SIRENS

The H.M.S. Harrington

The Pacific Ocean, 1715

Twenty Miles from Singapore

Lightning split across the blackened clouds of the night sky as the rain hammered down onto the decks of the ship, at the helm Captain Farris strained trying to hold onto the Harrington’s wheel as several of his men scrambled across the deck he roared loudly “Tie those sails up tightly or the storm will shred them!” members of the crew worked hard to tie up the sails on the masts as water cascade up and over the side of the ship.

Farris saw Malloy and Hawk on the deck trying to steady themselves with the harsh movement of the ship the rifles held tightly in their hands he shouted to the both of them “Lads! Keep to powder on those rifles dry and be on the lookout they could appear any moment!” Malloy looked up and nodded “Aye Sir!”. The two men remained alert but were on edge Malloy turned to Hawk “This is crazy Hawk” Hawk was looking in all directions but spoke with a calm tone “Just remember don’t hesitate to shoot” Hawk was always ready for action he lived in Samoa covered in tribal tattoos, six foot and two hundred and ninety-five pounds he knew how to handle himself in a fight, Malloy was not as big as his Native Pacific  counterpart but he was no runt either. The Harrington pitched down sharply from passing over a wave but was quickly met with a crash from the next one, lightning flashed followed the loud rumbling cracks of thunder but these were sounds that Farris was used to after decades on the seas but something amidst the maelstrom made his blood run cold, he turned to the left side of the ship and out to the almost mountain-sized waves where he could hear something, something singing.

Farris listened to the sound it was coming from all directions, a song with no words just a vocal melody it was beautiful, sad, haunting but most of all it was inhuman. Farris turned to the men “Damn it boys be ready…the fucking harlots are out there!” the crew stood panicked looking all around they had heard this sound before a few weeks ago, Malloy and Hawk moved to the centre of the deck to avoid the edges that was a way they took several of the men before. The ship creaked and groaned like it was ready to break apart from the strain of trying to keep it afloat, Farris’ arms ached holding the helm steady he spoke to himself “Come on get through this you old fucker, you are not going to be bested by them” he looked to his men who were struggling on the top deck “MALLOY! Those without weapons take them below and arm them now!” Malloy saluted “Yes captain!” Malloy took seven of the men below leaving the others who were armed with swords and harpoons, Farris shouted to Hawk “Hawk keep ready with that rifle!” Hawk kept watching his surroundings but replied with an “Aye captain!”.

Down below deck Malloy clambered down the steps and saw the rest of the crew bracing themselves on any surface trying to keep upright Malloy spoke sternly “Alright guys that fucking song is singing which means they won’t be far behind when it stops” the men looked to each other with fear in their eyes and muttering words of panic. Malloy need them to focus “Listen lads me, Hawk and the Captain have killed two of these things already, so if we stand up to them as a whole, we can kill a whole lot more ISN’T THAT RIGHT LADS?!” they let out a roaring cheer raising fists hard into the air Malloy did the same “That’s the spirit now grab whatever you can and if any of those bitches get down here don’t fucking hesitate to send them to hell!” the men cheered again with weapons ready as Malloy gave weapons to those from the upper deck.

As the spray from the waves rained down across the deck of the ship Farris saw on the port side a colossal wave over one hundred feet coming towards them “Shit” he turned the wheel and aimed directly for it otherwise the wave would flip the ship and Farris was determined not to make it easy for those things. The Harrington hit the wave head-on spraying water everywhere as it pitched upward the crew grabbed onto anything to steady themselves from the incline Farris' hands shook from holding the helm steady “Come on…you can do it” the sails carried the ship up the wave and eventually over the peak and swooped down the other side “Won’t be that fucking easy harlots!” but something caught his attention out on the middle of the deck was a woman.

The woman was wearing a white nightgown although from the all the spray from the ocean it was practically see-through, the crew were all looking at her in astonishment one for the fact she was incredibly beautiful and for the other reason of that she appeared from nowhere. One of the crew slowly approached her, when Farris saw him he bellowed loudly “Jarvis get the fuck away from her, she’s not real you pillock!” Jarvis was no longer listening to the Captain he wanted was the dark-haired beauty that stood near him, Farris yelled to Hawk “Hawk shoot her! Shoot her now!!!” Hawk nodded and readied the rifle but his aim was blocked by Jarvis “Dammit Jarvis!...Sir I don’t have a shot Jarvis is in the way!” he tried to move to the other side of the ship for a better shot but slipped on the soaked decking and slid across the width of the deck, he shifted his weight and landed his feet against the side rail and took from aim on his side. Jarvis was now in front of the woman who had a look of fear and confusion on her face, she looked at Jarvis right in the eyes “Why is it cold?” Jarvis stepped another foot closer “It’s alright you’re safe las” she questioned once more “Do you love me Jarvis?” the man stopped confused at how the woman knew his name, she smiled “Come with me Jarvis, down there we can be together” as she smiled Jarvis noticed the teeth, they were not human teeth long and sharp, there was a crack of gunfire and the woman fell backwards shrieking an unearthly howl.

Jarvis watched the woman writhing on the floor but it wasn’t the woman anymore, it’s long greenish-black tail coiled form the pain as a webbed clawed hand grasped at the wood to steady itself, its face was featureless except for soulless dead black eyes, gills along its neck and the mouth of long pointed teeth. The creature snarled and hissed at Jarvis he suddenly came to his senses Hawk shouted from behind “JARVIS MOVE!” but before Hawk could take another shot the creature lunged grabbing hold of its new victim and sank teeth into the soft flesh of his neck, Jarvis gargled blood as he was dragged away and tossed into the violent cascade of the sea by the creature. Farris cursed loudly then blared out orders to his men “Kill that fucking bitch!” the men opened fire as the creature shrieked and slid its body along the deck.

Malloy looked up the upper deck from below when the gunshots started, he knew what was happening “Alright here we go boys! Keep your eyes peeled” the men were ready but were also cautious, it was dark down in the lower decks so they could very little but those things could. As they wandered waiting for something to happen Malloy heard a voice coming behind him, he turned and saw his wife stood illuminated in the darkness “Daniel come to me” Malloy was dumbstruck “Meredith…what are you doing here?” Meredith held out here arms “Daniel please come to me” Malloy felt himself being drawn to her “It’s not safe here Darling” Meredith smiled warmly “It’s alright Daniel you’re safe with me here” Malloy began to feel that something wasn’t right, with a quick response he picked up his rifle and fired a wild shot that struck the creature right in the cut, it shrieked and fell backwards the shot alerted the men which saw Malloy standing over the shrieking beast, they charged loudly with swords and harpoons and began hacking and stabbing into the eel-like fish until it finally stopped moving. Malloy’s chest heaved he had never experienced the creature ‘lure’ before he felt in his heart that the vision of his wife was real, he looked to the group of men who all looked surprised at the slain creature Malloy gave them a nod “Cheers lads” they gestured their appreciation to their fellow crewman.

In the silence the crew suddenly heard noises coming from below, Malloy was curious “What is that?” another crewman walked over to the stairwell to the next deck “It’s coming from down there” Malloy wandered and was at the top of the stairs “Ok lads let’s check it might be another that slipped by us” the group proceeded down the stairs. Down in the dark was the middle gun deck were some of the cannons where kept, Malloy and the men couldn’t see anything all they could hear was the sound of the waves crashing against the hull and the wood creaking. As they began to spread out to search the darkness there was a shuffling coming from the bow end of the deck, the men stopped in their tracks but still swaying from the ship crashing through the ocean, Malloy loaded his rifle then took hold of the lantern “Hold here lads” his took his time with each step. He could still hear crash and cracks of gunfire from up top he whispered to himself “Sounds like quite the scuffle", stepping further along Malloy could hear the noise more clearly, it was on of the creatures, he was going to have to be quick and accurate to kill it others it would tear him apart before the men could get to it. Malloy gestured with the lantern preparing to toss it to light up what he needed to aim at, he threw the lantern as it sored through the air it shone the light on the long black fishtail that was slithering and twisting but something was different. The light from the lantern quickly showed that there was not just one but ten of the beasts, upon being seen they all recoiled and reared up shrieking and hissing at the prey that had stumbled upon them Malloy felt his blood go cold “FUCK!” he managed to quickly fire a shot as the beasts lunged forward for the attack.

Back on the deck, the men were not doing well either, the creature managed to get one of the crew and with its claws, it tore out his throat, Hawk took another shot and hit it clear in the shoulder as black blood sprayed into the air. Farris cheered at Hawk “Yes you beautiful man now finish her off!” amidst all the noise Farris heard hissing from his right behind him, he looked to see another one of the creatures creeping behind him he quickly took out his flintlock pistol “No you fucking don’t!” he fired hitting the sneaky bastard square in the left eye, it fell onto the deck behind him dead. Hawk took a knife from his belt and threw it at the creature that was still clinging to its wounded shoulder, the blade struck into the dark flesh causing the monster to panic clutching the wound to stop the blood gushing out, Hawk ran towards it and managed to avoid the flailing claws and pulled the knife from the things throat then proceeded to jab the knife into any part of its body splattering him with the black blood. The Captain saw another creature climbing over the starboard side of the ship he pointed “Starboard side, there’s one on the starboard side!” then men charged towards it and two managed to spear it with their harpoons, Farris took his second pistol and fired off a shot to one of the beasts that was climbing the steps up to the helm, the shot killed it but another one from behind landed on top of him knocking him from the ship’s wheel. Farris was pushed against the rail in front of the wheel he held it back but a maw of teeth gnashed close at him, he quickly pulled out his sword and plunged it into his assailants heart and he did it slowly, he wanted it to feel it “Die you ugly fucker!” the creature collapsed lifelessly, Farris turned away and looked out to the raging sea the wailing song had a new note and it was that shrieking noise. Out in the waves Farris saw a mass of the creatures breached in and out of the ways heading straight towards the ship “Dear God” there were hundreds of them some much larger than what they’ve seen, they began jumping over the side onto the deck and began ripping through the crew. Hawk was holding up he had traded the dagger for a sword and was cutting down anything that was getting too close, he managed to heave one up and other the side and down into the waters below however one managed to slip past him then clawed across his back Hawk growled in pain as blood-soaked his vest.

Farris saw that it was only him and Hawk on the deck, with more of those things swarming towards them there was no chance of them making out of this nightmare alive. So he was going to go out on his own terms and his was going to take out as many of those freakish sea beasts with him, the Captain jumped from the helm and landed on one of them and jammed his sword into a creature’s skull, Hawk helped him up to his feet “Hawk we need to get to the hold, I’m going to blow the ship and kill some of these things” Hawk nodded in agreement “Come on Captain!” the two of them managed to get to the stairs and went down into the lower deck closing and locking the hatch behind them but that wouldn’t hold those things back for long.

Down below Farris helped Hawk who was feeling weakened from the slash across his back “Come on big lad we need to get to the powder kegs” they went down into the middle gun deck and saw that the floors and walls were covered in a mixture of red and black blood and the scattered corpses of Malloy’s group. Farris winced at seeing his men dead “Jesus Christ” he knew every single one of their names and their lives back at home, Hawk looked around in the gloom “Any sign of Malloy?” both looked around but they couldn’t see any sign of Malloy, Farris grunted “Those unholy fish whores must have gotten him, come on let's scatter the chunks of them across the whole fucking ocean” they continued further down to the cargo hold to the powder stores.

They finally reached the powder stores and noticed that the door was locked Farris cursed “This wasn’t locked when the storm began” Hawk stood upright “Hang on Captain I’ll get it open” even with an injury Hawk readied himself. Shrieks and hisses could be heard all over the outside of the ship Farris looked to Hawk “We need to hurry that hatch won’t hold” Hawk slammed against the door twice then on the third attempt the door caved in, Hawk found Malloy passed out and cut up slumped up against one of the barrels “Captain it’s Malloy!” Farris came into the storeroom and crouched next to Malloy he leaned in and could still hear Malloy breathing “Christ he’s still alive” the two helped him out of the room and lay him against bulkhead “Come on Hawk we need to set up these barrels”. Hawk and Farris had to be quick they placed gunpowder barrels across most of the lower decks and attached to a long length of cannon fuse rope which the Captain had soaked in oil from a lantern, the plan was to wait for the creatures to come down to the cargo hold then ignite the powder and blow the ship and those demons back to hell.

With the powder trap ready Farris went over to Malloy who had woken up “Hey are you alright son?” Malloy gave a slight smile “Aye Captain…manage to kill to a few of those damned things” Farris smirked “Aye good work lad” Malloy winced from the pain “It’s a shame I couldn’t hold Meredith in my arms one last time” Farris shook his head “Nah Malloy you’re going to see your wife again, Hawk come over here!” Hawk stomped over to them Farris gestured at him “Help me get him up” they picked up Malloy who was able to stand on both legs “Are you able to climb Malloy?” Malloy nodded “Yes Captain I should be able to” Farris was relieved “Excellent because you two are getting out of here” Hawk was confused “What do you mean Captain?” Farris continued “You are going to go out by a gun port and climb alongside the ship to reach one of the lifeboats and hide in it until the ship blows the sound should scatter these things and give you chance to escape”.

Up in the upper gun deck, the three reached the furthest gun port near the stern of the ship, Hawk leaned out of the gun port and the coast was clear “I can see the boat it’s really close” Farris nodded alright you two get out of here, it’s not far to the mainland” Malloy didn’t want to leave the Captain behind “Sir we can’t leave you” Farris looked at him sternly “You can and you fucking will, get home to your wife lad and Hawk you take care of him” Hawk nodded “Aye Captain” Farris pointed to the port “Now go!” they both were hesitant but eventually clambered out the port and made their way up the side of the ship eventually reaching one of the lifeboats and covered themselves with a tarp to hide from the creatures that were infesting the ship.

The Captain didn’t have time to see them to safety when suddenly there was a large crash and the crack of wood from the hatch which was followed by shrieks and hisses, Farris ran passed the swirling mass of claws and teeth and headed back to the cargo hold. The creatures saw they prey running and crawled quickly in desperate pursuit of the man, the Captain ran as fast as he could nearly stumbling on a couple of steps but he be damned if those things were going to get a taste of him.

Farris barged down into the ship’s cargo he could hear the swarm of creatures slithering after him, he took his flintlock and ignites the soaked fuse rope as one of the creatures lunged for him “Burn you demonic fucks!” he shot the barrel of powder next to him and was engulfed in a ball of fire, the flame whizzed across the rope through the rooms and passed all the creatures that were flooding into all decks of the ships they reached all the barrels that had been placed. Explosions ripped through each deck of the ship killing all the creatures on board and even  splintered the hull on the starboard side of the Harrington wide open, the lifeboat fell from the ship and into the water Hawk and Malloy remand under the tarp to avoid being discovered. The Harrington when the rest of the barrels ignited caused a final explosion that destroyed the ship completely shattering it into nothing but tiny shards of wood, the force from the explosion seemed to startle all the creatures in the water causing them to dart off in the sea like they had never been there.

The lifeboat was left floating in the waves the rain had stopped and the storm was beginning to calm, Hawk and Malloy both came up from the tarp and Hawk took the oars and began to steer the lifeboat in the direction of the mainland which would take a day or two and hopefully to safety from what horrors lurk beneath the waves.

END