Tidal Veil

December 18, the time of year I am mostly in my element. Silenced marine snow falls at the deep sea line as I leisurely lie aboard The Continual, my eye opening ship. My fishing rod sits leaned against the edge of my boat. The fishing line hangs down the side of the ship, meticulously awaiting for fish to bite down on the bait. The Continual nearly blends in with the snow as it falls out of the sky. The sun attempts to beam through the white sky, but the pale clouds above are too thick to move past.

The sea is the only place I feel at peace.

Traversal through these waters reminds me that I’m alive.

As my thoughts begin to slide through the slick sounds of waves wading by me, I start to feel a small ripple in the water. I open my eyes and see a strange deviation in the clouds above. A slight hue of magenta permeates from rays of the sky.

“What in the...”

I try to wrap my head around the odd happening, but it’s just something so unnatural, that it becomes inconceivable. The gloves of darkness begin to squeeze at the sky, as a hailstorm of rain slaps at my face.

I quickly rise to prepare the Continual for the unforeseeable downpour, but the water above is too strong.

My ship shifts side to side as Herculean waves punch at its side. 

Before I know it, a bolt of purple lightning plummets from the sky and strikes the side of the boat, tipping it over. As I fall laterally with it, my head slams into the edge of the hull, sending me into a watery slumber.

My weak, battered body flopped among a shore like a dying fish venting its gills for oxygen. Broken bottles and rocks scatter the sand. I try to stand, but my legs refuse to function the way they should. 

“Where the hell am I,” I ask the void, holding onto my cracked skull.

The vicinity is dark and purple, matching the sky and the bruise that probably masks my head. I crawl to my feet and quickly fall down to my hands. Suddenly, I hear the muffled hums ahead of me. I look up and see what seems to be a cave within a few feet away. Before I know it, my body moves toward it, following the music.

Stepping into the cave, the hums become louder. It sounds....feminine. I can’t quite understand why, but the sound beckons me.  I float through the dark cave, following the sensational sounds of the echoing orchestra. I stop at the sight of the singing perpetrator. 

It is a small woman. Her hair is long and silky. The moon’s light bleeds through a hole atop the ceiling of the cave. The light from it reflects off her blonde hair and light skin. Her body is submerged in waters that flood through the cave from the ominous ocean from outside. She continues to sing until her eyes open. She stares at me and smiles.

“Hello, stranger. I don’t get many visitors.”

“Visitors? Is this your home?”

“No, but it’s where I hide my shame.”

I look at her radiating frame and wonder what shame she could possibly have.

“What shame do you have? You have a beautiful voice.”

She smiles again.

“Oh stop it, you’re making me blush, mister.”

“So, why are you really here,” I ask her.

She sighs and looks up at me slowly.

“I...am different than you.”

“What do you mean?”

She swims toward to the edge of the cave pool and folds her arms, placing her head between them. 

“Can you promise me that you won’t run away?”

My throat caves in when swallowing spit at the thought of her question.

“I...I promise.”

She swims backwards and does a flip in the water. Her legs...they are spiraled and scaly. They appear to be...a fleshy fin. The fin is dark purple and light green. All my years as a fisherman have failed me. She is unlike anything I have ever seen before.

I stand idle.

“You think I’m disgusting,” she says with a puckered lip.

I throw my hands up in her defense.

“No, no, I have just never seen anything like this before is all.”

“So, do you think I’m beautiful?”

I stamper at the question. Is this sudden call for validation an entrapping inquiry?

But then I remember her voice. Every syllable that leaves her lips sounds like a melody. It was as if her words were practice for a larger tune in the making.

“Yes...you’re very beautiful.” The words loosely escape my mouth before I can even think of saying them.

She swims towards the edge of the pool again, closer to my feet.

“Oh, you’re far too kind, mister.”

She looks up at me, drawing circles in my left boot.

I quickly shake my head as if I was under a trance and pull my boot away.

“This place, this isn’t my home. My boat was destroyed and I ended up on this beach. I have to get back home.”

“Awwwww, you want to leave me behind so soon? I thought you liked me?”

“I-I, well I-“

She swims backwards slowly.

“It’s fine, mister. I understand, no one wants to keep me company here. If you must return to your home, maybe check the town past this cave. Someone there should be able to help you.”

I bend down eye level with her.

“No, it’s nothing like that, I just want to figure out what’s going on here. When I figure more things out, I promise I will come back,” I say with a smile.

She swims in a circle, like a dog running clockwise in excitement.

“You promise?”

“I promise.”

I walk past the pool where I see dark light spreading through the other side of the cave. 

“Wait...what is your name,” she asks me.

I stop in place and turn to her.

“It’s Jonah. Jonah Magnus.”

She smiles.

“A daring name for such a handsome man.” She extends her arm from the waters.

“My name is Scarlett.”

I shake her hand.

Her skin feels warm and soft like hand warming pouches one would use during winter. There’s not a single drop of water on her hands even though she is soaking in it. How is that possible?

Her eyes look through my body. It feels as though she is pulling me into the water with her and holding me close, with only a stare. 

When I release from her hand, the world around shifts back to the way it was before. She blows me a kiss and swims backwards on her back, as she stares up at the moon. 

I turn my back to her and walk towards the end of the cave. Rocks crunch under my feet like cracking tools rupturing a cooked crab’s shell. I grab the side of the cave exit and peek my head out like a curious tortoise. The exterior looks like something out of a horror film. Thick fog slithers through the air and the sky bares a purple hue much like the one from the storm. 

What the hell is this place?

I saunter through the small town without a soul in sight. The further I go into the town the more ethereal the concrete begins to look because of the thickness of the fog. The area appears to be a docking area . It reminded me of the small pubs found at the docks of Georgia. Even though nothing seems to be open, I see the meager glint of what appears to be a bar in the distance.

I trek through the fog stricken streets until I walk up to the doors of the bar.

“Fishermen’s place,” I read aloud, slowly.

I enter it and the smell of booze hits me like my ship during the capsize.

“Hey ya sir, how goes it?”

I see a skinny and tall white man that has minimal facial hair and worn overalls. He’s cleaning a shot glass with a tan rag that probably looks like it should be used to clean the latrines instead.

“...um hi,” I ask as a question.

I walk over to the bar and sit down at the booth in front of him. 

“I’m-“

“Lost?” He smiles.

“Who isn’t, my friend?”

I look at him with my right eyebrow raised.

“Look, my ship capsized where I’m from in Denmark and I ended up here. I just need to know how I can get back home.”

“Home? This is home. You wake up and it never ends.”

I turn around to see an older individual. His face is worn and ragged. His facial hair masks his face like a forest. 

“Oh, don’t mind him. He’s here everyday.”

I turn back around to the bartender.

“But what is he talking about?”

“He’s just a drunkard.”

“You ride the waters, but the time rides you. You’ll never leave.”

“What? Who are you,” I ask him, leaving the booth and walking towards his table.

“We’re the same,” he says after drinking a large glass.

“All of this is-“

“Hey, you said that you were trying to get back home, right?”

I turn my attention back to the bartender.

“Yes, of course.”

“Well, the docks down the road may be what you’re looking for.” 

“How? Is there someone there that can help me?”

“Quite possibly, this is a town built for the sea.”

Everything here is as questionable as it gets, but I’m left with no choice. I have to get back home.

I leave the bar and begin to head Northbound based off what the bartender said. 

It’s a ghost town.

The fog follows me wherever I go in the streets. 

Stalking me.

I pick up my pace to out run the coldness of the air. I finally arrive at the docks and without surprise, it is empty. The only thing I find are vacant boats haunting the docks. I walk along the vessels until there’s a chilling discovery...my boat sits on the waters.

The continual.

It appears to be untouched despite the storm before. I run my cold fingers along the boat. 

No scratches.

No blemishes.

How could this even be possible? What is this, really?

Regardless of how it got here, I have an out and that is all that matters. As soon as I step one foot on the boat, something like a like a light switch goes off in my head. I suddenly hear the soft hums of the woman from earlier in my ears.

Scarlett.

I told her that I would be back for her and now that I’ve found my boat, I should let her know. I wouldn’t have found this if it weren’t for her after all. I steer towards the cave that introduced me to the town and jump unto the shore.

The sky suddenly begins to growl. Dark clouds form and the beach soon muddies with rain.

My feet brush against the soggy sand as I follow the music of her voice.

“Scarlett, I have found my boat and I just wanted to thank you.”

Her singing stops and she looks me in the eyes. 

“Have you come back for me?”

“Yes, I told you I would.”

I smile.

“Do you need help out of the wa-“ I trip over a rock in the cave and fall forward. The wall in front of me collapses.

A dart of lighting flashes overhead and lights up the dark cave. I look in front of me and see...skulls. 

Human in shape.

I stand up, startled.

“Wha- what are these?”

I hear snickering behind me.

“You were so handsome too. It’s a shame, really.”

I turn around and see her swimming towards me with thirst in her eyes. The flickering of the lightning pierces her dark colored eyes, causing them to appear glowing. 

“What are you talking about?”

“This may seem like it’s where your story ends, Jonah. But this may be the beginning.”

“What is going on,” I hear, as my echoed scream fills the cave.

Water begins to flood the cave, filling up to my throat. Other creatures like her begin swimming into the cave at great speeds toward me. 

They begin grabbing at my body, pulling at my flesh.

“You aren’t the first and you will not be the last,” she says while licking her lips.

Right as I feel my limbs being ripped from my body, I wake up.

Snow is falling around me and my fishing rod leaned against the boat. I look around myself, confused. 

Am I in Denmark again?

I get up, looking around my ship. But everything looks normal. It looks exactly how I left it. 

But how?

I hear water moving in front of my boat. It sounds different than the usual aquatic animal. I peer into the distance and see a fleshy fin flopping in the water.