Caterwaul

I'd love to make it home but my instruments just went black. All readings gone - engine failure imminent. I was dead in the water, but still breathing.

I kicked the main console and swore to the heavens. Jack was going to have my hide for this; if I ever made it back alive.

I glanced at my watch. Old analog - a gift from my father before he died - at least one thing was still working. But it was 5:53pm and counting. Sunset was closing in, and once it went dark there'd be no hope of a rescue until dawn. No one goes out on the sea after dark. No one was willing to risk it. But I'd been stupid, thought I could make it in time. Hell of a time to be wrong.

Hurrying to the emergency supply box, I threw the lid off and riffled through bandages and flares, and first aid gear, to find the dated radio at the bottom. It weighed at least a kilo. I mentally crossed everything that the damn thing would work.

Static, then a few clicks, before dying out with a bang. Something white and hot began to ooze out of the back compartment. Disgusted, I dropped the radio and wiped my hands on my shorts. I checked the time - 5:59pm. Sunset was due at 6:01pm, and it was never late.

The silence was deafening, pressing in on my ears as I strained to hear the first signs that they were coming. I could hear my own panicked heartbeat pounding against my rib-cage, ready to burst. My breath was anxious and impatient.

Then I heard it, so sudden, and closer than I had been expecting. Not more than 100 meters away at the most. That spine chilling caterwaul. Dread seeped into every crevice of my body. The fear that gripped me made me feel sick to the stomach. I felt dizzy, sweaty and weak at the knees. I wasn't ready to die.

There it was again. The moan of the dead. The souls of all sailors lost at sea. I knew they would come. It was only a matter of time. Come for me like they'd come for the others. To take me back to the sea. I checked the time.

A sudden thud against to side of my craft knocked me off balance, and I let out a small scream.

They were here.