Death Came Through a Phantom Ship
The Sighting Is a Portent of Doom
In the age of electricity and oil...
It was a dark night and fog covered everything. There was an eerie, unnerving breeze flowing in from the west. The night air held a cruel atmosphere… it was silent. Not even the water sloshed beneath me. It was cool out, not exactly cold, and definitely not warm. I didn’t dare to move much for fear that if I did something would reach up out of the black abyss of liquid soil and tear me asunder to an inevitable death and a watery grave.
If I weren’t a man who knew the smell of death I would say that the salty smell of sea water on this night would have been it. The moonlight was more ominous than ever. Its ghostly light crept down through the thick fog from the sky as if it wanted to leave me in total darkness, but was unable to do so. The air was heavy, almost suffocating and the salty spray and smell of the water were not making anything better. My eyes and nose burned from the now obnoxious smell though I had been used to it. I had always for some reason found the smell to be calming, but on this night it was anything but that.
My tugboat plowed through the wave-less darkness cruising smoothly at thirteen knots on the black sea. I looked from the emptiness of the water to my radar. There was a strange object that had suddenly appeared in front of me. I glanced up but I could see nothing but the same open, dreary, cold sea. I tried several times to contact whatever was in front of me. Whatever it was, it appeared to be the size of a ship. I heard no response at first, but I suddenly started to receive rather hostile transmissions. There were voices cursing my name. What the hell is this? Witchcraft or have I gone mad?
The voices quieted to silence. What the...? I gasped suddenly seeing a dark silhouette ascend through the godlike mist and fog. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. As the object came closer I could recognize the image of an old deserted ship. I was aghast at the sight of the vessel sailing on this strange, dark night. It appeared like a black, floating cadaver in the midst of a vast darkness that was the equal to an endless abyss that was the sea beneath my boat. I looked closer; there was not one single man aboard, though I had heard those voices speaking my name. I took in the ship’s features more closely.
Her sails were torn, cloaking her like a cobwebbed widow posing against the sad nightmarish horizon. The ship was a marvel, as eerie and haunting as its presence was. Suddenly I realized the temperature was dropping. An ice cold wind wrapped itself around me like winter’s icy, cruel, claws. My great-grandfather’s clock that had been ticking fine moments ago had now stopped completely. A sudden shroud of fear encased and smothered me. The ship… the ghost ship was upon a funeral quest with a bird as black as the water circling hypnotically around its rocking, empty crow’s nest.
Fortunately enough for me the atrocious mystery set sail away from me. I had heard other sailors claim that other seamen had beheld a similar sight. The only problem with that was… most of those men had never told their own tail. Most had died a weird, unexplained death during fog-clad days and nights much like this one. The ship had vanished as suddenly as it had appeared. I didn’t know if I should be fearful of my encounter with the ghost vessel or not. Was it even really there?
It was a dark night and fog covered everything. There was an eerie, unnerving breeze flowing in from the west. The night air held a cruel atmosphere… it was silent. Not even the water sloshed beneath me. It was cool out, not exactly cold, and definitely not warm. I didn’t dare to move much for fear that if I did something would reach up out of the black abyss of liquid soil and tear me asunder to an inevitable death and a watery grave.
If I weren’t a man who knew the smell of death I would say that the salty smell of sea water on this night would have been it. The moonlight was more ominous than ever. Its ghostly light crept down through the thick fog from the sky as if it wanted to leave me in total darkness, but was unable to do so. The air was heavy, almost suffocating and the salty spray and smell of the water were not making anything better. My eyes and nose burned from the now obnoxious smell though I had been used to it. I had always for some reason found the smell to be calming, but on this night it was anything but that.
My tugboat plowed through the wave-less darkness cruising smoothly at thirteen knots on the black sea. I looked from the emptiness of the water to my radar. There was a strange object that had suddenly appeared in front of me. I glanced up but I could see nothing but the same open, dreary, cold sea. I tried several times to contact whatever was in front of me. Whatever it was, it appeared to be the size of a ship. I heard no response at first, but I suddenly started to receive rather hostile transmissions. There were voices cursing my name. What the hell is this? Witchcraft or have I gone mad?
The voices quieted to silence. What the...? I gasped suddenly seeing a dark silhouette ascend through the godlike mist and fog. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. As the object came closer I could recognize the image of an old deserted ship. I was aghast at the sight of the vessel sailing on this strange, dark night. It appeared like a black, floating cadaver in the midst of a vast darkness that was the equal to an endless abyss that was the sea beneath my boat. I looked closer; there was not one single man aboard, though I had heard those voices speaking my name. I took in the ship’s features more closely.
Her sails were torn, cloaking her like a cobwebbed widow posing against the sad nightmarish horizon. The ship was a marvel, as eerie and haunting as its presence was. Suddenly I realized the temperature was dropping. An ice cold wind wrapped itself around me like winter’s icy, cruel, claws. My great-grandfather’s clock that had been ticking fine moments ago had now stopped completely. A sudden shroud of fear encased and smothered me. The ship… the ghost ship was upon a funeral quest with a bird as black as the water circling hypnotically around its rocking, empty crow’s nest.
Fortunately enough for me the atrocious mystery set sail away from me. I had heard other sailors claim that other seamen had beheld a similar sight. The only problem with that was… most of those men had never told their own tail. Most had died a weird, unexplained death during fog-clad days and nights much like this one. The ship had vanished as suddenly as it had appeared. I didn’t know if I should be fearful of my encounter with the ghost vessel or not. Was it even really there?
♠ ♠ ♠
This is just a short story based on Charach Angren's song The sighting was a portent of doom. I may or may not continue it.