The Sound Beneath the Ship
The scream lasted only a few seconds.
But God—
it didn’t sound human.
The noise echoed through the ferry like metal tearing apart underwater, low and distorted and filled with something painfully wrong. The walls vibrated around them while rain slammed violently against the windows outside.
Then silence returned.
Complete silence.
Nobody inside the cabin moved.
Selene Cross still gripped Nora Vale’s arm tightly while her breathing turned uneven.
“What,” she whispered shakily, “was that?”
Nobody answered.
Because honestly?
Nobody wanted to.
The lights suddenly flickered back on overhead, weak yellow electricity washing across the cabin again.
Everything looked normal.
Which somehow made it worse.
Kai Mercer slowly stood from the bed while staring toward the ceiling carefully.
“Okay.” His voice sounded quieter now. “We need to establish something immediately.”
Jace Holloway frowned slightly.
“What?”
“If anyone says ‘let’s split up,’ I’m throwing them into the ocean myself.”
Fair.
Another loud groan echoed through the ferry beneath their feet.
This time it sounded deeper.
Like something massive moved below the ship underwater.
Nora’s stomach tightened again instantly.
Then suddenly—
the entire ferry jerked violently sideways.
Everyone stumbled hard against the walls while luggage crashed onto the floor.
Selene screamed.
“What the hell was that?”
The ship tilted again before slowly leveling itself.
Outside the window, black waves smashed against the glass hard enough to leave cracks spreading briefly through the surface.
God.
This storm was getting worse.
Fast.
Then came a knock at the cabin door.
Everyone froze immediately.
Three slow knocks.
Knock.
Knock.
Knock.
Silence followed afterward.
Nobody moved.
Kai stared toward the door carefully.
“Absolutely not.”
Another knock.
This time louder.
Jace swallowed hard before stepping slowly toward the door anyway.
“Jace,” Nora whispered sharply.
“What if it’s crew?”
“What if it’s NOT crew?”
Fair point.
The knocking came again.
Slower now.
Almost impatient.
Jace hesitated beside the handle for several long seconds before finally pulling the door open.
The hallway outside stood empty.
No footsteps.
No movement.
Only flickering lights stretching endlessly down both sides of the corridor.
God.
The air outside looked darker somehow.
Colder.
Jace leaned carefully into the hallway.
“Hello?”
No response.
Then Kai noticed something near the floor.
“Uh…”
Everyone looked down.
Wet footprints covered the hallway outside the cabin.
Long barefoot footprints.
Like someone soaking wet stood outside their door moments earlier.
Except—
the prints faced the wrong direction.
They pointed toward the cabin.
Not away from it.
Selene stepped backward immediately.
“Nope.”
Nora stared down at the footprints while cold fear crawled slowly through her chest.
Because the water inside them looked dark.
Not clear.
Almost black.
Then suddenly another sound echoed somewhere farther down the hallway.
A metal door slamming violently shut.
Everyone jumped.
“What was that?” Rowan whispered.
Another slam echoed deeper inside the ferry.
Then another.
Then another.
BANG.
BANG.
BANG.
Like doors closing one after another somewhere in the darkness below them.
The hallway lights flickered harder now.
Then completely died again.
Darkness swallowed everything instantly.
Selene cursed under her breath.
“Oh my God.”
Only emergency red lights remained active now, washing the hallway in dim crimson shadows.
And somewhere deep beneath the ferry—
something started moving.
Heavy.
Slow.
A dragging sound echoed upward through the floors.
SCRAAAAAPE.
SCRAAAAAPE.
Nora physically felt fear tighten through her chest.
Because whatever made that sound…
was large.
Very large.
Kai slowly reached for the cabin door.
“Everybody back inside. Right now.”
Nobody argued.
The second everyone stepped into the cabin again, Jace slammed the door shut and locked it immediately.
Silence filled the room afterward except for rain and distant thunder.
Then softly, Rowan whispered:
“We should call somebody.”
“No signal,” Kai answered instantly.
“Maybe the ship radio—”
Another scream suddenly echoed through the ferry.
Closer this time.
Much closer.
And definitely human.
Selene visibly flinched.
“That sounded like a girl.”
The scream cut off abruptly.
Like someone grabbed whoever made it.
God.
Nora’s heartbeat pounded painfully now.
Because that wasn’t storm noise anymore.
That was real.
Someone else was on this ferry.
And something bad was happening to them.
Jace grabbed his flashlight from his bag quickly before standing.
“We need to find the crew.”
Kai looked at him like he lost his mind.
“Absolutely not.”
“What if someone’s hurt?”
“What if WE become hurt?”
Another dragging sound echoed beneath the floor again.
Closer.
Directly below their cabin now.
SCRAAAAAPE.
SCRAAAAAPE.
Then—
three loud bangs slammed upward from underneath the floorboards.
Everyone jumped violently.
Selene nearly cried out.
“What the hell is under us?”
Nobody answered.
Because nobody wanted the answer anymore.
Then suddenly the old ferry intercom crackled alive overhead.
Static filled the cabin.
A long burst of distorted noise screamed through the speakers before the ferryman’s voice slowly emerged.
Calm.
Cold.
Almost emotionless.
“Passengers,” he rasped quietly, “remain inside your cabins.”
The speaker crackled violently.
Then softly—
almost like he spoke directly beside them—
he added:
“Do not let them hear you.”
Static exploded through the intercom afterward.
Then silence returned.
Complete silence.
Nobody breathed.
Nobody moved.
Rain hammered endlessly outside the ferry while dim red emergency lights painted the cabin walls like blood.
Then from somewhere down the hallway—
came the sound of wet footsteps walking slowly toward their door.