The speakers blared loudly, slamming James’s conscience out of one of his rare peaceful dreams.

“Attention! The Captain has gone missing. All hands on deck, please search for the Captain!”

The young man groaned. This was the sixth time that the crew had been rudely awakened by the Captain’s wife on the intercoms. He was a frequent sleepwalker, and she was constantly worried that he would accidentally walk off the deck.

The couple had only been wed for a few months, and it had been years since James had joined the crew as a stowaway child. If the Captain was going to plunge into the depth of the sea while on one of his nightly trots, it would’ve happened long ago.

Not that the wife cared, of course. The crew had begrudgingly allowed her to ring the alarm so that the relationship could be preserved, but even their patience was beginning to wear thin. 

James was the first crew member to the communication cabin. Elizabeth’s plain face was stained by tears, her hands clutching at the lead hand mirror that never seemed to leave her side. 

“James! Thank the gods that you’ve come so quickly. Zachary hasn’t come back to bed yet, and it’s nearly dawn. I promise this is not a false alarm!” 

“It’s okay, Miss Elizabeth. I’m sure he’s just sprawled across in the pantry and stuffing his face. Saul probably went there the moment the speakers went off. We’ll have confirmation that he’s safe soon enough.”

The woman’s face lost even more color, which puzzled James. 

“The pantry? He cannot have been down there! I need to tell Saul to not enter there before it’s too late.” 

James was too confused to stop Elizabeth from grabbing the phone and panickedly blurting out Saul’s name and the request to not enter there.

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“Was there something in the pantry that we should be worried about? I don’t believe I saw anything amiss when I was there this afternoon.”

Elizabeth remained quiet, her silence being filled by the pattering of her fingers on the mirror. 

“Miss Elizabeth, is everything okay?”

“No. There is something that lurks in the pantry at night. I have seen it.” 

“Are you sure it isn’t Alfonso? That cat loves to sleep in there.”

“It is not Alfonso. I recognized the presence. But it should not be here, it’s impossible…”

Hurried and heavy footsteps paused James’s questioning. He stepped away from the door, barely dodging it as it slammed open by Peter.

“He’s trapped! We need to help him, I don’t know what’s happening but Saul started screaming in the pantry!”

“What? I’ll get the fire axe. Miss Elizabeth, please stay here!”

James grabbed the fire axe that was stored in the tool closet, while Peter continued to scramble to alert the rest of the crew. James wasted no time smashing the pantry door open when he arrived.

The pantry door was made of heavy and thick wood so that it could keep unwanted ocean moisture from seeping into the valuable food that was inside. It was an expensive door, so the crew had made multiple copies of the key to ensure that it could be opened whenever needed. Unfortunately, Saul and the Captain were the only two people who usually held the keys.

A worried thought about the door’s cost being deducted from his paycheck crossed James’s mind as bits of wood flew past his face. 

Whatever, it’s an emergency. They’ll understand. 

By the time Peter and a few other crewmates arrived, James had nearly opened a man-sized hole to crawl through.

“Any of you have a key?”

“No. I think Stephen had it this week, but he probably ignored the alarm and is still sleeping.” 

“Okay, open it a bit further and I’ll crawl in and force it open.” 

The first rays of sunshine, courtesy of the dawn, peeked through the kitchen window, giving James a bit more light to work with. With a few more seconds, the hole was big enough for Peter to fit through. His sleeves were torn where the wooden splinters had caught, but the pantry door was now open.

“Where is Saul?”

A rich, metallic scent stopped the four crew members in their tracks. The faint golden sunlight revealed the macabre sight reflected in a giant bronze mirror.

Stuck inside the silver surface, seemingly floating above James, was Saul’s severed blonde head. His face stuck in a horrific scream.