“A sailor went to sea-sea-sea to see what he could see-see-see…”
My eyes fluttered open to the sound of my assailant singing the repetitive children's tune. His voice was like a broken record, scratchy and dull, and the way he sung it made it sound creepy and foreboding instead of light-hearted.
The sun shone brightly, nearly blinded me as I awoke from my forced slumber.
I found myself on the deck of a yacht, relatively alone, laid against the sidewall.
The waves rocked the boat from side to side slightly and splashed water up onto the deck, some landing on me. The taste and smell of salt was evident in the air. White sea birds danced above me, threatening to drop their disgusting bombs on me, as they sung their rhythm-less song. The sky was a light blue, the color only being broken by a few clouds and the birds. It was beautiful despite my predicament.
I couldn’t hear the engine running, meaning that we had stopped. There was no land in view of the little white yacht, and I doubted there was any for miles. I wondered, even though I already knew, what my captor planned.
My neck hurt from the way that I had been sitting and my head still stung from the head trauma that put me out to begin with, but they were the least of my worries.
I tried to stand, but the rattling of a chain brought my attention to an iron shackle on my ankle and an iron ball connected to it by iron restraints.
Suddenly, as I finally steadied myself, a wave made the boat lean to the side opposite me. I stumbled and fell on my back, and the ball started rolling quickly.
I yelped as I was dragged along across the wooden floor, gaining splinters and cuts underneath my shirt as I went. The ball and I met at the other side, my face greeting it with a slam. My nose started to bleed from the impact.
I covered it quickly and sneezed, splattering my blood across my fingers and palm.
“Fun…” I muttered and tried to stand again. I fumbled with my footing but was able to lift myself from the ground
I noticed a freestanding safe and I prayed that, as I stumbled towards it, I could figure out the code and there would be a weapon inside.
I fell to my knees at the end of my leash and reach desperately for the combination lock. It was then that I heard the slowly approaching footsteps and the horrid song getting louder.
“A sailor went to sea-sea-sea…”
My mind was alive with worry and confusion as I saw the lock used letters instead of numbers, but I immediately moved the arrow to ‘S’, and then ‘E’, and finally ‘A’. The rest I turned to blanks. It worried me that the letters had spaces between them.
“To see what she could see-see-see…”
There was an audible click and I grabbed the handle, pulling it open quickly. Water washed over me as the safe swung open and emptied completely. I spat salt water from my mouth and blinked it from my eyes, only to find that that was all there was: water.
I felt my heart drop as the ball was lifted from the deck by my abductor, who was dressed in a bloodied sailor's uniform, and was heaved over the side of the ship.
“But all that she could see-see-see…”
I screamed and clawed at the floorboards as I, too, went flying overboard.
The iron weight was too heavy to fight so I fell down into the dark, abyssal sea, rapidly and helplessly.
I looked up at the fading sky, only to see the light of a passing ship. I must not have noticed them in my haste to get the safe open.
Adrenaline rushed through my veins and I felt the strength to fight my horrid anklet. I was able to slow my perilous descent and swam an inch closer to the surface. My muscles strained as I gained another inch. I hoped that if I got close enough to the surface, they, whoever it was, might spot me. I could almost touch the air that I was being deprived of.
But the light passed over, leaving my efforts in vain. It seemed so sudden that my fate was sealed and my chance at life ripped from me. It was surreal. All my strength flooded from me and I fell faster than I had before.
Sand was uplifted around me as the ball landed.
Once the cloud cleared, I saw a truly horrible scene. Silhouettes of other victims floated around me, attached to a ball and chain, like mine, which kept their body anchored to the ocean floor. Some had lost their limbs, others were overgrown with marine life, a few went headless. I could feel their lifeless gaze on me, their eyes glazed over with the white film of their watery demise.
I couldn't tell how many there were, but I knew they would never find us. Humanity would rather shoot for the stars than swim in the sea.
I imagined my killer's voice singing the final lyric to my death sentence as my lungs strained and I had to take a breath.
“But all that she could see-see-see, was the bottom of the deep blue sea-sea-sea…”