When fingers of apprehension massaged Susan’s enthusiasm for what they were about to do, she glanced back at the mist swirling around the gated entrance they had passed through. Her previous alcohol-inspired eagerness to visit the mysterious island they had all heard about was waning rapidly. ‘An exciting adventure’ the boys had called it. But she had the feeling they should never have left the large luxury cruiser moored one hundred yards away and where her parents were deep in slumber in their plush cabin.
Susan turned her worried gaze back upon the unwelcoming island. “Are you sure this is such a good idea?” she asked, hoping her friends would come to their senses and turn the small boat around.
“Yeah, it will be fun,” replied Gary. He leapt from the boat with the bowline and fended the boat off to prevent it from ramming the jetty that creaked in protest with his every movement.
Penny gripped the side of the boat that rocked violently from Gary’s sloppy departure. “Don’t back out on me now, Sue. I only came because you convinced me it would be fun.”
“Yeah, well, now I’m here, fun is far from what I’m thinking it will be. Maybe we should turn back or wait in the boat while the boys go exploring.”
“Oh, come on, Sue. You’ve come this far so you might as well go a little farther, then you can brag to your friends back at college that you’ve been on the island. If we get a signal you can tweet a photo to make them all envious.” Ryan switched off the engine, threw Gary the stern line and smoothly stepped onto the jetty.
Still reluctant to step ashore, Susan gazed above the tree canopy and glimpsed ghostly shapes of the imaginative constructions born from the macabre and creative mind of their reclusive designer, Ezra Houghton.
Ryan held out a hand. “Well, are you two coming?”
Susan looked at Penny. “I’ll go if you do, but if you want to wait here,” she said hopefully, “I’ll stay as well.”
Penny’s eyes swept the shoreline; it looked creepy as hell. “I suppose we could go a little way, and if we don’t like it, run back to the boat as fast as our shapely legs can carry us.”
“That sounds like a plan I can handle.” Susan grabbed Ryan’s hand and let him help her disembark. As soon as her feet touched the jetty, he pulled her close and pressed his lips to hers.
Penny rolled her eyes. “Don’t worry about me. I’m fine climbing out on my own.”
Gary rushed forward to help, but as usual, arrived when he was no longer needed. Penny wobbled from the creaking jetty put in motion by Gary’s rushed enthusiasm and grabbed at his arm to stop from falling back into the boat.
“Sorry,” apologized Gary, guiltily.
Penny released her grip and smiled warmly. “No harm done, and your intentions were good.” She gazed along the jetty at the shore and sighed. “Let’s get this done before Susan and I come to our senses.”
Gary led them to the island.
Almost an hour later, Penny and Susan staggered through knee-deep undergrowth that seemed to wrap around their legs. Barbed vines reached out for them like monstrous tendrils, snagging their clothes and hair and scratching their skin. It was as if the island’s vegetation was trying to prevent them from leaving. Acutely aware of the terrible consequences a fall would bring, both fought to stay upright when they stumbled on uneven ground and rocks concealed beneath the thick vegetation.
Things, fast, heavy and vicious, crashed through the undergrowth behind them. Howls terrifying enough to instill fear into the bravest souls increased the girls’ terror to the verge of panic.
During Susan’s sprint across a clearing, she glimpsed moonlight reflecting off water through the trees. It had to be the shoreline. She glanced behind to check on Penny and wished she hadn’t. It wasn’t the look of abject terror on her friend’s face mirroring her own, though that was reason enough, that prompted Susan her regret, the responsibility fell to the reason for their flight and fear. The word monster seemed to have been coined especially for the creature that leapt into the clearing and spurted for Penny with its jaw parted wide to receive her flesh. Before Susan’s warning had formed on her lips, the monster was upon her friend and knocked her to the ground. Susan turned away when another of the monstrosities appeared and growled at her. She knew if she lived through this, Penny’s terrified screams would haunt her for the rest of her life. There was nothing she could do for her friend now, she had her own life to save.
The beast’s pounding footsteps drew nearer. Though her panic pleaded with Susan to take the most direct route to the water, she dodged amongst the trees in the hope it would slow the vicious pursuer. She now knew some of the rumors associated with the island were true and they should never have set foot on it, but hindsight wouldn’t help her now. She aimed her mobile phone—as an essential part of her as a body part—behind her and clicked the take photograph icon in the desperate hope the bright light would affect the creature and slow it down.
Blinded by the sudden burst of bright light, the monster screeched and leapt to the side. It crashed into a tree and tumbled to the ground. When it regained its footing and its sight, it howled at its fleeing victim.
The glimpse of a wooden hut covered in moss and creepers gave Susan hope she might survive; it was one of the buildings they had passed earlier when they had first stepped ashore. She pictured the sign they had all read fixed between two buildings, WELCOME TO HORROR ISLAND, and underneath, a little smaller: YOUR SURVIVAL IS NOT GUARANTEED. They had made light of it at the time and had laughed; they were not laughing now.
At first, though creepy, their exploration of some of the island’s strange amusements were thrilling. Susan had begun to suspect the rumors of the deaths and missing people associated with the island had been exaggerated, if they had happened at all. That changed when Gary and Ryan had entered the gaping mouth of the monster that formed the entrance of the Ghost Train ride. Though Penny’s and her own bravado had increased, it hadn’t reached the point that it would coax them to enter the foreboding darkness of the tunnel. They had remained outside and watched the boys’ flashlight beams grow distant before they disappeared. Their screams that shortly followed had startled them, but Susan had rolled her eyes at Penny. Both thought the boys were playing about and trying to scare them. However, when they had aimed their flashlights at the thumping footsteps echoing from the ghost train entrance and saw the glowing eyes of the monstrosities rushing along the tunnel, they knew the boys’ screams had been real and both were probably dead. The blood dripping from the approaching jaws was all the confirmation they needed. They had fled.
A short dash past the hut brought Susan to the jetty and the boat a short distance away. If she could reach it, she would survive. As adrenaline powered her desperate sprint along the jetty, she worked out what she had to do to get the boat moving and escape the monster chasing her.
Untie the ropes.
Push boat away and jump in.
Switch on engine and full throttle it to safety.
She could do this.
She would tell her parents what had happened.
Dad would know what to do.
She reached the gnarled wooden post the stern-line was tied to. A yank of the hanging end released the knot. Thumps shook the jetty. Susan forced herself not to look at what was coming in fear she would panic. If she panicked, she would die. The bowline wouldn’t release like the first. Gary had tied a different knot. She didn’t waste what little time she had untying it but slipped it off the post. The thumping footsteps grew louder, nearer. Susan silently screamed at her senses to remain calm as she gripped the side of the boat, shoved away hard and jumped in. She almost tripped on landing when the boat tipped and rolled from her clumsy boarding. Grabbing the back of the pilot seat kept her upright. She turned the key as she sat in the chair. The engine started. Thumping footsteps shaking the jetty were almost upon her. She slammed the throttle forward to its limit. The bow rose as power spun the propeller and shot it away from the jetty. The footsteps ceased. She had done it. She was safe.