by William King
Lyle and Hillary excused themselves so they could go back to their stateroom, leaving Elizabeth and I alone at the dining table. Opening up an opportunity to inform Elizabeth about the horrid nightmares that I have been having. Once I revealed to her what my dreams were about, and that they kept reoccurring, she looked at me sternly as though at any moment she would get up from the dining room table, go straight to the captain, order him to turn the Elizabeth Dane around, and head back to England. After giving me the evil eye Elizabeth said, “Mason, you are impossible! You deliberately kept this a secret from me until you damn well knew that I could not prevent this trip from taking place.”
I was suddenly with a loss of words. I could not say one single thing in my defense because all that she was saying was the truth.
“Mason Williams, why hadn’t you told me about your nightmares sooner? Good grief, was cracking this case that important to you?”
“Elizabeth, I think that you are being just a little unfair. Do you really think that I can just sit back and watch the woman that I have fallen in love with be torn apart by that evil bitch Bastelet? If you do, then you do not know me as well as you think you do, and you should think again. I cannot, and I will not ever let that happen. I will do whatever it takes within my power to prevent this from happening.”
“Mason, I am grateful that you feel the need to protect me, but don’t you think that I have a say in this? Do you believe that you are the only authority figure on this ship?”
“Elizabeth, I do believe that you have the right to do and say whatever you want, when you want to. You are the one who hired me, and the one funding this voyage.”
My mind lost interest as the conversation went on. I was wondering why Elizabeth showed no response when I told her that I had fallen in love with her. Either she did not hear me, or she was just ignoring what I had just said. I pushed the chair over onto the floor and left the table in a fury. However, on my way back to our stateroom, I noticed that Elizabeth had got up as well, and was following close behind me, but never said a word. I stopped, turned around, and said, “Elizabeth, there is no point in following me, enough has already been said.”
I was just about to protest her following me when her hot moist lips pressed firmly against mine. I suddenly recalled my anger at the dining room, and how I began to doubt Elizabeth’s love for me. I was caught up in my own emotions and heartache that I completely forgot how hard this horrific ordeal must be for her. As her hot moist lips separated from mine she said, “Mason, I cannot afford to get too deeply involved with you, at least not until this terrifying ordeal is over, once and for all.”
“Elizabeth, I am not afraid, and certainly not blind. Let’s take a night stroll up on deck.”
“Why not, a little fresh air would do us both some good. Just maybe the cool ocean breeze might cool us off enough to start thinking rational again.”
The brandy that we had drank previously put the two of us at ease as we leisurely walked the deck of the Elizabeth Dane, making the both of us feel as if we had all the time in the world. It seemed as if this was the most romantic place to be in the world. The lights of the Elizabeth Dane glistened and reflected off the ocean surface along with the stars in perfect harmony. For almost an hour, we walked the splintered wood decks of the Elizabeth Dane, but said very little to one another, as we were both enjoying one another’s company while soaking in the romantic atmosphere of the ship. The light breeze coming off the ocean gave Elizabeth goose bumps, and must have been affecting the rest of the passengers up on deck, as I noticed that the passengers seemed to slowly disappear, one after another, back to their staterooms to settle in for the night.
We stopped and kissed in a corridor right before cuddling up together on one of the lounge chairs up on deck, and just stared out into the clear night sky at the stars. After a bit of watching the stars glitter and shine in the clear night sky we decided to get up out of the lounge chair as we were both getting cold and wanted to get back on our feet to get our circulation going. Once on our feet, our eyes seemed to lock onto one another’s and we suddenly broke out in laughter when I said, “I could hardly believe our luck. Just a day earlier we had been in the depths of despair, certain and fearful that we might never live to see the next day, and now I am on an old but magnificent ship named the Elizabeth Dane with the most beautiful and interesting woman I had ever laid eyes on.”
Elizabeth sighed as I pulled her towards me and cradled her within my arms. She looked directly into my eyes with a weird look on her face, and I just knew that she wanted to address the Devil’s Island, and my entire body tensed up. I leaned in to kiss her, but it did not go over very well with her, as when Elizabeth wanted to talk, she was ready to talk. She swiftly pulled away from me and lightly smacked me in the face, which for some reason made me erupt in laughter.
“Come on Mason, this is a serious situation that the four of us are in. What are you going to do about it? Do you even have a plan when we get to the Devil’s Island?”
“Of course I do Elizabeth.”
She took a step backwards and put her hands on her hips, looking at me up and down with a slight look of doubt covering her face and said, “Then why do I get the feeling that just the opposite is true?”
I grinned as I pulled Elizabeth towards me, breaking through her serious mood. She let out a slight laugh, then gave me a kiss and said, “My eyes were open wide when you had said that you had fallen in love with me. I just did not know how to respond to you at the time, but I will tell you this. I have fallen in love with you as well, but that is as much of a commitment that you will get from me until this mess is settled.”
“Elizabeth, I want you to know that I do have a plan for us when we get to Devil’s Island.”
I carefully listened to her voice as she spoke to me and there had been no feeling in it at all. She might as well have been talking about the economic future of the United States at that point, in which I did not care one bit about, just like every other person in the world. That was pretty much all that was said all the way back to our stateroom. Once there the both of us undressed and laid in bed, and within a minute Elizabeth said in a soft voice, “Goodnight Mason, do not let those nightmares get the better of you tonight.”
I laughed and said, “I sure hope they do not get the better of me.”
I could not fall asleep, as my nervousness seemed to get the better of me once again. Therefore, I got up out of the bed and unpacked Elizabeth’s mother’s portrait. I had the faintest idea on how Elizabeth would react to me bringing her mother’s portrait along with us on our journey, but I knew that I would have to deal with the consequences of what I had done soon enough.
After selecting a spot on the wall that already had a place to hang a portrait, I hung it. The picture seemed to look as if it had always belonged there, blending into the colors of the ship.
It was almost midnight when I finally went back to bed, but I was not really tired enough to fall asleep, as I knew the Witching Hour was approaching. Elizabeth seemed to be sound asleep as I stared at her mother’s portrait, and wished that evil bitch Bastelet would not show herself on our voyage to Devil’s Island. I prayed that she would not stir up any trouble, at least not until we arrived at Devil’s Island. I thought that it sure would be great if the four of us could take this voyage without encountering any evil supernatural forces trying to kill us. I needed to get some much-needed sleep, but all I could do is think about what Elizabeth had said to me. I had no idea why I could not stop thinking about it, as she said that she did love me, but why couldn’t I leave it alone, and be satisfied with that?
I glanced over at the portrait of Elizabeth’s mother that I hung up on the wall and it seemed as if she was smiling at me, and I heard a faint voice say, “All of your dreams will certainly come to pass, each in their own turn, just give it time.”
After that, I must have drifted off to sleep because I began to dream that awful nightmare once again. I was once again
on Devil’s Island, with the sounds of beating drums echoing through my head, as if they were being carried throughout a canyon. Once again, there was an enormous fire that was encircled by naked tribesman and women chanting some sort of name, as they swayed back and forth to the rhythm of their beating drums. The tribesman seemed to be malevolent demons of Lucifer that were repeatedly raping several unwilling women, impregnating them with the serpent’s evil bloodline. The women screamed out in misery, as I listened closely trying to make out the strange words that the evil demons were chanting. I noticed that as the drum beats got louder and faster all the tribesmen became more frenzied with the women.
The tribesmen were continuously chanting “Mata-Ki-Te-Rani, Mata-Ki-Te-Rani” repeatedly, keeping a steady rhythm and pace with their beating drums. Whatever those strange words meant, they were definitely evil. I could almost swear that it was a ritual, or some sort of spell to conjure up evil supernatural spirits to preside over their nights atrocious festivities. I tried to escape many times but my body would not budge, as if I too were under some sort of evil spell, when I heard a voice call out, “Where are you trying to go Mason Williams, you cannot escape me?” Then everything went deathly silent, and the tribesman stood motionless by the fire, which I could feel the heat burning through my flesh like a laser beam even though I was several yards away. Then from out of nowhere, Bastelet appeared right before me. She was holding a leash that held captive a very large beast of some sort with glowing red eyes. The beast resembled a werewolf, but of immense proportions.
Bastelet laughed atrociously and then said, “Where is your God now that protects thyself? I shall tell you Mason, his power is in no way a match for that of our master, and with his help, I will destroy you all, one by one, you are all going to suffer a horrible death.”
Stricken with fear I began to recite the Lord’s Prayer:
“Almighty Lord, Father of Jesus Christ, God and Lord of all Creation who gave to your Holy Apostles the power to tramp underfoot the serpents and all evil, grant me the power to depart these evil demons by whose might expelled the one who out shines all from heaven. I humbly call upon you to grant me the steadfast faith and power to vanquish this evil demon from my midst.”
I had to recite the words no further, as Bastelet and the tribesman surrounding the fire vanished from my dream as swiftly as they had appeared. I woke up in my bed once again drenched in sweat, but safe beside Elizabeth. I knew that the horrific things that I had just witnessed were only in my dreams, or were they what is to come. I was beginning to wonder if I still possessed the ability to distinguish reality from imagination any longer, and I was starting to have doubts about my own sanity. I glanced over at Elizabeth’s mother’s portrait once again and her expression was now one of pity and compassion. I can truly say without her, a mere picture on the wall out of the past, there would be no future for Elizabeth and I.
I got up out of bed and stepped into the small shower to cleanse myself of the evil that engulfed me during my nightmarish dream. As I opened the shower door to get my towel to dry myself off I noticed that Elizabeth was up as well. She had been looking at herself in the mirror when she said, “You sure are up awfully early this morning. Did you get much sleep last night?”
“No, not really, I did not fall asleep until early this morning, and then when I did I had another nightmare of the island and its demons.”
“That is awful Mason, I bet you fall asleep sometime today due to exhaustion. Maybe if we go lay out on deck the sea breeze will relax you enough to put you asleep. Let me take a shower and we can both go. It won’t take me that long.”
“Alright, I will lie down on the bed to clear my aching head until you finish taking your shower.”
Elizabeth replied as she shut the shower door, “Ok, I will not be long, fifteen minutes tops.”
I heard the sound of the water stop and the shower door open and close and decided to look to see what time it was, and sure enough, it had only been fifteen minutes since Elizabeth had got into the shower. Of course, it took her a little while longer to get dressed, but not too much longer. In less than thirteen minutes after Elizabeth got out of the shower the two of us left our stateroom and headed outside to walk the upper deck of the Elizabeth Dane. Once on the upper deck we started walking down the port side of the ship when we noticed seagulls hovering inches above the ocean swells, searching for food. The ocean always seemed to put me at ease, and I loved its mysterious ways, for they were captivating.
As Elizabeth and I finished our early morning stroll on deck, our stomachs started to growl, and decided to get something for breakfast. The two of us must have been hungry because it seemed as if we walked through the corridors like master navigators, and as we made our way to the ships galley, we could smell the scent of bacon in the air, which made our mouth’s water. Once there we found a table big enough to seat four and sat down. While Elizabeth and I waited for Lyle and Hillary to arrive the both of us talked about how nice and warm the morning had turned out to be, and our expectations about how soon we would get to Devil’s Island. However, we did not speak about the evil that was waiting for us there. To speak of that would have taken something very beautiful and peaceful away from the short period of happiness that we somehow managed to acquire. It was nice sitting at the table enjoying each other’s company.
In less than ten minutes, Lyle and Hillary walked in and joined us at the table. As they sat down at the table Lyle said, “We only have three more days remaining aboard the Elizabeth Dane before the ship anchors off the coast of Devil’s Island.”
I quickly replied, “Are you really sure about that Lyle, how do you know this?”
“Well yes Mason. Up on A-Deck right beside the gym there is a giant map showing the route that the ship is taking. The captain also told me that the run mileage would be posted each day at noon.”
“Alright Lyle, let’s make a little wager on how far the ship will go in a twenty-four hour period, and then try to predict the exact day that we will arrive and anchor off the coast of Devil’s Island.”
“Alright Mason, that sounds like a fun wager to keep our minds from wondering into a place that we do not want them to go. I believe that the Elizabeth Dane will go three-hundred miles in a twenty-four hour period.”
“Is that your final decision Lyle?”
He thought for a couple of seconds and said, “Yes, I
will stick with three-hundred miles in a twenty-four hour period.”
“Alright then, I say that the Elizabeth Dane will make four-hundred miles per twenty-four hour period.”
Lyle let out a small laugh and said, “That is pretty optimistic Mason.”
Surprisingly, we both guessed the same day that we would arrive off the coast of Devil’s Island, which was on Friday, April 13th.
Lyle looked at Elizabeth and asked, “Have you received any useful information from the captain?”
“I must tell you that I did not learn as much as I had hoped to, very little I am afraid. In fact, the only thing the captain could tell me was the island was hot and humid, and just about the only place in existence that still has an active population of people who practice sacrificial rituals during certain astrological events, which include voodoo and head shrinking.”
I laughed and said with a look of astonishment on my face, “Elizabeth, are you serious?”
“I am afraid I have never been more serious in my life Mason. I was not going to tell you until the last minute, but since Lyle has already asked me about it, point blank, I will not keep the truth from you.”
“Well I have something that might put the four of us on alert.”
“What is it Mason,” Elizabeth asked.
“The Elizabeth Dane is supposed to arrive at Devil’s Island on Friday the thirteenth.”
“Are you sure about this Mason?”
“Yes I am sure Elizabeth. We are expected to arrive at the island on Friday the thirteenth.”
“That is unnerving to h
ear Mason, and makes me a little uneasy about our arrival.”
Elizabeth then turned her attention to Lyle and said, “Once the Elizabeth Dane anchors off the Coast of Devils Island, if you and Hillary want to return to England, I strongly urge you to do so once we have made it to the island.”
Both of us listened to the sound of dead silence, each lost in our own train of thought when Hillary spoke and broke the eerie silence and said, “No Elizabeth, you are stuck with Lyle and I no matter what happens at Devil’s Island. You along with your mother have always treated us with the greatest and deepest respect, and have always let us know that we were much more than just your servants. I feel that you have given us more than a decent life, and for that Elizabeth we will take whatever evil comes upon us the best we can.”
I noticed tears building up in both of their eyes as Elizabeth reached across the table and gently squeezed the hand of a longtime friend. The three had a bond so strong that it could never be broken, except by death.
“Elizabeth, Lyle, and I maybe old and barren, but in our hearts we have always thought of you as our own daughter.”
“Hillary, listen to me. You and Lyle were never just servants to me. The two of you have always been like family to me, and I want the both of you to know that I have never felt so loved since my parent’s passing.”
Elizabeth got up and left the table to have a talk with the captain about our expected arrival time at Devil’s Island, leaving the three of us at the table. The three of us were talking about our arrival on the island when I noticed a strange look on Hillary’s face, just short of a fearful look when she asked, “Mason do you really think that we will encounter any trouble once we get to Devil’s Island?”
“I do not know for sure Hillary. However, I do think that Elizabeth was trying to prepare us for something else that she left unsaid.”
“Mason, why would anyone want to harm Elizabeth, who is a kind and generous woman? I can see someone wanting to harm her father, as he was a very mean and arrogant man who created many enemies throughout his lifetime, but she is nothing like her father.”