Merrily, Merrily, Merrily

CW: Mental health, horror

The boat sped by, water sloshing onto his little makeshift raft. Jamie clung for dear life, fearful of the dark, tumultuous water. Only a few inches separated him from the cold water, and he had no desire to find out what lurked below. No matter how hard he tried, Jamie couldn’t get the attention of anyone who passed. There was no shortage of boats, but no amount of yelling seemed to help. They were ignoring him, which was par for the course.

A small yacht floated by lazily, a group of people partying on its deck. Jamie spotted a familiar face. Two men held his father up by his ankles, a tube funneling beer from a large keg into his upside down mouth.

“Dad, h-h-help,” Jamie said, his teeth chattering so hard he could barely get the words out.

His dad spotted him and belched. He looked at his friends, back at Jamie, and then shrugged. “Sorry, bud, there’s no room left on the boat. I’ll take you out next time.” And with that, the boat was gone, leaving him in its wake.

If Jamie wanted to live, it would be up to him. He paddled with his hands, going nowhere fast. There was no land in sight, but if he didn’t try, he would get no closer than he was now. Another boat flew past, a wave rising to meet Jamie. He cursed and closed his eyes a second before the wave tumbled over him, knocking him into the water.

Jamie screamed, water filling his lungs. A hand or something hand-shaped wrapped around his ankle and pulled him down. Bubbles escaped his lips and quickly rose to safety as something dragged him in the opposite direction. Everything went black.

Jamie awoke in a cold sweat, whatever nightmare he’d been having already graciously leaving his mind. He wiped the sweat from his brow and turned on the lamp next to his bed. The bright light illuminated a pristine room. Everything was in its place, books on the bookshelf, clothes neatly folded and hidden away, every flat surface absent the normal junk you’d find in a young man’s room. Jamie had read once that a tidy room made for a tidy mind. He was still waiting for that to work.

Jamie checked his alarm. It read 3:11 a.m. He sighed and rolled over in bed. He hadn’t gotten a good night’s sleep in ages. The dreams haunted him, and he felt powerless to stop them.

Just as he was about to drift off, the smell of burning assaulted his nose. He jumped out of bed and rushed into the living room. The dark room was awash in orange, the light coming from his guitar, which hung from the wall. Fire erupted from the sound-hole, quickly spreading. A string popped with a distressed sound, then another. He grabbed the guitar, the fire licking at his hands, and ran into the bathroom.

Jamie threw the guitar into the bathtub and ran the water. Relief washed over him as the fire quickly went out. How the hell had that happened? A wave of guilt washed over him. Jamie hadn’t touched the guitar in ages, and now it was a withered husk.

“Oh, don’t pretend like you were going to play it,” came a nasally voice to his right. His high school music teacher, Mrs. Caplet, sat on the toilet, filing her nails. She wore the same obnoxiously bright pantsuit she always wore, her hair frozen in place from too many perms.

“Mrs. Caplet? What are you doing here?”

“You were always my worst student,” she said with a sneer. Despite the constant filing, her nails were long and sharp, painted the color of blood.

“And you were always a bitch,” Jamie said.

Her upper lip curled up, revealing black teeth. She lunged at him; her nails digging into his skin. “Your living room is on fire.”

Smoke poured into the bathroom through the cracks in the door. Jamie pulled back from Mrs. Caplet and rushed into the living room. The fire was everywhere now, from the floor to the ceiling. The substance consumed everything he owned, blocking the door and the fire exit. A face watched him from the fire, dark and flaking like the tip of a match after being struck. The face smiled and opened its mouth wide, skin cracking and falling to the ground. Ash flew from its lips as it spoke.

“Run.”

Jamie clambered over furniture consumed by flames and leaped through the window. Glass shattered around him, the wind whistling by as he fell to the ground below. He closed his eyes and braced for an impact that never came. An alarm blared, a message from another world, and he felt his hand move independently from his mind, hitting the snooze, prolonging this hell.

Jamie awoke to the sound of dripping water. A rough, cool texture replaced the heat of fire and sting of glass. He opened his eyes, but still he could see nothing. Jamie felt around until he established he was in a stone cave.

“Hello,” he said, the sound reverberating with a mighty echo.

He followed the sound until he stumbled into a tunnel. Water came up to his ankles. As he moved, the water glowed, showing him his surroundings. Long wands of quartz caught the light, jutting out in random places, but all bearing the same ordered sides and point. The tunnel grew increasingly narrow, forcing him to crouch.

A sound behind him caused him to turn. A dark shape followed him at a distance, its form casting light as it moved through the water. The creature opened its mouth, splitting its face in half, revealing rows of sharp teeth. It shrieked, the sound reverberating off the stone walls, making it appear to come from all around him. Jamie screamed in tandem and turned to run, but the narrowness of the tunnel forced him to crawl. The tunnel constricted around him until he was sure he would get stuck. Jamie’s heart pounded as he squeezed through to the other side, falling into a small chamber illuminated by a single torch.

A sniff came from the small hole he had just squeezed through. A long, wolf-like snout pushed its way through the hole, but the creature was too big. Jamie sighed and caught his breath, but the sound of breaking bones drew his eye back to the hole. The creature shifted all its weight against the hole. Its body broke with a sickening sound and became small enough to slip through. He watched with horror as the creature oozed through the gap only to fall on the floor in front of him.

“Get away from me,” he screamed, grabbing for the torch.

“Get away from me,” the creature screeched in a twisted imitation of his voice.

Jamie scrambled to the opposite wall, waving the torch in front of him. The creature reared back but kept advancing, its body reforming to its full size. It loomed over him, drool spilling uncontrollably from its mouth.

“I’m dreaming, aren’t I?” Jamie asked. “That means you can’t hurt me.”

“Only if you can wake up,” the creature said before smiling wide enough that Jamie had no doubt it could swallow him whole.

Jamie thrust the torch into the creature’s gaping maw. It choked as the flame charred its twisted flesh. It didn’t take long for the flames to consume the creature, illuminating the cave. Ancient paintings of people on the walls appeared to dance as the flames flickered.

The creature pulled the torch out and threw it to the ground, where it sputtered out.

“Give me a hug,” it said, reaching out taloned hands wreathed in flames. Jamie ran, but the creature was faster, claws digging into his back. Everything went black. The alarm returned, more urgent now, sounding more like a siren. Again, his hand slapped the snooze even as he begged to no longer be asleep.

Jamie screamed himself awake.

“Hush, what’s all the fuss about?”

Jamie couldn’t remember what dream he’d been having. All he could remember is he was supposed to be working. The small crow’s nest was barely big enough for the two of them. They watched the seas together, looking for threats or treasure, although the two were often intrinsically tied.

“Next time you fall asleep on the job, remind me to sew your mouth shut.” His partner looked familiar. His high school bully, Randall. Same big, red nose. Same shrunken eyes, just concealed under a comically big pirate hat.

“Shut up, Randall. You don’t even realize we’re still dreaming,” Jamie said.

“There’s no we, bud. This is your dream. Don’t rope me in with you. My subconscious isn’t nearly as messy as yours.”

A shriek came from below, causing them to lean over the edge. Jamie became painfully aware of the distance between him and the deck of the ship, the only thing between them a thin net that would probably slice him into neat little diamonds. A walking bonfire roared below, and the dream came flooding back to him. The creature had followed him. Sailors ran this way and that, but they were not the creature’s quarry. It headed straight for the crow’s nest, digging its claws into the wooden pole. Where it touched, the fire spread, consuming wood, sails and rope.

“We have to get down,” Jamie said, but Randall was nowhere to be found. He was all alone, and this time there was nowhere to run. He clenched his fists. Fine. He would face this monster head-on.

One charred hand slipped over the edge of the wooden bucket, then another. The creature had shrunk, whole burnt chunks falling off it. The flame had gone out for the most part, but the creature’s flesh still smoked and sizzled.

“Why are you running?” the creature asked. Its bottom jaw fell off, exploding into a cloud of ash.

“Because you’re disgusting,” Jamie screamed. This close, he could feel the creature’s heat almost as much as he could feel the malice dripping from it.

“Of course I am. I’m you.”

The boat creaked underneath them, the fire finally doing its work. The crow’s nest tilted dangerously to the side, tipping its contents out. The creature grabbed for him, its talons digging into his flesh. He cried out just as they hit the ocean hard. For one moment everything went dark and still, then the world came crashing back into life around him. The creature still clung to him as they both treaded water. The water washed away the ash, revealing flesh beneath. He reached up and wiped the substance from the creature’s face. His own face stared back, scarred by flames but otherwise whole.

“Please help me,” the creature said.

A piece of shipwreck floated by, only big enough for one person. Jamie kicked the creature away, pushing its face out of his mind. He would not let the thing pull him under. He clambered onto the shipwreck and kicked the creature’s face as it tried to climb up after him. It no longer looked like him. Its maw had returned, its talons sharper than ever, but there in its eyes was a softness he hadn’t noticed before. It reached out a clawed hand, and he shrank back, but it merely plopped an object on the raft. The creature gurgled, and the sea swallowed it whole.

A shriveled black heart sat on the raft. Despite the char and damage, the thing still beat out an unsteady rhythm, refusing to die. Jamie wanted to push the pathetic thing into the ocean and forget about it forever, but he couldn’t. Something told him he couldn’t lose this. Not again. He hugged it to his body, trying to keep it warm even as his body shivered uncontrollably. Pieces of ash flaked off, revealing the deep red of something terribly alive. Warmth spread through his limbs, the heartbeat a comforting metronome that reminded him of how desperately tired he was.

Though the sea raged around him and he clung for dear life, Jamie’s eyes drooped closed. Everything would be better when he woke up, if he ever did.