The Book of Elsewhere Ch. 01

Rachel was about to open up her mouth again but she heard the screech and for some reason she ran with everyone. She didn't know why, it couldn't be good but she might as well see just what Harlow could do. She looked outside and up in the air, she heard a bang but heard nothing. Another bang but still nothing, what was he shooting at? It was then she realized that everyone was looking down so she did so too and her heard almost stopped.

There was a creature climbing up the side of the mountain. It had horns and was colored green, although blue blood was apparently coming out of it. It was strong but slow. She wasn't sure if that was good or not. Harlow seemed worried but he was able to take his time and put a bullet right in the things left eye. Blood gushed out of it and it lost its hold on the rocks and slide down, it's body breaking. Harlow cursed to himself.

"Three bullets to take that thing down, that's two more then I needed," he said looking around for anymore and heading back into the cave. "Well hurry up! We need to hide or more will see us and come," he said.

jack followed Harlow back into the cave with the others. He found the man was sitting on a rock further back into the cave. The air was much cooler there which was a welcome feeling after all the tense and dire situations they'd been through recently. Jack sat down on the cave floor to the right of Harlow. He saw the man was sifting through a sack. His gun lay across his legs. Harlow produced a stack of straw and a match from the sack, which he promptly struck and set the straw aflame on the ground in front of him. The cave was bathed in a soft yellow and orange-ish glow. The corners of the chamber filled with shadows retreating from the light.

"So what is the plan now, Captain?" Jack asked, observing the man carefully. His stomach groaned and Jack realized he had not eaten anything the whole time they had been on the island. Fear had, up until then, drowned out his need for food.

Harlow grinned in the light of the burning straw and produced three very large fruits. They reminded Jack of grape fruit but they were much larger and were ringed with red swirls. Jonathan Harlow struck the side of one with his thumb and heard a hallow thump! noise. He did the same with the other two fruits before producing a large hunting knife from the sack and slicing each fruit in half then giving a half to each.

"The plan? Ah yes the plan," Harlow began .His eyes reflected the yellow light from the fire." The plan is that we stay here for the night. That is unless you three have a better idea." Harlow looked in turn to each of them but none spoke a word or disagreed. He then took a hearty bite of his fruit. Jack followed suit surprised at how sweet and tender the fruit was. He was further surprised at the tangy after taste. Jack soon lost himself to the task of filling his stomach.

Talia however had more questions. "Since you seem to have been around the island the longest. What else is on the island? Have you seen any other dark skinned folks?"

Harlow ate in silence, perhaps thinking over the question. He swallowed but did not take another bite. "None like yourself, No. But as far as what else is on the island. I am guessing you three haven't been unlucky enough to run into the gargantuan that roams around at night have you?"

All eyebrows raised at the mention of such a thing. Jack swallowed quickly.

"Gargantuan? What's that?"

Jonathan just held his fruit not bothering to eat seeing as he had a captive audience. A thunder like noise rumbled from the outside as he began to tell them of the monster.

"It's got a gaping void for a mouth. No eyes. It seems to be made up of a black, viscous, oily liquid. It's enormous in size . If I had to guess , it stands some ninety feet tall. It hs these long black tendrils for fingers."

"Don't let it catch you or it will absorb you into it. You won't come out normal. that's how it spreads. You hear its footsteps long before you see it." He continued, seeing their eyes trained on him. "It also makes this long hollow baleful moan. That's when you know its awake. When its not it hides somewhere under the volcano."

"Wait," Jack spoke up. "We saw the forest littered with these trees. They looked like people covered in black rubber. One tried to grab me."

"Those are its offspring." Harlow went on. "That's what you become if it absorbs you. "

"Oh."

"How come there are so many?" Rachel asked, biting off a piece of her fruit.

"Well there used to be a lot more people on the island," Harlow replied. "But not so much now. Every so often, like you I meet new comers but I don't know how people keep ending up here."

"What about the village we saw?" Talia said.

"Those are of the first people." the captain explained. "They were here before even I got here. I don't know where they came from but you don't want to go there and ask either. Especially not if you're of the male persuasion"

"What that mean?" jack asked,

Harlow sighed and shook his head. "I mean they take you and make you a slave of the tribe if you're male. the women run that place. I know because I barely got out of their with my mind intact. They use some sort of mind mumbo jumbo and they do other things to make a man's mind more pliable to them."

"The drums. " Rachel spoke up. "We heard them while walking along. I couldn't stop listening once I heard it."

Jonathan nodded. "Yeah, it calls to females too. So just don't go there , okay? Bad place. Anyhow, now you know."

Everyone went quiet, concentrating on eating what they had in their hands. the cave was filled with silence except for the crackle pop of the fire. After about the eighth or ninth bite, jack started to feel tired. His eyes felt heavy, transfixed by the flames. A warmth filled him and he started to feel very drowsy. he thought maybe it was because he had such a long, stressful, and strenuous day. He couldn't stop himself from yawning.

"All that running and climbing must've taken a lot more out of me than I thought," jack said, finding it harder and harder to keep his eyes open by the minute. He had not noticed either that his words were slurred.

A soft thud to his right made him look. Talia had fallen flat onto her back. Jack could see her eyes closed and her chest rose and fell in deep sleep. Her fruit had rolled right next to her on the ground. Jack had the intuition that something was wrong but it was too late.

"Rach--." was all Jack could say as he felt his eyes become like lead weights and shut. Sleep was like a vise and closed around him.

Rachel watched her brother crumple to the ground on his side. His fruit rolling near the fire. Her eyes turned to Harlow who unlike her and the others seemed perfectly fine. Realization hit her like a lightning bolt. "You..drugged... us?"

She couldn't believe it. Here she thought she had found an ally in Harlow. He had aided them and helped them. How could he do this? Her thoughts were too muddled and foggy to even think of coming up with an answer and when she tried to stand she just ended up falling forward instead, landing right at the Captain's feet.

Tears that had welled up in her eyes fell down her chees as she struggled to look up at Harlow. "We..trusted ..you."

Harlow regarded her stoically, not moved or affected at all by her tears. "I know you did. Don't worry, I will take care of you all." He knelt down before her and took her face in one hand and gently closed her eyes with the other." Sleep now. don't you worry about a thing."

With the fruit in her system already making her feel sleepy and weak, Rachel could only whimper as she succumbed to the wave of slumber pulling her down. Her last thought was of Jack and how she desperately missed home.