The Prince Of Mist

17

The cabin door opened slowly. Alicia, curled up in a dark corner, held her breath and didn’t move. The Prince of Mist was outlined in the doorway and his eyes, flashing like hot coals, changed from gold to a deep crimson. Cain entered the cabin and strode over to her. Trying hard to hide the trembling that had seized hold of her, Alicia faced her visitor defiantly. The magician grinned like a dog at her show of arrogance.

‘It must run in the family. You’re all born heroes,’ the magician said softly. ‘I’m beginning to like you.’

‘What is it you want?’ asked Alicia, filling her shaky voice with all the contempt she could muster.

Cain seemed to consider the question. Alicia noticed that his nails were long and sharp, like the tips of daggers. Cain pointed at her.

‘That depends. What do you suggest?’ he asked sweetly, his eyes fixed on her face.

‘I have nothing to give you,’ she replied, stealing a glance at the open door.

Cain wagged a finger, guessing her intentions.

‘That would not be a good idea,’ he stated. ‘Let’s go back to our conversation. Why don’t we make a deal? An understanding between adults, if you see what I mean.’

‘What deal?’ Alicia replied, trying to avoid Cain’s hypnotic eyes, which seemed to be sucking away her willpower, a parasite feeding on her soul.

‘That’s what I like, so let’s talk business. Tell me, Alicia, would you like to save Jacob – sorry, I mean Roland? He’s a good-looking boy,’ said the magician, savouring every last word of his offer.

‘What would you want in exchange? My life?’ Alicia replied. The words came out of her mouth before she’d even had time to think.

The magician crossed his arms and frowned, looking pensive. Alicia noticed that he never blinked.

‘I was thinking of something else, my dear,’ Cain explained, stroking his lower lip with the tip of his forefinger. ‘How about the life of your firstborn?’

Cain moved towards Alicia and brought his face up close to hers, so that she could smell the sweet, nauseating stench of his breath. Looking straight into his eyes, she spat in the magician’s face.

‘Go to hell,’ she said, reining in her anger.

The drops of saliva evaporated as if she’d spat onto a burning metal plate.

‘My dear girl, that’s exactly where I’ve come from.’

Slowly, the magician stretched out his bare hand towards Alicia’s face. She closed her eyes and felt the icy touch of his fingers as the long sharp nails rested on her forehead. The wait seemed endless. At last, Alicia heard his footsteps moving away and the heavy metal door of the cabin closing behind him. An odour of decay seeped through the cracks around the door like steam hissing from a pressure cooker. Alicia felt like weeping, like banging on the walls to relieve her anger, but she needed to stay in control and keep her mind clear. She had to get out of there and she didn’t have much time.

She walked to the door and felt around the edges in search of a gap or chink that she could use to force it open. Nothing. Cain had entombed her in a rusty sarcophagus in the company of the old captain’s bones. At that moment, a huge jolt shook the boat and Alicia fell to the floor. A few seconds later, she heard a dull sound coming from the bowels of the ship. Alicia pressed her ear to the metal and listened carefully; it was the unmistakable rush of running water. A lot of water. Alicia, in a panic, realised what was happening: the hull was flooding and the Orpheus was sinking once more. This time she was unable to suppress a terrified scream.

*

Roland had searched for Alicia all over the ship, but with no success. The Orpheus was transformed into a watery catacomb, a labyrinth of interminable corridors and barred doors. The magician could have hidden her in dozens of different places. Roland returned to the bridge and tried to work out where she might be trapped. Then came the crash and the whole vessel shuddered, making Roland lose his balance on the damp, slippery floor. Cain materialised out of the shadows, as if he had emerged through the cracked metal floor.

‘We’re sinking, Jacob,’ the magician explained calmly, pointing around him. ‘Timing has never been your strong point, has it?’

‘I don’t know what you’re talking about. Where’s Alicia?’ Roland demanded, ready to pounce on his opponent.

The magician closed his eyes and joined the palms of his hands together as if in prayer.

‘Somewhere on this ship,’ he replied. ‘If you were stupid enough to follow her here, don’t ruin it now. Do you want to save her life, Jacob?’

‘My name is Roland,’ the boy snapped.

‘Roland, Jacob… What does it matter if it’s one name or the other? I have quite a few names myself. What is your wish, Roland? Do you want to save your friend?’

‘Where have you hidden her?’ Roland replied. ‘Damn you! Where is she?’

The magician rubbed his hands, as if he were feeling cold.

‘Do you know how long a ship like this takes to sink, Jacob? Don’t tell me. A couple of minutes at the most. Surprising, isn’t it?’ Cain laughed.

‘You want Jacob, or whatever I’m called,’ Roland declared. ‘Well, you’ve got him; I’m not going to escape. So let her go.’

‘How original, Jacob,’ intoned the magician, drawing closer. ‘Your time’s running out, Jacob. One minute.’

The Orpheus began to list to starboard. The water flooding the boat roared beneath their feet and the damaged metal structure shivered as the furious sea spread through it like acid dissolving a cardboard toy.

‘What do you want me to do?’ begged Roland. ‘What do you want of me?’

‘Good, Jacob. I see you’re beginning to understand. I hope you’ll carry out the part of the agreement your father was unable to fulfil,’ the magician replied. ‘Nothing more. And nothing less.’

‘My father died in an accident. I…’ Roland began to explain in despair.

The magician placed his hand on the boy’s shoulder. Roland felt the metallic touch of his fingers.

‘Half a minute, boy. It’s a bit late for family stories.’

The waves were now crashing against the deck of the bridge. Roland threw a last beseeching look at the magician. Cain knelt in front of him and smiled.

‘Shall we make a deal, Jacob?’ he whispered.

Tears sprang from Roland’s eyes and he slowly nodded.

‘Good, good, Jacob,’ murmured Cain. ‘Welcome home…’

The magician stood up and pointed towards one of the corridors that led from the bridge.

‘The last door down that corridor. But here’s a piece of advice. By the time you manage to open it we’ll all be under water and your friend won’t have enough air to breathe. You’re a good diver, Jacob. You’ll know what to do. Remember our pact…’

Cain smiled one last time and, wrapping himself in his cloak, disappeared into the night. Invisible feet echoed across the bridge, leaving behind footprints of molten metal. The boy stood where he was for an instant, paralysed, trying to recover his breath, until the ship gave another jolt, pushing him against the frozen wheel of the helm. Water had started to flood the bridge.

Roland rushed down the corridor the magician had pointed out. Water was now pouring through the deck hatches, inundating the corridor, as the Orpheus gradually sank into the sea. Roland banged against the cabin door with his fist.

‘Alicia!’ he shouted, although he was aware that she could barely hear him. ‘It’s Roland. Hold your breath! I’m going to get you out of there!’

Roland grabbed the wheel that opened the cabin door and struggled to turn it, hurting the palms of his hands as he did so. The freezing water was already up to his waist and kept on rising. The wheel only yielded a centimetre or so. Roland took a deep breath and tried again. This time it slowly rotated. The water was now over Roland’s head.

When the door finally opened, Roland swam into the murky cabin, groping around blindly for Alicia. For a terrible moment he thought the magician had tricked him and there was nobody there. He opened his eyes under the water, battling against a stinging sensation, and tried to see through the darkness. At last his hands touched a torn piece of Alicia’s dress – she was still there, struggling between panic and suffocation. He hugged her and tried to calm her, but in the dark she didn’t know who or what had grabbed her. Aware that he had only a few seconds left, Roland put his hands round her neck and pulled her out into the corridor. The ship was still plunging towards the ocean bed. Alicia wrestled with Roland as he dragged her through the corridor towards the bridge, through the debris floating up from the depths of the Orpheus. He knew they couldn’t get out of the ship until the hull had touched the seabed – if they tried before then, the pressure would only pull them back down – yet he was aware that at least thirty seconds had elapsed since Alicia had taken her last breath: by this time and in her state of panic, she had probably started to inhale water. If so, the ascent to the surface would mean certain death for her. Cain had planned this game with great care.

As they waited, it seemed as though the ship would never touch the bottom, and when the impact finally came, part of the ceiling in the bridge collapsed on top of them. A terrible pain shot up Roland’s leg, and he realised that a piece of metal had trapped one of his ankles. Meanwhile, the glow of the Orpheus was slowly fading in the depths of the ocean.

Roland fought against the agonising pain, searching for Alicia’s face in the dark. Her eyes were open but she was struggling not to take in water. She couldn’t hold her breath for another moment, and the last bubbles of air escaped from her lips like pearls carrying away the final moments of a life.

Roland held her face and tried to get Alicia to look at him. Their eyes locked and she understood immediately what he was proposing. Alicia shook her head, attempting to push Roland away from her. He pointed at his ankle, trapped under the metal beams from the ceiling. Alicia swam down through the icy water and tried to free him. They looked at one another in despair. Nothing and nobody would be able to move the tons of steel that were pinning Roland down. Alicia swam back to him and hugged him, aware that she was beginning to lose consciousness through lack of air. Without waiting another moment, Roland cupped Alicia’s face with his hands and, placing his lips on hers, he breathed out the air he had kept for her, just as Cain had predicted he would. Alicia held Roland’s hands tight, and joined him in a life-saving kiss.

Roland gave her one last, desperate look of farewell then pushed her out of the bridge. Slowly, Alicia began her ascent. As she neared the surface she kept her eyes fixed on Roland, his outline slowly fading in the murky shadows at the bottom of the sea. That was the last time Alicia saw Roland.

Seconds later, the girl emerged in the middle of the bay and saw that the storm was gradually receding, taking with it all the hopes she had had for the future.

*

When Max saw Alicia’s face on the surface, he threw himself into the water and swam frantically towards her. His sister could barely stay afloat and was stammering incomprehensible words, coughing violently and spitting out the water she had swallowed on her way up. Max put his arms around her and swam with her until he was able to touch the stones with his feet, a few metres from the shore. The lighthouse keeper was waiting on the beach and rushed to help them. Together he and Max got Alicia out of the water and laid her down on her back. Victor Kray tried to take her pulse, but Max gently removed the old man’s trembling hand.

‘She’s alive, Mr Kray,’ Max explained, stroking his sister’s forehead. ‘She’s alive.’

The old man nodded and left Alicia in Max’s care. Stumbling like a soldier after a long battle, Victor Kray wandered down to the shore and waded into the water.

‘Where’s my Roland?’ the old man moaned. ‘Where’s my grandson?’

Max looked at him but could not find the words. He could see the soul of the poor man slipping away, and with it the strength that had sustained him all those years up in the lighthouse.

‘He won’t be coming back, Mr Kray,’ Max replied eventually, his eyes brimming with tears. ‘Roland won’t be coming back.’

The lighthouse keeper looked at Max as if he didn’t understand what he was saying. Then he nodded his head, but turned his eyes seawards, still expecting his grandson to emerge and come back to him. The ocean gradually calmed and a garland of stars lit up over the horizon.

Roland never returned.