Monsters In Our Wake

by J. H. Moncrieff

  A part of her felt guilty for condemning Frank to such a death. It was her fault he was gone, as if she’d murdered him with her own hands. But she didn’t see what choice she’d had. It was either him or everyone else.

  “Where’s Thor?”

  “He went to lie down. He took a good whack on the head with a sledgehammer.” Apostolos drained half of his first bottle in a single gulp. “I don’t imagine he’s feeling too good.”

  “A sledgehammer? Are you sure he’s okay?”

  The Greek nodded, wiping his mouth. “He’ll be fine. He was lucky. From what I understand, Hearne had the lights off when Anderssen went to feed him, which was a lucky break. If Hearne could have seen well enough to get a clean shot, he would have cracked that skull right open.”

  Flora rubbed her arms to warm them, the tingling in her fingers almost unbearable. She worried about her friend. What if he had a concussion? She’d always heard you should keep people awake when they were concussed. What if Thor slipped into a coma? She felt helpless. The only person on the crew with any medical training was fish food now.

  “If you wouldn’t mind, maybe once he’s awake you can take care of him, help him clean his head,” Apostolos said, not meeting her eyes. “I’m not much good at that kind of thing.”

  She didn’t think she was either, but she’d be happy to help Thor. “Of course. I’ll do what I can. What about Archie?”

  In response, Apostolos opened another beer, cracking the cap off on the edge of the table. “I couldn’t get him off the deck. Not even after what happened. He’s cowering by the bow. He saw the whole damn thing.” The Greek took another long swallow. “Maybe you can see to him too.”

  Whatever strange connection she had with the creature told her it was gone. It was safe on the deck for now, but it wasn’t a great idea for Archie to get comfortable hanging around there. Perhaps he was frightened and needed someone to talk to. It was worth a try.

  She had started to leave when Apostolos reached for her arm. He shook his head. “Not yet. Let me finish this beer, and I’ll swab the deck. You don’t want to walk past that.”

  Flora sank into her chair. No, she didn’t. After everything else that had happened, she wasn’t sure she could handle it. Her hands hurt from their stint in the cooler, and she tucked them under her arms to warm them.

  Apostolos laughed as he finished his last beer, but his expression betrayed his despair. “We’re quite the mess, aren’t we? At the rate we’re going, by the time we get this rig working again, there won’t be anyone left to rescue.”

  She forced a smile as he left the table, but knew it was as false as his laugh.

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  “How are you feeling?”

  Something cool and soft pressed against his forehead. It didn’t slow the marching band that was determined to bash its way through his skull, but he appreciated the gesture.

  “I’ve been better.” He was thankful for the darkness—thankful she couldn’t see how weak his attempt at a smile was.

  “I don’t doubt it. Is there anything I can get for you?”

  “Do we have any more of that aspirin left from Frank’s stash?”

  “I think so. I’ll go get it.”

  “Wait—can you stay with me awhile?”

  “Of course.” She sounded surprised. “But it won’t take me long to get the pills. They’re in my cabin.”

  “Okay.” He let her go, trying to ignore the flutter of panic he felt when the room was empty. But that was ridiculous, wasn’t it? Hearne was gone; the monster would leave them alone. For now. What was there to be afraid of?

  Flora had left the cabin door open. He could see the light from her room and hear the rustling as she pawed through the bag. She returned to his side within a minute, pressing the chalky pills and a plastic water bottle into his hand.

  “Thanks.”

  “Do you need any help?”

  Thor was about to say no before he saw that he did. “If you could help me sit up, that would be great.”

  It hurt like hell to move his head the slightest bit, and even though he had two pillows supporting him, the sweat ran down his face. When Flora gently moved him forward, she touched his collar. She gasped.

  “You’re not okay, are you?”

  “I’ll be fine,” he said, trying his best to sound more confident than he felt. He took a swig of water. It was on the warm side, but was still the best thing he’d ever tasted. “I’ll be fine when the aspirin kicks in.”

  “You’ve lost a lot of blood.”

  “I’m okay, Mom—I promise.” He immediately wished he could take it back. Flora hadn’t been anything but kind. “Sorry. I didn’t mean that to sound as snarky as it did.”

  “That’s okay. I was mothering you. It’s just…Apostolos asked me to take care of you, and I’m not a doctor. Mothering is the only experience I have with this sort of thing.”

  “Fair enough. I guess everybody has been shoved out of their comfort zone on this trip.”

  “Now that’s the understatement of the year.”

  He grinned, but even that small movement felt like it would tear his skin from his scalp. He couldn’t let Flora find out how bad his injury was—she’d only worry. Hell, he didn’t want to know how bad it was. “I guess Frank wasn’t the pushover we thought.”

  “I never thought he was a pushover. Did you?”

  “You have a point. But I sure didn’t expect the bugger to attack me.”

  “Why didn’t you take Archie with you?” Before Thor could respond, she held up her hand. “I’m not giving you shit; I’m just curious.”

  “He wouldn’t go.” He thought of Archie’s pale face, his vomit-stained shirt. At the time Thor had felt sorry for him, but now he was angry. “Some bullshit about being too sick. He probably knew what his buddy had in store for me, and didn’t want to see it.”

  “I don’t think Archie would let you walk into something like that,” Flora said. “He’s a good man.”

  “I don’t know about that. Something’s wrong with him.”

  “Maybe he is sick. Apostolos wants me to check on him once I’m done here, but he told me he wanted to—” she paused, lowering her eyes. “Swab the deck first.”

  Thor’s stomach lurched as he tried not to picture Frank’s last moments. “Your buddy sure did a hell of a job.”

  “My buddy?”

  He heard the edge in her voice and knew he’d offended her again. Shit. Wasn’t there some Get Out of Jail Free card for guys who’d been knocked on the head? He wasn’t Mister Smooth at the best of times, but now he was tripping over himself like a dog on roller skates. “Sorry, didn’t mean anything by it. The sea creature.” He’d started to say monster, but caught himself in time.

  “I know what you meant.”

  “Oh come on, Flora—everyone knows you’re linked to the creature in some way. I’m not Frank, for Chrissake. I’m not going to call you a witch and throw you overboard.”

  Her mouth twitched. “Thank God for small favors.”

  “Wait—was that an actual smile?”

  Sadly, it vanished as swiftly as it had appeared. “I’m not the Ice Queen you guys make me out to be, you know.”

  “Of course not. But can’t a man get a little slack? A sledgehammer-wielding sailor scrambled my brains. I’m lucky I can remember my own name.”

  She smiled again—for real this time. “You’re right; I’m sorry. I’m still processing this, I guess. Nothing like this has ever happened to me before.”

  “I think it’s safe to say you’re not alone there.”

  “But it’s different for me.” Flora eased herself onto the end of the bed, careful not to jostle him. “I can hear the creature’s voice in my head. I can even argue with him, have conversations, and I have no idea why this is happening. I thought I was imagining it, but that was wishful thinking. Whatever the cause, it’s truly bizarre.” She glanced over her shoulder. “Please don’t tell the other guys. I’m
ostracized enough.”

  “I think everyone who ostracized you is no longer with us,” Thor said, not understanding the panic that came over her face until she spoke.

  “I had nothing to do with what happened to Liam or George. You have to believe me.”

  “The thought never entered my mind.” Though it had, at least a little bit. “Liam and George didn’t do anything to you. But Frank?”

  She closed her eyes for a moment, breathing deeply. “I don’t like to think about it. But we had no choice. If I hadn’t reached out for help, Frank would have killed Apostolos. And me along with him.”

  “We would have figured something out.”

  “Really? You were badly hurt and Archie wouldn’t leave the deck.”

  Thor was quiet for a moment, considering her predicament. He understood why she’d felt such desperation, though he wasn’t sure he could have doomed Frank to such a fate, no matter how big a threat the sailor was. Frank hadn’t tried to rape him, of course, but he’d made a fair attempt to kill him. Even so, it wasn’t that easy a call. He remembered how hard the sailor had fought to save Liam.

  Thor was grateful he wasn’t God—he had no desire for that kind of power.

  “You’re not the only one who can hear it, you know.”

  Flora’s eyes widened. “Are you saying you can too?”

  “The Greek and I both heard it warn us off after it put an end to poor Frank. If you can still get messages across, I’d appreciate a slight extension on the deadline. I’m not sure when I’m going to be in diving shape.”

  “How long do you think you’ll need?”

  He heard the fear in her voice. As much as he’d attempted to convince himself, it was obvious he wasn’t going to be fixing anything for a while. Especially when the only medication he had access to was aspirin. And not even the extra-strength kind.

  “I’m not sure. A few days at least.”

  “It wasn’t him,” Flora said in a quiet voice, staring at her hands.

  “What are you talking about? What wasn’t him?”

  “The one who killed Frank and George—the creature that gave you the warning. It’s not the same one I can communicate with.”

  His head pounded. “There are more of them?”

  Flora nodded. “The one who killed Frank was his mate. From what I gather, his wife is larger and more aggressive. She also has a real hate-on for humans. I don’t get the feeling he’s a fan, either, but he’s more—civilized, for lack of a better word.”

  “Wow.” Thor was stunned. “The female of the species is deadlier than the male.”

  “In this case, yes. And he doesn’t have much control over her, so while I can reach out to him about the timeline, I can’t make any promises.” She ran a hand through her hair, tugging on it as if she wanted to rip it out. “Do you hear how crazy this sounds? I just told you I’d try to telepathically communicate with a previously unknown sea creature, so I can talk him out of killing us. Is this actually happening?”

  He was too shocked by her latest revelation to reassure her. “If there are two, there could be more.”

  “Yes.”

  “But where are they? I mean, how come no one has ever seen them before? They’re too massive to hide for long.”

  “Maybe people don’t tend to survive seeing them. But then again, there’s so much we don’t know about the ocean. Why do you think I became a marine geologist? The ocean is the final frontier.”

  Thor’s head felt like it was about to crack open, and not from Frank’s attack. “I don’t know how to deal with this. Sea monsters belong in fairytales, not real life.”

  “They’re only monsters because we don’t know anything about them. If you think about it, almost everything was a monster at some point.”

  Remembering how George and then Frank had been ripped apart, Thor shuddered. As far as he was concerned, it was the creatures’ behavior that made them monsters more than anything else.

  “I think I’m going to sleep for a little while,” he said. “I have to build my strength if I’m going to fix the boat.”

  Flora slid off the mattress as quickly as if he’d pushed her. “Of course—I’m sorry, what was I thinking? You should rest.”

  “Thanks for checking on me.” His eyes drifted closed. The company had been nice, but what he wanted now, more than anything, was to be left alone.

  “Any time. Once you’re feeling stronger, we’ll get you cleaned up.” Flora said something else, but it didn’t register.

  He was already gone.

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  The ship had an abandoned feel to it that made Flora uneasy as she left Thor’s darkened cabin for the gloomy passageway. There were so few of the crew left. She almost missed Frank’s ribald sense of humor and George’s griping.

  Even the messdeck, her former safe place, wasn’t inviting anymore. She imagined someone waiting there, watching her, as she hurried past, but she knew that was impossible. Still, she was grateful to reach the stairs to the deck.

  “Apostolos?” she called, weak with relief when the Greek answered.

  “Yes, go ahead. It’s okay now.”

  But nothing was okay. She could feel how pitted and rough the wood was under her feet now. Flora tried not to think about what that meant, but she knew. She was walking over the place Frank had died.

  The fire-orange sun was setting, lending the deck a lovely glow, but she was too worried to appreciate it. She could make out Archie’s silhouette slumped over the bow.

  “No change?” she whispered, and the Greek shook his head, his eyes watery.

  “If anything, he’s worse. What happened to Frank hasn’t done him any favors. Will you talk to him? See if you can get him to eat something?”

  He must have seen the reluctance on her face, because he touched her shoulder before she could leave. “I know neither of us are nursemaid types, but you have to admit your bedside manner is a cut above mine. Anderssen can’t take care of himself right now, let alone anyone else.”

  “I’ll see what I can do.”

  She dragged her feet as she crossed the deck to stand beside Archie. He didn’t acknowledge her approach, and for a moment, she wondered if he realized she was there. The big man hung partly over the side of the boat, staring at the water. The color was gone from his skin, though he’d been in the sun all day.

  “You don’t have to talk to me,” he said, so quietly that for a minute she wasn’t sure she’d heard him.

  “I know I don’t have to. I want to.” She tried to sound cheery, but her voice came across flat, even to her own ears. The truth was, Archie didn’t smell too good. It wasn’t only the vomit crusted on his shirt or the rank musk of a man who hadn’t bathed or brushed his teeth in a while. He smelled like something rotting.

  “You don’t have to lie to me. I know Apostolos told you to come over here and check on me. Man never could stand to do his own dirty work.” The last sentence was muttered under Archie’s breath.

  “I’d hardly call you dirty work, Archie.” When he didn’t respond, she took a deep breath and tried again. “I’ve heard you’ve been feeling sick. Can you tell me what’s wrong?”

  He turned to face her, and the change in him was so great that she bit her lip to keep from reacting. Archie had always been a jovial sort whose eyes sparkled with humor even when he was quiet. Not anymore. Now they were bloodshot and sunken and filled with a resigned sadness. They were the eyes of a man who wanted to be left alone. “Nothing you can help me with,” he said before looking back at the water.

  “I know I don’t have medical training, and I’m sorry Frank’s not here, but there might be something I can do to help. I need you to tell me what’s wrong.”

  “I don’t blame you, Flora. Frank was a different man at the end. I know he had to die,” Archie said to the ocean. “I may not like what you did, but I understand why you thought you had no choice.”

  She felt like she’d been slapped. Her shoulders stiffene
d. “Don’t blame me for what? I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  “Sure you do. You don’t have to play dumb with me. Those things have touched me now too, so I know. I can hear them. I heard what they said to you. I know you asked them to kill Frank.”

  Flora shivered, chilled in spite of the warm air. “I didn’t ask them to kill Frank. I asked them to help us.”

  “Yeah, and they knew what you meant by that, same as I did. I’m not as dumb as I look.”

  “I’m sorry we needed their help, and I’m not happy Frank’s gone. I’m not happy anything turned out this way.” She beckoned at Apostolos, but the Greek made an impatient Go on gesture at her, staying where he was. Coward. She clenched her teeth. If he was so concerned about Archie, why wasn’t he here? Why was he hiding on the other side of the deck?

  “I just wanted you to know there are no hard feelings between you and me. I’ve always believed a man should say everything there is to say before he dies.”

  “Please, Archie—you’re not dying. As soon as Thor feels stronger, he’s going to fix the ship. We’ll be home in a few days, and you’ll get the medical care you need.”

  “Didn’t I tell you that you don’t need to lie to me? I am dying. I know it, and I think you know it as well.” He gripped the side of the bow with both hands, leaning out a little farther. What was left of his dark hair blew crazily in the wind. Flora realized he was much thinner on top than he used to be. Was it the stress of the last week, or had Archie pulled out his own hair? “The only question is whether I’m going to choose my own death or let it be chosen for me.”

  Oh my God. That’s why he keeps standing out here. He’s working up the nerve to jump.

  It had been a while since Flora had had a man in her life, but her son was a constant reminder of how stubborn they could be. Rather than continue the pointless argument, she decided on a new approach. “Can you tell me why you think you’re going to die?”

  “I can do better than that. I’ll show you.” Before she could react, Archie yanked the leg of his jeans to his knee. The smell of rot was so overpowering she stumbled back, retching.