Coffin Island (11 page)

However I was already contemplating my
revolt from whatever was out over the horizon. I figured that I
could strangle whatever creature had the audacity to try to
purchase me. What a hideous world that we live in. You can actually
buy a human even on a theoretical platform. How revolting. It helps
explain why slaves are prone to revolt. They find the situation
revolting. I was going to revolt with appalling violence. That was
the handle on Doctor Fast.

However Doctor Fast kind of took the
wind out of the sails. The silver hull looked like a scalpel
floating on the ocean. The mast looked like a needle piercing the
sky. The sails looked like a shroud for the wind. Doctor Fast
appeared like it was constructed to perform medical experiments on
the wind.

I could see why The Wind People were
taking offense to this craft. It was an affront to the wind on top
of its base insults to its enslaved passengers. Clearly you can’t
win all the races on the emerald ocean. You’re bound to upset the
wind with your total arrogance even if it’s been earned somehow.
Perhaps it was just thieved as the footnote on the back of the ship
suggested. How do you like your slave ship thus far? Let’s just say
that I was a bit miffed all around. I tugged my shackles and cursed
witchcraft.

I was going to sail this ship in
shackles though. There wasn’t a force great enough to stop me. It
was just going to have to kill me. That was the chilly vibe on the
deck of Dr. Fast.

Welcome aboard mate. I’m going to sail
this ship right down to hell. Or die trying. I don’t care that it’s
a slave ship or that I’m a slave on it. We’re sailing the hell out
of here.

Madison had somehow wrenched the sails
from The Wind People. The weather was suddenly disturbing still.
What happened to the storm? Did someone just pull the plug on it
again? Was this something to be concerned about? Was this just yet
another lull in the storm before the typhoon?

The sails were truly monstrous. I was
doing a bit of the old boasting back there to get my courage up.
However the sails were beginning to frighten me a bit because of
their sheer enormity. I was going to sail on this? I don’t know if
I am ready for this.

I suppose the shackles were like a type
of safety precaution. They were just a necessary caution for the
safety of the passengers a bit like handcuffs. They’re just on you
for your own safety and the safety of others. Although in this
instance we don’t know who the others are because it isn’t going to
reveal itself.

Dr. Fast was truly horrific. There were
chains everywhere. And they were moving around like snakes. There
was also all that screaming below deck. Only a demon could have
created it. What to make of a demon with a death wish. Aren’t you
supposed to want to live, demon? Why do you want to die again? Or
is it my soul that you’re after? That’s the ticket right there.
We’ll just savor the thought that something thinks highly enough of
your soul to want to steal it. That’s a good soul you’ve got. We
aim to pluck it out.

However the remaining stitches were
cheerily rigging the ship. They were singing sea shanties while
they worked. The stitches were so stupid that they were apparently
below the purview of the shackles. Maybe the sails weren’t that bad
after all. They were gentle giants. They weren’t going to take you
on the sail of your life from which there is no retrieval. Those
sails are nothing to worry about. If the idiots are content what
have you got to worry about? They’re only rigging your ship. It’s
only your survival that they’re in charge of. What’s the big
deal?

Chapter

The stitches also didn’t seem to notice
that most of their rank had been thrown into the emerald ocean by
The Wind People. They hadn’t noticed that most of their rank had
been devoured by primordial sharks with toothy digestive tracks
either. Nobody was doing anything to save the pirates that were
still in the emerald ocean including me. This did not alarm me. I
actually found myself enjoying all the gore now that I was at a
safe distance up on the poop deck in shackles. You’ve got to keep
all that blood and guts just beyond your doorstep. That war torn
parking lot that once was a country is wonderful as long as it
stays on the television. If it climbs out of the television and
grabs you by the throat then we’ve got a problem.

The limbs that were being thrown up
into the air like baby seals didn’t bother me at all out on the
emerald ocean. On the contrary, I was actually enjoying the
disembodied body parts. They were quite humorous actually because
they were formerly attached to the architects of all of this. This
debauched mess was entirely the fault of the pirates. They deserved
to be treated brutally even in death. Throw those severed limbs
around out there on the emerald ocean a bit. I approved
heartily.

I was also silently rooting for the
primeval sharks. That gruesome species had been victorious since
time immemorial. Why bet against the winners however hideous they
may be? What’s a swamp without some gators in it too? It’s a pond
for paddling. We can’t have that. We need our swamp to have some
brutality. Why not serve it up red hot. Put those steaming guts in
a skull. Pass me a spoon. Let’s not get squeamish here.

I was grateful that thought wasn’t a
crime in this world because I should be arrested for what I think.
I should be taken out back and shot. My thoughts were getting super
squirrelly. Witchcraft was manipulating them. I was absolutely
convinced of it. Then I would just forget about it. It was like I
was touching on something too sensitive. It wouldn’t allow me to
linger for too long. Fortunately there were more pressing and
constructive matters like watching Madison die.

“Don’t save them,” Madison
groaned.

Madison had been lying in a puddle of
her own blood for sometime. I had thought she was dead.

“I’m rooting for the opposition,” I
admitted. “I thought you were dead.”

“I was,” Madison groaned.

“Well,” I said. “I’m glad you’re
back.”

“The pirates tricked us,” Madison
groaned. “They nearly got me killed by The Wind People. They used
me as a decoy. Can you believe that?”

“What happened to The Wind People?” I
asked. “I’d like to speak with them with them now that they are
being more reasonable. I believe that I can reason with those
puffs. How do I go about having a word with the wind?”

“They’re coming back to finish us off,”
Madison groaned. “Give me a second to climb out of my
coffin.”

“By all means,” I said. “Take your
time.”

Madison was doing the snow angel on the
deck of Doctor Fast in her shackles. She possessed an incredible
amount of blood. She had somehow managed to stand up. There were
bloody footprints behind her that terminated in a massive pool of
blood. Madison had seemingly walked out of all her
blood.

Madison looked like a corpse on
exhibition in the funeral parlor yet somehow she wasn’t dead. Was I
the funeral director? Or did I just need to mercy kill her? This
world is downright troubling, I thought. I wanted to kill whoever
was in-charge of it brutally. That was about the only clear thought
that I had. Everything else in my mind was too dark and mysterious
to fathom. Witchcraft was filling my head with all sorts of chaos.
There is something to be said for how your surroundings can warp
you. All that butchery was really getting to me. It was making me
want to kill Madison.

However there was absolutely no way
that I was going to kill Madison. That was someone else’s thought.
Witchcraft was trying to trick me into that. I just beat that
thought back and told whoever was attempting to manipulate my mind
that I coming for them. I just kept banishing the witchcraft
thoughts from my mind to the best of my ability. I also started
claiming them as my own to be contrary and difficult. Then I would
just dismiss them as so much rubbish. I wasn’t letting witchcraft
get anymore credit. Whatever was trying to operate me wasn’t going
to get the satisfaction of controlling me anymore. I was running
myself from here on out even if something else was running me. You
can’t really work around that. Now can you? Get out of my mind
whoever you are. I won’t do your bidding. I’m actually going to
kill you before this little outing is over. That’s right. I’m
making a death threat to the occult and I’m going to follow
through. And stick a sock in it below deck or I’m coming down to
kill you too. Miraculously the screaming below deck
stopped.

“
Are you okay?” I
asked.

“
I have two feet in my
coffin literarily,” Madison groaned. “I’m climbing out right now.
I’m in the land of the dead. And witchcraft is trying to takeover
my thoughts. How do you think that I’m doing?”

“
It seems like there are
some pros and cons to your situation,” I said.

“
That about sums it up,”
Madison groaned. “I’m no longer dying. I’m coming back to life. But
this really hurts. Living like this makes you want to be dead.
There is also that whole troublesome creature trying to hijack my
thoughts. I want to kill that.”

“
I have one of those too,” I
said. “I’ve got it cordoned off in my mind sort of.”

“
I’m doing the same thing,”
Madison said.

“
How is it working?” I
asked.

“
Not so good,” Madison
said.

“
I refuse to give up,” I
said.

“
Why should we?” Madison
demanded.

Madison was retracing her bloody steps.
Her blood was reentering her body through her feet. Madison stepped
in the pond of blood. She groaned like she was taking a bullet. Her
blood flowed back into her like it was being pumped. Fascinating, I
thought. I might have to give dying a whirl in this world. I might
as well get as many experiences in before witchcraft finally
finishes me off.

“
Why didn’t you climb into
your coffin?” I asked. “Isn’t death and dying preferable if you
know that you’re going to be reborn in this world? It seems
redundant to fight it.”

“
I was up to my neck in it,”
Madison said. “Death had all but snuffed me out.”

“
Why did you climb out?” I
asked.

“
The emerald ocean makes you
suffer horribly,” Madison said. “It takes forever to climb into
your coffin. It took so long that I started to recover. It was
incredibly painful being stuck between life and death. I thought I
was going to lose my mind. I began climbing back towards life in
anger. I was clinging to revenge.”

“
Is that why those dead
pirates and mermaids are still out there in the emerald ocean?” I
asked.

“
They’re trying to climb
into their coffins,” Madison said. “They’re too damaged to recover.
The emerald ocean is making them suffer horribly. Thankfully their
cries are growing fainter now.”

“
I can’t hear anything,” I
said. “I wouldn’t mind hearing them suffer a bit.”

“
You need to be dying
yourself,” Madison shrugged.

“
They’re getting what they
deserve,” I said.

“
They are getting worse than
they deserve,” Madison said. “Their howls were terrible. I couldn’t
even enjoy them. Their misery haunted me. I haven’t felt pain of
any sort since I became a witch. It was terrible. All that regret
and misery was horrible.”

“
At least there is some
justice in this world,” I said.

“
The pirates were begging
for your forgiveness for trying to steal your ship,” Madison said.
“It’s apparently a hideous crime in this world. It’s a burning
offense.”

“
The mermaid said the same
thing,” I said. “But how can Doctor Fast be mine if I am in
shackles?”

“
They claim Doctor Fast
belongs to you,” Madison said. “You own the shackles and the whole
shooting match.”

“
This evil ship belongs to
me?” I asked.

“
You are magically fixed to
this ship,” Madison said. “That’s why they couldn’t steal it from
you.”

“
All of this is my fault
because I am magically attached to a ship that they tried to steal
from me?” I asked.

“
If you break into a house
and a vicious dog attacks you,” Madison said. “Is it the dog’s
fault?”

“
What were they trying to do
with Dr. Fast?” I asked.

“
They refuse to tell me,”
Madison said. “They say it’s too horrible to admit. They say the
doldrums have warped Professor Coffin’s mind but they are helpless
to defy him. He has a certain hold over them.”

“
We’ll get it out of
Professor Coffin,” I said.

“
He’ll just tell us if we
ask him,” Madison agreed.

“
He’s as crooked as they
come but at least he’s honest,” I said.

“
However you have to be very
careful with your questions,” Madison said. “Or he’ll just
lie.”

“
He probably views it as
being colorful,” I said.

“
He’s just a descriptive
guy,” Madison snorted.

There was no longer any blood on the
deck of my ship. I was starting to think of Doctor Fast as mine. It
was an incredible ship to behold. I was proud to be the owner of
such an evil craft. I was just trying to figure out if I wanted
Madison on it.