OCTOBER TERROR 2018 Short Story Award – Entry #22 “Ceres” by James Pack

Ceres, a fast, little schooner with an exciting history, received her first commission in 1807 as a merchant ship. With a compliment of forty, including the Captain, Mates, and seamen she made several trips across the Atlantic. The official manifests always listed her cargo as different types of food and drink but on occasion she had humans restrained within her to be sold into slavery. During the War of 1812, she transformed into a war ship but only encountered two battles with British vessels. After considerable damage, she returned to the sea, rebuilt, as a merchant vessel.

Ten years since her first commission, Ceres fell under the command of the privateer Captain Edward Pike. His own country called him a privateer while others named him a pirate. The truth, he took any job that would pay whether legitimate or other. He experienced more horrors of the sea than most other captains, but his skills would be tested after finding an abandoned ship in the middle of the Caribbean Sea.

     Captain Pike acted unusual compared to most captains. He chose a woman as his first officer, Ms. Maria Copeland. Years ago, some men fell prey to their primal urges with her on their ship.

“Step back or I’ll remove your little tool you’re so eager to use.” She said.

“And I’ll help her.” The first mate said.

That first mate became Captain Pike. Several crewman and sailors received the same threats. Even after her commission, many men would not take orders from a woman. Those defiant sailors learned Ms. Copeland always followed through with her promised threats. The current crew respected her as much as the Captain. She gave her respect in return.

Captain Pike called Ms. Copeland to his chambers as they approached the motionless vessel.

     “Arrange a boarding party with two men from our crew and a couple of our passengers. Have them look for supplies.” Captain Pike said.

     “Aye, Sir. Mr. Burn and Mr. Gibbs have a good rapport with the passengers.” She said.

     “Thank you, Ms. Copeland. And if the passengers complain, remind them we allowed them on board at lower than standard pay.” He said.

     “Aye, Sir.”

     Maria Copeland, nearly as tall as any man on the ship and twice as mean, spent many years earning her place on every ship she sailed. Captain Pike remained the only man to show her kindness. He saved her life on many sea voyages and she repaid the favor a few times. Mystery and secrecy surrounded the story of how Ms. Copeland and Captain Pike met.

     “He pulled me out of the ocean many years ago.”

     Ms. Copeland never said more. She would never turn down an opportunity to tell anyone about a past adventure, but she never spoke about her life before meeting Captain Pike. Many would ask but the Captain would always give the same answer.

     “Her life is her business and none of yours.”

     Most of their current crew sailed with them long enough to know not to pry into the past. They had heard many others try.

     “Won’t you tell us of the first adventure you and Ms. Copeland embarked on?”

     “You’re not to be fraternizing with the officers, boy.”

     “Mr. Burn. Mr. Gibbs. The Captain wants you to take a couple passengers and search the ship. See if anything can be salvaged.” Ms. Copeland said.

     “Aye, Ma’am.” Mr. Gibbs said.

     “I know two passengers who will help. They’re good men.” Mr. Burn said.

     Jimmy Gibbs sailed since he could climb onto a boat. As the ship’s Boatswain and Quartermaster, and as the oldest crew member, he knew every inch of the boat and how best to operate it.

     “Beggin’ your pardon Captain but a bowline knot is best to tie this off.”

     “Very good, Mr. Gibbs. See that it’s done.”

     “Aye, Sir.”

     Joseph Burn found freedom on the sea as a runaway slave. He always found work on ships as a skilled carpenter. Ship’s carpenters often became surgeons since they had the necessary tools, but Mr. Burn worked for a surgeon in his youth and knew more than the average seaman. His race prevented him for ever going to medical school, but the surgeon taught him well.

     “You may never be free Joseph, but you will be valuable to any man with these skills I’ve taught you. Do not waste them.”

     “Yes, Sir. I’ll help people no matter their color.”

     “Good Lad.”

     The surgeon died, and his family sold Mr. Burn. He did not see kindness again until he met Captain Pike years later.

Several Freedmen from Florida traveled on the ship and Mr. Burn had befriended them. If he asked he knew they would help search the abandoned ship.

     “George. Peter. I’d like to ask a favor.” Mr. Burn said.

     “Whatever it is, we’ll do it. You and your Captain helped us escape the war. We’re forever in your debt.” George said.

     “We need help searching the abandoned ship. You really don’t mind?”

     “Of course not. We owe you. I’d rather be dead than go back to that country.” Peter said.

“They call it the United States but we’re not all united.” George said.

     “On this ship we are united.” Mr. Burn said.

     They followed simple orders; search for the crew, search for food and water, and search for anything salvageable to be used for the ship. If still intact, they could tow the ship back to port.

     “I’ll check the hold for supplies. I’ll know better than you boys of what can be salvaged. Peter, check the Captain’s Cabin. George, check the Forecastle. Mr. Burn, with me.” Mr. Gibbs said.

     “Check the what?” George said.

     “Crew quarters. Front of the ship. That door.” Mr. Burn said.

     “Savvy?” Mr. Gibbs said.

     “Yes, Sir.” George and Peter said.

Mr. Gibbs and Mr. Burn climbed down the hatch to the hold. Mr. Burn lit a lantern hanging next to the hatch ladder.

     “What’s that smell? Rotting flesh?” Mr. Burn said.

     “All the barrels are empty. Another ship may have cleared it out.” Mr. Gibbs said.

     They walked towards the stern in the damp darkness. The smell grew stronger.

     “There’s your rotting flesh; human remains.” Mr. Gibbs said.

     Mostly skeletons lay around the hold, but some still had flesh rotting away.

     “See the chains. This was a slave ship. They must’ve starved to death. You think the crew abandoned the ship?” Mr. Burn said.

     “Let’s check the Captain’s Log.” Mr. Gibbs said.

     “AHH!”

     “That sounds like Peter.” Mr. Burn said.

     “What’s going on!?” George said.

     “Help me!”

     Peter stumbled out holding his neck. He struggled to Ceres wet with crimson.

     “What’s going on!?” Ms. Copeland said.

     “I don’t know.” Mr. Gibbs said.

     The rest of the crew huddled around Peter.

     “Were you attacked?”

Captain Pike pushed through the crowd to the bleeding man.

     “What happened?”

     “We don’t know. We were below deck, Sir. He was in the Captain’s Cabin.” Mr. Burn said.

     “Tell me who did this.” Captain Pike said.

     Peter struggled for words but only gasped for air. He fell, motionless as blood gurgled from his mouth.

     “Ms. Copeland.”

     “Aye, Sir.”

     “Have the body prepared. Allow those who desire to pay their respects then release it to the ocean. No one boards the other ship until I say.”

     “Aye, Sir.”

     “Mr. Gibbs. Mr. Burn. Was anything found in the hold?”

     “Only bodies, Sir.” Mr. Gibbs said.

     “Two from our crew and two from the passengers on watch all night. Make the arrangements, Mr. Gibbs.”

     “Aye, Sir.”

     Peter received a brief and solemn service. They tossed his body overboard as the Sun began to set.

     “I heard a ghost killed him and that’s why the old crew abandoned ship.” One passenger said.

     “No, he fell onto a broken board. I saw the gash in his neck.” George said.

     “He had bite marks on his neck.”

     “Oh, shut up, Sarah, you’re always sayin’ things that ain’t true.”

     “It’s true. I saw it. So, did she.”

     “I did.”

     “You’re both pulling my leg.” George said.

“All rifles and pistols are to be loaded and all swords and knives to be sharpened before supper.” Captain Pike said.

The passengers and crew grew anxious. Only Ms. Copeland and Captain Pike knew what evil lay ahead.

     “How many do you expect to lose, Sir.” Ms. Copeland said.

     “Most of the passengers I suspect. We have a solid crew. I think they’ll manage.” Captain Pike said.

     “How many do you think there are?”

     “One or two. Three if Peter rises tonight.”

     “He will.”

     “I know. He won’t understand what’s happening. I doubt he’ll remember dying. Wake me when it starts.”

     “Aye, Sir. I put your sword by the bedside.”

     “Thank you, Maria. Stay alive.”

     “I always do. I fought these things long before you found me.”

     Several uneventful hours passed. The night watchers took two-hour shifts. With so few crew members, even John the cook had a shift. John, a stocky short man with more hair on his arms than his head, held watch with Samuel Ford, a young boy with only a few months experience at sea.

     “John. You see where them passengers on watch are?” Samuel said.

     “They might’ve gone back to their bunks.”

     “I just come from the forecastle. They ain’t there.”

     “The next watch starts soon. Let’s wake ‘em now and we’ll all search the ship. Keep your head about you, boy.”

     “You think it some killer what make them go missing?”

     “I don’t know, but it don’t feel right.”

     They woke the next passengers for watch, then Ms. Copeland and Ms. Flora Baker, the ship’s main rigger.

     “You sure have pretty hair Ms. Baker. You get it from yer mother or father?” Samuel said.

     “That’s a strange question this time of night. I get it from my mother. She was Cherokee. Never knew my father.”

     “How come?”

     “He was a nameless soldier who beat and raped my mother.”

     “I’m sorry, Miss. I didn’t know.”

     “Quit your flirtin’, boy. You help the passengers search the ship. Ms. Baker, will you wake the rest of the crew? I’ll speak to Ms. Copeland.”

     The ship creaked and swayed as they separated.

     “Ma’am, some of the passengers are missing.” John said.

     Ms. Copeland nodded and yawned.

     “I’ll wake the Captain. Ready the weapons and get all the passengers in the hold. Be ready to fight”

     “You know what’s out there, Ma’am?”

     “You’ll know soon enough. Get everyone to the hold. I’ll wake the Captain.”

     “Aye, Ma’am.” John said.

     Ms. Copeland knocked as she opened the Captain’s door.

     “You’re awake? Um, its starting, Sir.” She said.

     “Thank you, Maria. I’ll be out in a moment. It’s all right Peter. She’s gone. Come out from behind the curtains.”

     Peter, pale and perfused with sea water, emerged. His expression held both confusion and wonderment.

     “What do you last remember, Peter?” Captain Pike said.

     “I was searching the Captain’s Cabin of the abandoned ship when it happened.” Peter observed every item in the Captain Pike’s cabin, as if seeing everything for the first time.

     “I saw no one in the cabin. I first went to the desk piled with books. I saw the ship’s manifest and ledger. This information did not make sense to me, but I thought your quartermaster would find it interesting.”

Peter’s voice rang dream-like. He picked up a map of the Caribbean from Captain Pike’s desk and examined it.

     “I’ve seen many maps in my years including one of this region, but I swear this looks so new; different. Do you ever feel this way, Captain?”

     “What happened after you found the ledger?” Captain Pike said.

     “I found the Captain’s Log. It was last dated only two weeks ago. A Captain Henry Smith threw his small crew overboard for mutiny. He wrote they tied him up and slaughtered the passengers and other human cargo. The last line said he would surely die without food.

     “I then heard something moving in the closet. I thought it could be a rat. When I opened the door, there was nothing but old clothes. Decades old. I found this strange but turned to keep searching the room. Something grabbed me from behind and bit off a piece of my skin. I had never seen so much blood. I held my neck, but it was too late. So much blood. I stumbled out and back to the ship. So much blood.”

     “Who bit you, Peter?”

     “So much blood.”

     “Peter. Who bit you? Where is it now?”

     “Then I saw you standing over me. I can hear your heart beat, Captain.”

     Captain Pike stood from his bed with his cutlass in hand. Peter, facing away from him, still dreamily looking over the contents of Captain Pike’s desk.

     “So much blood. In your heart.”

     With a blink of his eyes, Peter stood next to the Captain with his hand on the Captain’s throat. Captain Pike thrust his cutlass into Peter’s torso. Peter released the Captain and stepped back. He examined the new hole in his stomach with wonder and amusement.

     “How strange this is. I don’t even feel it.” Peter said.

With a practiced and steady hand, Captain Pike cut off Peter’s head with one swing. The wonder fell from his face as Peter’s head rolled on the floor. Captain Pike inhaled deeply and collected himself. He heard the screams from outside his cabin as he finished dressing.

     “The past always comes back around.” He said.

     “CUT OFF THEIR HEADS!” Ms. Copeland said.

     Captain Pike stepped out onto the deck as the carnage began.

“The dead are rising.” Someone said.

“What are they?”

“VAMPIRES!” Ms. Copeland said.

Captain Pike never saw humans turned so quickly into demons of the night.

“Stay back to back, men. We fight to the last.” Ms. Copeland said.

“What of the Captain?”

“Do as he does!” Ms. Copeland said.

Ms. Copeland decapitated two creatures but dozens more waited on the other ship. An overzealous monster charged towards the Captain as he exited his cabin. Without breaking his stride, Captain Pike made one step to the right, pulled his right arm back, stepped forward towards the creature, and with one punch knocked the creature down to the deck. He continued walking towards the other ship as the cabin boy Samuel ran over and decapitated the unconscious creature.

     Captain Pike unsheathed his cutlass and drew his flintlock pistol. Two more monsters ran towards him. The first he shot in the face to slow it down. The second ran into his cutlass perfectly severing its head as Captain Pike flipped his pistol around grasping the barrel. The first creature pulled a sword and the Captain blocked it with his pistol, pulled the sword down, and cut off the first creature’s head.

     The crew followed the Captain to the other ship as the remaining monsters attacked. One remained motionless. Only the crew of the Ceres remained alive. The motionless creature viewed the bloodbath with a smile. He walked forward, and the other creatures stopped as he passed.

     “Captain Pike, I presume.” The creature said.

     “Who are you?”

     “Captain Henry Smith. We’ve never met but I’m familiar with your work with the mermaids. You live up to your reputation.”

     “What do you want, vampire?” Captain Pike said.

     “Food for us is hard to come by at sea. What we find we must ration. My former crew gave in to their cravings and depleted our reserves. I killed them all. I wish to offer you a proposition. You all fight well. You’re strong. Your lives will be spared if you agree to man our ship during the day while we sleep. You will also help me keep those I’ve turned in line.”

     “If you know me so well, then you know I’ll never agree to those terms. I don’t work for Hell spawns.” Captain Pike said.

     “Either you agree, or you die. You have no mermaids to help you now.”

     “Wrong!” Ms. Copeland said.

     “It is you Grizelda. I almost didn’t recognize you. Ha, what have you done to yourself?”

     “I don’t remember you.” She said.

     “I’m hurt, my dear. Perhaps you remember my former name. Grimwald.”

     Captain Pike and Ms. Copeland traded looks, faces white and pale. The other vampires laughed.

     “What will it be, Captain?” Grimwald said.

     “Are the barrels in place, Mr. Gibbs?” Captain Pike said.

     “Aye, Captain.”

     “The answer is still no, Monster! NOW!”
Mr. Gibbs fired a pistol at a barrel nearest the vampires. Filled with gunpowder, it exploded. Other barrels placed close by exploded from the chain reaction setting both ships on fire. The crew jumped off the ship and gathered on life boats stocked with supplies for a long voyage. The explosions distracted the vampires from stopping the crew. Grimwald shouted over the roaring flames.

     “I will have my vengeance, Grizelda. I will have the heads from your family!”

     The crew rowed off in two life boats. They had many questions for the Captain and Ms. Copeland, but none could muster the courage to ask. They all stared at the raging inferno. Their home would shortly be consumed by the sea.

     “She was a grand ship.” Mr. Gibbs said.

     “Aye.” John said.

     “No other ship be like her.” Samuel said.

     “You only been on the one ship.” Mr. Burn said.

     “And I’ll remember her forever. She was our home.”

     “We’ll get a new ship. Home is here on these boats. All of us. Even with all the secrets, we’ll have a home as long as we’re together.”

     “Well said, Ms. Baker.” Captain Pike said.

     The other ship sank into the sea before Ceres. She had no chance of defeating the fire, but she held on as long as she could. He final purpose; saving her crew, an honorable mission. She carried the vampires; those monsters, to their deaths. Grimwald made an escape on a piece of driftwood; one he could easily hide under during the day. The other creatures died in the flames as Ceres fell underneath the care of the sea. Of the many captains who commanded her in her adventurous and exciting life, Captain Pike took the most care. The Crew planned to build Ceres anew. Aided by Ms. Copeland’s former family, Ceres would rise from the ashes.

The End.

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Mar Garcia Founder of TBM - Horror Experts Horror Promoter. mar@tbmmarketing.link