Slaughter Cove: Part 4
Chloe sprinted towards Mel. She swatted away branches and darted between palm trees as she went. She reached a clearing and stumbled, hitting the ground and skidding on her knees. Chloe stopped for a second to breathe, and then she happened to look up at a large tree that was at the edge of the clearing.
Rich's body was impaled to the tree, the harpoon's shaft dripping his blood onto the floor of paradise.
Chloe put her hands to her mouth. She sat for a moment, looking at Rich's corpse. She never wanted this. She wanted to be done with Rich, but he didn't deserve this. She stood up and started to walk towards him. She was unsure of what to do, her world was falling apart around her.
Mel screamed once more. Chloe's head snapped in that direction. She gave Rich one last parting look before she continued on towards the beach.
On the rotting dock, the man had closed in on Mel. His fingers threaded into her hair and he yanked her about, bringing her right to the edge. Mel whimpered, scratching away at the man's weathered hands to no avail. The man held her roughly near the water, and the dolphins surfaced all around in a chaotic scene.
A strange clicking and chirping sound came from above Mel. The sound was then echoed back from the dolphins that began to pop their heads above the water. Mel felt tears stream down her face, the moment now a surreal nightmare. The man clicked and chirped again, then leaned close to Mel and whispered in her ear.
"They don't like you." Mel felt her hair pull back in fiery agony. She was pulled to her feet, crying out in pain once more. The man then placed his foot on her back and with one solid kick Mel was jettisoned into the water.
She hit with a loud splash, her body submerging under the water. She struggled back to the surface, spitting out salty ocean water as she did. She looked back at the man and wanted to scream once more. When the first dolphin speared into her side, she screamed indeed.
The dolphins came at her in a wild flurry. Their rostrums striking Mel with great speed and power, her agonized pleas for help began to sink with her battered body.
Each dolphin pass was laced with the muffled thud of a gruesome impact and the shattering of bones heard only to the underwater world of the cove. Mel's limp body slowly descended in a cloud of red and the dolphins continued their assault.
As the man watched the dolphins play, he heard Chloe calling out for Mel from the jungle. He reloaded his spear gun and trotted away from the end of the dock.
Chloe exited the jungle and found herself sprinting along the sand. She looked to the dock, and the nightmare continued to unfold.
Harry lay on the dock, a red pool spilling out onto the dock from his eye wound. The boat was loosely tied to the dock, dancing in the light waves that trickled past. Chloe walked past Harry, looking at his body as long as she could bear to. Her eyes then shot from left to right, scanning the surroundings. She saw nothing, so she called out once more.
"Mel! Where are you?" Chloe noticed the dolphins splashing and jumping in a spot near the edge of the dock. She approached with soft steps. The dock creaked and shifted under her feet, and Chloe reached the end. The dolphins noticed her arrival, and suddenly several dove into the water.
The surface was blanketed with an eerie calm, and Chloe suddenly could not look away. The calm was broken as a multitude of dorsal fins breached the water, carrying along a mangled mess of bones and flesh. Chloe recognized Mel's leopard print bathing suit, and reeled back in sheer horror at the grotesque flotsam that Mel had been reduced to.
Chloe disregarded the disintegrating dock and ran quickly to the boat. Her pace came to a sudden halt. Lying in the boat, his legs crossed and his spear gun at the ready, was the man who had brought death to paradise.
Chloe could do nothing but take steps back as the man slowly stood up and found his footing back on the dock. The blood-stained spear followed her every move, as the man slowly forced her all the way to the edge.
"Shouldn't have come here." He said with a slight rasp. Chloe shook her head.
"I never wanted to be here." Chloe said honestly. She felt herself going numb to the events around her, and was making her amends with what was to come.
"But here you are. Turn around." The man said with an empty tone. Chloe fought with a half-smile as she shook her head and turned toward the water.
"Can't even have the decency to face me? You are a fucking coward." Chloe responded. She jumped as she felt the tip of the spear gun jabbing into her back.
"Big words. Heard them before too." The man seethed. He then began to click and chirp. The dolphins began to surface, their eyes locking with Chloe as they passed. She felt their judgment, and it was terrifying.
The dolphins began to chirp back, and squeal and yelp. The water became a riot of high-pitched tones. Suddenly the man stepped back, and began to shout at the water.
"No! No! I do not want her to stay! You only need me!" He shouted, his voice cracking. He chirped and clicked back, now moving away from Chloe to confront the pod head on.
Chloe saw a chance, and took it. She turned and ran with all her ability to get to the boat. The dock snapped and creaked, signaling her escape to the man. He broke from his heated exchange and lifted the spear gun as he walked toward the fleeing Chloe.
"Nowhere to go." He said as his finger flexed on the trigger. Just before the spear was released, his foot fell on a part of the dock that had rotted completely. It gave way, and his leg fell through the dock. The spear fired off, incredibly far off target and crashed into the water far away.
Chloe heard the dock give way, and saw the spear fly over her and off into the distance. She looked back to see the man struggling to get his leg out of the hole he had created.
Chloe leapt into the boat and grabbed the motor, yanking the starting chain as hard as she could. The engine sputtered, but it did not start.
"Come on! Not now!" Chloe shouted and pulled the chain once more. The man had freed his leg and was now moving quickly down the dock.
Chloe pulled once more but the motor remained stubborn. The man reached behind him as he ran, producing a knife. Chloe closed her eyes and said a silent prayer and threw all her strength into her effort. Her muscles burned. She grunted and nearly fell back. The motor roared to life.
Chloe thought quickly, and tilted the running motor out of the water as the man reached towards her with the knife.
The propeller blades dug into his flesh, sending the knife flying off into the boat and creating a mist of red. The blades cut through the man's arm, sending flesh and bone everywhere. The man screamed in vile agony as he fell onto the dock. Chloe reached for the knife, gripping it tightly. with one deft swing she cut the boat from the dock and dropped the motor back into the water. The boat began to speed off.
Chloe held the motor tight, steering the boat toward the narrow inlet. The pod was running alongside, but Chloe paid them no heed.
On the dock, the man's screams strangely twisted into laughter as he sat up and watched the boat shrink on the blue waters of the cove. He waved his good hand at the boat and laughed once more, the evil cacophony swirling around the serene paradise.
Chloe looked back, the terror fading from sight. She then brought her attention ahead of her, to the narrow and choppy inlet to the cove. She should slow down, but that was not an option.
The boat shuddered and bounced violently through the waves at the inlet. Chloe lost her grip of the motor, and for the second time today her consciousness left her.
There was nothing but the dark.
A bird cried out.
A voice shouted in a whispered breath.
The waves lapped at the boat.
Blue sky broke through the disorienting dark.
The voice came through louder, and clearer.
"Hello! Are you alright?"
Chloe blinked her eyes open. Her lips quivered, and her head was still spinning. She labored to get herself to a sitting position, and looked around her. She was very far off the coast, the rocky inlet to the cove a speck in the distance.
A patrol boat pulled up close to her, and a man reached for her boat.
"Are you alright? Are you injured?" He asked as he secured the boats to each other.
Chloe just shook her head, the shock of the moment setting in.
"What happened?" The man asked as he reached for her arm and helped her into the patrol boat.
Chloe looked back at the cove inlet, and shivered.
"There was an accident." She said quietly.
