BEHIND THE MASK

R16V

'Who knew evil girls had the prettiest face?' – Juice WRLD (Lyric line from Lucid dreams)

Four bearded men hit their beer bottles together and threw their heads back laughing merrily. The moon was out and the sea never appeared more enchanting—sparkling gracefully under the magnificence of the limelight.

Behind the shadows of the men were loaded buckets of fish which told an all boastful tale of a successful fishing trip. The little boy kneeling by the buckets couldn't stop smiling.

His innocent blue eyes were fixed on one bucket that only had two fish in it. It was a disgrace next to the others that were full but to the boy, it was the beginning of his manhood. He smiled proudly at the fruits of his labour.

'Oi, Jacob!'

The boy's body tensed, and he tucked his lips with his eyes wide. He slowly turned around to see a bald tall man. The man took a swig of his beer, and then waved his finger disapprovingly him. The boy rubbed his palms on his coat and put his hands behind his back.

'Aren't you supposed to be in bed?' the man asked him.

'I'm sorry, papa. I just wanted to check on my catch,' Jacob remorsefully replied.

His tensed muscles relaxed at his father's warm smile behind a scruffy ginger mustache. Jacob's father set his hand on Jacob's little shoulder and got down on one knee. His body swayed to the left, and he set his other palm to his head.

Jacob quietly looked on as his father blinked repeatedly before finally looking into his eyes. Jacob raised a brow at his father bulging in his face. He did not cringe at the heavy stench of sweat and alcohol.

'Now we talked about this, Jacob. Your bedtime was two hours ago.' he sluggishly said and hiccuped.

'Oh, come on, now, mate. Let the boy stay up for a little while longer, ey. There's no harm in it.' one of the men suddenly said and the remaining two laughed in agreement.

Jacob's father got up and pointed his beer bottle at the man, 'Don't you dare interrupt me when I am talking to my son.'

'Or else what, Larry?' the man smirked whilst the others laughed.

'I don't have time to argue with you drunken imbeciles.' Larry retorted and staggered back to his friends—completely forgetting about Jacob.

Jacob watched Larry and his friends laugh and tease each other for awhile until their raspy voices bored him. He glanced at his bucket of fish and a smile lingered its way back.

His smile was short-lived when he heard a strange bumping noise. He naturally looked back to Larry, but he was entangled in another argument.

Jacob listened for the bump again but there was nothing but silence. He turned away and focused his attention on his bucket when he heard the bump again. The boat moved underneath his feet, sending him falling to the deck.

Before Jacob could comprehend what was happening, Larry and one man dashed past him. Larry cocked his shotgun and pointed it down at the water whilst another man flashed a torch. Jacob's bones trembled at the sound of the other men cocking up their guns.

'What the hell was that?' the man with Larry asked but Larry did not respond.

Larry's squinted eyes scanned the ocean intently.

Jacob, on the other hand, hugged himself afraid as the men cautiously moved around the boat. With the way they were alert, one would not have believed that they were drunk. Regardless, as drunken as they were, their presence gave little Jacob a sense of security.

'Help me!' a feminine voice ripped through the wind.

All the men rushed to one point with their guns aimed at the water. Jacob could no longer bear to be there anymore. He rushed into the boat and threw himself on the bed. His heart thumped so hard that he could hear it clearly. Jacob threw the blanket over his body and curled himself into a fetal position.

His fear was not the only one roaming on the boat for even though the men had loaded guns, their blood was cold. They were vulnerable and at the mercy of whatever was in the ocean. Of all things, they had to hear the sound of a woman's cry for help in a lonely place like that.

'Someone please, help me!' the very woman screamed again and this time, her voice was drowned by goggling noises.

The men rushed to the other side of the boat and paled at the sight of a skeletal hand slapping hard at the surface of the water. Larry aimed his gun but when he was just about to pull the trigger, he saw golden hair sticking out of the water.

He didn't believe his eyes due to the vigorous splashing but when he heard one of his friends point out that there was in deed a woman there, his finger withdrew from the trigger. He gasped at the woman popping out of the water with a skeletal hand holding her neck.

'We have to help her!' Larry exclaimed and opened fire.

Jacob squeezed his eyes shut at the exploding sound of the guns blasting through the air. His warm tears trickled down his cheeks, but he did little to wipe them away. Each blast got him fearing that he was never going to see his father again. He just wanted everything to be over.

'Cease fire!' Larry exclaimed and there was silence.

The men frantically searched the surface of the ocean for any sign of the woman. They gasped upon seeing her weakly popping in and out of the water. A float was thrown to her, and she took hold of it. Two men pulled it towards the boat and finally got hold of her.

Her soft and tender flesh was completely exposed. The men dropped their gazes and turned away. Larry went into the boat and got into the bedroom. He furrowed at Jacob shivering underneath the blanket.

Larry slowly approached the bed and frowned at Jacob whimpering. He sat on the bed and set his hand on Jacob only for him to let out a sharp scream. Larry threw the blanket off him and forced him onto his chest—hugging him ever so tightly.

'It's all right, my boy. It's okay.' he whispered softly into his ear. 'It's all over now.'

Jacob calmed at his father's scent, 'I was s-so s-scared... papa,' he stuttered.

'I know... I know,'

Someone got into the room and went straight to pull out a folded blanket from the wardrobe. 'Is he all right?' he asked Larry.

'Yes, all is well.'

'Good, I am taking this to her. John's coat won't be enough to keep her from the cold.' the man stated with urgency and Larry nodded.

Jacob blinked his tears away and faced up to Larry, 'She?'

Larry flashed him a faint smile and rubbed his ginger hair, 'The woman we just saved.' he answered, 'Would you like to meet her?' he asked and Jacob slowly nodded his head.

Larry took Jacob's hand and together, they slowly made their way back on deck. The woman was sitting down, in the sympathizing company of the others. She squeezed the blanket so tight and mostly kept her gaze low as she spoke to the men.

Jacob studied her occasionally tuck her hair behind her ear with her slender fingers. When they were close enough, she raised her head to him. His blue eyes met with her sharp green eyes. She blinked at him and he blinked back. The woman smiled warmly at Jacob, but he maintained his straight face.

'My son, Jacob, and I am Larry.' Larry introduced, 'I don't know if the gentlemen have introduced themselves.' he remarked with a raised brow at his friends.

'No, they have not.' she softly replied.

'Well, typical of them.' Larry continued in the same warm tone, 'The big lad over there is William. The one who offered you a blanket is Peter and the one who sacrificed his coat is John.'

The woman nodded with her lips pursed, 'Thank you for saving my life.' she squeezed the blanket even more.

'What was that thing that attacked you?' John added his voice of concern and William crossed his lean arms to listen.

The woman burst out crying to the uneasiness of the men. They all exchanged tensed looks with each other and relied solely on their eyes for further communication. Whilst they spoke silently among each other, Jacob kept his eyes on the woman.

For a split second, he saw a cheek bone sticking out of her face. Jacob widened his eyes at it and looked up at Larry. He tagged on Larry's shirt but Larry paid him no attention. Jacob brought his gaze back down and swallowed hard at her patting her tears dry. When her hand as finally off her face, there was nothing but flesh on the very spot where he saw a bone.

Jacob blinked his eyes puzzled. He was more than sure that he saw what he saw or was he perhaps seeing things? He didn't have time to ponder on it further when Larry tapped his shoulder.

'Bring her a cup of tea. She is freezing.' he gently ordered.

Jacob left his father confused. Deep in thought, he poured hot tea out of a flask and into a mug cup. He set the cup on a plate and carried it out to the deck. When he got there, Larry was comforting the woman.

The deck moved beneath their feet and Jacob tripped and fell. The cup was thrown into the air and the hot tea splashed on the woman's face. Larry rushed to Jacob's aid but it was the screams behind him that made his heart skip a beat. The moment Larry saw a skeletal face on the woman, he gasped so loud that Jacob shrieked in response.

The woman got up laughing so hard at all of them. John, William and Peter shakily took steps back with their hands up in surrender. She got up, the blanket and coat dropped to her feet. Her entire body was with flesh except her face.

The boat shook at a bigger bump and a wave of water splashed on everyone. To their horror, the woman now had a skeletal hand and leg from the knee down. Everything else still had flesh. It was at that moment when everything dawned on them.

Absolutely nothing was attacking her in the sea. She staged the whole thing. She was the monster and judging by how hard the boat was rocking, there was more of her.

The woman roared at all of them and they screamed back. John was the first one to get pounced on. His screams barely drowned the sound of his flesh getting ripped apart and his bones breaking.

Larry carried Jacob away and ran into the boat. He pushed Jacob into the bedroom, and he stumbled down to the floor.

Jacob didn't believe it when he heard the sound of the door locking. What followed next was the depressing sound of screams and roars. The added noise of bullets only worsened the soul sucking fear deep within Jacob's heart.

Jacob cried at the sudden desperate scream of his father and final gunshot. Right after that, silence once again fell upon the boat. Jacob breathed heavily and looked deeply at the door as if he could see through it.

'Papa?' he shakily called out but got no answer.

What he got instead was the clear view of blood slipping into the room from underneath the door. Jacob's world finally blackened at the realization that his dear father was gone. A gasp escaped his lips when he heard the door unlock.

He held his pounding heart and moved back on his bottom at the door slowly opening with a creak. Jacob screamed loudly at the full skeleton with blonde hair tilting its head at him by the door. Behind it were other skeletons dancing in the moonlight.

To Jacob's horror, the skeleton stepped over Larry's body, and lunged at him. The last thing he saw was the opened jaw just about to bite his face off.

Moral of the story: You can't help everyone. Sometimes, it is okay to only help yourself.


© Racheal Tembo