by M H Ryan
I squinted, trying to read more, but the pencil was much lighter than the pen had been in this dark room. I closed the book and sighed.
“He has a journal,” I said, tapping the small note pad on the palm of my hand.
“What’s it say?” Benji asked.
“That he crashed back in ’51 and his radio wouldn’t work. Too dark to read much more than that.” I said. “I think we should see what supplies he has.”
“As much as I’d like a full set of clothes,” Aubrey said, “I’m not wearing some dead, mummy guy’s jumpsuit.”
“Jumpsuit,” Kara said absently and eyed me.
“Me either, but maybe that blanket?” Sherri said. “I mean, it’s been there for decades, right. What could be on it?”
“They used to throw blankets covered in smallpox to the Native Americans, you know,” Aubrey said.
“I don’t want smallpox,” Benji said, backing up.
“They’d gotten rid of smallpox by the fifties,” I said, and was pretty confident in that, no need for a Google search here.
I went to the pilot's backpack and quickly realized it wasn’t a backpack but a parachute. The straps and everything on it looked as good as new.
“It’s a parachute,” I said. “This is a major find. I bet we could use that fabric and rope for all kinds of stuff.”
“A bigger sail,” Benji said.
“Exactly and the rope I bet is better than what we have now,” I said.
“I don’t know,” Benji said. “Eliza’s rope towed us right out of that whirlpool.”
“Mr. Rope,” Eliza said, holding onto her bag, the very place she stuffed what was left of Mr. Rope.
“Well, Mr. Rope saved our asses,” Benji said, patting Eliza on the shoulder.
Eliza smiled and shifted her feet.
“And another pack wouldn’t hurt either,” Sherri said, gesturing the parachute I held. “Lieutenant Danforth, thank you, sir.”
I took the pencil from his hand and slid it into the back of the small, leather-bound notebook.
“He had a fire in here,” Eliza said. “And there are a few fish bones as well.” She nudged the pile of ash with a toe.
I put my foot next to his and realized that Danforth had incredibly small feet. I wasn’t too keen on taking those shoes off anyways, his whole leg might come off from the effort.
Aubrey knelt next his feet and grabbed his ankle, pulling the shoe off with a few snaps and stirred up some dust. She rushed to the second shoe and wasn’t as gentle, pulling the whole foot off with it. A burst of dust kicked up and spread over the small room. I breathed it in and coughed. It seemed just like any dust I’d encountered, but it wasn’t. This was dead guy dust.
“Oh my God,” Sherri said, covering her mouth and rushing out of the room.
“What?” Aubrey said. “He’s dead, it’s not like he needs them.”
I left the room as well with the rest of the girls. The dust didn’t make it out of the room and we all climbed back up to the plateau. The glow of the room gave us plenty of light and we sat in a semi-circle on the blanket.
“We should bury him when the storm passes,” I said.
“Okay,” Benji said. “I think that’s a good idea.”
Aubrey kept her attention on the shoes, looking inside them and pulling things out.
“You’re wearing those?” Benji asked, horrified.
“Uh, yeah, if they fit, and I can get them clean enough,” Aubrey said, each word sending a dimming pulse over the cave.
A faint flash came from the opening, followed quickly by a thunderous boom. The ceiling light shuddered and fluttered as the sound bounced around. The lights came back on, and I heard the roar of crashing waves at the mouth of the cave.
Moshe had settled on Eliza’s lap as she sat cross-legged facing me. The cat raised its sleepy face at the noise and lay back down.
“I thought this storm was going to be bad,” Aubrey said as she inspected her new shoes. “Glad you two found this cave.”
“Yeah, this is amazing,” Sherri said. “I mean, this is like some next level shit in here. We’ll have stories that no one will ever believe.”
“Speaking of stories,” Benji said, gesturing to the notebook in my hands.
I was reluctant to read it, but if it could provide some insight into this world, the smart thing would be to go through it, even if it chronicled a man’s death.
“Oh yeah,” Eliza said. “I never really thought there were other people trapped her but me and now…there are so many of you. I’d love to hear more about this guy.”
“Yeah, read it, Jack,” Sherri said.
I open up the small, black leather book and found the page I last left off on and started to read it out loud.
11/28/1951
Bad storm last night and crashed on the shores of an island. Transponder and radio appear to be broken. Trying to make repairs.
11/29
Tried fixing the radio but was not able to. Set up an SOS on the beach and I found a cave. A strange cave, that if I describe I fear I may go section 8. No signs of my squadron or any other aircraft in the sky, but I feel as if something is in the ocean. Searching for provisions.
11/30
No food. No water on this island. Praying for rain. I think there is something in the water watching me.
“Whoa, whoa, whoa,” Aubrey said. “He feels the ocean…he can sense something in the water.”
It was and wasn’t a question, and I had the same thought as I reread the words. This man might have had the same gift I have, if he had the same feeling of being watched by the ocean. Even now, if I reached out to it, I could feel the presence of something just outside the cave, watching, wondering, with a wave of anger brewing down under it all. It didn’t want me in there, and its emotions came at me in colors of purple.
“Just keep reading, Jack,” Sherri encouraged. “This is the closest thing we’ve had to Netflix since arriving.”
“Oh, well, who was too tired to play Jack Black in Nacho Libre?” Benji said.
“Hey, I wanted to play the sexy nun,” Sherri said.
“Aubrey is obviously the sexy nun,” Benji said.
“And I’m the fat guy in tights?” Sherri asked.
“And also the lead in the play,” Benji said.
“Ladies,” I said, holding up the booklet.
“Sorry, Jack,” Benji said. “Please, continue.”
I cleared my throat and got back to my place.
12/01
Prayers were answered and it rained last night. Got plenty of water now. Hard to sleep, though. The cave glows, and I can hear it, like static on a radio. I fished today and caught what I think is a sea bass, but it has teeth like a piranha. I used a rock to kill it. I don’t know how, but I knew where it was going to be. This place is unlike anything I’ve experienced.
12/02
Keeping busy with trying to fix the radio. Still no signs of a search party. Starting to wonder where I am, and whatever is in the ocean, won’t go away. I’ve got a plan forming though. Just need more time to think about it. I want to make sure they are real.
12/03
Plan didn’t work. Sharks were in the waters. Found wood on the beach, though. Going to explore cave more. It seems to be much larger than I originally suspected.
12/04
The cave is much bigger than I thought, and I’m not the first man in it. There are drawings past the room I stay in—the devil’s drawings of fantastic beasts. I’m starting to think something is wrong in this place. I can feel it below me.
12/05
Out of water again, and the fish seem to be aware of me now. Harder to kill.
12/06
They’re watching me. Didn’t leave the cave today.
12/07
My wife’s birthday today. Made a sand castle. Did I die in that crash? Is this a punishment for what I did?
12/08
Can’t stop the noise. It’s watching me. Can it read my t
houghts?
12/09
It rained. Thank God. I forgot to put out collectors, but got some by dumb luck. Went swimming today and a small shark attacked me. I killed it. At least I have something to eat now.
12/12
Last few days have been bad. REAL bad. I think I’ll live, though. As soon as I’m strong enough, I’m going to kill it. I think it’s scared of me. Good. It should be. I think I felt more out there today. Plan on swimming tomorrow.
12/13
Went into waters again. The fish are easy to kill now. I can draw them to me. The watchers are getting nervous. I can feel it. They all are. I try to control them, but they are strong. I need to get stronger.
12/14
More driftwood came to the shore, and I made another torch. I went deeper into cave. Wish I hadn’t.
He drew a map of the cave, like a cut section. The beach and cave entrance were easily discernable, and I followed the various paths leading down several levels below us. There were small rooms off larger ones with dead ends. Then there was just a squiggly line on a larger room. I took that as far as he explored, but there was more that he hadn’t gotten to. The girls all looked at the map as I passed it around.
“What do you think he saw down there?” Eliza asked.
“Nothing good, I imagine,” Benji said. “This story is giving me the creeps.” She pulled her knees against her chest and looked at the ceiling.
“You want me to stop reading it?” I asked.
“No, keep going,” Sherri said, handing me the booklet back.
I wanted to continue it, as well, but I didn’t like where it was going, and we all knew where it ended—in that room not far from us.
12/15
Is there a god present here? The evils of the mind are impossible to escape.
12/16
Watcher man has returned. He has friends. I can feel them out in the water. I can point to them. Thought I heard a ship's horn, but there was nothing there. I screamed at them until my throat hurt. I hate them, but I’m getting stronger, and they’re getting more scared.
12/17
I can see another island!!! Maybe twenty miles. Making a raft from the parts in the plane.
12/20
Been busy building a raft. Haven’t written in a few days. Out of water again. So thirsty.
12/21
I think the watchers are planning something. I can feel their thoughts. They don’t like me here. I think they want to kill me. But I am nearly strong enough, and I think they know it.
12/22
Was going to leave today. Raft complete, but a terrible storm hit outside. The ceiling is dancing.
12/23
Very bad day. Raft is gone, carried away by the storm. I think the watchers took it. They don’t want me to leave this island. My head hurts.
12/24
I have a plan. There are many of them now, and something is coming. I don’t want to write too much as I think they can see it. I hope they can’t hear my thoughts, but I am starting to hear theirs.
12/25
Merry Christmas. Where are you, Jesus? I need you. I’m building it.
12/26
Got more parts off the plane and have another makeshift raft, but I cut my hand badly. I’m leaving tomorrow, first light. I don’t have a choice. God may laugh at my plan, but I am adrift out here and I fear no compass can help me now.
12/29
I tried. God, did I try. I was out there, with them all. So many noises. I failed, or maybe it was the watchers, not allowing me to leave again. What are they hiding from me? I have to kill them all. It’s the only way. I think I’m strong enough now.
12/30
My thoughts are sharp, and I can swim in the dark. I caught one and killed it tonight. It wasn’t as hard as I thought. They are scared now; I can feel it.
“Whoa,” Benji said. “Do you think he went crazy? What are these watchers he’s referring to, and what did he kill?”
I took in a breath, not wanting to tell the girls about some phantom thing I felt in the waters, but feeling obligated to explain now that I’ve read another person has felt them and apparently dealt with one as well. He even called them the same thing—watchers. That creeped me out more than the rest. We were generations apart, decades away and at two different times but we both came to the same name to describe the thing in the ocean.
“I’ve felt this watcher, as he called them, in the water as well,” I said. “I didn’t say anything because I wasn’t sure what it was. It could have been a shy otter for all I knew. It didn’t seem to be a threat.”
“He’s like you,” Aubrey said. “He can feel them. Have you ever seen one of these watchers?”
I shook my head. “No, just a blind feeling.”
“I don’t like it,” Benji said, looking at me with a concerned expression.
“I don’t either, but I’m not going crazy like this guy. It’s just a feeling of being watched by something. You know, like when you feel something and you turn around to find someone staring at your back,” I said.
“Hey, I feel the islands,” Kara said, laughing. “If anyone is crazy here, it’s me.”
“I feel rocks,” Benji said, tilting her head to the side.
“I have a hooker’s intuition,” Eliza added, and the group laughed.
“There’s more,” I said, holding the booklet up. “Do we want to continue? We know how it ends.” I gestured to the room still holding his body.
“It’s freaking creepy, but we need to continue. Any information about these islands is invaluable,” Aubrey said.
“Okay,” I said and started reading again.
12/31
I killed again. I thought I might have been strong enough, but I only got a headache. I’m getting stronger though. They seem to be growing in numbers, like a cut-up starfish. But I can’t stop. I’m not sleeping at night anymore. The end is getting closer. My maker hasn’t abandoned me. I am the maker.
01/01/1952
Happy New Year, my love.
1/15
The date is a guess. I’m not sure what day it is anymore. It’s been a while since I wrote in this. Maybe a week, or a month. Not sure it matters anymore. Time doesn’t exist here. I can’t get them out of my head. Found more wood today. I think if I go deep enough, I can escape them, get them out of my mind.
1/16
The cave is deeper than what is possible. I fear I may get lost. I feel something down there. I reached for it, and I think I woke it. Now I feel it, even at the top. It’s slow though.
Another map showed an even larger cave than before, ending with a squiggly line again.
1/17
It’s closer now. They all are. I have to escape. It’s suffocating. My strength is my will, and I will it.
“You think something is in this cave?” Aubrey asked, looking into the darkness.
Kara placed hand her hand on the plateau and then Benji did the same. I didn’t dare reach for what Danforth felt, but I knew all too well the feeling of what he called “the watchers.” He said he killed them. Many of them, from the sound of it.
“This is not a bad place,” Kara said.
“I think I can feel the hollow spaces below us,” Benji said, shaking her head. “That’s crazy, right?”
Another flash, and thunder boomed through the cave.
“No, it’s not crazy,” I said.
“It seems like this guy was going crazy, though. I couldn’t imagine being stuck, alone, on an island like that,” Sherri said.
“I can,” Eliza said.
“Oh yeah. Sorry, sweetie,” Sherri said.
“That’s okay. I’m sort of still getting used to having people around me,” she said. “At least I didn’t lose it like this guy.”
“I have to hear the rest,” Benji said. “Even though I don’t want to hear it.”
“Me too,” Sherri said. “Keep reading.”
Moshe meowed. Apparently the kitty wanted me to continue as well.
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1/18
I’ve decided to go low. There is more wood today. Cutting and prepping. If this is my last entry, tell my wife I love her, and to my daughter, I’m sorry.
1/21
Another guess on the date. I was down there for a long time, in the darkness. I reached the bottom, I think, if there is a bottom. I should be dead. This place isn’t real. I’m not real. It's running now. Always running. I fear I may have started it. I need to leave here. I’m so tired though. If you read this, whoever you are, don’t go down. DON’T DO IT.
He drew what looked like a gear with many spokes on it and inside, was a weaving of lines and more circles. It was a far better drawing than the maps, and I imagined he spent many hours on it. I didn’t know what it meant, though.
I showed the girls, and they shrugged.
“This is fucking weird,” Aubrey said.
I nodded in agreement and continued.
1/22
I’m trying again to make it to the other island. I can see it out there and know it has to be better than here. Anywhere is better than here. I’m strong enough now. They will listen. They will obey.
1/26
I was out there. I told them to leave me alone and they did. They listened even as I killed them. They kept making noises though. I couldn’t stop them all! I was close this time, but I fell asleep. They took me back here, to this godforsaken island. The bastards. I’d rather be dead.
1/30
This is my last entry. I’m putting on my suit and trying again tomorrow. I hear all their thoughts now, and they are staying far away. But I am coming to them soon. They can’t keep me here. I know what this place is now, and exactly how to stop them once and for all. Oceans will run red.