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Sunken labyrinth
Short story by Greg Mustafin
Dirty water. Thick aqua incognita covered by fog. The boat was crossing it without much enthusiasm. The bottom was getting wet and every 4-5 hours or so it was important to drain water from it. Without proper attention one could get to the deep within a matter of an hour.
A candle glimmed at a distance. They appear sometimes and none knows how. Well none knows much around. The sky is dark as a starless night, only a candle floating in the middle of vast waters, made some difference. I like to pick them, they don't last out of water for long, but the cheer the mood and give a nickel of heat.
The water grows from the horizon, no ends, no times. Just crossing. Sometimes there is stuff floating in the sea. Like the shovel i use as a paddle. You can't gather much, before your boat sinks, so i keep my shovel, a towel, some coins, which i can't identify. Don't know if these are unknown, or i simply forgot how coins were. An empty bottle which i keep tied to the side of the boat. It makes some noise to break the decaying silence. The void eats my noises with the dead-straight resolve, and real noises keep away the ones which are echoing in the mind.
Sometimes it rains. Tough luck, always dangerous. I hope someday i will find something to cover the boat from about. Sometimes i shiver at the though, that rain will catch me off guard in the sleep, and i will wake up under the water. Cold, suffocated, teared by the shear force of this place. So i never cover in sleep, so that i feel if it rains.
The candlelight came to an end. The darkness stepped to the eyes once more. The fog radiates some light, just a bit. But it's not the right kind of light. A dull strike reflected from the side of the boat and fled into the void. There was a piece of wood. A part of something, may be other boat. It was semi painted, with letters "A..CA..D..A" smeared all over it. I usually keep parts of wood, but this one i decided to sent into last voyage. Someone went down with other parts of this lumber...
When i find pieces of wood i always wonder how did they come to this state. It forces a thought that these waters are far from empty, and every second my boat is watched. Watched by some empty, dark and hungry eyes. Eyes which are not in hurry, eyes able to wait. There is someone there, i can feel it. Even now i can sense a glaze drilling the back of my head. A muffled chuckle, a teeth clench. Someone is waiting. And will be waiting as long as it takes, unless becomes bored enough to engage in direct confrontation.
At times like this i row like mad with my poor old shovel, until exhausted and well rested at the bottom of the boat. Watching the above soothes me a bit. It is clear that no one cares from there.
Assshhhh shh. There was it. A sound, it happens. I hear it over my dear bottle knocking. Shhh. Again, a whisper with no words, but all intentions. I flip a coin to decide if it is my imagination or my watchers decided to play a game of wits. The coin decided on its own. My hand slipped a bit and the coin jumped from the side and covered beneath the water. Only two of them left.
One coin has a strange face on it. It didn't keep much features over time, they got rubbed away. ShhhShhshhh. A movement. I've seen the water move, not in away it is supposed to move. I lay at the bottom with my eyes just above the side of the boat. I started to feel moist with my hand. The water squeezed in again. Time to distract myself with some routine. Take towel, absorb water, squeeze water outside the boat, repeat. Hairs tingle, hands tremble from the cold water. I've been cold for so long. And then it started again more persistent then ever. A whisper, then another joined in, and another, and more, more, more until the water started to tremble alike the quaking earth. Watcher were angry, they were tired of my struggle. I felt my ears bled, in whispers i heard cries and rageous shouts. Whispers demanded, they spoke in children voices and in the voices that of the old men. "Step into our grounds, tear your heart out, chew your tongue off, burn and freeze, crumble and sink, drink of us, taste void, see darkness, touch our souls". All that was covered in painful scratch across the voidful water.
And then it stopped. After some time i felt water again. The time must have passed for awhile, if it really bothered. I was stomped into my boat, covering suffered ears. The usual colors were shifted a bit, and i noticed another candlelight. In it's light became apparent, that my eyesight suffered as well. I felt dizzy, but happy. Overall pain cause adrenaline outbreak which erased constant uneasiness. I picked candle and put it on boat cape. This buddy will not last, but surely deliver some relief.
After i cleared boat from extra water for the thousandth time, i sat down to think. The light started to smolder. Means, it it not long till i am again left with darkness face to face. There was something in a distance. At first i couldn't understand what it was. It was simply hard to comprehend.
There was a person standing at the surface of water. It is incredibly impossible. I started to scream and call:"Hey! Excuse me!". Not much more to see. The person was not far, but the fog and darkness prevented me from see anything aside from general shape. The man was slender, standing with his feet a bit narrower then his shoulder wide. He was facing me with his back. And then i started to feel it again. From afar of my mind voice started screaming louder and louder:"Don't approach it. Leave, don't speak with it". But it was to late, i was ten meters from the person, when i heard:
- heeeeellooo. - the person spoke. The manner of speech was sweetish, kinda to the level, where it can irritate you.
- Hi, who are you? How are you standing like that? Is there an island here??
- Yeees, island it iiis. Took me ages to find it, but don't need to... - he stopped and flinched. Whole body flinched - don't need to, don't need to waaaaaandeeeer iiiin theeee niiiight, aw deeaar i am waaanderiing in the night.
- Ahem, ok. Look, there is lots of stuff around here, and you are the first person i've met,so...
- Do you mind stepping out of the boat?
- Excuse me, what?
- Step out of the boat. Join me on my island.
- Emm no thanks, but may be..
- Invite me in your boat then. - stranger flinched again. He was still facing the other side.
- Don't you turn to meet your guests? I think i'll pass the island where manners are forsaken.
- Do you mind stepping out of the boat? - flinch again. Flinch and noise. Scratching and whispering, like some cat grinding its claw on a metal tiles.
- Step out of the boat. Join me on my islaaaaaarrrghh - the person went from sweetish to full roar in an instant. - Iiiinviiiiiteee! ME! IN! yooouuuuur BOAT THEN!!! - And the he turned and gazed into my soul. I was looking into black oily eyes. There was no life, no island, and no person as a matter of fact. Just a first encounter with my watcher.
- Heeeelooooo! Do you mind steeeprrargh aouutrrr offf youur boat ARRRRR. - he calmed instantly and started his monotone song - Step into our grounds, tear your heart out, chew your tongue off, burn and freeze, crumble and sink, drink of us, taste void, see darkness, touch our souls.
I rowed back from a person, but he made several steps towards me and asked sweetly again:
- Do you mind stepping out of the boat? - eyes cutting in my mind. May be i should step out. - Heeeellooooo - the figure flinched again and stepped just to the border of the boat.
- Leave me alone! LEAVE - i was screaming my lungs at him, and then something switched in him. He jumped back ten meters and stood on his fours. Still gazing in my eyes, he started roaring. The recording he was translating mixed with wildly ranged sounds from savage animals to cries and laughter. He stomped his hands in the water, and dark splatter hit my face. I turned the boat and started rowing. I rowed ana rowed until all sound vanished. Was I safe? I don't know. I somewhere in a distance i heard singing: "don't need to waaaaaandeeeer iiiin theeee niiiight, aw deeaar i am waaanderiing in the night, this night iiiis youuung, aaand we siing at the top of our luuuungs, and weeee caaallll, aaall our friends to the doooor..." - this was when i tried to escape, waving with my paddle. It happened over and over for some time. Each time i felt black eyes consuming my boat. The whole water was nothing but eyelids.
Exhausted for many hours, i slowed down. The arms don't obey me, legs fell asleep. The next time i blink, my eyes won't open. I leaned back and collapsed.
---
I woke, from sudden stop. Boat clinched into something and it threw me forward and hit me into the deck. The boat got stuck in something. When i checked there was a lot of stuff floating around, garbage only at first glance. Broken timber, some details of unknown purpose, boxes. It never occurred to me, but the physics must've been shifted in this place, because some things just float around without sinking, others sink forever. The intricate workings of local physics were still generally secret to me. The laws of nature also demented as it always was night time with no stars. Like a heavily clouded sky in the distant nature, where no lamp mounted its pole.
I started recognizing noises in all this mess. At first i instantly threw myself at the bottom of the boat, but curiosity grew over me. The main reason for that is, that a noise this time was not menacing. It was something resembling of life, like a crunch of an old tree at a summer wind. A living noise, how about that. It captivated me, consumed my whole attention. Something to relate to in this mess.
I've heard it before. A subtle memory. A summer porch, wooden floor. The rain just gone by, and touched everything lightly. The sun is shining, and radiantly reflects through wet grass. The same sound comes from object near-by. A wooden box with polished wickerwork, several switches and an old display full of shivering lights. Radio. Old-style cranky, but well-mannered radio. And now it was here somewhere in a pile of nameless trash at the middle of vicious nowhere.
The was nothing on, just a sound in between stations. But it was enough. I pushed back slowly and started to navigate through floating garbage. There was a lot of burned wood, a plastic bag, something i could not identify, details of sort. Some things resembled broken skeletons of old ships. It took me awhile to get around this stuff, and finally the sound started to clear-up. It was no longer jammed by the water movements, it was somewhere at hand. A dim light broke through a wooden barricade of some old brooms and crates. It was there, all shine gone long ago, tired and brushed, but still working. What a sturdy thing.
It was several feet away. May be five or seven, a child's walk usually, but an impossible leap for someone who can not exit his boat. A nasty feeling came up to the throat. To leave something like this would be a damn loss, but t stretch over and grab it was a risky option. I hit the damned barricade with my shovel. No result. The shitty thing was well composed, stuff got stuck with each other pretty well. I was thinking it over really hard. At first i didn't even notice. The radio spoke. It was a faint whisper, a bit nervous:"Be quick... be quick... be quick quick quick...." - like a broken record it continued: " be quick... be quick... be quick.." - and then whisper switch to all-out clear speech, like the last desperate attempt to use remaining reserves: "They are coming, they don't sleep, they don't rest, the are coming after you. Be quick". Then it went back to scratchings and screechings.
The watchers, here again. Like an answer to my worries, someone's gaze started growing on me. They are closing in, they are near. I started punching the garbage furiously. Bashing and bashing, but before the nearest crate gave in, my boat started to drift away. In attempt to stop distance from raising, i grabbed the pile of trash. Naturally i stretched over the water, and my skin started to freeze. Like a thousand daggers, frost started to pinch my flesh. It happened just for an instant before i could pull myself with the boat, the time which crawled in my head was a ton slower.
Trembling now, i was desperate. That thing over there was an only human far cry, i've met on my tides. The face of the singing man came across my mind with black smoldering eyes. But now they were not abstract darkness, but corrupted water, filled with broken boats and corpses, corpses of adventurers, survivors, hopes and dreams. All sunk, with trash left on the surface. Trash and a precious wooden box. I made my mind.
For a brief i was catching balance standing in all height. I rarely do this in my boat. Then carefully i stepped on the nearest crate. It leaned back dangerously but not fully. And then i catched some kind of sticking rope and leaped. The time was short. I climbed over the first layer of garbage. It bounced again, just before i could see the box again. The motion pushed me forward, and i slipped, falling on my knees. At second glance the box is still there. I crawled, stood up and creeped towards it, minding every step. Treacherous wood danced below my steps, like it had it's own vicious mind. But at last i reached it. The touch of brushed timber, the smell of solid, but intricate mechanism. The technology you can depend on - that's what it was.
I hugged the thing and pulled it up with all my gut on the line. At first it resisted stubbornly, but soon started to give in. An then i felt a touch on my hand, a touch from the bottom of the radio. There near the water my skin was touch by alien presence: cold, dead, burning with hunger. At first as a light breeze it graced over my hand, softly and slowly. I pulled instantly and the box jumped from it's prison in my hands. In it's place was left a face, staring in my eyes.
- "RUN!!"- a shout from radio pulled me out of trance and I started moving backwards facing the new watcher. The face risen from black water, shook the wet hair upwards and then corrected it with a slim pale hand. The creature was still holding onto some trash, trying to bring itself up from the depths. It struggled and the only things written in it's eyes was hunger and pain. The creature growled and stared, it forced it's way up.
I turned my eyes on the floating surface. There is a split second of advantage. Carrying the radio squeezed some sweat out of me. The weight started to feel in the hands, the box corners ate their way in my skin. Suddenly the next step i made started to sunk me, treacherous wood could not hold me anymore. I threw the box in front of me and grabbed a pole, sticking out of water. My foot burned, clashed by frosty water. Before i could release it, i felt the freeze bite, chewing in my nerves. I screamed, cried and sobbed. The next moment my foot slipped and i started to fall, only to realize that i reached the boat. The radio was lying in the middle of the bottom. I hugged it and fell asleep.
---
- Hello, folks, it's your favorite captain speaking. What a swell night for a swim, isn't it? heh, just kidding. All nights are same in our hellhole. I've heard some shadows tried to stand on the water surface again. Come on, dead folk! You know Warden doesn't like it. For those of you found compasses floating around, try hitting south. South is a good choice usually. Not that it is warmer there, hehe.
- Tonight i have a guest here, so stay tuned, don't switch. Will tear through usual stuff, some dead movements, some survival tips, some joke for your entertainment . You know the drill. So who are you? Introduce yourself.
- Good night, Joe. Nice to meet you in flesh, or spirit, whatever. My name is Jake.
- Greetings, Jake. My pleasure. Tell us, Jake, what are your occupation right now?
- Hahhaha, very funny. Okay, i'll try to answer. You know i am dead, was dead for awhile now. So some usual stuff for dead folk - sailing, singing, keeping warm. You know it all, really.
- Oh don't be so grim about it! You are not the grim reaper, are you? Haha got you there, get out! Hahaha.
- So, Joe, as i was saying, being dead is ain't easy. A recent friend just told me stuff about ARCADIA....
- Wait, pal. Don't speak about this stuff. Don't spoil the mood.
- Oh, sorry. What i meant, these are dangerous times for our folk. We should stick together at least in small groups.
- The bigger your small group becomes, the easier it is for Warden to find it. So we'll just keep it the way it works, shall we? If you just stumbled on us folks, welcome to the all night show with Joe and our guest tonight is a freelancer Jake. Tell me, Jake, about your boat?
- Oh, a good thing, i upped it recently quite a bit. Repaired the breaks, polished the sides and of course a brand new radio, planted firmly in the seat.
- I am flattered, i am. Trouble tonight on your way here?
- Some shadows, not a big deal really. Seen some big stuff on the horizon, but i ain't coming near it.
- I've heard that folks seen something really big near the screaming edge, so if you passing alone there, don't make your stops there. Not safe, not safe at all.
- What i heard, is that a boat came from far north with a man frozen solid right in his boat. I am telling you, he did not even touch the water.
- Poor fellow, you heard him people, keep you course from far north. Well, then you think about it, don't go west or east as well. Tell me Jake, have you seen anything worthy floating around?
- Yeah, i just parted with a nice pair of knives, which i picked up at the Long Pass. Traded them for a sheet of paper and a pencil.
- Well, folks, i suppose we are forced to end on this light note. Keep your nose to the south, and may the water be calm and safe for you all. We will return in a while, just after little evasion maneuver. Wish us luck. Bye, Jake!
- Bye, Joe. It was nice to see you.
---
The voices were unfamiliar. They were certainly different from the one that guided me on the floating islands. It was more female, and these seemed coming from a sturdy sailors, who just met in the middle of the sea. It had some sweet radio show taste. I was still lost, but not alone anymore. Not looking around i was sitting in the boat and tortured the switches on the wooden box to pull some sound out of it. It seemed I either got out of range or the was some kind of silent hour. I decided to treat it as a bad sign in the future. Thoughts flowed quite slowly, since the adrenalin aftermath in the body, but questions and worries dulled a bit. In the state of apathy i forgot about my important routine.
At first i did not even sense the feet soaked in water. And there was quite a lot of water this time, it was cautiously creeping through breaches in the the wood, waiting to bite my boat hard. I was not angry or even exited. Tired i started to drain the water out, and it was a bit funnier then usual with accompaniment of the white noise. I was thinking about all kinds of stuff. My memory is vague, sailor skills lack, boat requires renovation. I felt silly for calling the creatures i encountered "watchers". What did these people on the radio said? Shadows? Were they referring to the same things? There was something about some kind of warden, and also stuff about being dead. I am dead. I died.
That made me a lot colder then usual. I am dead and will be forever trapped on the surface of this dark sea. Mystery solved, no memory needed. It would be pointless to remember anything now, outside deceiving myself with hollow feelings. Life is gone, only boat remains. May be i am not dead? Elaborate scam, friendly trick? A fellow is right about to step in drag me out of the boat on the fresh air and present me with a nice beer. Guess not today.
The radio spoke again, obviously, to cheer me up.
- Hi... Hi, there. - gentle voice, possibly the same i heard before - could you spare a few moments and pay some attention?
- Yes, i suppose i could.
- Good, my name is Persy, do you remember your name?
- Excuse me? - i was a bit frown off with this question.
- I asked, if you remember your name? Seriously, did I misspell something or are you deaf after recent adventure?
- So it was you there? - I was somewhat grateful, but also cautious. - Why did you help me?
- That's really unimportant now. I'll tell you tomorrow. I gather, you can not remember your name? - this person was not like the shadow i met, but still gave me some unpleasant vibes. - Look, what's important right now, is getting you somewhere near to the survivors fleets. Your memory is damaged, there is no real memory in-here. If you want to keep any last bits of your mind intact, try recording your thoughts.
- How long am i here? What is here?
- Hell, heaven, purgatory, how would i know? I didn't hold the candle to the creation of the universe. Man-up, i will need you to follow any kind of lights you will find on your way.
- Like floating candles?
- Yes candle lights are most common. If you find a torch or a flashlight, for christ sake, grip it like it's your last breath. This stuff scares off shadows. I hope you will not encounter anything else. - the voice shivered, the person gulped and continued - Keep your nose to the south, and may the water be calm and safe for you.
Persy was crudely interrupted, or was it his intention to end on this note. Anyway the channel changed. At first i thought that the radio went down. It was silent for awhile and i started to stare for any peck of light. Not really soon i realized that there is breathing in the air. Someone breathed hard and the sound came from the radio. Without moving my hand an inch i shifted my stare on the display. A few volts, which were illuminating the display, now were really weak. They struggled to keep some light. The breathing grew, inhale exhale, inhale exhale, a sniff, inhale exhale. Teeth touching with some pressure push into it, not a clash, but a slow gesture - a sign of building cold anger.
- Hello, folks! - It was Joe's voice, thank god. - What a swell night for a swim, isn't it? Swim. For those of you found compasses floating around, try hitting s-s-south, north. Try hitting north. Ssss north shhsh is a good choice usually. - strange, i thought south was local favorite choice. Doesn't really matter, i lack any kind of compass right now.
- Tonight i have a guest here, so stay tuned, don't s-s-s-switch. Will tear tear tear sssssshh through usual stuff.
So who are you? Introduce yourself.
No answer only breathing. Again inhale exhale, teeth screech.
- Greetings, Sshshshshssss. My pleasure. Tell us what are your occupation right now? - something wrong, my gut went nuts like at the time when i first met shadow.
- ............. shh shh........
- You are not the grim reaper, are you? Grim reaper are you? Grim reaper are you? - Another sound, like a nail grinding a wet timber surface. But this one did not come from the radio dynamics. It came from the water, from the bottom of the boat.
- Don't ssss....sss... Don't spoil the mood....
- Trouble TROUBLE!! tonight on your way heeeere? - a pair of nails giggly tapped at the bottom of the boat. The boat shaked a bit and the radio stopped. Only silence was it's tune now. I stared in the arrow pointing at 102 and asked:
- What do you want from me?
In the most calm and a bit tender voice the shadow answered:
- Food, mostly i want food. An heat. I want some heat too. - the voice was melancholic and even dull - Cold, it is very cold down here. I am afraid and starving. They watch me, every move, the wait at the forgotten ocean floor. Wait while i weaken. - I couldn't step in and interrupt it. The shadow continued in monotone voice
- Soon i will reach the floor and die... You can spare an arm, or a leg. You don't need two, do you? It is so warm out there i miss warmth the most. - the air around me was freezing, the wet and cold temperature grinded me for awhile now.
Alien hunger vibrated through my being.
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