I also considered that probably I had fallen asleep and this was a dream or that my mind slipped and I fantasized my darkest fears.
Droom walked back along the path, “So be it. If in your lifetime, the stars align correctly, then He will awake and return. Perhaps you will face Him yet.”
I shrugged.
“Join the others, and your time shall start again.”
“Droom? Is this over? Is this place going away and taking the shark with it?”
“Not as long as He dreams. You should hope a new dream occurs before all of your friends die tonight, not that they matter.”
I can say I did not care for Droom at that moment. In a fit of spite, before I joined my friends and time caught up, I went to the pit and dropped stones down, throwing them and rolling the heavy ones. I crushed every one of the worms. Had I been able to light a fire, I would have burned the island, but with so much rock, I had little chance.
The worms’ screaming hurt my head and made me vomit, but I was pleased when they were crushed.
“Oh, I do have one more question. Are you inclined to answer?”
“I must, Seeker. It is my duty.”
I beckoned him to follow me. I passed the temple, wishing I could topple it. “Is that the ‘him’ you speak of?”
“Yes. That is a citadel in which he dwells.”
“A squid god? You would do better to worship one who was at least more formidable. Part lion or bear. Ridiculous,” I said. He did not react, and I wondered at the fact that although I disrespected him and his god, he showed no care; it actually emboldened me.
I thought of Mr. Stead and Daniels and the fiery Maggie Brown. Sweet Jenny Cavendar and brave John Morton. I must add that my stomach pained me as well. I say this because one must understand that I was in a very poor mood.
“Here, I have a question about him.” I pointed at the gigantic shark.
“Carcharocles Megaladon.”
I clenched my teeth. The bastard knew Latin and yet could not explain anything to me in simple terms. That made me sure I was about to ask the right question. “Look, see, it is something I want to understand. I must know this….”
Droom leaned over the cliff with me to look at the shark circling below.
With a mighty lunge, I pushed him. He made some sort of shocked noise but flew over the edge as I fell to the ground, narrowly missing falling over as well. Less than a second later, there was a splash, and as I peeked over, the big fish swam over and gulped him down.
“My question is: Do you think he would eat you? And we know the answer now. For the first time, I have a certain response.”
I crawled backwards and got to my feet. Ignoring the temple, I walked back along the path. Looking at the stone shark, I almost giggled, knowing Droom must now be there as well. I hoped so anyway. I joined the rest, and as soon as I was alongside them, time caught up, and we walked along, as if nothing had happened. For them, no time had passed. The alternate times were certainly strange.
I had seen and learned about an entire world that normally was hidden. And I knew now that I was the Seeker. My life would never be the same.
Chapter Fourteen: Boat C
Grimes and Merle had the boat drained and ready to load within minutes. They loaded the women with children first, and then the other women, cast off, and jumped into the lifeboat to get as far away from the mist-covered island as possible.
“I said it was a mistake to go there,” Peter Cavendar said, “looking at it makes my head ache, and I feel sick.”
Several had vomited already.
“We were there too long. The vapors have made us ill. Once we have clean air and are far away from the vile place, we shall feel better,” Jenny said.
“Exactly,” Howard agreed.
“Are you all right, Howard? Your face is deathly pale,” John said, concern lining his features. “Hand him a bit of water.”
Grimes handed a bottle to Howard, “Not too much.”
Howard drank, and then handed the bottle to Lilia and Jenny as well. When it was passed around, it quickly emptied. “My stomach pains me at times. It will pass,” Howard said.
“Are we safe now?” Jenny asked.
“Not quite. I think we should hit the shark in the eye if he comes too close. I mean if he returns and follows us.”
The ship they had seen before was no longer there. Howard hoped that when it vanished, it had not taken the lifeboat with it.
Tables, chairs, and trash bobbed on the surface of the glassy water. More bodies floated, but the moaning had ended, and no one called for help. Enough time had passed that it was impossible for anyone to be alive now.
Crewman Merle muttered to himself often. He refused to speak to anyone now and kept his eyes on the island. When Grimes tried to force him to look away, Merle grew violent, slapping his superior’s hands away and punching. His eyes followed the bird-bat things that flew from the trees and circled the spot the pit of worms would be.
With no warning, Merle stood and leaped into the ice water, swimming hard for the island. Grimes ordered him to return, and the women screamed, but he never looked back and swam all the way back. As we rowed farther, the last we saw him he was scrambling up through the oozy sludge and struggling to stand on the stone path.
What he wanted, no one could guess. Why he had chosen to return, everyone speculated. What would happen to him there, no one dared imagine. Howard simply said that Merle must have lost his mind and been tricked by the powers of the island. He encouraged the rest not to look upon the misty land.
“He seeks to know, but he is not the Seeker,” Howard muttered cryptically.
Lilia stood and traded places to sit between Howard and Jenny as she was growing fonder of him. Howard held her close. When the Quartermaster handed over another bottle of water, Lilia reached for it, mimicking to Howard that she would drink it all, teasing him sweetly.
She was half-standing when the shark came around again and bumped the life raft. Lilia screamed and fell over the side.
“We have you, Lilia,” Peter Cavendar yelled.
Jenny reached way out over the edge, almost falling in to grab for the girl. John held her legs, or Jenny would have tipped into the sea. John had grown to admire Jenny’s moxie and honesty; she was no fake and no weakling, but a strong, wonderful woman. He knew if she fell in, he would dive in after her. Her life was that important to him.
Howard reached for Lilia, shoving everyone out of his way. “Lilia, swim. Swim, dear girl. Please….”
Lilia, despite the pain of the cold water, dug in, and tried to get back. It wasn’t far, and she was headed to Howard, the most heroic, brilliant, sweet man she knew, despite the fact that they could not speak a common language.
“No. Oh no… damn you,” Howard yelled at the megaladon. “Swim, Lilia.”
Jenny, brave and bold, beat at the water to distract the beast, “Come on; leave her alone.”
Howard broke an oar and held it as a weapon. Days ago, he had come aboard the Titanic with trepidation and fears, had been shy, and reluctant to make friends, and now he stood in a lifeboat, ready to battle a gigantic fish, unafraid and sure of himself.
Lilia was almost within arm’s distance and could be aboard in two seconds, but she stopped swimming, and her mouth formed an O shape.
“Lilia?” Howard called.
She looked confused. A tug at her right leg mystified her. Had she become tangled in something? There was the pulling sensation and then nothing. She reached into the cold water to see what was wrong. As she slid her hands down, her right leg ended at the thigh. Pulling her dress up, she felt warm fluid, sharp bone shards, and rubbery, tattered flesh.