Cryptid Island

by Gerry Griffiths

  “It’s all right, Jack. Butros doesn’t know the meaning of the word compromise.” Laney got up and walked away with Tarik.

  “You could have put up more of a fight,” Miguel said.

  “Better not to push our luck. We better get some shut eye before our watch comes up.” Jack and Miguel lay down by the fire to keep warm. The two pirates sharing their campfire were through playing their game and had retired. One man was using the large petals of a huge flower like a sleeping bag.

  Jack closed his eyes and drifted off.

  Sometime in the night, a man shouted waking everyone up.

  Jack and Miguel sprang to their feet.

  It was the man sharing their campfire making all the noise. He was pointing to the man wrapped in the giant flower petals. He was shouting for the sleeping man to wake up but he couldn’t respond, as he was already dead, shriveled up like an Egyptian mummy.

  Jack could hear slurping along with the sound of liquid flowing down a tube. “I don’t believe it. That damn plant’s liquefying his body with enzymes and absorbing him.”

  Tarik marched over with a burning torch. He threw it onto the withered corpse creating a raging funeral pyre. An agonizing wail screeched from the rising blaze.

  “My God, that came from the plant,” Miguel said.

  “Since when do plants scream?”

  “They do here.”

  33

  DEVIL TREE

  Jack woke up to slivers of blue in the mist-shrouded treetops meaning the storm had finally passed. He could hear Butros and Tarik in a harsh debate. Butros turned away from Tarik and began barking orders to the remaining pirates.

  When Jack sat up, he saw Miguel and Laney standing next to the campfire, now a ring of gray ash. “What’s all the hollering?”

  “Butros is so desperate to get off this island, he’s promised the man that leads us back to the beach second-in-command,” Miguel said.

  “I take it Tarik wasn’t too pleased.”

  “He threatened to kill any man that tried.”

  “Looks like we might have a bit of a rebellion brewing,” Laney grinned.

  “You know, the only way we’re going to leave this island is on that launch.”

  “Think it survived the storm?”

  “We better hope so.” Jack stood and stretched his arms over his head.

  “So what side of the island do you think we landed?” Laney asked.

  “Well, we were heading due east when the island was spotted. That would mean the launch is on the westerly side.”

  Miguel looked up at the sunlight filtering down through the fog. “Which means that way is east. So we need to go in the opposite direction.”

  Jack waved for Tarik to come over.

  The man was clearly still angry from talking with Butros. The scar down his flushed face was a shade paler than the rest of his skin.

  “We’re pretty sure the boat is that way,” Jack said, pointing at the jungle in the general direction he believed was west.

  “Is this another one of your tricks?” Tarik rested his hand on the grip of his pistol tucked in his waistband.

  “Hey, we want to get off the island just as much as you do. I swear, no tricks.” Jack saw Butros standing off by a tree, speaking to the larger of the pirates, possibly his favored choice for a new right-hand adjutant.

  Tarik watched Butros conspiring with the other man.

  “Looks like Butros already has your replacement.”

  “Shut up or I’ll cut out your tongue!”

  “Maybe it’s time we formed an alliance, what do you say?” Miguel said to Tarik.

  Tarik looked at Laney. “It’s time for Butros to go.”

  “No skin off my nose.” Laney smiled at the one-eyed pirate.

  “Let’s tell Butros and get moving.” Jack walked over and spoke briefly with Butros, convincing him that he and Miguel knew the proper way back to the beach.

  Miguel gazed up into the trees to get a bearing on the sun. Once he was certain, he signaled for everyone to follow him into the jungle.

  None of the terrain seemed familiar as they forged through the undergrowth labyrinth. It was like the rainforest had reconstituted itself into a different landscape just to confuse them.

  After half an hour of trudging through the seemingly impenetrable foliage, the sweaty and tired group caught a break when Miguel cut down a large palm leaf in his path and stepped into a garden setting of tall tubular plants and a mammoth ominous-looking tree.

  Jack spotted succulent fruit hanging on the lower branches that looked like giant raspberries the size of a man’s shoe. Each orb of sweet fruit was framed with a hypha, a filamentous fungus.

  “Watch out,” Miguel yelled, pulling Laney down with him.

  Something buzzed over Jack’s head. He turned and saw a dobsonfly land on the lip of a pitcher plant. The three-foot long insect had large transparent wings and slightly curved mandibles resembling ice tongs. The bug ventured too far over the rim and slipped into the pitfall trap. A large leaf on the side of the plant came down over the entrance, sealing the insect inside.

  Looking around, Jack saw vibrant red plants that looked like huge butterflies with spikes along the ridges of their wings; a mutant strain of Venus flytrap. He whiffed a musty smell. He looked down and saw yellow butterworts with baited insects caught in their sticky leaves.

  “This is really creepy,” Laney said. “Let’s get out of here.”

  “Not until my men gather fruit.” Butros signaled for his men to climb the tree.

  Jack turned to Butros. “That might not be a good idea. You better call them back.”

  “Be quiet. Or I’ll—”

  “Yeah, I know. You’ll cut out my tongue.”

  Miguel looked at Jack. “I’ve seen pictures of this tree on Nora’s website. That’s a devil tree.”

  Butros looked at Jack and Miguel and started to belly laugh. “A devil...” He couldn’t stop howling.

  Jack saw a man balanced on a bough, about to reach through the center of a hypha to grab the large berry on the other side. “No, don’t put your—”

  The fungus cinched around the man’s arm causing him to yelp with pain. He screamed louder as the hypha tightened even more, cutting through the flesh down to the bone. The man’s arm dropped off and fell to the ground. He passed out, landing next to his severed arm. Roots sprouted out of the ground soaking up the pooling blood.

  Another man up in the tree saw what happened and tried to climb down. As soon as he grabbed a branch the gnarled wood forced him against the trunk. More branches seized the man like giant skeletal fingers.

  “Oh my God,” Laney said stepping away from the malevolent tree.

  Jack saw a section of the trunk split open into a gaping maw. “Oh you got to be kidding me.” The branches shoved the man inside the tree. The man’s bones snapped, as he was crammed into the hollow. The bark closed over the hole. Jack could hear the muffled screams of the man trapped inside. He turned to Miguel standing a couple of feet away. He’d never seen his friend so terrified. Someone was missing. “Where’s Laney?”

  Miguel glanced around. “She was standing right here.”

  Jack saw a six-foot tall pitcher plant closing its leaves. “Oh my God!” He grabbed a machete from a pirate staring up at the devil tree. The man didn’t even react he was so frightened. Jack ran up to the carnivorous plant and began hacking at the thick, fibrous leaves tough as cow leather.

  Miguel joined him with his own machete. The two kept swinging their blades, chopping away the leaves sealing the top. Once the opening was big enough, Jack peeked down the throat of the plant.

  “Do you see her?” Miguel asked.

  “No, she’s gone. But I see light.”

  “Light from where?”

  “There’s an underground tunnel.”

  34

  REUNITED

  Laney didn’t know if she was awake or dreaming. She was floating down a passageway aglow with luminous li
chen. It was like staring up at a mystical tapestry under a blue light, the phosphorous greens and blues bright as chemiluminescent glow sticks.

  She closed her eyes trying to remember what happened. She’d been watching the man consumed by the tree—certainly that had been a dream—when a spore puffball blew into her face from a giant plant. Once she inhaled, she’d found herself drifting into a euphoric state. Looking down, Laney saw she was standing in the center of an enormous flower twelve feet in diameter, its petals spread open upon the ground.

  Then the leaves on the corolla rose all around her, capturing her inside as the ground dropped out from under her.

  Laney felt her body being lowered onto a soft spongy bed. She opened her eyes. A strange but familiar face gazed down at her. “Hi, Laney.”

  “Allen?”

  “Yes, it’s me, in the flesh. Well, maybe not in the flesh. A lot has happened since you last saw me.”

  Laney didn’t comment right away; there was too much to process. Her husband was no longer physically the man she had married. She’d been at his side during the early stages of his transformation but nothing prepared her for what had become of the man she loved.

  Allen’s form was ethereal, constantly in motion. He was no longer human though the peat moss where his face should be did strike a semblance to that of Allen whenever it morphed, much like an ever-changing Rorschach inkblot image. His shape was covered with glistening green seaweed and dark crusted lichen. He looked like a cross between a primordial creature that had crawled out of the ocean and an aquatic space alien.

  Laney was reduced to tears. “Oh, Allen.”

  “Am I that hideous?”

  “No. I just wasn’t...” She stopped crying and sucked in a deep breath. She sat up in the bed of strawflowers. She swung her feet onto the ground and stood.

  “Sorry. Let me change,” Allen said matter-of-fact like he was simply going off into a bedroom to change his clothes.

  Laney watched Allen shapeshift into a somewhat humanistic form.

  “Is that better?” he asked.

  “Thank you.”

  “You’re welcome. So, what do you think of my island?”

  “You did all this?”

  “Well, I can’t take credit for the rock but I supplied the rest.”

  “You created all of this in less than one day?”

  “Yep. Makes that a new Guinness world record.”

  Laney heard flapping wings coming down the cavern. She was surprised when a small flamboyant bird landed on Allen’s shoulder. “So you have a pet?”

  “Well, I guess you can say he’s ours really. I call him Star for Starburst the candies.” The bird had the same coloring if a confectioner had blended the strawberry, cherry, orange, and lemon taffy together.

  “I’ve never seen a bird like that before.”

  “I made some slight modifications.”

  “I’d say those creatures in the jungle are much more than that. Where’d you find them?”

  “Caged in the cargo hold. They were normal before I released them.”

  “What did you do to them?”

  “You might say I got a little overzealous.”

  Laney’s clothes clung to her skin from the high humidity inside the cavern. She could hear escaping steam warming and misting the subterranean den like a greenhouse.

  Heavy footfalls pounded down the tunneled grotto. Laney saw figures approaching in the luminous passage. It was Jack and Miguel.

  “Laney, we thought you were dead.” Jack gave her a smile then stopped dead in his tracks when he saw Allen who at the moment was soaking the water vapor from the air and swelling like a giant human-shaped sponge.

  “It’s okay, don’t be alarmed,” Laney said.

  “Is that...”

  “Yes, this is my husband. Allen Moss.”

  Miguel took a step closer to get a better look at Allen. “How did this happen?”

  “It’s a long story,” Allen replied. “One I’m guessing Laney never told you.”

  Laney cringed when she heard more footsteps coming. Butros and Tarik strode towards her, followed by the last four pirates.

  A pirate leveled the barrel of his assault rifle at Allen. Laney immediately stepped between the gunman and her husband. “Butros, tell him to put down his gun.”

  Butros was too enthralled by the strange entity standing next to Laney to answer.

  “It is the island devil,” the pirate said with a voice filled with fear. He sidestepped to get a clear shot.

  “Laney, move away before you get hurt.” Allen pulled Laney back to push her out of harm’s way. Jack grabbed Laney and drew her towards him.

  “Tell your man to stand down,” Miguel told Butros.

  Allen extended his hand in a peaceful gesture.

  The pirate pulled the trigger, firing off a short burst into Allen’s chest. Some of the bullets exited out his back, pelting the cavern wall.

  “I wish you hadn’t done that.” Allen peeled back a layer of epidermis from his chest revealing a network of chloroplast cells and nutrient transport veins commonplace to a plant. He poked a green finger into his permeable self, plucked out a slug, and flicked it blasely at the pirate.

  The cavern rumbled before the metal ball hit the ground.

  35

  EARTHSHATTERING

  Laney clung to Jack as the ground trembled. Sections of rock jarred loose, separating from the cavern walls. A hail of stone fell on a pirate crushing him under a large cloud of billowing dust.

  “Not the best place to be in an earthquake,” Miguel yelled, covering his head with his hands as chunks of ceiling rained down.

  “I’m afraid this is more than a tremor,” Allen said. “I think my little island is about to blow.” Star squawked, digging its talons into Allen’s shoulder.

  A fissure opened up fifty feet away on the tunnel floor. Hot, steaming magma bubbled up into a fiery slow-moving lava flow.

  “How do we get out of here?” Jack yelled.

  Allen grabbed Laney by the hand. “This way!”

  They ran down the stone corridor. Already the temperature was rising, the heat becoming unbearable as the molten ground created a wave of suffocating ash.

  Laney was relieved to see sunlight at the end of the tunnel. Racing out the vent hole, she heard a massive explosion like a mega-ton bomb erupting over her head. She could see the highest peak on the island beyond the treetops. A long column of smoke and ash spewed hundreds of feet into the sky. Thousand-degree lava poured out of the volcano in tributary rivers, scorching the highland rainforest. Firestorms swept rapidly down the mountainside.

  She glanced over her shoulder. Jack and Miguel were right behind her and Allen. She saw the ground open up. Butros and Tarik jumped over the crevasse. Two pirates made it across. The third pirate attempted the leap but came up short, clawing the edge of the rift for a split second before falling into the chasm.

  Every time they came to an impenetrable wall of foliage, the plants and trees would open up a path for Allen. Laney heard what she thought was a jet engine. When she looked up, she saw a volcanic fireball smash into the trees.

  A frightened Nandi bear bolted out of the bushes. It was completely engulfed in flames. The cryptid collided with the two pirates, and fell on top of them, setting them on fire. Butros and Tarik bolted past the screaming men, never once looking back.

  Allen raised his arms above his head and brought them down by his sides, the motion signaling the vegetation ahead to spread apart like a curtain parting for a stage performance. The beach was straight ahead.

  “We made it,” Jack yelled.

  Miguel stepped out onto the black sand. “Can’t say the same for our ride.”

  Laney saw the launch; battered to pieces by the storm and half buried in the sand.

  “Look over there,” Miguel shouted.

  Two long-range helicopters were flying low over the ocean. One aircraft banked toward the Dark Horizon. The chopper hovered over the sh
ip’s main deck. Rappel ropes were cast down. Military-types slid down, firing their weapons at the pirates below.

  The other helicopter swooped for the island, its landing skids skimming the incoming wave tops as it came in for a soft landing on the beach.

  Laney’s heart dropped when she saw Wilde Enterprises stenciled on the fuselage. “Oh my God, Allen.”

  The side door slid open. Two commandos jumped down on the sand with Russian-made AA-12 Atchisson assault shotguns with round drum magazines like a gangster’s Thompson submachine gun.

  Jack and Miguel put up their hands.

  Butros and Tarik made the mistake of pointing their guns at the men.

  The elite specialists didn’t hesitate and opened fire with their fully automatic 300 rounds per minute shotguns designed for extreme accuracy, as the weapons had no recoil.

  Butros and Tarik flailed spasmodically, their bodies blown apart into a thousand fragments, bloody gore slapping the sand like raining-down dead fish. The commandos took a moment to swap out their magazines.

  Laney saw another man appear in the helicopter’s open hatchway.

  It was Ivan Connors.

  “Allen, run!”

  Laney and Allen raced back into the jungle inferno.

  36

  PLEASURE CRUISE

  Star rode the thermals, circling over the sinking island.

  Lava continued to flow down the torched landscape to the swiftly shrinking shoreline. Plumes of steam rose from the surrounding ocean. Like an enormous ship going under, the molten rock submerged in a bubbling billow of escaping gases. The cloud of volcanic ash drifted up with the sea breeze dissipating in the fluffy white cumulous clouds. The island was no more.

  The tern watched the ship and the two tiny flying dots disappear over the horizon.

  All around was blue sky and ocean with no sign of land in sight, which didn’t alarm Star. Since its kinship with Allen, the bird’s senses, though previously keen, had become phenomenally acute. The trigeminal nerve between its brain and beak, which served as an internal global positioning system, was working at inconceivable levels.