Helen’s father was trying to get himself killed in the most exotic way possible.
The world’s worst midlife had resulted in her sitting in the middle of the arctic ocean in a tiny wooden kayak. She had long lost feeling in every part of her body. She wasn’t even sure if she was alive she very well might be a soul trapped frozen corpse a this point. The only part of her skin exposed to the air were her eyelids. The rest of her face was covered by an eight foot scarf, which, as of right now, was her absolute favorite possession. Still, nonetheless, she shivered in every fiber of her being whenever the wind slid by. Both her soul and her mind were shivering, and she was certain that every reincarnation of herself that had ever existed or would exist in the future was shivering as well.
She hated her father right now. If this research expedition didn’t result in both of them getting killed, she was going to throw him off the kayak herself.
Helen’s father, the great Professor Walter Vassey, had come to the realization last month that his life was over. Not over, in the “I have a rare illness and only have a year to live” kind of way but rather in the “I’m married and have kids and all that’s left for me to do is grow old and die” kind of way. After coming to terms with this bitter reality, Professor Vassey fell into a deep depression. For three days he barely left his study and refused to speech to anyone except for the family dog. Than on the end of third day, her burst out his study with a map in his hand and plan in his mind. He told his family of one final research expedition he needed to go on. One final chance to get himself written in the history books.
Upon hearing his expedition plans, Helen’s mother begin to cry. She begged not to leave. Tried to convince him that fame wasn’t worth his life. She even promised to buy him another dog if he stayed. None of her pleading worked.
On the day before he set out, Helen’s mother came to her door and asked her to go with him. Foolishly, Helen agreed to join him. At the time, she was fearing for her father’s life and would do anything to increase the chances of him safely returning home.
However, none of these feelings, survived passed the second day of the expedition. The old man had overstayed his welcome on this Earth.
. . .
“See any ripples?” Professor Vassey called through the wind.
“No,” Helen repiled.
“What?”
“I said, no.” Helen yelled through her scarf. She heard the sound of a pen scraping against parchment from her father sat behind her in the kayak. How on Earth could he possibly move his fingers enough to write in this cold? she mused.
“Good,” he said, continuing to write. “We’re only a few hundred meters from the Seenikill’s den right now. I’m going to send down a net in a moment to see if I can pull some scales up. Oh, and Helen what did I tell you to do if you saw any ripples in the water, or any movement at all?”
She reaped what he said earlier, “You told me to cover my eyes with my scarf, turn away, until you told me it was safe again.”
“Right.”
She heard shuffling and the grinding sound of a rope sliding over wood as her father readied the net and began to lower it into the water. She stayed with her eyes fixed on the herizone and the water before her.
“Why are you doing this?” she asked.
He said nothing to her for a few moments, and she began to think he wouldn’t respond.
Finally he spoke up. “Because, we’re making history,” he said. “If we don’t do this, no one else will. If scientists want to learn everything there is to no about the world, we have to do dangerous things sometimes. We can’t be afraid.” He paused. “I thought you wanted to be a part of this with me?”
For a second Helen thought about confessing that she was only here cause her mother asked he to be, but she couldn’t get herself to say it. A part of her wanted to see his reaction, but she had to admit, there was piece of herself that was curious about the Seenikil. She was was biologist at heart. However, she didn’t think her curiosity was worth her life or her father.
The Seenikil was a beast that nobody had seen, but that everyone knew existed.
It lived in the Arctic Ocean and was assumed to be a large reptile of sorts. It also occasionally came near the shores of Iceland and Greenland, and it was here that the beast wreaked havoc.
The Seenikil had a poisonous appearance. Everyone who saw it for even a second would instantly drop dead. Whenever, the Seenikil appeared near a port every unlucky fisherman out on the water or shipwright looking out at the sea would be killed. Attempts at hunting the Seenikil had been made but they were always failures. Hundreds of skilled fisherman had gone after it, hoping to run it through with a harpoon, but it was impossible to kills something you couldn’t look at.
Plenty of scientist had also tried their hand at getting information about Seenikil by collecting its scales. Singular, Seenikil scales were never known to kill anyone but they did cause severe headaches and illness when someone looked at them. Looking at more than two at once however, would cause a person to slip into a coma and three would knock them dead as quickly as if they had seen the real beast. There was only so much that could be learned from scales alone and no scientist had resolved any other way of studying it without running the risk of coming face to face with the creature.
The only thing more deadly than the Seenikil itself were pictures of it. Only one photograph had ever been taken of the Seenikil and its photographer had of course dropped dead as soon as it was taken. Everyone who looked at the photo met the same fate as everyone who had seen the real beast. The photograph was burned in a fire only hours after it was found but by than it had already claimed a dozen lives and people came to the terrifying realization if another photo was ever taken of the Seenikil it could become the most dangerous weapon known to man.
Helen remembered when she first heard about the photograph of the Seenikil. The memory sent shivers up her spine and she pulled her parka tightly around her. She tried to rid her mind of the topic but she couldn’t help but imagine what would happen if someone were put a photo of the Seenikil up on a projector. Thousands of people could be dead in a second.
As terror was beginning to rise in her mind there was a flicker of movement on the horizon. She pulled her scarf over her eyes and buried her head between her knees.
“I saw something,” she yelled to her father. “It wasn’t a ripple but it was something.” The grinding sounds ceased as her father stopped lowering the net. Don’t look dad. Please don’t look. Oh god, don’t look. It was silent for awhile and her pulsus quickened.
“Don’t worry, it’s just a ship. You can look.”
Helen’s muscles relaxed at the sound of her father’s voice. Slowly, she lifted her head and removed the scarf from her eyes. She saw a small object moving across the herizone.
“Is that a ship?” she questioned. “Who else would be out here?” A majority of fisherman and anyone one steering any form vessels wouldn’t dare get this close the Seenikil’s den.
“I don’t know,” Vassey replied. “Maybe their lost.”
“Or their just as insane as you are.”
He chuckled. “Maybe,” he said. He begin to pull the net out of the water. “How about we go check it out.”
“You sure?” Helen asked.
“Yeah,” he said picking up his ore from the inside of the kayak. “Men need to look after each other in regions like this. We should help them if we can.”
Helen located her own paddle and they steered the kayak in the direction of the ship. They had been going for only a few minutes when they realized the ship had changed course and was headed directly toward them. Guess they are looking for help Helen thought.
As they got closer to the ship, Helen was able to make the details. It was large schooner with three masts and triangular sails that reminded her of carnival tents. There weren’t any flags put up to indicate country of origin or purpose. This was strange, but perhaps they had a reason for not stating where they were from or they had forgotten to raise their flag.
When the schooner and the kayak were within twenty five yards of each other Helen and Vassey stopped paddling and a broad shouldered man with black hair appeared at the edge of the schooner. Without hesitation of difficulty the main stood up on the side of the ship. Helen jumped a little when she saw this, if the man had stepped just a few more centimeters her surly would have fallen into ocean.
“Professor Walter Vassey, right?” the man said. He had deep voice but his tone was friendly and casual.
Helen looked at Vassey. She was sure she didn’t recognize this man, but how did he know her father? Vassey’s eyebrows were down over his eyes and his lips were pressed together. He didn’t recognize this man either.
“Um, yes,” Vassey said. “That’s my name. Excuse me, but do I know you sir? Forgive me if I do. I’m getting up there in years.”
“Aren’t we all?”The man laughed. It was pleasant laugh and reminded Helen of waves gently washing over the sand during low tide, rhythmic and relaxing to hear.
“No, you don’t know who I am,” he continued. “But I know who you are, and may a I saw its a pleasure to meet you. It takes a man with guts to study the Seenikil.”
Vassey sat up straighter in the kayak. His motions caused the little boat to rock and Helen rolled her eyes.
“I’m Bartholomew Longshackle,” the man aboard the schooner said. “I’m a professor at the University of Akureyri and I’m doing a bit of research on the Seenikil myself. I saw your kayak and thought we could be of use to each other. Why don’t you come aboard.”
Longshackle ordered a few members of his crew to throw ropes down to Vassey and Helen. They caught the ropes, secured the kayak, and were pulled on the great ship.
Once they were on board, Longshackle led Vassey and Helen to his private quarters under the ships deck. Upon entering Longshackle’s quarters, Helen was surprised by the shear size of the space. The schooner itself was a large ship, but Longshackle’s quarters alone were larger than whole second floor of her house.
The wooden floor was glossy and had red rug laid over it with golden flowers embroidered on the edges. There was massive that almost completely covered one of the walls and a large round table. in the middle of the room. The table was made out of ebony and legs wear carved to resemble lions standing on their hind legs. There were six identical chairs.
Longshackle lead Helen and Vassey over to the table and motioned for them to sit down.
“Right,” Longshackle started. “Now that we’re comfortable, tell me, have you came across any scales since you’ve been on your expedition.”
Vassey shock his head.”
“Unfortunately not. I was sending down my first neat this morning when we saw your ship on the horizon. We didn’t have much luck yesterday, and I tried to get close to the Seenikil’s den in hope of getting a fresh sample, maybe the freshest to ever be collected, but I didn’t manage to get anything. Although we have found a number of dead fish, I’m beginning to think the Seenikil’s appearance has the same effect on other organisms that is does on humans.”
Lockleshackle nodded as he listened.
“How about you?” Vassey asked. “Have you found anything?”
“No,” Longshackle said. “I haven’t started my research yet. Actually, I’m not really a professor, that was a bit of white lie I fear.”
His tone wasn’t as lighthearted as before, it had a condescending feel about it. Helen felt her muscles go tense and it seemed as if there was cold sea water running down her back. She looked at her father. He was straight back in his chair and oddly still, but his gaze was steady and his eyebrows arched. Neither of them spoke.
“I’ll cut right to the chase for you,” Longshackle said carefully. “I won’t beat around the bush. I want a photograph of the Seenikil.”
The air in the room was still and Helen became aware of the ocean’s wave rocking the floor beneath her feet. She could feel her pulse in the side of her neck, in her legs, and her chest.
“No.” Helen’s voice was a pathetic whimper, but in the room’s silence it was loud enough.
“Quiet, Helen,” her father snapped at her. “Longshackle,” he started. “I’m sure you aware that obtaining such a thing..well…well, it’s absurdly dangerous.”
Longshackle laughed. This time it sounded like rocks fallin in cave, threatening to kill the poor explorers trapped inside. “Absurdly dangerous,” Longshackle said. “Everything dealing with the Seenikil is absurdly dangerous.”
“Why do you even want such a thing?” Vassey asked. There was slight tremor in his voice.
Longshackle turned and looked deeply into the professor’s eyes. “That’s unimportant to you, dear professor. There is a role that you have to play in all of this and that’s the only thing you need to know about. Your going to be the one behind the camera.”
“No I’m not!”
“Yes, you are,” Longshackle continued. “Nobody will notice or think twice about a scientist who went to study the Seenikil disappearing, and if you refuses, your daughter’s life will end here.”
Not long after after Longshackle spoke Helen became aware of something sharp and cold against her neck, she heard her father cry out, and she felt the arm of man wrap around her shoulders, pinning her to her chair. She hadn’t even heard Longshackle’s men enter the room.
“I’ll do it!” Vassey’s voice echoed throughout the room.
Helen’t mind filled a thousand people dead with an indistinct image on a projector screen.
“No!” she cried out. She felt the flat of the knife’s blade push against her throat and she squealed. “Think about it. You know what the picture could do. My life, or the life of thousands?”
“I could never chose.” Vassey said breathlessly.
“Exactly,” Longshackle said. “You couldn’t.”
More of Longshackle’s men came into the room, four in total. Two joined the man with the knife and gripped Helen’s shoulders. The other two took her father. Vassey and Helen were dragged out and onto the ship’s deck. Helen tried to break free. Tried to shrugged the hands off of her shoulders and pull her arms free, but the knife was brought back to her throat. Silently threatening her with its sharp blade.
The wind blew harshley through her hair and she felt colder than ever. She shivered with the cold and with fear. She was certain her heart had never beat so fast in her life.
She watched in terror as he father was pulled over to the edge of the ship and she dragged toward the middle. Looking over her shoulder, she could see Lonsheckle and the two men pulling her father along. Vassey wasn’t even trying to fight him off. He let himself be dragged, his body slouched forward, and his arms behind his back. She tried to crane her neck to see him better, but one of her captors pulled her by the hair and forced her to turn her head around.
The man holding the knife pulled Helen over to one of ship’s great masts. Once there, he shoved her against it. There was dull smack as the back of her head hit the wood. The impact caused her to feel dizzy and she would have fallen onto the deck if she wasn’t being held against the mast. Her vision was blurred but she could make out the shapes of men circling around her and in a minute, she was bound to the mast and unable to move.
Looking off toward the bow of ship she could just make out the silhouette of her father and Longshackle. She wanted to scream out to him, but her throat felt blocked. It as like being in nightmare. She wanted so desperately to scream or lash out, but she could not move or speech.
She saw Longshackle hand a camera to her father, and Professor Vassey took it.
Off in the distance, near the herizone, Helen saw a large ripple in the water.
