" Something's down there..." Oak stammers and can't stop trembling, his breaths shallow and shaky, as if each one might be his last. I and captain Haddock have some difficulty to move him in. The sailor face is pale as if drained of blood and is covered in water from either his sweat and the rain. I cast a worry gaze around into the cursed mist and hurriedly get inside with others. Snags are no longer our concern now.
" So's there's only seven of us left..." Haddock closes the quarterdeck door while holding his pistol firmly. " This accursed mist. It makes gun powder wet..." He exclaims.
I look through to glass window into the shadow-blighted deck. I couldn't believe in my eyes as I see moving figures are taking shapes in the mist. One is hiding behind the main mast, several are hanging on the shrouds. I blink. Now, there's nothing out there in eerie blue fog. Suddenly something touch my shoulder and startles me. Hopefully when I turn back it's captain Haddock.
" Let's go inside. Don't look into that dratted fog." He says and pulls the curtain.
" We have to set anchor.Or else... the snags and the reefs..." I try to cover my fear and find a reason.
" For God's sake, just ignore them." The captain cuts short me but I don't blame him. We have lost too many good men in this haunting fog.
In foggy night like this, sometimes, our imagination do tricks on us. But that's all I can think of to calm my mind when we walk down the stairs. We move Oak into the common room and say nothing about Crag- the recently missing sailor.
"Whiskey," Haddock says when we place Oak on a hammock when others look at us to ask about Crag's whereabout, he shakes his head.
" We should have sacrificed this cursed wench." John- the first mate, points at the African American girl who is weeping silently. The mere mention of the sacrificial ritual sends a shiver down my spine. We should not have gone to this accursed water in the first place.
" What if we make a sacrifice right now? Let's throw her heart into the sea. It will spare us. Yes, it will spare us." Leo- the second mate says and with a murderous intent in is his eyes dugs his navy knife out.
" Stop this madness at once" Captain Haddock points his pistol at Leo's head and stands between him and the girl. I also stand up by his side and draw out my hand cannon.
" Ye will regret this. Y'all will regret this" Leo turns and stab his knife at the nearby table. The captain gives me a thankful nod. The ship lightly shakes again.
It's been three days since we last see the sun. And the compass has been idly spinning around as if we were sailing in a circle. There's no wind at all. Just this accursed fog. And it's dark regardless of day or night. At least the clocks can still show us the time. And all the time a thick layer of mist cover everything, sometimes I could not see the water although I can still feel the waves that move us.
The first one went missing was two days ago. Poor old fella. We thought he fell from the deck. But the old sailor had been at sea since we were in diapers he could call us landlubbers. And if he had fallen, we would have heard water spalshing. But no, he just disappeared into the mist. We searched every nooks and cranies in this ship but could not find the old fella. And instead of him, we find a stowaway - the young black girl that is now sitting near the brasier. The second mate Leo and the first mate John was very angry. Leo accused her of throwing the old sailor aboard when he found out her. The young girl denied the accuse cried her heart out but she got locked up in an old, empty cabin. The captain did that in order to save her. Sailors believe that a woman on deck brings ill omen. But ever since the old sailor went missing, a series of mysterious disappearances plagued us. One by one by one went without a warning, until patrolling the deck was the nightmare to us. Like a poinson, the fear sipped in to our hearts and drove many mad. When the number rose to ten, captain Haddock ordered that we patron the deck in pair. But still, we have lost two pairs and one sailor.
Leo and John are drinking whisky and babbling with one another about giant seagulls that according to them, fly as fast as twenty knots[1]. But men with wit know that seagulls don't fly in night. And whatever out there is, it came by night. When we lost the first patronage pair, the first mate demanded the captain to throw the girl over board. He believes that the black girl is a witch and she lays a curse upon us and that sacrifice her to sea goddess would remove the curse.
But when the second pair went missing, we heard one of them running on the deck and scream " It's after me. It's after me." Then, we heard gunfires and when we came on board, they have gone missing as well. There's something out there in the fog.
" It's here! It's here! Help me! It comes to get me!"
The rag slips out of Frank's mouth and he begins to scream. Captain and first mate quickly grab his mouth and pour some whisky in, then, they place the rag back. Frank has gone mad yesterday and he has clawed his hands bleeding. We had chained him up and ragged him so he would not harm others. None could blame him.
Suddenly, there is heavy and long sound of something is being dragged on the the deck. I hold my breath as the captain point outside the window. A long, pale tendril with suction cups as large as our head slowly and quietly move outside...Maybe Frank was right. This must be either a curse or a nightmare...
Explanations[]
- ↑ The knot (/nɒt/) is a unit of speed equal to one nautical mile (1.852 km) per hour, approximately 1.15078 mph.