The Remains

The sea was calm and Captain Hayes was relaxed as he took in the beautifully clear and sunny day. The last few days had been cloudy and unpleasant. The good turn in weather had lifted his spirits as well as the rest of his crew’s. They had been on the water for 40 some-odd days now, and they were grateful simply to be able to enjoy the good fortune in weather on their long journey to treasure cove.

All he had to worry about today was making sure his crew didn’t drink too much before taking care of their daily duties.

Even pirates had things that needed to be taken care of on a daily basis.

Hayes was making a mental checklist of the couple of things that he needed to complete when something on the horizon caught his eye.

“Redlock! Get up ‘ere!” Captain Hayes yelled for his first mate.

The large man was startled off the edge of the railing where he had been doing nothing but tilting a bottle of rum toward his fat face all afternoon. He waddled up the steps in a zig-zag pattern bouncing off of the railings slightly as he went. His belly hung over his oversized gold belt buckle and his dark black hair had fallen mostly out of place and in front of his face.

“Yesh Cap’n?” He asked with a slight slur.

“Cork the bottle and save it for later. There may be a ship to plunder up yonder.”

“Mmmm… where’s it?” First mate Redlock said as he swayed his way around in a circle.

“Just ahead on the port side.”

Redlock turned his attention to the right side. Hayes sighed and grabbed his drunken first-mate’s shoulders and turned him in the correct direction with a sigh.

“I said port side, ya’ drunken bastard.”

“There she blows.” Said the first-mate.

“Be a good boy and fetch the quartermaster and the rest of the crew. Tell them what we see and that we plan to board the ship. Looks like they aren’t movin’. They’ll be an easy target and then we'll be on our way.”

“Aye Cap’n.” Redlock said, and then just stood there swaying.

“Off ya’ go!” Yelled Captain Hayes with a kick to the back of the first mate. Nearly falling, Redlock managed to stay upright as he stumbled back down the stairs to gather the crew.

As they got close, the hairs on the back of Hayes’ neck rose. He considered changing his mind, but his greed for gold, and all things that glittered, kept him firm in his conviction to board and plunder.

They pulled up next to the ship with cannons and pistols ready in case they were in for a fight, but they found the top deck to be completely empty.

“Strange.” Captain Hayes said aloud.

“Maybe a lot of ‘em died off on their trek and they are resting down below.” Suggested Quartermaster Robins.

“Aye.” Seconded another crew member.

“Mayhaps.” the captain nodded in suspicious agreement.

His boots clicked as he walked across the deck and the anchor was lowered. He used his thumb to rotate the large ruby ring that he always wore on his index finger. It always brought him good fortune so he tended to tinker with it when he was thinking or got nervous. In this case, it was both.

At this point, they were settled right up next to the other boat, but still, their new discovery was eerily quiet. Captain Hayes was starting to wonder if anyone was on board in the first place.

“Ahoy there!” He yelled out.

No response. He continued to inspect the ship as his boatswain had the crew lower planks across to the other ship so that they could start across. The ship was in pretty poor condition. It looked as if it had maybe been through a few storms on its way to wherever it was going. Barnacles were growing on the bottom stretching up like the tendrils of some creature. This indicated an older ship that had been here for some time. There were gaping holes in random places that were assumed to be cannon blasts. Maybe they had been under attack after all Captain Hayes thought. Strange that they put the anchor down in the middle of the ocean. If anything, you would want to get to your destination sooner if the sea had taken its toll on your crew.

The main mast was cracked, several of the sails were severely torn. Even a couple of the riggings were barely hanging on to the ship. It was a wonder they had sailed at all.

“I’m not so sure about this captain,” Robins said. “It just seems wrong. Bad luck it is,” he said as he opened his flask and tipped it back to calm an obvious tremor in his hands and voice.

“Permission to go aboard cap’n?” Came the call from his boatswain.

He thought about saying no, but, “permission granted,” is what passed his lips. “Only ten of us will go. Myself and Robins included. Redlock! Keep your drunk arse out of trouble! Second mate Joe! You’re in charge of these fools until our return. Keep an eye out on these waters.”

“Aye cap!” Came the reply of his second-mate. Redlock was already fast asleep.

They went across and found the ship to be in even worse condition than they initially thought now that they could see it better up close.

“Looks like we weren’t the first to invade this ship, boys. Keep your wits about ya’.” Said Captain Hayes.

They scattered and looked throughout the ship for signs of life or anything of value. Seven of the crew members went below deck. Hayes, Robins, and their crewmate Jax remained on deck.

“This boat ain’t more than a heap of junk cap’.” Robins said with a glint of light hitting his gold tooth.

“Aye. And something ain’t quite right about it being here in the middle of the ocean in this condition.”

“Maybe we should gather the boys and press on?”

“Aye. Doubt there will be anythi…”

Captain Hayes was cut short by the screams of someone below deck. He whipped around and drew his pistol, preparing for the worst to come. The thud of their boots and the clanking of their jewelry as they headed to the stairs sounded like the cavalry. They slowed as they approached the stairway. Nothing lit the way down the staircase, and even in the light of day, they could only see down so far.

The Captain and his last two men looked at each other before they proceeded down the dark and musty staircase. It creaked and groaned under the weight of them all. The Captain felt his heart pounding in his chest. He couldn’t see at all and there was nothing but silence down below. Seven of his men were down here somewhere, but they weren’t making a sound.

Once they got to the bottom of the staircase they could see the faint flickering of light down a corridor to their left. In fact, the pathway to the right had been boarded up. Captain Hayes turned the corner and thought he saw someone at the end of the walkway just as it went out of view.

“Who’s there?”

There was no response as he rushed down the hall and followed what he thought he saw to the right, not noticing the streaks of blood on the wall to the left.

“Oy!” The captain cried out again, swearing that he just saw someone turn left down another corridor. The person he was chasing made a few quick turns down this labyrinth of a ship. At first, he had heard the calls of his crewmates behind him, but before he knew it, he was not only lost but was no longer seeing glimpses of the person that he could have sworn that he had been following.

Sweating and out of breath, he realized that he had gotten away from the rest of his crew, and he cried out, “Robins! Jax! Where are ya’?” He tried to follow his path out and realized that he no longer knew which way he had come from. Instead of replies, he heard rustling and creaking from the floorboards.

“Hello?” The panic in the captain’s voice was thick. He felt as though he had a cork stuck in his throat. He ran into a dead end and the panic really started to settle in. Sweat ran steadily down his face as he began hyperventilating.

Somewhere around the corner, he heard the faint sound of his name, “Captain Hayes.”

“Robins? Is that you?” The captain hissed hysterically.

Upon hearing movement, he resolved to follow it. He was unsure if he was going deeper into this maze, or if he would come to know daylight again. Oh how dearly he already missed the daylight. He followed the whispers until he entered a room lined with candles. The pattern of their flames danced with their shadows along the walls.

Scanning the room, the only thing in here apart from the candles and a desk was a large coffin that took up a large portion of the room. His heart raced in his chest and his grip tightened around the handle of his pistol. He approached the coffin slowly, curiosity getting the best of him. The engraving on the coffin read in bold letters:

The Remains of Count Drac

All of a sudden the heavy wooden door slammed shut behind him. He turned around to find a man taller than the door standing behind him. His skin was extremely pale, his eyes were solid red and veins were popping out of his skin all over his bare body. Before the captain could scream. His windpipe had been crushed by the monsters hands and his teeth had sunk deeply into the captain’s neck. In shock, the captain felt very little pain. Mostly, he felt tired. And soon, he thought he would just fall asleep. Before long his body was drained and thrown to the side.

The monster stood after using some of the pirate’s clothes to wipe the blood that had dripped down his chin and onto his chest. It had been ages since he had last had a meal. Even after devouring ten men, he felt as though he could consume a village. Lucky for him, there seemed to be more footsteps coming down the staircase.