Lost Soul

Nathan cursed his bad luck as the sky all too quickly began to darken, the setting sun mocking him as it raced ever closer to the horizon behind him with land but a tantalizing few miles away. His old sailboat, once his pride and joy before the world went to hell but now as worn and weary as he was, would not get to dock until morning; one more night of hunger would not kill him, but going ashore after nightfall most certainly would. He could already hear the screeches of the Others echoing from land, piercing the air so sharply as to reach his ears even at this distance.

Nathan bit his lip, trying to focus on his thoughts over the sound of his pounding heart. He would have to sail farther out, into deeper water, to be sure he was safe. Far enough that the Others could not reach him, even if they were desperate for food.

One more hungry night, then he could set foot ashore for the first time in over a month to gather supplies beneath the safety of the sun.

One more night.

With a resigned sigh, Nathan prepared to put more distance between his boat and the shore, beginning to position the sails. He noticed another boat, a rowboat much smaller and older than his, slowly approaching with a single lantern lit at its bow. At first, he ignored it, figuring whoever was in it was simply doing the smart thing and getting as far from shore as possible just as he was.

However, as the rowboat pulled up beside Nathan’s boat, he heard the gruff, salt-worn voice of an elderly man call out to him. “Ahoy! You are a stranger to these waters, yes?”

Nathan paused his work to face the old man. His pale gray hair was disheveled and his dark, mottled skin—quite a few shades darker than Nathan’s light tan—had clearly known decades of hard work under bright sunshine. The early evening darkness hid the old man’s eye color, but even in the dim lantern light, Nathan could see they were like two ghost ships adrift in an abandoned sea.

“That’s right. I was just passing through,” Nathan replied. “Was hoping to reach shore in time to get some food and water, but night won that race, I’m afraid.”

The old man cocked his head to the side, puzzled. “Why are you leaving, then?”

Nathan gestured toward shore. “To keep a safe distance from them.” As if to punctuate his point, a few more inhuman shrieks cut through the cold night air.

After a few moments of contemplation, the old man shook his head and said, “It is safer to spend the night close to shore. The Others do not like the water. You need not go so far.”

“I’ve seen them swim a few miles out before, when they’re hungry enough,” Nathan argued. “I’m not taking any chances, and neither should you.”

“The sea is not safe at night.” The old man’s voice was quiet, shaky. Scared, but certain.

Nathan lifted his head in exasperation, his hazel eyes scanning the moonless sky littered with twinkling stars as he searched for both patience and a response to the old man’s absurd statement. “I think you’re a bit mixed up, old man.”

“No!” The old man started to panic now. “She is in the water at night. A young woman, drowned beneath these very waves long ago and cursed to never set foot on land again. The Others may devour your flesh and blood, but she will devour your soul!”

With a soft, disbelieving chuckle, Nathan turned away from the old man to get his boat moving, not bothering with a response.

The old man yelled, “You will die if you go out onto the open water!”

Nathan raised his hand dismissively, still not bothering to face the old man as he turned his boat around. The old man’s lantern grew smaller and fainter as Nathan steered his away from shore. When he finally glanced back toward the old man’s little rowboat, he saw the light of its lantern headed back toward shore, defeated.

“Crazy old fool,” Nathan muttered to himself.

He continued sailing until he was over twenty miles from land, content in the knowledge that no bloodthirsty monster would reach him at this distance. Ignoring the hunger pangs that shot through his stomach, he retreated into his small, humble cabin to rest for the night, trudging through empty cans and dry water jugs toward a dirty old mattress with a single blanket. After collapsing onto the mattress with a grating creak, he turned onto his side and let out an exhausted breath, his eyes refusing to close as they landed on an old, cracked picture frame carefully placed directly in his line of sight.

Staring back at him was the most beautiful woman in the world, Rosa, her raven black hair falling in silky waves over bronze shoulders as deep chocolate-brown eyes sparkled with adoration, delight, and so much more life than the last time he had seen her. But then, a memory shattered the perfect picture he gazed upon—Rosa’s face splattered with blood, eyes utterly devoid of light after they had just moments before been wide in terror and glistening with tears as one of those monsters, towering over her small frame, sunk its teeth in her throat and ripped its claws into her stomach. She had stared right at where she knew Nathan was hiding, silently pleading for his help.

Help he never gave.

When he could feel the sting of his own tears beginning to form, he roughly turned onto his other side and shut his eyes, hoping to snuff out the memory with the darkness of his eyelids even though not even ten years had been able to wipe it away. He could not even bring himself to say he was sorry anymore; the words felt hollow with no one there to hear them.

“Help!”

Nathan’s eyes shot open in shock and horror as the terrified, desperate cry rang in his ears. His hands immediately went to cover his ears as he imagined Rosa calling out to him in pain and agony and fear.

“Help, please!”

He clenched his fists against his ears until his knuckles paled, begging his own mind to relent just this once, to stop torturing him with guilt and shame.

“Please, somebody! Help!”

The words were more muffled now, which Nathan thought to be odd if they were coming from his mind. Confused, he removed his hands from his ears and heard frantic splashing coming from outside.

Nathan scrambled off of his mattress and rushed out of the cabin to investigate the noise. And there, out in the water off the port side, was a woman flailing and gasping for air. Somehow, despite the heavy darkness surrounding them and the woman’s wet black hair plastered against her face, Nathan could clearly see her brilliant blue eyes shining against her pale skin, filled with the same pleading terror as Rosa’s.

And the moment Nathan made eye contact with the woman, her movements became even more desperate as she struggled to cry out once more, “Help me! Please!”

Nathan managed to will his body to move after it had been frozen in shock for what felt like minutes, and he ran to grab a life preserver. But as he returned to the port gunwale and watched the woman barely able to resurface after slipping beneath the waves, he suddenly recalled that crazy old man’s warning from before: “A young woman, drowned beneath these very waves long ago…”

Maybe he was not so crazy after all. If the Others, those bloodthirsty monsters that had overwhelmed the land and claimed the night, were real… then maybe other monsters were, too.

The woman’s eyes lit up with hope when she saw Nathan with the life preserver in his hands, but that hope quickly faded the longer he simply stood there, staring at her, his expression slowly hardening into distrust.

“Please…”

Nathan scanned the darkness surrounding his boat. There were no other boats nearby, no wrecks, nothing from which this woman would have fallen into the sea.

He dropped the life preserver onto the deck.

“No!” The drowning woman tried to swim closer to the boat despite not having the strength to do so.

Unable to continue watching her struggle, Nathan hurriedly unfurled the sails, ignoring her pleas and splashes as best as he could. He sailed away until he could no longer hear her, only raising the sails again once he was sure that all he could hear was the calm sea. Only once the adrenaline had died down and the thumping of his slowing heart seemed to rattle his very bones did Nathan manage to slump against the gunwale and bury his face in his hands, his body trembling and his breathing ragged.

“What’s this? Another lost soul adrift in the dark?”

Nathan froze at the sound of a soft, curious woman’s voice dancing upon the sea breeze. Confused, he slowly stood on unsteady legs and turned to find another boat drifting alongside his. A pale woman stood upon the deck, long blonde hair dripping with seawater and drenched white dress clinging to her gaunt frame. Behind her, just barely visible, there was a man lying on the deck, unmoving. Nathan’s skin prickled as an unnatural chill seemed to grab hold of his throat, making it difficult to breathe. He took a hesitant step back, eyes torn between focusing on the woman and watching the man behind her to search for any sign of life.

The woman smiled sweetly. “Don’t be afraid. I don’t bite.” Her smile widened, playful but disconcerting. “My name is Iara. And you are?”

Nathan couldn’t bring himself to speak. It seemed the icy chill in the air had now frozen his mouth shut.

Iara waited a few moments for his response, but when he remained silent, she looked even more amused. “I see you have heard of me. And yet, here you are.”

It took all of his willpower to tear his gaze away from her, but he did, turning to run into his cabin as his mind screamed that he was facing some unknown predator even more terrifying than the Others. But the moment he turned around, he was face-to-face with Iara. Her sea green eyes entranced him as he suddenly found himself unable to move again.

“I’m so happy you came along when you did, though,” Iara said, her voice uncomfortably soothing as her thin fingers brushed through Nathan’s dark brown hair like gentle knives. “You see, when Julian and Marina kindly brought me onto their boat, I was expecting to feed on two souls tonight. A veritable feast, nowadays, considering how few of you are left thanks to those brutes who stole the land. But, well… Marina managed to slip away.”

Iara’s eyes gazed into Nathan’s for a minute as though searching for something, before she let out a short, incredulous laugh. Then, only a moment later, her face fell, mournful. “What a waste,” she murmured. “My way would have been quick, painless. There would have been no struggle. But you… You let her suffer. I know that suffering all too well. That suffering is why I can never rest.”

“I didn’t… I thought…” Nathan stammered.

“Hush,” Iara whispered, placing a cold, bony finger against his quivering lips. “I have seen your soul, Nathan. It was not the first time you chose to let another die. It was, however, your last.”

Nathan’s eyes widened in panic. “No, please! Don’t kill me!”

Iara examined him, pity sparkling in her bright eyes. “Very well.”

It took a moment for her words to settle in Nathan’s ears. He let out a shallow breath, even a little laugh of relief. “Thank you!”

“Your soul is no longer mine to take, after all.” Iara smirked.

And Nathan’s face paled in horror as another white, wet hand gripped his shoulder from behind him. He felt himself yanked back until Marina’s vengeful, blazing blue eyes filled his vision. They were the last things he saw as his body went numb and the world went black.

The sun rose slowly over the horizon, and the old man rose from his slumber in his small rowboat. The Others’ screeches from shore a couple miles away had ceased just minutes before the sun first appeared, but he had learned to sleep through them long ago. He gingerly rubbed the sleep from his pale sea green eyes and looked around at the brightening world around him. His gaze halted at the sight of two abandoned boats run aground in the distance. He recognized one of them as the sailboat he saw last night, and sighed.

He pulled an old locket out from a pouch fastened to his belt, and painstakingly opened it in spite of his old wrinkled fingers trembling from age. His eyes softened at the sight of an old photograph of Iara, her sea green eyes bright even on the faded image.

The man’s vision soon blurred with tears. “Forgive me…” he whispered before closing the locket and putting it back in its pouch. He then slowly rowed back to shore.