The Kraken Below

• Reilly Morrison, Grade 9, St Brendan's College
• Short Story
• 2015

Excellence Award in the 'Read Write Repeat 2015' competition

“Lieutenant!” the cry went up.
I gazed up towards the captain, his arms tightly gripping the mighty oaken wheel as he battled the seemingly eternal winds that pressed up against the ship’s side. The great mast had long since fallen to the storm’s ferocious wrath. “Sir!” I shouted back at the man, the wind catching at my breath, turning my hearty bellow into a flimsy and distant whisper.
“Secure the cargo!” He hurled back without even bothering to cast a quick glance my way. I knew that he had to stay focused if anyone were to live through this fateful night. I stood from my crouching position, let the bailing bucket slip loosely from my fingers, and turned towards the hatch that led down into the ships insides. Quickly I scuttled across the ships vast deck, lifted the worn hatch and slithered down below.
In the beast’s belly, sound seemed to have amplified, the crashing of the waves grew louder as did the wailing of the wind. I cast my gaze out, searching the cargo for any loose bindings. A single latch had come loose. I sprinted over, knowing that my brothers above would need all the help they could get bailing out the encroaching water, and latched the straps back into place.
I scurried back towards the hatch, readying myself to clash with the raging storm above and stopped. Something was wrong, the noises from the crew had ceased. There was no clashing, shouts or curses, just the screaming wind. I pressed my face up against the worn timber of the hatch and peaked through a rugged gap out into the chaos above.
Countless slim spires towered towards the sky, each plastered with suckers that leached the very air around them. I watched in horror as each tower slowly shifted, falling towards the ship’s oaken deck and slithering towards the crew, who stared on with amazement. They had all heard the story; a kraken, the only true predator of the sea.
The captain was the first to snap out of it, he cursed and drew his silvery blade, but it was too late. The tentacles all struck at once, wrapping themselves around the crew. The captain’s adversary enveloped his head in its thrashing mass of darkness. The bloodcurdling screams were relentless as the limbs started flailing about. I watched as one man was dragged screaming off the deck and into the churning water beneath, his body limp. The captain was flung across deck, his head bent at an unnatural angle. Then as fast as it had started, it stopped; slowly they withdrew back into the blood soaked sea only the carnage betraying they had ever been there.
I pushed open the hatch and stepped out into the horror. Blood soaked every crevice of the ship and every eye was dormant, lifeless. I shuddered, wishing with all my heart that it wouldn’t return, then I felt it, slimy, it wrapped around my leg. “Run!” It seemed to croak.
“Run!”