Seal island revisited

Not sure if you will remeber but I told you a story about seal island. We were on holiday last year and went to visit the island in the photograph. I said it was once a manned lighthouse and that a few people could live on the island at a time. By the time we saw it there was no people, at least not officially.

As with many things, automation had taken over. I think these days every lighthouse is automated, saving money of course. The job would have had great views , at least until the storms got going. Also plenty of seals to watch, old and young. I think I told you that although the island had nobody living on it, that I saw a face in a window at the base of the lighthouse.

Officially the only people that go onto the island fix the massive lightbulb in the tower and check on the power supply. There are massive solar panels in the grounds, presumably they need a fair amount of cleaning. When we were being shown along one side there were seals all over the lower rocks, the grounds only seemed to have the odd seagull. Thinking back, it was perhaps a little odd that the grass seemed short and the buildings looked quite smart. Maybe the people that did the bulb also cut the grass.

The face I had seen was like the curtain twitcher you see on most streets, watching everything happening to fuel gossiping. We weren't close enough to see clearly but I remained convinced there was someone. The gates appeared locked and there were no boats , how did he get there?

The next stage was a few months later, when we got closer still. We hired a small speed boat and decided to head towards seal island again. We had been warned to keep away from the seals and don't land on the island. the seals got spooked easily and the landing stage was for maintaince crews only. As we neared the island we kept safely back as instructed. After a while we went around the far end of the island, towards the sea ward side. As went round the jagged rocks got less and so did the seals. Then we saw the landing stage, easily reached and hidden from view.

We looked at each other, looked at the stage and looked at each other again. The risk was other boats might bring tourists out and would see us. We decided if we went to the far side of the landing and tied the boats right by the island then it would be hidden. We would try and stick to the seaward side and try and keep out of side. We wanted to explore, we didnt plan any trouble and both laughed when my wife suggested we might see the face again.

The window was on the opposite side of the lighthouse to the one we were on. The wind was quite strong, birds were chatting and therefore we couldn't here much more. The thing that might have scared us off were the bird bones piled up in a clearing by the lighthouse. I put it down to some sort of animal that lived on the island, one that caught and eat birds. Maybe rats, maybe a fox had somehow got out here.

My wife didnt seem to bothered , so we carried on. The door we needed for the lighthouse was on the side the visitors saw from the boats. We had to proceed very quickly and quietly. If we spooked the seal they might also give us away. There were some well established trees near the door, we used them as a cover while looking for boats. Infact we saw one quite quickly, luckily it was heading inland. It must have arrived soon after us, hopefully it didnt see us.

When we decided it was safe we tried the front door. It was stiff and only seemed like a thin wood. Then again it wasnt designed to keep people out. The door eventually opened, the rsting hinges crying out as it did. For a light house it was quite dingy. There were windows letting some light in, they needed a decent window cleaner. We found ourself in the living quarters for the light house keepers that used to live here.

Our second clue was that although nobody was supposed to be here there was a degree of mess in the kitchen. Obviously they wanted outside tidy because of tourists, but why not do the full job. In the bedroom the bed remained, with a moth eaten blanket on top. The kitchen area smelt of some sort of food, a meaty smell possibly. The office space faced inland and could show us if we needed to hide from any boats.

We then went through to the tower that had the light at the top. I started to walk up the spiral stairs but my wife decided not to come, her fear of heights kicked in. I went round so many spirals I felt slightly dizzy. The top was clean and toady as that was the main bit getting maintained, obviously the glass around the lamp was spotlessly clean. It was also a prime location to check for boats, seeing 2 approaching I decided to warn my wife.

I called down but got no answer, it wasn't like she would wander off on her own. As I was eager to warn her I kept calling her name while wandering around the building. Getting slightly more worried I checked the grounds , looked on the area near the seals and anywhere else she could be. Then I saw a metal box , with a door on at the end of the garden. We hadn't seen it at first as it was on the opposite of the building to the way we went. Slightly strange was that the door appeared to be open by a few inches.

As I got closer I thought I heard some distant noises, obviously I couldn't tell if it was inside or on the rocks. As I dragged the door open I was suprised to see stairs going down into the island. My wife wouldn't normally go anywhere like this, then again if not here where was she.

I started to walk down the stairs, calling her name as I went. There was a smell of burning, which was obviously a worry. It appeared to be either a military base or possibly a bomb shelter. Though I didnt think the 4 minute warning would leave enough time to get here. There were some faint electric lights, letting me see where I was going. Then I felt pain and all the lights went out.

As I came too I first detected a cold floor, then a massive headache, then the smell of burning. As I slowly opened my eyes I saw my wife on the floor nearby. She was awake but looked groggy, she had probably had the same treatment as me. We spoke in quick whispers, checking how each was and how had we got there. As she had been caught in the main building this place was totally alien to her. I explained the bit I knew and then we decided to wait and see if the person who put us here would return.

We had our hands and legs tightly bound, there was no slack to exploit or sharp objects to use to escape. Then we heard foot steps slowly approaching our room. The door slowly opened and an old man shuffled in. If he was the one who had brought us here he must have some decent strength under his worn coat. He had a rain hat and the worn coats was like one seen in old films about sailors fighting through high seas. He didnt speak, put a plate of food in front of us and loosened the straps on our arms. He finished by saying" I will be outside, if you try and escape youwill be the next thing I cook."

We both nodded and looked at the food, I didn't mention the bird bones outside. The scraps of meat in the thick gravy could have been anything, I just hoped it was safe. After a while the man returned, with a long knife in one hand a bottle of water in the other. He allowed us to drink, then with the knife in his teeth he tied our hands again.

Sleep was nearly impossible, rescue equally impossible as we shouldn't have been there. We were on holiday and mobile phone signals were notoriously bad. If we didn't return in 10 days there then would be some worry, though still it was unlikely we would be found. Suddenly I remembered one thing that gave me hope, the boat owners. Surely they would quickly wonder where we had gone with their boat. We had mentioned looking at seal island so hopefully they would come looking.

Whether they would look underground was still unknown, but hopefully if we wrent found on the rest of the island they would find us here. I told my wife of my hope and that people would surely look for us. I didn't know how long we were unconscious but with the slight sleep I guessed a few hours. Surely the calvary would be here soon. Almost as son as I had told her the man returned, obviously after having the same thought.

He told us he could see the coast guard and some other boats approaching. He said we were well underground so don't bother shouting, if you do make noise we waved the knife by out throats. I tried the excuse you hear in the movies"just let us go, we promise we wount tell anyone"

He had obviously seen the same bad movies and just laughed. He told us that he had been a light house operator for many years, when the decision was made to automate everything he was told to leave. He decided he liked it here, liked being by the seals and could get food from the wildlfe. This confirmed we had probably eat seagull. He said he had no intention of leaving , so we would be staying put until dark at least, then he would decide what to do with us.

I realised as he didn't want to be caught, his decision would probably be to cook us. My wife obviously realised the same thing and started to sob. Sobs became howls of anguish as she thought of our fate. The man kept telling her to shut up, threatening her to stop making noise. He tried using the knife as a threat but even that didnt work. So instead he slashed at both her arms and chest, producing blood. That helped, satisfied he walked out. I tried to calm my wife and say rescue would come soon. She was surprisngly calm, then I knew why. Obviously making your heart beat faster meant more blood. Also she noticed that the blood that fell on the tape on her hands was starting to peel off. It was a long process but eventually she got the end in her teeth and started to untie her hands.

We heard the man approach, her hands were nearly free so she laid on her side and hid her wrists. The man was coming in with fresh tape and what looked like hoods, the knife ws again in his teeth. I made no indication of knowing my wife was nearly free and hoped she had an idea. Maybe grab the man, knock him over, hit him. That wasnt even close, as the man bent down by her she quickly sat up, her free hands grabbed the knife and the blade quickly went through his throat.

As he fell chocking to the floor she cut away the remains of our binds and we left our prison , slamming the door on the way out. We thought of jumping in the boat, saying we got lost and going back. unfortunatly we both looked like very poor butchers, we were covered in each others blood. I used my shirt to cover some of my wifes wounds and used hers to rip up and dress her arms.

We went to the the most overlooked area possible, luckily a boat was passing and saw us. Though we probably looked more like zombies than lost sailors. We went round to the landing stage and the boat approached. It tied off , tied out boat to its stern and we sailed to saftey. I was given the boats radio, i told the coastguard we needed medical help and police needed to go to the island.

The moral of the story was obviously to do as your told.