The Shipwreck of the Pelinaion

Chapter Three

Thomas O’Connor thrashed around on the shifting beach sand, coughing violently. A splitting headache accompanied the sudden flashbacks from his childhood.

            He was running from the nameless, faceless man again. Risking a glance back, Tom tripped over a tree root in the thickly wooded area. Falling sideways, he quickly tried to scramble away from the figure looming over him. The dark, undulating tentacles reached out for him. There was nothing he could do except cower in fear.

            “Tom? Tom! Are you okay?!”

            Hearing Helen call his name snapped Thomas back to the present. He tried to get up, but hacking coughs continued to wrack his body, forcing him to lie back down. Helen crouched next to him and tenderly brushed sand off his best Sunday clothes.

            “Thomas, I’ll go to town and get the doctor. You just stay here and-”

            “No, don’t,” Tom managed to choke out between gasps for air. “Don’t leave.”

            Helen nodded, and anxiously looked around for fresh water or anything she could use to help him. Eventually, she just sat down on the sand next to Tom, trying to comfort him with her presence.

            Each hacking wheeze of a cough stung Tom’s throat. The muscles in his abdomen contracted and expanded in involuntary spasms as he struggled to get the coughing under control. He attempted to stand again, but was stopped by a sharp, stabbing pain in his chest. Thomas collapsed back to the sand, with Helen cradling his head in her lap, trying to keep him from moving as the coughs subsided.

            Tom sat up with a grimace, feeling disoriented and confused. After checking him for injuries and concluding that he had a broken rib, Tom’s wife helped him stand up and start walking home to the lighthouse, leaning heavily on her.

            “Honey, what just happened?” asked Helen.

            “Let’s just get home. I still don’t understand everything that’s going on, but I’ll try to explain.” Thomas started coughing again, although this time less severely, and sat down to rest briefly.

            By the time they reached the lighthouse, Tom felt feverish and slightly delirious, but he knew he had to tell Helen now, or he would never get the chance. He sat down at the kitchen table as she prepared two cups of tea for them. Thomas sipped his gingerly, blowing at the steam and feeling exhausted.

            Helen waited until her husband settled down and seemed ready to begin talking before asking her first question.

            “One minute, everything’s fine, the next minute you’re hacking up a lung and acting all enigmatic. Can you please tell me what’s going on?”

            Tom sighed and massaged his forehead with one hand, his tea mug in the other.

            “I’m not sure, but I’ll tell you what I’ve guessed. I don’t want you in any danger.”

            “What kind of danger? Pirates, government, the church?”

            “Nothing like that, darling. This is worse than all of those- well; maybe not the church, but this comes a close second. No, I’m being hunted by something. I tried to research it, when I was a child, but the closest thing to it existed in Germany in the fifteenth century. Not much is known about the creature because it caused memory loss in its victims then either abducted the people it stalked, leaving no trace behind, or murdered them violently and left the remains.”

            Helen gasped. “That’s horrible! And that… thing… is following you?”

            “Unfortunately, yes. Something happened when I was young, and I’ve never been able to recall it entirely. I’m not sure if it was just a nightmare or if it was real. I don’t know if there’s anything I can do, but I’m not going down without a fight.”

            “I won’t leave you to the mercy of this monster! I would do anything to keep you safe. What about the children? They need their father.”

            “That’s exactly why I can’t get you involved.” Tom coughed, but motioned for his wife to sit back down when she rose to get him a glass of water. “Helen, I love you, but if something happens to me you need to take care of Jack and Elizabeth.”

            Thomas had been holding back his coughs, but now they broke out again, this time even worse than before. He could barely breathe, but managed to stagger over to the kitchen sink before he began coughing up blood. The stark red against ceramic white seemed to shock Helen. She set her mug next to the sink then felt his forehead and murmured softly at how hot it was.

            “You seem really sick, Tom. Maybe you’re just hallucinating and this creature doesn’t exist. I’ve got to get the doctor from town, I’ll be back soon.” At this, she ran out the door, not even bothering to grab her jacket.

            Tom was alone.