Beauty's Beast Page 6

  A cheer went up from the crew as they dashed to get the jolly boats lowered.

  "Hugos," Beauty said. "Are you going to shore?"

  "I don’t see why not. After that wave I need a drink or twenty."

  Beauty laughed and walked to join Amina in a jolly being lowered. It would be nice to have fresh meat and water. When they landed on shore Beauty watched the air shimmer for just a second. She could have sworn it showed a night sky. That was impossible and she brushed it away. Somewhere on this island was another piece of the map she so desperately needed. She watched as a few of her crew started up the embankment to the village.

  "Hi, my name is Star. Welcome to our home where all your dreams can come true."

  Beauty started as the group of women seemed to appear. They were all wearing colorful dress and their long skirts swirled around their ankles. Beauty's eyes started to close and her head grew heavy. "Where did you come from?" she asked.

  "We walked here," Star touched her arm. "You saw us."

  Beauty nodded as she remembered. "Yes, I did."

  "Follow me. Today is your lucky day. We have prepared a feast for our chief."

  Beauty nodded and watched as her crew were lead up the bank to the village. All misgivings evaporated as she saw the party going on. Men, women and children were dancing and singing in the streets. A long table, laden with food, was the center focus. The smell caused her stomach to grumble.

  "Please, eat." Star smiled. "There's enough to go around."

  One second Beauty was standing and the next her stomach was near bursting. She looked around and saw her crew in all states of euphoria. Again, the air shimmered and the night sky showed. She pushed to her feet but a hand pushed her back down.

  "Is the food not to your liking?" Star asked. "I can get whatever else you need."

  "No I was going -" Beauty lost her thoughts and found herself eating again.

  "Beauty."

  She looked up and the most beautiful man ever stood next to her. His chocolate eyes held her captive. "Do I know you?"

  "You know my other form," he answered.

  "What other form? What's happening?"

  "You are in a trap and need to get out."

  "Trap?" Beauty glanced at her crew and noticed they seemed different. "What type of trap?"

  "This island is not what it seems. You need to fight it."

  "How?"

  He shimmered and started to disappear. "Wake up Beauty."

  "Eat, eat." Star face came into focus. "This is a party."

  Beauty picked up a lamb leg but something stopped her from eating. A force held her hand and no amount of pulling could dislodge it. She blinked and slowly the village started to dissolve. The night she kept seeing seeped into focus and she blinked as horror met her eyes. Her crew sat or lay upon the ground. Smiles of contentment on their faces but around them a nightmare raged. Slimy beings with fanged mouths, long limbs and vacant eyes had their fingers dug into her crew. Some, the strong males, had two or more latched on. They seemed to be feeding. A pain snapped her attention to her arm were one was feeding. Weakly she reached for the knife at her side and in one motion she withdrew it and stabbed the sucker in the eye. A chain reaction happened as each being grabbed its eye. As each stop feeding her crew started to come to themselves.

  "Kill them," Beauty rasped, her voice scraping her throat. "They feed upon us."

  With swiftness that she would later be proud of, her crew dispatched the suckers to wherever their gods were.

  "Casey," Sabrina cried as she knelt next to a body. "He's dead."

  Beauty walked to stand over them but couldn’t say for certain if the body on the ground belonged to Casey. "Are you sure? This body looks as if it has been without a soul for a while."

  "Yes, look," Sabrina pointed at a raised scar on his chest. "I would recognize that scar anywhere. It's a sign of honor in his village."

  "What could have happened to caused him to look so old?"

  "Mom?" a hesitant voice asked from behind them.

  Sabrina and Beauty turned and gasped, before them stood a beautiful young woman who looked like a younger version of Sabrina.

  "Jasmine?" Sabrina stood and studied the woman. "It can't be."

  "What happened ma? You look - old," Jasmine asked.

  Beauty turned from the two and studied the rest of her crew. She noticed they all had aged over a decade and two, counting the cook, had passed from this life. What had done this to her crew? She moved and something crunched under her foot and she glanced down. Bones made up the sand of the beach, some skulls still in tacked. As her eyes scanned she noticed they had never left the beach as she had first thought. Shipwrecks littered the shore and went out almost a mile.

  "I've heard of this place." Amina whispered in awe from beside her. "But never imagined it existed."

  "What is it?" Beauty couldn't take her eyes off the destruction around her.

  "Some call it the land of dreams and others the isle of plenty. Sailors come ashore and are never heard from again." Amina wiped sweat from her neck. "This is a cursed land that shouldn’t exist."

  "Where did you hear this and did the stories talk about the creatures we saw?"

  "My mother use to scare me with stories of them when I was younger and that was after one of my brothers went missing during a fishing expedition. As for the monsters she called them water spirits and told me they would take on human form and lure humans to feed upon." She scratched her head. "I swear they were just stories."

  "I think we are past the point of disbelief." Beauty waved a hand to encompass the beach. "Too much has happened."

  "How did we get out of their trap? My ma never told of anyone escaping."

  "Our protector," Beauty glanced around before lowering her voice. "He came to me in his human form and helped me see through whatever spell was caste upon us."

  "What now? We cannot stay here."

  Beauty pulled out her map. "Somewhere on this island is the third part of our map. Maybe it's on a shipwreck."

  "What does the map show?"

  Beauty opened the map and smiled as an arrow appeared. "I think it's that way." She pointed up the beach. "Spread out and search."

  Beauty swept the beach with the rest of her crew. With so many human remains and shipwrecks she feared it would take days if not weeks. Whoever or whatever owned this island wasn't going to stay away forever. The sun was just about to sink below the horizon when a shout went up.

  Beauty dropped the wood in her hand and ran. "What is it?" She asked as she pushed through the crew. They pointed and she was left looking down a black hole.

  "Someone fell," Amina stated.

  "Are they hurt?"

  "No," a voice came from the dark. "I'm not hurt but I wouldn't mind a light."

  "Maybe I should be lowered down," Beauty said.

  "Why do you keep doing the dangerous work?" Amina asked. "Anyone on the ship would be happy to do it."

  "No, there's something driving me. I can’t explain but it's there.'

  Amina shrugged and helped tie a rope around her waist. "At least keep David with you."

  "Do I have a choice?"

  "No, he comes up only after you."

  Beauty rolled her eyes as she was lowered inch by inch into darkness. She waited until her boots hit solid ground before she untied the rope and lit a torch. What met her eyes was not what she was expecting. From all accounts, she should be inside a buried ship but instead it looked like some type of cave.

  "David?"

  "Over here!"

  She followed his voice to find him leaning against a rock rubbing a large lump on his head. "Why did you move from the opening?"

  "It felt strange being in the open. How are we going to get out?"

  "I was lowered by rope. But first I want to check something." She pulled out her map and hoped for the best. As it was opened music started to play.

  "Where is that coming from?" David asked.

  "Good quest
ion." Beauty spread the map out and watched as musical notes danced along the left edge of the map. "I guess if we head to the left we can find out the answer to your question."

  "Do you think that's a good idea?"

  "I think it's the perfect idea. There's no way I'm going back without first trying to explore this cave."

  David sighed. "I guess, but this reminds me of a demon cave."

  "Have you ever been in a demon cave?" Beauty asked as she started walking.

  "No but I have heard stories."

  Beauty decided to ignore him as the music became louder and the smell of damp earth became stronger. Just when the music became almost unbearably loud they left the darkness behind.

  "What evil is at work here?" David asked.

  They stood on a beach but a beach underground. Beauty could see a small hole where the sun shone but it shouldn't have been morning outside. The small beach was beautiful with blue green water, white sand and a gentle breeze.

  "It's too beautiful to be evil." Beauty said and looked down at the map that was now quiet. "What we seek has to be here. Look around."

  While David searched near the water edge Beauty ran her hand along the wall. It was odd having a beach this deep underground. How did the plant life survive and how did it come to be? Her hand found a small crack and the map started singing again. When she moved away from the crack it went quiet.

  "Well I guess I found what I'm looking for." She reached one hand into the crack and felt something move. With a small cry, she pulled her hand out.

  "Did you find something?" David asked from directly behind her causing her to jump.

  "Yes. See if you can find a stick or something. I am not putting my hand back in that space."

  "Here," he handed her a short staff. "I was using it to search the water."

  "Thank you." Beauty turned back to the crack and used the wooden staff to feel around. After a few minutes a box dropped from the crack and hit the sand. "Finally." She picked it up and put it in her pocket. "Now we can return to the crew."

  "You are not going to open it and make sure the map is there?"

  "Not here," Beauty started back to where they had started. "We better hurry before they think we have died and leave."

  When they reached the small space Beauty laughed when she saw Amina and a few others waiting.

  "We were just going to search for you." Amina said. "What is this place?"

  Beauty shrugged. "Whatever it is will have to remain a mystery. I have the map piece and want to get off this island as quickly as possible."

  "Do you think we will be able to just sail away? What happens if we hit another wave?"

  "I think the wave is to bring people here not keep them here." She waved at all the bones. "You said no one has ever made it off. Maybe it's because they were unable to break away from whatever hold those things had on them."

  "I hope you are right. We cannot afford to stay on an island that is trying to kill us."

  One by one they are lifted above.

  "Did anyone contact the ship?" Beauty asked. "We may need to warn them about what happened."

  "I had a few go back." Amina said. "Let's just hope they were not killed for impersonating the crew."

  Chapter Five

  The confines of his prison had never felt so tight. They pressed down reminding him every second that he couldn’t protect Beauty as he desired. Whatever connection had happened in the cave, gave him the ability to feel her emotions; angry, scared, worried, they all battered at his control on sanity. He lashed out and felt the skin split as his fist made contact with the stonewall. The pain took away a small part of his anger.

  "What's wrong?"

  His head jerked up and he scanned the area.

  "Beast?"

  "How are you here?" He asked. "Where are you?"

  "I'm on my ship but can feel your pain as if it's mine."

  "I'm sorry," he cringed. "I hate knowing I bring you pain."

  "Want to talk about it?"

  "Where are you?" He changed the subject. "I cannot sense water."

  "That's strange. I'm aboard my ship. We are near a dead island."

  He started to pace as he tried to place the island she spoke of. "Does it have a name?"

  "Isle of Plenty."

  His heart skipped a beat and he stopped moving. "That isle is supposed to be hidden for all times."

  "We only found it because of the map."

  "Where exactly was the map on this island?"

  "First why can't you sense the water?"

  "You are at my original home. The resting place of my people. I thought it was destroyed. What of the people, do they yet live?" He knew hope sounded in his voice but maybe, just maybe some of his tribe had escaped the when he was banished. He felt her hesitation. "Tell me."

  "There are no humans on the island but creatures able to cause visions and take years from my crew."

  "Years? How many, exactly?"

  "Two of our older sailors lost their lives. I think the cook was fifty but his body looks like it's an elder from our village."

  The beast growled. "They rise."

  "There's another thing, a city lies below the sand."

  "Describe this city."

  "I didn’t see much of it but it was built into the sides of the walls."

  The beast clinched his chest as pain settled deep. He could remember climbing those same walls as a young boy. To know his greed had brought so much evil into the world. One life changing decision. Of their own accord his feet had lead him to the cavern holding the tree. Even after all these centuries it still tempted him.

  "Are you still there?" she asked.

  "Yes, just remembering my childhood. It's funny how it seems like yesterday."

  "I'm sorry."

  The beast could hear the deep sorrow in her voice and shoved up a mental barrier. He didn't want her to see all the dark deeds he had done. She would run and he would be alone again. "You must leave that area," he told her.

  "How? We came by way of magic."

  "Follow the map. You should have all the pieces and it should lead to a way to release me. When the curse is broken you should be able to leave the island and find a home."

  "I don't know anymore," Beauty's voice lowered. "Every island we have found has been cursed. What if the one we want to call home is the same?"

  He longed to draw her into his arms and shield her from the world. "This new home you will find will have something none of these others places have."

  "What?"

  "Me acting as protector, even if it's only in spirit form. I swear on my life and the spirits of my dead tribe, I will protect you." He could feel her doubt but couldn’t think of anything to say to reassure her.

  "I have to go," she sounded tired. "My crew needs me."

  "I will find you once I can again feel the water under your ship." He knew the second she was gone because the cave became cold.

  Chapter Six

  Beauty came back to herself just as someone started pounding on her cabin door. "Stop that pounding!"

  "Beauty, we have been trying to call you for over an hour," Jennifer called. "The water is a funny color."

  Beauty jumped up and opened her door. "What do you mean?"

  "The water is red."

  Beauty closed her cabin door and followed Jasmine to the quarterdeck. "Amina, what's going on?"

  "I don’t know. We have been waiting on a breeze to get away from this cursed place. A hour ago, the water started to turn red."

  "I cannot stand another second here," Beauty gazed down at the thick red water.

  "Have you opened the map?" Amina asked. "Surely it will tell us something. It has always held some type of answer."

  "No," Beauty held up the oval box she had forgotten she held. "I must have slept before I could try." She didn’t want to frighten her crew with what the Beast had told her.

  "Try now for I fear we will die in these waters."

  Beauty knelt on th
e deck, pulled the map out and smoothed it out. "There's only this piece missing." She turned the container in her hand over and over. It was unlike any of the other three, almost like it was protecting its secrets. "This doesn’t seem to open like the others."

  "Want me to try?" Amina asked.

  "Maybe but let me see what I can do first."

  She stared at the box and noticed instead of a sliding puzzle it had four small indents. She pushed each one but nothing happened.

  "Maybe you have to push them in some type of pattern," Hugos stated.

  "You may be right." Beauty tried each combination but it wasn't until the last one that she heard a click and the box slid open. She pulled the paper out and placed it in its place. As the paper sealed together Beauty looked up at her two best friends. "This is it. Now we will be shown exactly where the treasure we seek is buried."

  Out of the corner of her eye she noticed some of her crew looking skyward and looked up. The sky had opened. One second the blue sky covered them and the next a black hole appeared with stars and colorful designs within.

  "Hell hath opened," someone cried.

  Beauty couldn’t disagree. It was just as her mother used to say; hell's gate was beautiful but deadly. With no wind, they were at the mercy of whatever force was about to be unleashed.

  "Beauty the map," Amina cried.

  Beauty looked down and watched as the map changed shape and grew. Soon a beautiful staff with a blood red crystal stood upright on the deck. Beauty stood and backed up.

  "What is this? Is this the treasure we have been seeking?"

  "Give it to us." Two voices laced with malice rolled across the deck. Beauty looked up and chills rolled down her spine as two of her crew stepped forward.

  "Show yourself," she demanded. "Stop using my crew."

  "Little human," their voices rumbled. "You have no idea what you are in possession of. Give us the staff and you can have whatever your heart desires. We can grant you anything in this world and the next."

  Beauty eyes scanned her crew, they were all staring at her waiting for her command. She could have them slay their friends but the evil would only jump bodies. "Why do you want it so bad?" she asked.