by M H Ryan
The boat smacked into a large tree, cracking some of the wood on Luna and breaking branches off the tree. The girls yelled out but held on. The torrent pushed us around the tree and further into woods. We bounced off a few more trees until we hit the sandy bottom. The boat lurched forward and the back raised enough for a moment that I thought we were going to tip over.
Then the water retreated and pulled us back into the first tree we hit, but this time, the boat stuck against the large trunk. Water rushed around us, going back into the sea. After a few seconds, the water receded far enough that we were solidly on land.
“That was a hell of a ride,” Sherri said in a raspy voice.
“Is everyone here?” I said, spinning in a circle and taking inventory.
“I’m here, Jack,” Aubrey said.
The rest muttered shocked statements of attendance.
“I feel like I just got shoved into a washing machine during spin cycle,” Emma said.
“Is anyone hurt?” I asked, looking to each of their faces and bodies as they did their own assessment.
Astonishingly, no one got injured beyond bumps, bruises, and scrapes. The rain continued to pour down over us, but the trees turned the drops into big globs of water, slapping against the undergrowth of the forest and our boat. The wind howled as well, sending bursts of rain against my face.
“Is this the island?” I asked Eliza.
“Yes, this is it.”
“Kara?” I asked.
She kneeled next to the broken part of our boat. It looked like a U-shape had been ripped off the side of the boat. A portion of the wall was gone, and the sand was just a foot below the Luna. Kara reached down and touched the wet sand.
“It’s not a bad island, but it has a secret,” she said while touching more of the sand.
“What is it?” I asked.
“I’ve felt this before. This island feels just like Cave Island. The one we found Danforth on.”
“The one that opened the gates to hell?” Aubrey asked.
“No, we can’t be here,” Shaya yelled out, falling to her knees, clutching her head. Emma rushed to her side, but she pushed her away, getting back to her feet. She looked terrified.
“This is the island we need to be on,” Eliza said.
“What’s here?” Carmen asked.
“I wasn’t sure until we landed,” Eliza said. “But there is a person or thing here that will either be what saves us or what kills us.”
Chapter 10
“The rain’s almost over,” Aubrey said, looking at the dark sky.
“This is crazy,” Carmen said, holding onto the shack at the center of the boat. She hadn’t let it go since we landed.
“You haven’t seen anything yet, sweetie,” Sherri said, still out of breath from her exertion.
Cass and Aubrey didn’t look much better. All the girls looked tired, and a few were scared. In the thinning clouds, the moonlight brightened and showed my wet girls. Their hair and skin dripped from the rain and ocean water. They were all staring at me.
“We’re alive, ladies, but we are not safe, not yet. There is a person on this island—and who knows what else—We need to have a moment of thanks, for this is another island we were lucky enough to land on. Every island we’ve been on has helped us in some way. I doubt this island will be any different, but there could be dangers, as well, so everyone keep their eyes and ears open. Benji, Kara, Eliza—are you three able to scout some of the island out with me?”
“Hell, yeah,” Benji said.
“Sure,” Kara said. “It’s not a bad island, and I’m curious to know what it's hiding.”
“Yes,” Eliza said, looking at the trees over us while absently ringing the water from her large braid.
If there was a person on this island, they probably weren’t walking around in the storm. With some luck, we might be able to find this person before they spotted us.
“Okay, everyone else stays on the boat and recoup. Just keep weapons on hand, and send our signal if you run into any trouble.”
“As first wife, I’ll make sure we are safe, Jack,” Aubrey said, hunched over and still recovering.
“I swear, I’m going to spank that ass of yours if you keep talking that first wife crap,” Sherri said.
“What’s a first wife?” Carmen asked.
“Oh God,” Sherri said, rolling her eyes. “Aubrey thinks she’s the boss wife of us… the ones that are with Jack.” Sherri showed her hand and the JS tattoo on it.
“Oh, I didn’t know there was a ranking system,” Carmen said.
“There isn’t,” Benji and Sherri said at the same time.
“I’d love to have this conversation, ladies, but we were just spewed onto this island. I think we need to see what we’re dealing with as quickly as possible,” I said.
I scanned the island, trying to feel for any predators. I felt a few out there in the water, but while the island held a variety of small creatures, I didn’t sense any major predators. There wasn’t any anger coming from them, either. Plus, there were some capable ass women on the boat. They could destroy almost anything they encountered.
I grabbed a spear and jumped off the boat onto the sand. The rain had lightened, but heavy drops still dripped from the trees above. One drop hit me in the face, and I looked up to see what looked like a squirrel running over the branches and hugging the tree.
I felt a simple creature with a curiosity. It bounced around the tree trunk until it was out of my view.
Kara landed next, with an ax in hand. Right behind her, Benji landed with a bow and arrow at the ready. Eliza, the smallest of us, held two knives and looked as scary as anyone. Her braid whipped around as she scanned our surroundings.
“Okay,” I said, clearing my throat. “Let’s do a diamond formation. I’ll take point.”
“Sorry, I think I missed formation assignments,” Eliza said.
“You take the rear,” Benji said while she and Kara went to my sides.
“Okay,” Eliza said, looking back at the boat.
“Don’t get killed,” Aubrey yelled from the boat.
“Thanks,” Kara said, giving her a side-eye.
“Could they die?” Carmen asked.
“Are you kidding?” Cass said.
“These islands are about as dangerous as a momma bear with hungry cubs,” Emma said.
I walked into the forest, feeling the wet sand with my feet. Even in the dark, the white sands showed through the scattering of fallen branches and leaves.. The wave had done a cleaning over it like a bucket of water over a soapy car.
“You feel anything…you know, of the angry type?” Kara asked.
“Nothing dangerous…I think.”
“Well, that’s something,” Kara said.
The trees were nothing like what I’ve seen on the other islands. They had smooth, wide trunks at the bottom that rose up, thinning and breaking off into many branches. Large leaves spread out at the tips of the branches, giving the whole tree an umbrella look.
The forest floor held scattered bushes and patches of grass, giving spots of green against the white sands underneath. I sensed bugs in the bushes—a slug of some kind.
“What about you?” I asked, looking back to Eliza.
“Nothing that strong yet, but that could just mean we are going the right way.”
I tried not to blink as we walked deeper into the forest. The terrain went from a flat, sandy surface to a sloped, hard ground with a thin layer of what looked like moss covering most of it. It felt good under my bare feet and gave plenty of grip as the slope increased in angle.
The rain slowed to just a drizzle, and most of the rainfall now came from the last remnants falling from the trees in big drops. The heavy water slapped the forest floor, making for a constant pattering in the background.
“Further ahead,” Eliza said, and we kept moving up.
As we kept climbing, the easy hill turned into a slope that had us leaning forward with each step. The gir
ls' breathed harder as we hiked. I wondered how far we had gone and looked back. The tops of many of the trees were visible; we had to be over a hundred feet up now.
We pushed further up, and I began to wonder how big this island was.
A bush rustled nearby, and we all spun to see Shaya standing by it, holding up her hands.
“Jesus, Shaya,” Benji said. “I about blew you apart.”
“What is it?” I asked.
“I with you,” she said, pointing to her chest and then to me.
“I told you to stay on the boat,” I said.
She shook her head and pointed at me.
“I think she likes you,” Kara said.
“What she needs to do is listen to orders,” I said with a huff.
Shaya raised an eyebrow and pointed at her hand, right where the other girls had their JS tattoo and then shook her head.
“Oh shit, I think she just said you don’t own her,” Kara said with a laugh. “Not that you own me…well, actually, I’d like you to own me.”
“Kara!” Benji said.
“What? You two aren’t even married. Not really.”
“Oh, fuck you,” Benji said, showing Kara JS tattoo on her hand.
“Why did you say that?” I asked.
“You two…you know, haven’t gone all the way. Doesn’t that make it invalid?”
“What?” Eliza said. “I’ve had him in me. Does this mean I’m a higher-ranked wife?”
“Higher than Benji, I’d say,” Kara said with a smirk.
“I’m about to put in an arrow in your ass,” Benji said.
“I’m okay with some stuff in my ass,” Kara said and then started laughing. “Sorry, nearly dying gets me kind of giggly. I think Sherri and Aubrey are corrupting me. I’ll shut up now.”
Shaya watched the exchange with a big grin, showing those large, white teeth.
“Yeah, well, I’m going to…you know...with Jack, the next chance I get,” Benji said, obviously still holding onto some resentment.
“If you don’t, I swear I’m shoving his dick in you myself,” Kara said.
Eliza’s eyes were wide as she listened to the conversation. I couldn’t tell if she was horrified or amused.
“Shaya, don’t disobey me again,” I said. “Now, let’s keep moving. At least it stopped raining.”
Shaya looked down but didn’t acknowledge my order. I suspected she had no intention of listening to me, and I might have to discipline her if she kept it up.
“I won’t disobey you, Jack,” Benji said.
Kara rolled her eyes.
“It’s not much further,” Eliza said, looking up the hill.
We climbed up the hill until the trees stopped growing, and the moss-covered dirt turned into a rocky terrain that put a strain on even my feet. The moonlight peeking through the broken-up clouds, let us see the top of the hill. A large rock the size of a house stood at the top, jutting straight out of the ground. It had gray, sheer sides as if it carved to that shape. A patch of green moss sat on the top of it like a hat.
From this high up vantage point, the whole island could be seen. This hill finished at the edge of the island. The forest below wrapped around the bottom of it like a crescent moon. The whitewater waves rolled in in every direction, breaking up the black-looking water below. The wind gusted up here, and it felt good against my wet clothes.
I thought I felt something high above us. It felt small, maybe a bird taking flight after the storm. I reached to it but then it was gone.
“We need to reach the top,” Eliza said, putting a hand over her chest.
“What is it?” I asked, taking my attention back to the stone ahead.
“I don’t know. I’m just nervous about it.”
“If you’re nervous, then we all should be,” Benji said.
I led the way up the last hundred feet up to the rock wall. It was taller than I thought, twenty feet high and with no way to climb up the wet, slick surface. I walked around the edge of the massive rock and then stopped when I found the second evidence of man on these islands.
“Whoa,” Benji said and reached for the steel door.
I grabbed her hand, keeping her from making contact.
A recessed, black steel door stood like a decoration on the side of the stone cliff. It didn’t seem real, but I stepped closer to inspect it. The rivets, the arched top, and bottom gave it away for a ship's door, but where did it lead to?
“Should I open it?” I asked Eliza.
“I don’t think we have a choice,” Eliza said.
A handle sat halfway up the door. I reached it, touching the cold steel, and pushed it down.
“It’s locked,” I said.
“Okay, then, I guess we should go,” Benji spit out in a rush.
“There’s something important in there,” Eliza said.
“There’s something important out here.” Benji pointed at us dramatically. “I know you remember what we unleashed last time we started opening things up on these islands. It’s locked for a reason, and I’m getting a bad hooker’s intuition about this place.”
“Can you feel the mountain, tell us what’s inside it?” I asked.
Benji’s lips thinned, and she crossed her arms.
“Fine, but if I feel something fucking off down there, we aren’t opening shit.” She kneeled next to the door, still talking. “Going to open that door and next thing you know, some fucking crazy guy wants us to start typing in numbers or the worlds going to end, and you know Eliza would be all over that shit.”
I smiled, not as much for the Lost reference, but that Benji had such a dirty mouth when she got nervous or angry.
Benji put both hands on the ground next to the door and closed her eyes. We all watched her for the next minute as she took long, deep breaths. Then she opened her eyes, pulled her hands off the rock and wiped the dirt off of them.
“Well?” Kara said. “Is there something below us?”
“Yes, some kind of channel going down, and then there’s a few large chambers below.”
“I knew it,” Eliza said. “I bet the person is down there.”
“Well, I guess this is the island’s secret. A freaking door leading to an underground…lair?” Kara said.
“We need everyone up here. Shaya, can you go get the girls and bring them all back up this hill?” I asked.
Shaya nodded and rushed down the hill. For a sea person, she moved just as well on land.
“What now?” Eliza asked.
“While we wait, I’m going to see if I can’t find this person down there. I might be able to freeze them in place, just in case they aren’t very welcoming of visitors.”
I kneeled just as Benji did and put my hands on the ground. I reached down into the depths. There were predator fish down there. Not many, but they were aggressive and agitated. Then I felt something I had only felt once before on these islands—another man. I found him, and then he found me.
I jumped back, grabbing at my hands as if they had been shocked by the ground.
“What happened?” Eliza asked.
“There’s a man down there,” I said, staring at the door. “He…he spoke to me.”
“What did he say?” Kara asked.
“Come in.”
Chapter 11
All of us stood in a semi-circle next to the steel door.
“I can open up that thing like a can of soda,” Cass said.
“I don’t like this. These islands keep these things locked up for reasons,” Benji said.
“I’m kind of with Benji,” Carmen said. “Like that saying, let sleeping dogs lie and shit.”
“I don’t think Shaya wants to either,” Benji said.
Shaya shrugged.
“Maybe we should reconsider? I remember some bad shit coming out of the last thing we opened,” Kara said.
“Oh, come on you guys. There ain’t shit we can’t handle,” Sherri said. “I don’t care if Beelzebub comes out with his red ass farting fire, we�
��ll deal with it together. Did you assholes not see what we just did out there on the sea? We literally beat nature out there, and then fucking Cass here cut a damn shark in half while Benji…well, Benji, you blew a hole big enough to jump through in that other shark. Open the door, and whatever is behind it can just bring it.”
“I agree. Cass, open the door,” I said.
A few of the girls shifted around, but no one protested my order.
Cass went to the steel, hesitating as she neared it, as if it might shock her with an electrical charge if she touched it. With a few tentative movements, she touched the door with her middle finger, let out a breath, and slid the tips of her fingers over the smooth door until they rested on the handle. She closed her eyes as she grasped the steel, then a loud click sounded from inside the door. She opened her eyes, smiled, and pulled the door open.
“Nicely done,” I said.
All of us had weapons at the ready. I stared into the blackness beyond the door, expecting some unfelt thing to launch out from the darkness.
“If Gmork comes out of this thing, I’m running,” Benji said.
“Gmork?” Eliza asked.
“It’s from—” Benji began.
“The Neverending Story. The wolf that works with the Nothing,” I said.
“I can always count on you, Jack,” Benji said.
“That wolf gave me nightmares as a kid,” Kara said, staring at the blackness.
“I’ve never seen a wolf, and if it has you all nervous, I hope I never do,” Eliza said.
I stepped closer to the opening, keeping the spear tip well in front of me. A musty smell came from inside the cave—a wet, earthy kind of odor, like wood and plants rotting in water. I moved closer and saw the first stone steps leading down just behind the door.
“There’s steps. I’ll go first,” I said, ignoring the protests from the few.
Over the threshold, I stepped onto the first one and then the next. They were tall, steep steps with narrow landings in a pie shape. The stairs angled downward in a tight spiral. After a few steps, the darkness overtook the cave, and I had the feeling that I could fall right into an abyss if I weren’t careful. I rushed back to the doorway.
