The Beast in the Dark

Ryan stood, frozen in place at the helm. His eyes locked on the monstruous figure lighted by the storm in the distance.  The figure, though lit up by the flashes of lightning, was bathed in dark shadows like a curtain draped over it.  He tried to swallow, but his throat was dry. He broke his gaze from the creature and looked around. Everyone was staring up with the same look he had.  They all knew what it was, but no one was willing to say the name out loud. If they never uttered its name, maybe there would be a small chance that it would just go away. It was a foolhardy dream, but it was the only thing most of them had to hang on to.

The captains voice broke through the eerie silence, “shutter the engines, extinguish all lights, and for Mary’s sake don’t make a sound till it’s gone.”  

It was too late for that thought Ryan. Their best chance for survival was to make a full speed run at the nearby island.  The thing never goes on land, they would at least have a chance at surviving on the island.  He reached for the radio handle, “Cap, we need to make a run for it.  The beast will not let us pass. There is a small island to our right, it’s our only chance.”

“No, Ryan. We must show the beast reverence.  Some will die, but it will spare the ship for the rest of us to get home.”

“That’s an old superstition.  It is not true. You have to fire the engines back up.”

“Mother Mary will protect those who are worthy Ryan. This is the lot we drew, and we shall face it with dignity.”

Ryan slammed the radio handle on the console.  The old fool had many superstitions, most were harmless.  This one though would get people killed.  He couldn’t save everyone, but he would not stand by and watch his death close in.  He looked around and saw that some of the crew was starting to experience the voices.  They were grabbing at their ears, mumbling ‘daku’ over and over. 

He had to act fast. He forced himself to move out of the cabin and head towards the rear of the boat.  There he would find three life rafts which he could use to escape.  His only hope was that the creature would be so occupied with the main ship, that Ryan could slip past and get to the island.  He decided to stop by the galley to grab some provisions for the island.  He had no way of knowing what would be on the island, but he knew for a fact that no one here would need anything by the morning.  He gently opened the door and looked around; a soft crying could be heard coming from the back.

“Hello?”, Ryan called out into the dark.  He moves slowly, not sure if any crew had succumbed to the siren song of the great beast. The crying stopped as he got closer to the door, though he could hear someone moving around behind the door.  He decided to tap on the door, to see if the person would respond. After what seemed like an eternity, the person on the other side of the door tapped back with the same pattern that Ryan had used.

“This is first mate Ryan O’Cannon….The captain sent me for supplies.” Ryan felt bad lying, but he knew that he could trust no one.

“Oy, Ryan? Oh, thank the gods above.” The door swung open, and Ryan saw the head chef Martin standing before him.  From the light of his flashlight, he noticed what appeared to be blood covering Martin’s jacket.

“Martin where did the blood come from?”, said Ryan, placing his hand on the gun in his back holster.

“One of the kitchen hands, he went mad. Started tearing at his ears. When I tried to stop him, he turned on me. He kept blubbering on about voices and why wouldn’t they stop.”

“Do you hear the voices?”

“No, thank heavens.  Sounds like pure hell.”

“Yeah, it is. If you don’t want to end up like that poor soul, I’d suggest you come with me.  It’s too late for almost everyone on this boat, but if you can’t hear the voices then you can still survive.  But we must get off the boat asap.”

“What about the captains orders?”

“You can follow orders or be alive.  You can’t do both Martin.”

Martin nodded. Ryan explained what supplies they were looking for and told Martin to meet him at the life rafts at the back of the boat.  It changed his plans to take Martin with him, but he couldn’t leave him behind, and besides having a chef might not be the worst thing to have on an uninhabited island. That is if they survive getting off the boat.

He rounded the corner and found the lifeboats unguarded as usual. He was thankful the captain had not thought about anyone running for it.  Though even if they were guarded, once the voices take over… Ryan shook his head to clear that mental image. There were somethings he never wanted to see again.  Just about the time that he had the boat ready, Martin came running with three packs.

“I’ve got everything you asked for.”, whispered Martin as he dropped them into the raft.  Ryan nodded in approval, motioning for Martin to jump in as well. He could hear the screams and moans from the crew wafting around the boat. It was now or never. He lowered the boat about halfway and then jumped over and sat opposite of Martin.  Ryan motioned for Martin to cut the rope to drop the raft into the water. They landed with a loud splash.  They looked around and listened for any sounds of the beast. Nothing could be heard over the anguished moans of the crew. They heard a few guns shots and saw flashes of light coming from some of the cabins on the boat.

As they drifted further from the ship, the shape of the old one slowly begin to form in front of them.  The site of the behemoth chilled Ryan to his core. He could hear Martin crying behind him.  It was hard to get any details from the beast. The great form was eternally cloaked in dark shadows that light never seemed to penetrate.  Even the storm around them seemed to be sucked into the beast’s giant silhouette.

“Daku, daku, daku, daku”. Ryan felt his blood run cold.  He slowly reached for his gun and turned towards Martin.

“What did you say Martin?”

“What? I wasn’t talking” Martin said as he started rocking back and forth with his arms around him.

“You can hear the voices. Why did you lie Martin?”  Ryan pulled his gun and pointed it at Martin’s head and pulled the hammer back.

Martin began to sob, “You would have left me on that godforsaken ship. I couldn’t stay there. You don’t understand. I watched that poor kid rip his ears off and then he tore at his eyes and face. I tried to stop him, but he just kept screaming about daku coming to cleanse the world.  I knew I daku take it anymore. When you came in, I was daku that you were daku them.”

The sound of Ryan’s gun rang out in the silent night.  Martin’s body fell to the side and slide into the water below them. He picked up the oars and began rowing towards the island.  He looked up at the beast and could swear it was laughing at him. 

Ryan set on the shore and listened to the screams of his former crewmates.  The faint glow of the fires on the boat danced across the horizon.  Sometime past midnight, the beast had sunk back to his watery throne and the screams died down.  By that time, Ryan could no longer see the boat or the glow from the fire.  He wasn’t sure if it had sunk or if it had floated too far away. Either way, he knew that the ocean was littered with human bodies floating like dead fish in an aquarium.

“It’s not fair.”  Ryan jumped and turned with his gun raised.  There, in the light of the moon stood the captain leaning against a shovel.

“Captain! But how? How did you get off the ship? What happened to being punished worse?”

“I took a life raft, the same as you, surprised you didn’t see it missing when you and Martin climbed into yours.” Said the captain as he laid the shovel down and went to sit next to Ryan.

“I don’t understand. Why did you send those men to die if you knew you were going to flee?”

“I already told you, it’s not fair.  Of course, you were not supposed to get off the ship, but that can’t be helped now,” the captain shifted and pulled an apple from his coat pocket. “I wish it didn’t have to be this way. Ryan, you were a great first mate.

Ryan looked into the captain’s eyes. Something was wrong. He slowly pulled the hammer back on the gun and shifted it to point up at the captain. “What did…” Ryan felt cold metal stab his side, followed by a warm feeling spreading throughout his body.  He looked down and saw a needle in the captain’s hand.  He tried to speak but found that he could not move his lips.

“I’m sorry Ryan. Like I said, it’s not fair.  I tried to keep you off the manifest, but I couldn’t raise suspicion. You deserve the truth. The great one requires sacrifices to live, and it’s better to control when and where he gets those, than letting random ships get attacked.  Each shipping company takes turns offering up a ship to appease it.  This keeps costs down and helps save on insurance premiums as well.  That’s why we switched to that old bucket of rust this trip.  The insurance payout was less than the cost to fix.  But now, West India gets the money, doesn’t have to pay any salaries for those men, and we didn’t lose any cargo as all the boxes were empty,” The captain stood up and straightened his coat out. In the distance another ship was approaching the island.  He leaned over Ryan’s motionless body. “I am truly sorry you were on the ship tonight, but don’t take it personal.  It’s only business.”