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Chapter Thirty-Eight

Author: Mandi Martin
last update Last Updated: 2022-12-15 16:34:01

The island looked different during the day.

Once the morning mist had dispersed and the sun shimmered down, it was a picturesque, albeit lonely, sight. Even though the once proud trees that had dominated the landscape had been reduced to a shadow of their former selves, the greenery still fought through and has the first thing the eye was drawn to.

'Strength against all odds,' Lloyd thought as he emerged on deck. 'More inspiring than any living person at the moment.'

He moved as if hypnotised to gaze over the view. He'd never found much inspiration in his normal life. OK, he'd admired people, Nelson Mandela, Rudolf Nureyev...but they'd always been stories and pictures. Nothing real that he could become close to.

This was something he could be.

Still troubled by the encounter earlier, Lloyd paced around the ship, admiring the view and dragging a broom idly behind him like a stiff tail. He had heard Nathaniel curse at someone for their idleness and threaten to gut them, even if it was
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  • Dark Water   Chapter Seventy-Four

    Thomas kept a low profile that evening.His eyes dropped every time someone passed, and he felt his movements were as ungainly as a poorly controlled marionette. Surely, even the most stupid would see that something was wrong?If they did, they didn't comment, even if he cringed each time someone looked his way, feeling as though their eyes tore through skin and bone to see what he held in his heart and mind,His unease wasn't entirely unwarranted. Abraham was suspicious of anyone outside their circle, and Thomas especially.The boy had a habit of hearing things he shouldn't, and unlike some, threats wouldn't hold his tongue. 'Too moral, that's his problem,' Abraham thought bitterly. 'Even I'm willing to stab someone in the back for the good of others. The Lord cannot hold that against me.'He shook his head and ran a hand through his thinning hair. He could thumb through the remains of his Bible and twist something to suit. He done that countless times before, and it was the perfect

  • Dark Water   Chapter Seventy Three

    Thomas shook as he entered the cabin. A mocking voice followed him, forcing unwanted images into his mind. They played like a flip show before him, making his head ache.'He hates rats, animals and humans! Remember how he burned Allen's tongue out? Remember the keel hauling when Morris revealed something to the King's Navy?'The screams shattered his nerves, rebounding in his skull. He saw the blood, flowing in torrents from the lacerated skin, torn to shreds by the barnacles on the hull.He heard the muffled agony when the burning dagger sawed through the pink flesh, severing Allen's tongue from his mouth.Later, a gull took it, dropping it in disgust into the still sea.Blood stained the water, adding the soul of a ruby to what looked like melted sapphire.Allen had lived. Morris had languished, dying in a seizure two days later. And his eyes...they stared with such hate towards the sky, but the anger hadn't been directed at God.Not anymore. It was meant for a man who thought he r

  • Dark Water   Chapter Seventy-Two

    The sea always seemed more sinister when the waves barely moved. No breeze was permeating the air, and an oppressive humidity engulfed the ship.Thomas felt beads of sweat tickling his forehead, trickling down his cheeks and making his collar uncomfortably damp.He set his mop aside, pulling for the umpteenth time at the pesky material. Some of the older men discarded their ragged shirts, wandering about with leathery, scarred skin and faded tattoos on display for all to see. Thomas, despite his paler skin being free from marks save for a small scar across his back, refused to do that. It just seemed unseemly. Besides, he knew they'd taunt him.Robinson, a middle-aged, balding man with breasts like a woman, would be the worst. The man was an utter slob and made no effort to curb his bad habits, using that zeal to point out everything that was 'wrong' or different about others.Right now, he was snoring in the shade, drool gathering on his cracked lips and a discarded bottle rolling

  • Dark Water   Chapter Seventy-One

    The crew might have despised the dawn. Their hearts resented the bloody pink stain that wept through the blackness and stifled the stars. The ruby sheen of the sun was a curse, drawing the freedom of the moon away from them.For one woman, alone on a distant shore, it was a blessing.Her haggard form was a stark contrast to the youth in her eyes, but in those depths was a knowledge that all respected.Especially Nathaniel and Lloyd.She sensed a disturbance, however far away it was. She had sent part of her soul with Nathaniel, and the spirit that dwelt in the amulet reflected an aura to her.'They are in trouble. The discontent is rising, and soon it will hit them like a Leviathan from the depths. The dead are restless, especially those who have been recently wronged.' She rocked on her bare heels, unable to feel the sharp shingle that bore into her feet. 'I have to help, even though I swore it was up to him. His heart has changed since then, and that warmth is why my resolve has mel

  • Dark Water   Chapter Seventy

    Abraham was one of the only men on board who could read with some eloquence. His Bible was worn out from his constant perusal, and the old prayer book he'd once had was in pieces.That night, what was required was not his reading skills but his openness to the darker forces of human nature. "I was thinking," he said when the handful of men had assembled, perching like ungainly beasts on their bunks or sitting stiffly on the floor. "I think we need to ask someone who's done this before. I've read enough in the Bible to distrust demons."The soft candlelight illuminated the severity in his eyes, the long lines seeming to be etched deeper beneath them, and looked like ragged tracks dug into the dark circles."Blake's still here. We just need to see him. His errors will be the key to our success.""How'd know it's him?" One of the men frowned uneasily. "I've seen a few things around 'ere that ain't been what they seem. And we've tried before.""We chance it. And I ain't thinking of doing

  • Dark Water   Chapter Sixty-Nine

    Lloyd lost himself in Nathaniel's arms for several hours and learned that intimacy didn't have to be physical to kindle pleasure.Just lying in his embrace, feeling the strength and subdued fondness that flowed from him was as thrilling as their flesh becoming as one.And it gave them a chance to talk. For a while, Lloyd avoided the topic of the curse and Nathaniel's past, focusing on putting the world to rights and complaining about the mundane life he'd left behind.Nathaniel listened patiently, regardless of whether it interested him or not. He mentioned that he wasn't enamoured with the modern world and that his own time may not have been better; it seemed easier without the constant bother of what people called progress."I don't understand the need for all these gadgets," he said bluntly. "It seems the art of writing has vanished with many other skills. You'll regret it one day. Human skills are meant to last; these metal things ain't. And when they fail, you'll be at a loss."

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