EL Official BK5 Chapter 21 - Ocean Gods and Selkies (Pt.1) (NSFW/NoSleep) (Patreon)

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“Pirates?” Karyna asked, her glossy lips curving into a playful smile as she pondered over the word. “I’m not scared of ‘pirates’.” Her skin glistened with sweat in the low lighting and her hair fell forward over her shoulders as she leant down to kiss my chest.

“Not even when they come in the dead of night?”

“No~” she purred and I traced my fingers up her smooth thigh as I continued.

“Try to imagine it, if you can, silent shadows scaling ships with grappling hooks. Quiet footsteps pattering across wooden decking, the last gasp of an unsuspecting sailor as they slit his throat…”

“Uh-huh,” she sighed, as her nails scraped my skin. She was only half listening as I continued.

“Greedy hands rummaging through personal belongings, looking for treasures. If they saw someone like you, well, they’d take you however they liked-”

Karyna’s thighs tightened around me and I stopped short, “If they wanted to take me, I’d let them~” she whispered, biting my earlobe lightly as she spoke. This woman was a wild kind and it sent a shiver down my spine all the way to the tailbone.

We had made land two days ago for supplies in a barren port town off the coast of the north atlantic. It was a cold, inhospitable, place with few permanent residents. Gas lamps lined the main street and dirty ice bunched in piles as snow shovelers cleared the way. 

I had met Karyna at the local inn. She wore a thick fur coat, her long hair cascaded over her shoulders down the length of her back like melting chocolate. She was exotic with a foreign accent I couldn’t place and her eyes were a glistening blue that drew my attention immediately. As I approached the man beside her left with a small scoff, and I offered to buy her a drink. 

She accepted with a devilish smile, and from there it wasn’t long to the bedroom. Now it was late and I couldn’t remember how long we had been going. Her perfume was sweet, it hung thick in the air and was almost suffocating, not that I cared. 

“Are you happy?” Karyna whispered in my ear as we rested.

Happy? I thought bemused, what kind of a question was that? Part of me was happy, sure, but I wasn’t looking to get into any deep philosophical discussions with this woman. Especially not right now. 

“Sure am,” I answered breathlessly, “Why do you ask?”

“Because in that case, I think it’s time to discuss payment~,” she answered casually. 

The statement rattled through to the forefront of my mind, bringing with it situational clarity, “Payment?” I asked dumbfounded.

“Mhmm~! Don’t worry, I won’t ask for much.”

“I ahh…” I struggled, squinting with an awkward smile, I hadn’t realized this was a ‘paid’ arrangement.

Karyna chuckled, tracing her fingertips over my mouth to silence me, “Shhh relax, I don’t want money. I heard you had a ship, one bound for America? Well, it so happens that my brother and I have a little bit of a problem: our ship home left without us a few days ago. Now I suppose we could have swam after it, but you know the water is a bit chilly this time of year and I would hate to get my hair wet… So, you’ll take us back instead.”

My brow creased and I pushed her hand away, “You want passage on my ship?”

“Yep~! When you set sail again tomorrow… take me with you… I can cook, and clean… and…” she trailed off as her hands slipped into indecent places once again and my breath shallowed. 

I’m not sure how a man is supposed to think under these circumstances, “It’s bad luck… the high seas are no place for a woman,” I tried.

“That’s just what men who can’t get women on a stinky boat say. Besides… if you don’t take us with you, who will be there to kiss your little guy goodnight, every, single, day…?” She moved lower with each word until she was between my legs and her lips enclosed around me.

I closed my eyes, trying to think as her head bobbed up and down. It couldn’t hurt to have a woman onboard just this once…

*** 

The day we set sail the ocean was a dull gray, matching the gloomy sky above. Waves rolled in slowly. Each lazy set sloshed with lackluster effort against the metal hull, agitating the barnacles and creating a rhythmic repetition of watery lapping.

On the lower deck Karyna swanned about back and forth. She’d arrived on the docks that morning holding onto the arm of a man, her brother I assumed, since she was dragging him along like luggage after her.

She raised her hand against the brightness of the sky as she looked up at the ship, admiring its silhouette against the clouds, before taking in a deeper breath that threatened to pop the front buttons of her coat.

“Ahoy captain!” she shouted across the docks, leaning forward when she spotted me on the bridge.

“Come aboard!” I called back, waving my arm in a motion for her to walk up the gangway. 

Part of me already regretted agreeing. Now she was wandering between the shipping containers, gawking at them as if she had never been on a cargo ship before, and flirting with the other crew members. Her brother trailed behind at a slower pace, I didn’t like the way his eyes watched things. Maybe he was a cop. 

The idea stirred in the back of my mind. Maybe the whore was just the bait-

“Fine piece of ass down there,” Nico sniffed, clapping my shoulder as he approached and startling me.

“Yeah, and she’s my girl so let the others know,” I replied curtly, dragging my attention away from Karyna. She was some kind of bewitching, that was for sure.

Nico put his calloused hands up innocently, “You got it,” he agreed without argument.

“Good. Is the cargo secured?” I demanded.

“Yeah, it’s all tight.”

I glanced past him to the rows of shipping containers. We had just over 600 of them stacked onto the deck, but there was only one I cared about. Container 231. Sometimes the top containers go overboard with rough seas, so this one was placed at the bottom of a three high stack and toward the center of the ship for good measure.

“Good,” I announced at last. With that taken care of, I could go talk to Karyna.

She had made her way to the side of the ship and was looking out over the railing, “There’s a dolphin!” the woman exclaimed, shaking the man beside her.

“That’s a shark,” he corrected in a bored dialect.

“Do you always have to spoil everything?”

“Maybe you should learn basic identification skills-” he stopped as I approached, and Karyna turned to follow his gaze.

“José! I like your ship, it’s very ‘big’,” she purred with a smile.

“You like the view?” I responded with smooth bemusement as I pulled her to me by the waist.

“Very much~” she agreed, leaning in closer.

“Karyna,” her brother interrupted and she signed.

“Have you met my baby brother? His name is Kári~” she introduced us and I begrudgingly acknowledged his presence.

“José,” I introduced myself, offering him a handshake. 

“Yeah, I got that.” The response was blunt, and he made no move to accept the gesture. Leaving me to retract my hand. 

We regarded one another for a moment more. His blue-green eyes matched the hues of the ocean and his facial features were alike to Karyna’s, but I had trouble believing they were related. His gaze was empty, like I wasn’t anything and my blood pressure rose. He had no idea who he was insulting.

“Come on~ I want a FULL tour,” Karyna’s voice broke the tense interaction.

She pulled me away by the arm and I stared down her brother, only turning away when I had to. I thought he had been glaring back at me. I didn’t realize he wasn’t even looking. Just like I didn’t notice Karyna’s expression harden as they made eye contact, briefly communicating some unspoken understanding between them.

He nodded just slightly and she turned back to me with bright cheer, “I'm so excited! I’ve never been on a ship before!”

A wave of pure ecstasy swelled in my gut from her voice and I cracked a smile, “You’re in for a treat then.”

*** 

By nightfall I had walked Karyna around the entirety of the ship. She serviced me in some rarely used hallway below deck and I decided this had been a good idea after all. We parted ways when she went to clean up and I went to check on the cargo. 

Nights on the seas are frigid. Crystalized seaspray formed ice points in the direction of the wind off the edges of containers and riggings. Cloud blotted out the moonlight and I traveled with lamp in hand to container 231. It was a lonely journey. 

The rest of the crew were below deck, eating dinner while the seas were calm. I would join them after. Maybe I was paranoid, but I needed to see that it was still there, and secured. The riggings creaked and the hull groaned as I traversed the isles between freight. 

My breath steamed in the air, visible only because of the dim orange light illuminating a surrounding circle through the darkness. I reached the beaten blue container. Rust tainted its exterior and I brushed my hand along the peeling paint. It was still there, safe. Letting out a relieved breath I turned to go, when movement out the corner of my eye caught my attention. 

A shadow moved between the containers two rows down and a chill ran up my spine. Blinking, I strained to see through the darkness. Crunchy ice coated the deck, but the figure had moved silently. Was I imagining it? I waited immobilized as I stared. I was certain something had been there.

However, as seconds stretched into minutes I began to calm. Shaking my head as I dismissed the fear as delusion I marched forward. If there had been someone there, they would have had to leave footprints- the brave reassurance disintegrated into fresh unease as imprints in the ice glittered under the lamp light. Someone had been there.

“Nico? That you, you’d better stop playing games…” my voice wavered, trailing off as instinct told me to be quieter.

No answer came and I gradually reached for my pistol.

“You know I’ve got a gun, I'm not playing around!” I called with more confidence.

Still silence greeted me and I swallowed hard. Deciding to follow the footprints I set off with determination.

They were evenly spaced, but now that I was moving in the same direction, I wasn't sure they were footprints. It could have just been water that splashed onto the decking, or the ice forming in a strange way. The rationalizations took the edge off, but doubt crept back in when marks stopped at the entryway to the cabin.

Holding the lantern in one hand and the pistol in the other, I advanced through the narrow hallways, checking every cupboard along the way. Damp footprints led down the hall until they faded into nothing and I stopped at a fork in the halls. One way went towards the barracks and the other to the crew quarters. 

A round of heaving laughter echoed from the quarters and I delayed. Maybe I should have gone to check the sleeping areas, but the safety of others drew me toward the living area. I arrived to find a group playing strip poker and the presence of others lifted the tension. 

Karyna, Kári, Nico, George and Berto were mid-hand. Three of them had folded, leaving Karyna and Nico to make their choices. “Go on then, fold, you don’t have the nerve~” the girl taunted.

“You ain’t got nothin’,” he replied, pushing his chips forward.

“We’ll see~” She was down to her underwear, and none of the others were in much better positions. Berto sat in his pants with one sock. While George and Nico each had only their boxers and shirts left. Kári was the most covered, missing only a single sock and my jaw locked.

“How long have you been here!?” I shouted, startling them. 

“What..?” Berto began.

“Not you. Him. How long,” I demanded, redirecting my question to Kári as I pointed the gun at him.

“Long enough to take all our clothes, my brother never loses,” Karyna complained with a sigh, folding her cards. “Are you really going to point that at my baby brother?”

Her eyes met mine and I lowered the weapon. The calming effect she had over me was profound. Maybe I was in love, I thought whimsically. I couldn’t even remember why I had been mad. Not even when looking at her brother, who hadn’t moved nor shown any sign that he cared about the situation.

Karyna exhaled with a smile, returning her attention to the game. “I really don't have a lot of clothes left here-” she mused as she moved to unclip her bra.  

“I’m not sure why you’re surprised,” Kári muttered, taking off his shirt as she removed her bra. He covered her with it so that I only caught the briefest glance.  That was disappointing.

“Ahh you always care about my modesty,” she laughed, unbothered, “You going to join us, José?”

“He looks too spooked to play.”

I grit my teeth, “It was you- you were lurking around the shipping containers!” I spat.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“I saw you-” I began a new, but Karyna interrupted.

“Maybe you saw a Selkie,” she chimed in.

“What?” I demanded flatly.    

“They live in this area, right Kári?”

“What are you doing?” he responded, folding his arms.

Karyna sighed, “Come on, don’t tell me none of you know what a Selkie is?”

“You mean, mermaids?” Nico offered, but she scrunched her nose.

“No. I mean Selkies. Shapeshifting sea witches~ They live in these waters around ice islands, and they prey on men,” she began, “On clear nights when the moon is full, that’s when they hunt. Moving in herds, they select their target: A lone sailship, travelling the icy waters of the north atlantic trade route, just like we are. Their sleek, silken bodies cut through the ocean waves as they surround their prey. 

For a moment, you see seals, playfully frolicking in the waves and it’s as you’re looking that you see her… a young girl fighting for her life among the waves. She sees you and screams words that are lost to the wind as waves crash over her. She’s drowning, you realize. Sinking little by little as her strength fades… By the time you see her it’s almost too late…

You shout for help, but she’s disappearing! Any delay and she’ll be gone! You dive into the frigid waters. Caring nothing for your own safety and ignoring the way the cold bites into your skin, she’s so close. Her eyes are wide with panic, her hair is mousy brown and shiny. She’s more beautiful up close, and to your surprise, completely nude. Moonlight glistens off her skin. You can reach her- but just as you do, she gives in. Slipping below the dark water.

There’s no time to think. Taking in a deep breath you plunge down after her. By some miracle your arm wraps around her slender waist and you begin to swim upward. The surface is mere inches away, but the young girl is heavy… her weight is dragging you down, you realize as the air above slowly seems further. Now your lungs are burning, you’re not strong enough, but if you let her go, you’ll never find her again in the darkness.

Agonized, you make the decision, and she slips from your grasp. The moonlight above is calling you back to it, begging you to swim for it and just as your fingertips break the tension a hand pulls you back down. The girl you abandoned has hold of your ankle. Her features are deforming. Nails turning to talons that cut into your flesh, her beautiful smile reveals rows of teeth, and she’s no longer alone. Her pack has come to feast. Dozens of hungry mouths bite deep into your flesh, cleaving meat from bone with an elastic snap as bloodied water floods your lungs~” Karyna stopped to take a breath while we sat in stunned silence.

“In the end,” she continued, “You’re not sure how you died… all you know, is that the girl you saved never needed your help. Right Kári~?” Karyna turned her attention back to her brother, tilting his chin up when he ignored her.

“Get off,” he snapped, smacking her hand away. A faint sheen of sweat dampened his brow and his complexion had paled.

“What?” she laughed, “It’s how they hunt! Everyone knows that!”

“Your stories are stupid,” he denounced her as he stood to leave.

“So sensitive~”

Her taunting went unanswered and she returned her attention to us as if only just then remembering we were there, “Oh! A Selkie nearly drowned him when he was a kid. He never even lets me get to the best part.”

“There’s more…?” I asked with morbid curiosity. 

“Of course~ That’s just how they hunt in the water. They can also board ships and go on land~” 

Her cheerful disposition about ghastly stories was unsettling.

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