The Devil's Yacht

The yacht swept up in the dunes had been

Abandoned the year before,

I came across it, quite by chance

Some miles away on the shore.

The bow was buried, the mast had gone

I climbed and I peered inside,

And there in the cabin, it seemed to me

That somebody must have died.

 

There were stains of blood on the cabin floor,

Stains of blood on the sink,

Handprint stains on a cupboard door,

I took me outside to think.

Without a body the boat felt right,

I needed somewhere to stay,

And this was cosy and out of sight,

As free as the livelong day.

 

I used seawater to clean it up,

I got the cupboard to shine,

Whoever had bled in there before

This cabin would do just fine.

I found some blankets under the bunk

To set up a makeshift bed,

I felt like a proud new owner there

And the feeling went to my head.

 

I caught some fish in the darkening light

And cooked it there on the beach,

The flames had flickered and showed the mark

As high as the tide could reach.

A breeze blew up and I crept inside

Protected from wind and rain,

And sat, and pondered a lazy pipe

In there, where a corpse had lain.

 

It must have been after the Moon went down

I first heard the woman’s cries,

Up from the shore, through the cabin door,

‘You’re always telling me lies!’

The wind was howling about the dunes

And the waves beat loud on the shore,

And over it all, the woman’s wail,

‘We’ve been through all this before.’

 

Then something clambered up on the deck

A thing with an ominous tread,

The hairs stood up on the back of my neck

As the woman wailed, ‘You’re dead!’

The thing jumped down to the cabin floor

In a shapeless gown of black,

All I could see were two red eyes

As it moved on in to attack.

 

The blade of a knife flashed by my face,

It gleamed in the light of the stars,

I tried to cry, ‘Whoever you think

I am, I’m not, I’m Lars!’

But the blade sank home in my shoulder then

And I reached for it in pain,

I cut my hand on its sharpened blade

As it tried to strike me again.

 

That shapeless thing had let out a shriek,

Had glared with its two red eyes,

‘Why do you hide on the Devil’s yacht

If you’re not a part of his lies?’

I tried to answer but nothing came

The pain swept me like a wave,

And blood was seeping from cuts and wounds

I was trying in vain to stave.

 

The figure turned and it left the yacht,

I staggered up to the deck,

And watched as it entered the breaking waves,

A sight I try to forget.

There were stains of blood on the cabin floor,

Stains of blood on the sink,

Handprint stains on a cupboard door,

They were always mine, I think.

 

For the woman that I’d been hiding from

Had sworn with her final breath,

‘I’ll seek you out, wherever you’ve gone,

It won’t be a peaceful death.

I shall loose the demons from the hell

That you gave me, ready or not.’

How could I know that they’d find me where

I’d hid, on the Devil’s Yacht?

 

David Lewis Paget

Reviews

[R Smith]

Fantastic David, you just bring out those big guns everytime and blast us away with sheer imagination and a story worthy of the best writers who ever walked, I love this tale and its surprise is always stunning but if i ever see that yacht i'm running lol, thanks David :)

[Valentine]

Wow, you held me spell bound to the end with this write. I never expected that ending. You are getting better all of the time Mate. Valentine

[ANTO]

You keep raising the bar David. My God Lars had seen and washed his own blood - perhaps he had been killed at sea and the boat had crashed to shore captainless and his ghost was destined to replay the last day of his life over and over due to the curse. Either way - I loved the premises of this - its so intricately woven - its masterful. Its filled to the neck with thrills and horror. Wonderful!
Bravo!

[Devanshu Rajput]

It seems that place suits you.

A nice story, told in a great manner. Very dark story.

I liked the sequence of struggle between you and the evil women.

What more?

Thanks for sharing.

Devanshu

[Barbz]

Whether you live it, dream it think or fantasize it, the criminal always returns to the scene of the crime.....and, I trust, the victim does as well. the Devils Yacht seems like the proper place for this event! how could they know where you had hid.......How could they not!!, Deep, Dark and Devilish.....Oh, Daring and Delightful, DLP...Barbz