Island Jumper 4

by M H Ryan

  I smiled. Kara didn’t have any hair that I could see across her amazing, smooth, skin.

  Benji hugged the sheet we’d taken from the storage room and looked pissed off as she stared at the ceiling.

  I hated that our first night, fully together, had to end like this. I was looking forward to going to bed with the girls, all of them nestled against me as we drifted to a different place in our dreams. The bastards up above took that away from us.

  “This is about as much bullshit as a politician at a fundraiser,” Emma said, looking at the smoking door. “What’s the plan, boss?”

  “Benji, I need you to open the hole in the wishing well, big enough to fit our bodies through. Then we’re going to swim out of here.”

  “Which hole we talking about?” Aubrey said, laughing, and when nobody joined in, she rolled her eyes. “So, this is what it feels like to bomb, Benji? Damn.”

  “Yeah, I can do it,” Benji said, glaring at Aubrey for a moment before turning her attention to the stone wall surrounding the water hole. “Emma, you got it in ya for another boost?”

  “Do dogs fart?” Emma said, holding Benji’s outstretched hand.

  Benji took a breath and closed her eyes. With her free hand, she touched the stone wall surrounding the water and leaned over it. At first, the glow from the well intensified, lighting up Benji and all her amazing assets. I knew that light, but it didn’t make sense.

  The floor vibrated, and a loud cracking sound came from all around us. The well went black, the glow blinking out, sending the room into complete darkness. I felt a hand grabbing mine. Carmen pulled herself against me, hugging my side.

  The floor vibrated, and the loud cracking sounds came from all around us. I looked up into the darkness, hoping the roof wasn’t going to cave in on us. The complete lack of sight sent the girls into gasps and shaking breaths. I took a deep breath and put complete trust in Benji.

  The sound stopped, and the glow from the well returned, soft at first, but growing in luminosity with each second until the whole room lit up enough to feel bright.

  “Okay,” Benji said, taking a deep breath. “That’s wide as I could make it.”

  “Damn,” Emma said, letting go of Benji’s hand. “That was like holding onto lightning. Benji, you are one scary-ass woman.”

  “Says the one with big arms and a spiked bat,” Benji said.

  The water in the well settled down and went back to where it was before.

  “How far do we have to swim?” I asked.

  “About fifty feet,” Benji said, looking nervously at the glowing water.

  “Okay, not bad.”

  “But I felt something down there. I don’t know what it was, but there is something that slipped from my fingers with I tried to move it. It’s in the tunnel—not blocking it, but there’s something there.”

  “Eliza?” I asked.

  She had a wild look on her face and blinked a few times before making eye contact with me.

  “Sorry, what?”

  I benched the conversation about her mom for another time, but it was all over her face. “Focus. Is this the best way out for us?”

  She closed her eyes and seemed to be struggling for the answer. “Yes, for most of us but, Jack…there’s something dangerous down there for you.”

  “Of course there is,” I said, putting my feelers out.

  There were a few bottom-dwelling critters near the entrance but nothing dangerous. After all that noise, the ones that could swim away, did. Good, because everything in the water seemed to want to kill us, and I needed the women to have a safe ending. It would be our luck to swim out of this well and right into a shark’s mouth. Out in the open waters, some of the girls would have little chance of surviving a vicious attack.

  Benji stared into the well next to me with a look of terror on her face.

  “You haven’t shown me much underwater swimming, Jack,” Benji said, her fingernails pressed against the stone wall.

  “Is there enough room for two people?”

  “No, I only had the strength to get it wide enough for one at a time.”

  Benji’s lack of swimming had been displayed the day I met her when I rescued her from falling off the Veronica. I waited too long to teach her to swim properly, and now we could be paying for it.

  “This rope,” Cass said, pulling it from her bikini bottom. “The first person down could use this rope, set it on the other side. Then everyone else could just pull themselves along the rope to get through. No swimming needed.”

  “Just pulling,” I said, staring at the rope in her hands. “That was the rope in the storage room, right?”

  “Yeah, the second we realized this bitch was burning down, we started grabbing stuff,” Cass said.

  “Like a ‘free’ sign at the swap meet,” Emma said, holding up a coffee mug and a can of beans.

  I smiled as I turned to see each of what the girls had taken. They took a few utensils, a plate, a pocket watch, a small pencil, some paper, and of course, a good-looking rope.

  I looked back at the door and the smoke was pouring in through the sides. The fire crackled and popped back in the house as the inferno destroyed everything around us.

  “Are we going to talk about the light?” Kara asked, looking into the glowing well.

  I knew that light. Most of us did. I was surprised they could live underwater, but it was the same, soft glow that was back in the Cave Island, with Danforth.

  “They’re the cave things, aren’t they?” Benji said, peering into the glowing water.

  Her voice caused them to fade with each word momentarily.

  “Wow,” Kara said. “I didn’t think I’d be seeing them again.”

  One of the girls coughed and then another. My eyes stung from the smoke in the room. We needed to hurry.

  “Hand me the rope,” I said. “Shaya, easy swim for you, right?”

  “Yes,” Shaya said in the darkness.

  Cass handed me the rope, and then I searched for Emma.

  “You think you can hold onto this end?”

  “With these arms? Please,” Emma said, flexing a rather impressive biceps.

  “Three tugs means to send the next person down. Be fast and just pull the rope,” I said.

  “What if she gets in trouble?” Benji said.

  “Just keep yanking the rope like crazy, and we’ll pull her back. But they’ll have to be hard yanks, not just tugs from you swimming. Got it, Shaya?”

  “Got it,” Shaya said, then grabbed the rope from my hands and jumped into the water with such grace, making the smallest splash.

  “Okay, great, quickness is a good thing right now,” I said.

  “Aye aye, Captain, good choice on Shaya,” Sherri said, saluting me.

  We all gathered around the well, with Emma behind us manning the rope. After only a few seconds, three strong tugs came from the rope.

  “I’ll go next. I can keep the baddies in the water away if needed,” I said. “Just stay low and below the smoke; it will fill the room from the top down.”

  I eased my way over the wall and dropped into the water. A chill went over me, but I acclimated to the water quicker than I thought. I looked up to the girls and all their pretty faces, staring down at me. I could have been the luckiest man in the world, about to be rescued by some hotness parade, but instead, I planned on pulling myself through a sea cave with glowing creatures attached to the walls.

  “Don’t stop for anything, Jack,” Eliza said. “It’s important.”

  “Okay, everyone move fast behind me,” I said, and took several deep breaths.

  On my final breath in, I plunged under the water, swimming down head first, gliding my hand on the rope and finding the tunnel leading to the ocean. The glowing creatures flickered and gave the whole cave a pulsating appearance as if the walls were alive. In a way, they were.

  I pulled myself along the rope, making sure to keep my body away from the sharp rocks all around me. Then I saw it. I slowed to
a stop to stare at it. It couldn’t be there, but it was.

  The same symbol that had been in Danforth’s cave was right there on the wall. The glowing creatures…were they connected to the seal? I turned to face it and then touched the lines of the engraving as my heart raced. Right then, I knew I wasn’t alone.

  Chapter 18

  Eliza punched me in the leg.

  Stunned, I let out some breath. The bubbles floated up over my face and to the ceiling above. The small woman glared at me with a raised first, ready to hit me again. I went back to the symbol that had drawn my attention in the first place.

  The lines…it had to mean something.

  The same kind of symbol that held the Anyck and now this. What was this? I was drawn to it, like a magnet pulled to metal. It had to be what Ben said was the Murrack. I felt something deep behind it. Not the same as when I felt the Anyck, but something… I don’t know… more human. It felt far away, as if it could have been all the way to the core of the earth, but it also felt just behind this symbol.

  Another hit to my leg and then a push as Eliza pulled on the rope, pulling herself and shoving me forward. I blinked, feeling the stinging salt water against my eyes, and realized that she was trying to save my life. I was under the water still. How long had I been there?

  My lungs ached, and the tunnel’s glow shimmered as I kicked off the wall, pulling myself along the rope. The dark end of the tunnel appeared, and I felt out there for any predators, but it seemed clear. Though, all I could feel were the creatures behind me, emitting their pulsating glow as Eliza and I moved through the water. If not for Eliza, I might have gone back to see what I could learn from it. It wanted something…

  She pushed me again, and both of us shot out from the tunnel and into the open ocean. The massive expanse of endless water around us felt overwhelming after being in that tunnel…how long was I in there? My eyes hurt, and my head ached. Shaya swam to us, grabbed my shirt and pulled me up toward the surface.

  I glanced down to see Eliza yank hard three times on the rope and push off the rocky ocean floor toward the surface.

  My head breached the water, and I took in a deep breath. Eliza came up right next to me a moment later.

  “What the hell?” Eliza shouted, punching me with a flurry of swings that sent water flying around us.

  Shaya pulled her back from me and looked as if she might throttle Eliza.

  “There was a symbol down there,” I said, breathing hard. “That’s crazy, right? The same one we saw in Danforth’s cave.”

  “Yeah, I know. And how did that turn out?” Eliza said and pulled from Shaya as if she wanted another go at me.

  “You came after me…” I said.

  “Yeah, when the rope stopped vibrating for a minute, I jumped in. I just knew something was wrong with you.” She tried to attack me again. “You could have died down there, you idiot.”

  “A minute? It was only a couple of seconds.”

  “No, no, it was way over a minute. You’re just lucky you can hold your breath that long. But I can’t, and if you do something like that again...”

  She tried to hit me again, but Shaya pulled her back.

  Sherri popped up near us, breathing hard and then coughing. “So much smoke. What the hell took you so long, Jack? That was like a ten-second swim with the rope.”

  “Freaking symbol down there tried to get him, and he was letting it! I about had to drag him through the tunnel.”

  Cass came to the surface just seconds behind Sherri.

  “I saw that down there. Oh, shit, do you think there’s another monster attached to that one?” Sherri asked.

  “Monster?” Cass said, swimming in a quick circle. “Where?”

  “No, we’re clear,” I said, scanning the area around us to make sure.

  A dozen or more Crultar were up on the hill. Their torch lights flickered against the trees and rocks. I felt their fear, their anger with an overtone of curiosity. Though, one stood out with supreme confidence in their mission. The leader.

  Aubrey emerged from the water and pulled her hair back. She looked around in a quick circle. “That was scary as fuck. Carmen is starting to freak out back there. She was next…but the smoke is getting too bad in there—”

  Kara emerged behind Aubrey, slapping her hands on the water and breathing hard, then coughing.

  “Shaya, can you go back and make sure they get through?” I asked.

  She nodded and dipped below the dark water. I looked down to see the faint glow of the tunnel entrance. It shimmered and deadened as Benji appeared. Her arms flailed at the water as if in a panic. Shaya grabbed hold of her and got her quickly to the surface.

  Benji coughed and spat out water. She flailed after Shaya, but the fish woman was gone in a moment, returning to the depths.

  I rushed to Benji, and she clawed at me like a cat in a bathtub, her wet body and arms wrapped around me in a tight clutch. She coughed and spit out seawater over my shoulder and sucked in quick breaths. Her bow was slung over her shoulder, holding a few arrows against her back.

  “I got you,” I said, looking down at the soft glow below.

  Benji laughed. “This is like the first day we met, right? My dumb ass falling off the boat and you rescuing me.”

  “Yeah, and we’re going to be okay this time as well.”

  I looked back up to the large hill above us. The rocky side was a near cliff leading to the top, where the entrance to Ben’s home, his prison, was. I didn’t see as many lights flickering, and I also felt the Crultar spreading over the island. Their mood had lightened. Maybe they thought they won for the night, that they had smoked us like a Thanksgiving turkey.

  The leader wasn’t as confident as before. I could barely sense him, as if he had gone into the cave. Perhaps he was looking at the eel aquarium and realizing that whoever got through that might be a tough foe.

  We are, you bastard, and soon, you’ll find out exactly how tough.

  “What took you so long? Eliza about lost her mind back there,” Benji asked, breathing hard into my neck.

  “Don’t get me started,” Eliza said.

  Shaya, Carmen, and Emma popped up altogether.

  Carmen held onto Shaya harder than Benji was gripping me. She cried into the woman’s shoulder, and Shaya patted the back of her head and looked over to me. I gave her a nod. I owed her one. Without Shaya, I think it would have turned out much different down there.

  “Is everyone okay?” I asked.

  They all confirmed that they were okay.

  “Good, because our raft is still on that island, and we need to get it back from those bastards that just tried to kill us.”

  Chapter 19

  We got to the beach and walked to the edge of the forest. The storm had moved on, but the waves were still large, crashing against the white sands. It gave us good sound cover, at least.

  I gazed into the forest, in the direction of the hill and the Crultar it held.

  “Wait here,” I whispered after I made sure all the girls were safely away from the water. “I’ll return when it’s clear.”

  “Don’t go alone,” Benji said, taking a step toward me.

  “They can’t hurt me. It will be safest if I go alone,” I said and pushed through the thick bushes leading into the forest before any protests could mount.

  I paused a few yards in again, making sure the Crultar weren’t near the girls or heading in their direction. If anything got near the girls, I could stop them dead. Not that the girls needed my help—together, they were a fierce fighting group on their own.

  The Crultar were moving back toward the hill now, and I could feel their growing fear, a sour mixture that I wanted to spit out, but I wasn’t after the scared ones. I wanted mister confident, their leader.

  I was sick of these islands, and tired of these creatures attacking us. Eventually, one of the girls was going to hurt or worse, even killed, and if that happened, I was afraid of what I might do, what I might become in my
wrath. I might blight all these islands to get to the one responsible. Just thinking about how they nearly cooked them in that bunker got my heart racing in anger.

  I hone in on the closest Crultar standing in the woods just a hundred feet ahead. I hide behind a tree trunk and spy on the soldier. He’s holding a spear and wearing nothing but a cloth over his genitals. A rearguard, supposed to be on the lookout for…me.

  Some dried leaves crunched under my step as I rounded the tree, and I felt the guard tense as he turned toward me. I slammed into his mind, grabbing his thoughts with force, intending to put him to sleep…but it went beyond just sleep.

  Blood spilled from the thing’s nose, and his inner light blinked out. He fell to the ground, dead.

  I didn’t even know I could do that.

  “Shit, sorry,” I whispered.

  Even though the Crultar man would have ended me, given a chance, I still felt terrible killing something when I didn’t have to.

  I picked up its spear, glad to have one back. I jogged past the body and toward the hill where most of them were. I felt them near the hill, in the clearing. They had mostly gathered back near the entrance. I wasn’t sure how to stop so many…

  “Going to kill them all?” an unfamiliar female voice said.

  I stopped and spun to the sound of the voice, but I didn’t feel the person.

  “Show yourself,” I said, holding the spear.

  “So you can kill me like you did that other?” Her voice had moved and seemed to be above me now.

  I searched the area above me with all my senses, but in the darkness, below the trees, the shadows moved with the breeze, and I couldn’t lock in on anything solid.

  “That was an accident,” I said.

  “I’m sure it was,” she said in a pouty voice. “A big strong man you like just gets angry sometimes, right?”

  “Who are you?” I said, keeping my eye on the hill.

  They hadn’t moved and were still up near the entrance. Whatever this was, it hadn’t alerted the others. I couldn’t help feeling this was a trap.

  “You know who I am. We have already met.”