Re: In the Still of the Night
Jack leaned over the rail, his ears drooping as he contemplated the contents of his gut, and tried to silently negotiate with them to forestall their revolt. His head swam, the rhythmic rocking of the vessel seeming to shift moment-to-moment, from soaring weightlessly out of the waves, until it seemed ready to take off, to an almost violent pitch, making him bow over the rail and grip tightly with both hands.
It was only his intense concentration to the fairly constant surface of the water that allowed him to notice it.
He recoiled in shock, and, stumbling over his luggage, he scrambled to the door, heaving it open, and bellowing a warning belowdecks.
The sight of him as stood silhouetted in the moonlight was deeply disturbing. His movements were jilted, as if he was being jolted by live wires, and his frantic gesticulations towards the starboard side looked like an inhuman, mechanical spasm. No words issued forth as he called down into the crew quarters, only an insane barking monosyllable, bulging with vowels and consonants that seemed to trip over each other into a one-man cacophony that was over in less than a second.
And then, as swiftly as he had appeared, he simply.... ceased to exist. His body faded at the edges, as he slowly turned to look over his shoulder, as if remembering some other business he had to attend to. Then, without a sound, he simply vanished from view, as if he had never been.
Warning issued, he stumbled up the deck, towards the wheel, where the waking crew were undoubtedly clustered. If they hadn't spotted anything, they had to know.
He staggered up the deck, tottering back and forth as the ship seemed to hover over the waves, bracing himself for the impact.
Just as suddenly, he appeared at the helmsman's side, tugging his sleeve. "...some kind of monster," he cut in, as if in mid-sentence. "Off the starboard bow. Under the ship! Did you see!?"