. The man’s glasses began to fall off his face as he nodded off.

“Now, I bet you can guess how he received the name “Oathbreaker”. To Aaric, it seemed more profitable to do both, make a deal and continue to raid. That is exactly what he did, but the Lord was ready for him. They lured him to this pass and Aaric’s ship and crew never made it through the other side. Was the boat lost to time or did the Lord make a deal with the devil? It has become a fun tourist…”

A yell caused the dining room to jump in surprise. The man behind me choked on a snore as he was startled awake.

“Harold sit down,” hissed a curly haired and elderly woman. She pulled on the sleeve of, presumably, her husbands’ jacket. Her eyes flicked nervously at the faces that continued to gape at her. Her husband appeared to be in his late seventies and wore thick glasses. He stared at the cruise worker, whose peppy smile had finally been ripped off her face.

“Harold,” the wife began to plead again with a firm tone, “sit down please. Did you take you medicines today?”

Harold looked to his wife, his face now twisted in anger. “Of course, I did Evelyn!” his volume increased, “I will not be traveling through that damn tunnel.” He directed this comment to the innocent cruise worker.

“Sir, I ...I can’t change the itinerary,” she gulped, “It is perfectly safe, this is just a story…”

“A story??” the man asked incredulously, “This is not some fairy story. I have seen the curse with my very eyes.”

“Harold!” his wife pleaded. She pulled hard on his jacket, but Harold continued to walk towards the stage.

“Give me that!” he yelled and snatched the microphone from the workers hands. She helplessly walked away.

I grinned as I watched the commotion. This was finally getting interesting.

“I was stationed here during my navy days,” Harold began. “Everything is true. I lost ships of good men through this pass. By sheer luck, I woke up after a training washed up on the other side of the river. I was confused, disoriented, but then saw the destruction. Pieces of our ship we had worked so hard to maintained washed up around me, but there was no sign of the crew. All I can remember from that afternoon, the glow of red eyes. We cannot travel through this pass, it is cursed!”

I was so enamored by the old man’s speech that I did not noticed the two burly men in dark polos who came up behind Harold to grab hold of his waving arms.

“Let me go, fools!” Harold exclaimed as he was pulled off the stage.

“Please don’t hurt him! He doesn’t know what he is doing,” Evelyn desperately pleaded with the cruise host. There were murmurs throughout the dining room after witnessing this embarrassing scene.

“It’s so sad. That poor man,” my mother lamented as she placed her hand against her chest.

************************************************************

I sat on the top deck of the long ship and watched the stars pass by. It was so clear here unlike the city back home. The cool breeze tickled my skin and I pulled my borrowed blanket closer around my body. A large mountain loomed in front of us and looked more like an ominous shadow than natural wonder. I shivered and realized that was where Aaric’s Pass was. There was a soft lurch under me as the boat moved forward. Did we just speed up?

I shook my head. I was just unsettled from the events earlier. My mother was right, that old man was probably just confused.

Then I heard muttering. “Too close…Too close…Too close,” the low voice kept repeating. I looked behind me, but only saw the empty putting green. As I turned my head back around, a hunched shape had walked up the stairs and entered the walking track. My heart thumped in my chest.

“Hello?” I called and the muttering stopped. The figure began to rush towards my chair with pumping arms. I stood up startled and jumped behind my chair.

“You! What are you doing here?” the panicked voice exclaimed.

I squinted my eyes and the man came into focus, “Harold?” I asked and chuckled, “Didn’t they lock you up or something?”

He gave me a stern look, “I was in the navy for decades. These people can’t lock me up. I climbed out the balcony.”

I stared bewildered at him, “You climbed the balcony?”

“You can help me,” he exclaimed, “we need to turn around the ship!”

I gestured my arms out to the side and looked around, “this is an extremely narrow river, there is no turning around…”

After a pause, I continued, “Harold? Is this about the Pass?”

He looked at me like I was the one who had not taken my medicine, “Of course, it is! I can’t let the monster have Evelyn!” He began to run his fingers through his thinning hair.

The cheeky smile was eliminated from my face instantly. He was genuinely terrified. “Hey, Harold,” I looked him in the eye, and he met my gaze, “I believe you.”

“You do?” he asked surprised. I took a gulp.

 I felt bad lying to this guy, but he needed a friend, “if the beast is still there, then I will help you beat it. You got away, once right?”

“My whole crew and ship were destroyed though…Aaric disappeared…. How can we?”

I pulled up another chair, “Sit with me, we can keep watch together.”

************************************************************

I was awakened out of a sleep by a jolt in the boat. I gasped and turned to face Harold who sat at the edge of his seat. “What is going on here?” I asked.

Harold pointed, “It’s coming.”

“What?” I turned towards the front of the boat. The mountain was now on top of us and I could see the mouth of the pitch-dark cavern. Thick grey lengths of fog crawled out of the cavern and encompassed the bottom levels of the ship.

I took a step back and bumped into Harold. “Maybe its about to rain?” I asked nervously.

I was interrupted as a loud rumble, like an awakened volcano, began to sound. The breeze picked up and the boat was pulled faster into the cave. “What the hell!” I called as I toppled over, but Harold caught me just before I hit the deck.

“He’s found me,” Harold stated calmly, “I escaped his clutches before and now he will take his revenge.” Harold set me aside and walked forward towards the bow of the ship.

“Harold? Where are you going?” another jolt and my chair flipped over leaving me helpless on the ground. “Damn it,” I muttered and looked up straight into two enormous crimson eyes.

 “Come at me you demon! I am the one you want! I am the one who escaped and lived to tell the tale!”

“Shoot, Harold,” I muttered. If there really was a monster, it knew we were here now.

 “Harold!” I called and my voice echoed throughout the cavern. The fog had begun to obscure my vision.

“Stand back girl! This is between me and him!” I ran towards Harold’s voice. He stood at the bow and held a folded beach chair in the air as if he was going to strike.

There was a sniff and a fog of condensation that passed by the old man. Through the darkness, all that was visible was a large scaly snout and those corrupted eyes. The snout came closer into the dim lantern light that Harold held in his other hand. The demon snorted again and caused Harold’s glasses to fly off. 

The loudest war cry that I had ever heard pierced through the cavern, it was as if Aaric himself had come back from the Abyss. Harold rushed forward with the lantern and chair lifted high and charged the open mouth of the creature.

“No!” I yelled and ran at him. My feet propelled me instinctively and I body slammed Harold. I pushed him straight to the ground.

“No! No! It has to be this way!” Harold pleaded as I held him down.

“Stop it! We will find another wa…” I stopped as I felt hot breath against my neck, “its behind me isn’t it?”

Harold nodded and again struggled to get up, “Stay there!” I called as my eyes fell upon a shining slice of glass cut from the broken lantern. “Do you still remember how to drive a ship? Get to the command room. You’ll know when to gun it.” 

I did not wait for his reaction as a loud crunch rumbled through the ship. The creature’s massive flipper talons stood on the bow of the ship which formed a crack. I snatched up the glass piece and began to back away slowly.

“Get over here you beast,” I muttered and stared into its eyes. I had one shot at this, so I guess those softball lessons were going to pay off after all.

“Closer, closer,” I cooed and did not break eye contact. My heart pounded.

Then it came. In a split second, the creature lurched its neck towards me in a killing strike.

“Shit!” I yelled and dodged at the last second and slammed into the wood of the deck. The demon’s teeth clamped onto the rail that I had just been leaning against.

It’s now or never, I thought to myself and took a deep breath. The glowing eyes were closer now. I threw the shard as hard as I could hoping it would hit its mark.

Drip. Drip. The black blood of the beast dripped to the floor after my shard grazed the inside corner of its eyes. The creature shrieked. I was once again in complete darkness as it closed its eyes and reared its head.

“I did it!” I exclaimed and smiled to myself.

Another loud crash sounded as the boat shifted to the side. The sensation of falling hit me as I flipped backward into the black waters.

************************************************************

The water was ice against my skin. A roar filled the cave as the irritated beast crashed its form against the mountain wall as it searched for its victim. The eyes were like spotlights and glided across the ship searching. I silently tried to slide back towards the other end of the ship in the direction the current was pulling. There was nothing to grab onto as my hands desperately slipped against the smooth side of the ship.

“No! No!” I screamed as I slide against the side of the ship towards the propellers spinning full speed. They had been lifted out of the water as the ship tipped towards the creature’s weight. This was it. I was about to be chopped into little pieces by the very ship I paid for.

The spotlights eyes gazed across where I was and lit up the propellers of death. It also lit up on another key piece of information. A maintenance handle was jutting from the side of the ship. I let go of any attempt to hold onto the side and let myself fly. It had to be timed perfectly or I would be destroyed. One…two…three…now! I reached for the handle and pulled hard to stop myself from falling into propellers. My whole body tingled.

Before my brain had enough time to process the events, my face became engulfed a light. I blinked repeatedly. Once again, I was staring into crimson eyes, but this time I could see the fearsome head of the beast. The creature had a long snout, sharp teeth, and the extensive frills that came off the side of the head. I could see the beast move closer. I looked around desperately. There was another rung of the maintenance ladder above me. I reached my arm up to grab it then began to climb.

There was another crash below me as I slipped and lost my grip on the rung. The monster’s talon had ripped clear through the side of the boat and destroyed the rest of the ladder below me. I hung by one hand. I could not let this thing take our ship. We were not going to become some tourist story.

With all my strength I threw my free arm up and grabbed hold of the rung. When I pulled myself on deck, the monster growled and slammed its body into the side. I toppled towards the center too close to the propeller for my liking. The monster was going to follow me and use its entire body to defeat me. I crawled over to the stern of the ship, where the propeller continued to whirl. I hoped Harold was in position.

“I’m over here beast!” I yelled as the spotlight from the eyes swiveled back to engulf my form, “Come and get me!”

Just as I had hoped, the beast began to come back towards my position. The eyes were so focused on me that it barely noticed the danger right in front of it. We stared at each other for just a moment and I swallowed hard.

Then it jumped.

“Harold! Full speed!” I yelled as loud as I could. With a scream, the monster fell back as the propeller had cut clean through its massive thigh. Our ship flew forward to exit the cavern.

************************************************************

The sun emerged from behind the skyline as Harold and I sat upon the bent bow of the ship. Miraculously, she could still float and pull enough speed to get us out of Aarics Pass. We clinked glasses of champagne together and took a large gulp. What a sight we were, Harold with his crooked and cracked glasses and I soaked with water and blood.

“Well, you outwitted the beast once again!” I held up my glass as if to toast my new friend.

“For now, lets hope that injury you gave it keeps it out of commission for a while,” Harold took another gulp of the champagne.

We heard a shriek from the stairs leading up to our seat.

“What happened to our ship?” the peppy cruise worker ran up to us her polo in disarray with a bit of dried drool at the collar. She looked as if she had just woken up.

“You’re a mess? What is going on? My boss is going to kill me!” her hands clasped her face in horror.

Harold and I just shrugged. “Maybe the beast paid us a visit last night?” I said mischievously. The woman stomped back downstairs to the sound of our laughter. Maybe this trip was worth it after all.