The Island of death! Salhuta woke up with this feeling of intense fear. He knew in his gut there was something wrong. He ran to wake up his father but the King wasn’t in his bed. Salhuta shouted “father where are you?”
The ship was unusually quiet the air was damp and smelt of burnt meat. Salhuta made his way to the deck. As he walked through the corridors, the eerie sounds of crying and screaming swirled around the ship. He shouted louder and louder ” Father, Bruandi, Captain Shallolah! where are you? This isn’t funny. Where have you all gone.? Up on deck, there was no one. Everyone had left the ship. As he looked around he could see that they had docked at an island. It was very dark and the sea fret covered the docks. Lanterns led him down the dockside and onto the slippy muddy ground.
Salhuta Couldn’t make sense of why he’d been left alone on the ship. “What happen to everyone?” His gut was telling him to run and hide yet he needed to be brave for his father. He picked up one of the lanterns so he could make his way down toward three flickering lights that looked almost skull-like.
Salhuta slipped to the ground. It had become very slippy and sticky he’d never known mud to smell like this. As he waded through the thick mud he came to a large rock he needed to climb up out of the stickiness. It became too deep and he needed to get his bearings. The sea fret was really thick by now and the cries and screams were getting louder. In the dim light from the lantern, he looked around. It wasn’t mud all over him, it was blood. He’d been wading through a sea of blood and body parts. He screamed out “what is this place? Father where are you?” He heard his father’s voice shout “Salhuta get out of here. Save yourself!”
Turning around he felt someone grab him. It was Shallolah. “Thank God it’s you! he cried, are we in hell?” Shallolah put her hand over his mouth and spoke to his mind. “Shush don’t speak out loud, talk to me with your thoughts.” she said.
“No, we’re not in hell but very close to it. We docked as we needed to stock up on supplies. Before we realised where we were the ship had been boarded. They seemed to come out of the darkness and the crew was carried away one by one. Shallolah pointed to the three skull lights. “That’s where we need to go and fast. from those sounds, they’re already skinning and eating them.”
Salhuta looked at her with pure fear in his eyes. “Skinning them and eating them, where are we?” She hugged him and said “where on Bart Mews Holo Island. I’ve never been here before but I’ve heard many horror stories about ships and their crews just disappearing never to be seen again. It’s a cannibal island and they take great pleasure in torturing their victims before they eat them.”
Salhuta fell to the ground! “How then are we going to rescue our crew” Shallolah smiled “Have you forgotten my ability? I’m going to connect with their minds and make them sleep. We’ll then rescue as many as we can. Hopefully, we’re not too late.” Salhuta stood up and said out loud “then do it, do it now before they kill anyone else.” Shush! We need to get closer so I can see how many minds I need to connect with.” Standing up Salhuta said, “Let’s go!” Something within him was kicking in and his body was flooded with strength and courage he’d never felt before. He had to save his father and the rest of the crew. Slowly they made their way through the bloody soup of bones and body parts trying not to be heard.
Finally, they reached the huge skull rock and climbed up to where they could crawl through the light holes. “Are we close enough yet?” In the light, they could see thick blood all over them. They had to wipe their eyes so they could see better. “Yes,” replied Shallolah, “I think we are.” Salhuta could see that his father had been tried by his hands and feet, there was a great big man covered in tattoos he had two horns on his face with black eyes making his way towards him. He was carrying a machete. “Do it, do it now” he cried. Shallolah closed her eyes and concentrated. One by one the cannibals started to fall asleep. Shallolah pushed him forward and said “go now be as quick as you can. I’m not sure how long I can keep them asleep.”
He jumped up and ran as fast as he could grabbing one of the machetes. He started to cut free his father and then handed him a knife. His father was very slow it looked as if he’d been drugged. This didn’t stop him from trying his best to cut free as many as possible. Above them in a cage were a lot of the crew. Tulata and Kalama and other women were tied to wooden crosses and had been stripped of all their clothing. Salhuta worked as fast as he could. Having freed everyone they quickly and quietly made their way back to Shallolah.
It was too late for many of the crew. They had been skinned and feasted on. A few of them were still alive with their skin removed. Bruandi used the machete to end their pain. The King was still very slow and not fully with it. Tulata and Kalama helped to carry him. Shallolah told them to make their way back to the ship and she would follow. “Don’t look back, I’ll join you all shortly.” she said.
Wading through the thick bloody soup they could hear screaming and what sounded like bodies being ripped apart. Back on the ship they looked towards the skull lights and waited patiently for Shallolah to return.
From the darkness they saw her carrying two heads of the cannibals. Shallolah shouted “pull anchor.” The crew did as they were told as she mounted the heads on top of the lanterns. “You’ll never harm another person from this day on.” she said.
The crew moved swiftly and the ship moved through the sea of blood. This was one hell hole for sure and Salhuta didn’t want to think what could have happened. He ran towards his father and held on to him as tight as he could. It wasn’t until they were far out at sea that they role called and realised five of the crew were missing.
The King stood up and asked if he could pray for them. Shallolah nodded her head “I think we all need to pray for them and ourselves.” With that, the whole ship bowed their heads in prayer vowing never to visit Bart Mews Holo Island again.
#Fear4TEZ Event Friday 13th May
♫ Relax & listen to music from this story ♫