Chapter XV:

One night, I awoke to a bad feeling on the ship. I drew my eyes open with a knot in my throat. I lay in bed looking around. I didn’t dare move. She could be around and I wouldn’t know it. I held my breath. Has this ship always been this quiet? My stomach turned. Why do I get the feeling that I was the only left alive? I shook my head. No. Don’t be stupid. Why you think that? But why did I feel so uneasy?

I strained my ears to listen. I relaxed when I heard the little creaks of the ship. But this didn’t last long. I could feel my heart pounded at the base of my throat. There’s usually more sounds around me. I would hear some sailors snoring around me. I had a bad feeling about it. There was only one way to find out.

I didn’t want to do that. But I knew what I had to do.

I closed my eyes and slid my foot out of the bed. A shock of cold ran through my body. I didn’t like where this was heading. But I had to get up and look. Slowly, I pulled myself out of bed. All I could see was darkness around me. My stomach turned as I took in slower breaths. Why was it so quiet in the cabin? Even Big Lou wasn’t snoring. I turned my head when I noticed a small amount of light ahead of me. The door to the cabin was swinging open. How was this heavy wood door moving without a sound? I found myself slowly walking towards the door. When I poked my head out into the hall, I couldn’t see anything at all. I couldn’t tell if this was a good thing or not.

“Hello?” I whispered. I couldn’t even hear the waves or the wind outside. Was I dreaming? Did I cross into another dimension? I pinched myself in the cheek. I couldn’t feel a thing. That just made things worse. It took my all not scream. I doubt that it would make a sound at all. I closed my eyes and smacked myself in the cheek.

Come on! Wake up! This has to be a dream! Wake up! Wake up!

I opened my eyes when I heard a creaking noise. I whipped my head around. I held my breath as I took a step into the hall. I probably should’ve grabbed a weapon. That wasn’t on my mind as the creaking grew heavier.

“I know you are,” I whispered. “Come out and show yourself.” No answer. I gulped and started walking. The creaking sounded like it was coming towards me. I resisted the urge to turn around and run. No, I had to get to the bottom of this.

I puffed up my closet and went down the hall. It didn’t take me long to regret my decision. On that first step, I stepped on something warm and wet. On reflex, I looked down. Though I could see what was on the floor, I had a few guesses. I only prayed that it wasn’t what I thought it was. I shook my head and forced myself to keep walking. Oh why did I do that? Why? Why?

When I made it to the deck, I got a good look at how bad everything was. I covered my mouth as I tried not to throw up. The moon showed me all of the blood all over the ship. I shook my head. No… No… I took slow steps backwards. The creaking noise was behind me. I turned around but there was nothing there. But I wouldn’t be fooled. I held my breath as I went back down the hall. It already knew what had happened but I still had to see. I picked up a lantern along the way and lit it up.

I felt myself hyperventilating.

Blood covered the walls and floors. No… This had to be a dream. I kept smacking myself on the cheek. I about threw up in my mouth at one point. Was that a pair of lungs up ahead? I shook my head in a vain hope that I was dreaming. I had to force myself into another cabin. The smell of death already greeted me. Against my better judgement, I lifted my lantern. The captain’s body lay on the bed on the other side of the room. His eyes were wide open and empty. His throat had been slashed down to the bone.

His wasn’t the only one there.

Some of the crew lay on the floor. Or rather, what was left of the crew. I had a guess that the lungs belong to one of the sailors. Another one was missing his arms and his jawbone. Not since my home have I seen so much carnage. At least there was a fire so consume all of those bodies. My lantern hit the floor with a crash. My heart raced in my chest as I panted heavily. I could feel the color draining from my face. How could this be real? How could this happen while I was sleeping? Was it her? Did she do this?

I shook my head and tried to open the door behind me. My grip kept slipping. I had to get out of here. I needed to get off this ship of death. It didn’t matter if I jumped into the ocean. Everything froze when I heard that damned creaking noise again. By now, I determined they had to be footsteps. They sounded like they were coming closer to the door that I was trapped against. I tried to turn the knob faster but my grip wouldn’t hold on. Stay away! Stay away! Why can’t you just leave me alone?

Suddenly, the footsteps and creaking stopped.

That’s when I heard a girl laughing. Oh no, it was her. I could picture her standing behind the door, laughing. I started to mumble the words that I expected to hear next.

“Ladybird, ladybird. Fly away home. You house is on fire and your children all gone. All except one. And that’s little Ann. And she has crept under the warming pan.”

I slammed my fist against the door.

“Get away! Leave me alone!” I shouted. “What do you want from me?! Just leave me alone!” I sank to my knees sobbing as she laughed louder.

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I ripped open my eyes and found myself back in my cabin. I sat up as I could hear the sounds around me. The waves, creaking of the ship, and even Big Lou’s snoring were welcoming to what I had experienced hours before. The sun hadn’t come up yet but that wasn’t on my mind.

What was that I just saw? That couldn’t have been just a nightmare. It felt too real. Was I losing my mind? Or was I looking into the future? I shook my head. Maybe the sea was getting to me. That’s what I told myself at the time.