Welcome to the first short story of AZD Tales. Please enjoy.
Waves crested over the side of my raft, the sea growing more aggressive with every passing minute. Alone and lost at sea, I fear this is the end. It has been 3 days since the cruise ship I was relaxing on suddenly capsized. Before this I had never seen the ocean. I’m seeing plenty of it now. Too much in fact. The current pulled my lifeboat away from the wreckage as it was swallowed by the gaping maw of Poseidon. Now, I drift aimlessly, waiting for death, and watching the clouds above grow dark.
The sky opened up as the sun disappeared over the horizon, bringing a torrent of rain slamming down on me. The waves threw me every direction, trying their best to claim another victim. Lightning split the sky and thunder bellowed. As I cling to the raft for dear life, I pleaded to the Gods to spare me. All of the sudden, as fast as it had come, the rain slowed to a steady rain, the sea calming and rocking me gently.
As I drifted through the night, I listened to the world around me, the sounds of the sea acting as my lullaby. There was a strange sound though. I could hear a faint tapping all around me. It sounded as though fingernails were wrapping against the bottom of my raft. I lay still and focused on the noise, which seemed to start below me and wrap around to the sides of the boat as time went on. When all the sudden, the boat jerked wildly, almost throwing me over. My heart pounded in my ears as I pictured being thrown over and taken by a hungry shark. The tapping grew more intense, enveloping me. I looked around frantically, the lightning in the sky my only source of light. The ocean looked the color of blood, the rain painting me a similar color. As I looked around, The boat began to rock back and forth rhythmically. A strange whisper enveloped my senses, growing louder than the sound of the storm. I begged for this to stop.
I watched in horror as a bloody hand rose up and grasped my raft, then another, then more until I was surrounded. I could only sit there hopelessly as the hands were replaced by bloody heads and bodies that pulled themselves up, reaching at me. The whispers became words. They were all chanting it over and over again.
NO SALVATION…
NO SALVATION…
NO SALVATION…
The whispering grew more and more intense as they creeped closer and closer to me. I screamed and begged for them to go away, to leave me be. I asked what did they want? They grabbed and pulled at me. I was still screaming as I went over…
Now we float. We drift with the power of the sea, reliving our death, waiting for another lost soul to bring into our cold embrace. There is no salvation for me. Or for you.