Manifestation

“Where the Hell did it all go?!” Mooney growled as he tossed his butt into the murky waters around the dock. There was a heavy fog on the water this morning, and in spite of his heavy jacket and toque he shivered. It wasn’t just the cold.

“I don’t know,” replied Sully. His look was grim as he scratched his beard. He looked from side to side and seemed uneasy. The air had the aroma of fish from the fishing ships a few peers down. The taste of salt was in the air, and the creak of metal as the ships shift in the water. There was the sound of waves and the slap of waves against the ship haul and cement of the pier. There was almost no other sound along the docks at the early hour.

“You have the manifest?” asked Mooney. Sully pulled it from his jacket and handed it over. “I don’t understand. When I talked to Chen he assured me that the containers were on the ship. We checked the whole upper deck and they aren’t there. The manifest says it should be on the starboard side of the deck as well” he said violently pointing to the manifest.

“Maybe they made an error on the manifest and the containers were stowed below,” suggested Sully. He looked around again, but saw nothing but shifting fog and shadows under the dim glow of the pier lights.

“Well we might as well go and check again.”

“Even if we don’t find it this morning we can always check later. After all it is not like we are smuggling people.”

“I didn’t get up at three in the morning to freeze for nothing,” replied Mooney as they climbed up the ramp onto the ship. He pulled out a flashlight and turned it on. The two made their way to the door along the 3rd deck and opened a door. They stepped through into the dark and looked for a layout on the wall.

“There is storage two more decks down.” They continued on their way. They could hear their boots clank on the latticed metal steps. The two could hear creaks and groans, and squeak of rats that has stowed away on the ship. The beam of light moved through the pitch black space of the cargo hold. As the two moved forward it seemed almost as if the shaft of light was growing more narrow. A slight hum also began to fill the air.

“We need more light.”

“You should have brought a flashlight then.”

“I’m serious. Something seems off.”

“Just shut up and follow me, and you damn well better not grab hold of my jacket or hand.”

“Do you hear that noise.”

“Look there are rows of containers. Look for our numbers. If they aren’t on the surface they must be here.”

“I don’t see them.”

“There’s a lot more containers to search.” Suddenly there was a large bang and both the men jumped. Mooney shone the flashlight all around him searching for the source of the sound. Then the beam of light began to flicker and soon went out.

“Shit!”

“What happened?”

“Hell if I know. Old batteries maybe.”

“How do we get out of here if we don’t have light?”

“I’m not an idiot. I put some other batteries in my pocket. Give me a second.” Mooney shoved his hand into his pocket and felt around for the weight of the batteries and gripped the smooth cylinders. He felt himself shivering, and it had grown quite cold: freezing. He unscrewed the top of the flashlight. He dumped out the batteries and failed to catch one and heard the clink as if hit the floor. He inserted the new batteries and tried to screw on the top, but there was no light.

“It’s gotten really cold,” said Sully.

“Damn.”

“What is it?”

“I put the batteries in wrong. Just a second.” Mooney reinserted the batteries and screwed the top onto the flashlight. The light burst from the lens and both Sully and Mooney’s breathe was forming mist with their exhales. Mooney lowered the flashlight ahead of him and along the path between the two rows of large containers on either side of them. There was a dark shape ahead of them. It appeared human-like in shape, but it did not touch the ground. It began to glide toward them. The shape was tall and as the light lifted up it appeared to have straggly hair shifting and protruding from all over its head. Mooney dropped the flashlight and it made a thud. When he did two red glowing points appeared ahead of the two men.

The men wanted to scream, but the cold made only a wheezy high pitched squeal to escape from her mouth. The two began to run in the dark. Mooney stumbled and felt tears on his cheeks and spittle on his lips as he began to blubber. He felt something above him. Moving slowly but with surety. He could hear Sully’s thumping boots as he ran. Sully was panting as he raced and felt the sweat on his face as he could see a slight bit of light ahead that he could only hope was the stairway leading up. He let out a wail and squeezed his eyes shut as he heard Mooney scream. He gripped the rail of the stairwell and began to ascend and feeling anything but safe. He was certain something was coming up fast behind him.