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EMPTY EYE SOCKETS CHAPTER 5
"Carla! Where are you? Carla!"
Manny sighed and looked gloomily around. He was welcomed by the dim sea bottom that was lit by Glottis' flashlight.
They had been walking around for a while and trying to find Carla, but there was no trace of the woman. On top of that Manny was worried about how they would get away, it was a long way to the shore and only an idiot would try to walk.
"I don't know Manny; maybe monsters have eaten Ms. Ferra?" Glottis suggested and Manny glared at him.
"No they haven't! She's way too edgy for their liking," he said trying to assure both the demon and himself.
Especially himself.
He knew he would have to look the truth into the eyes, but it seemed somehow so difficult. He just couldn't accept that Carla had disappeared just like that and that he would probably never see her again.
Glottis tilted his head.
"Oh? Okay, but we better find her fast if we want to save her," the demon said. Manny knew his friend was right and nodded.
The bottom of the sea was muddy filth and the shoes of the both of them were at least somehow ruined. That added a nice flavour to Manny's foul mood, but he was also irritated by the salty water that filled his skull.
"Carla! Come on, we don't have time for stupid games!" Manny shouted again and listened.
Nothing.
He sighed.
"This is useless. She can be who knows how far away," he muttered in frustration.
"Yes well, but didn't you just say that we will find her? You shouldn't change your mind so fast. It is confusing and -- " Glottis said, but Manny gestured him to shut up.
"Shh. Listen," he whispered.
The duo stopped and when they listened they could clearly hear a voice... As if someone was crying.
"It has to be Carla! Come on Glottis!" Manny shouted excitedly and started running. Moving in the water was pretty difficult, but he still managed to keep on a good pace. Glottis hurried after him to give him light and protection against the monsters of the sea bottom.
Manny was sure that the crier was Carla and now when it was certain that the woman was at least somehow all right he felt really relieved.
"Carla?" he asked when he saw a boulder, and the woman sitting beside it lifted her gaze. In the light of Glottis' torch Manny saw that she looked really scared and would have looked even worse if her make-up had been ruined in the water.
It was a good thing Carla never wore any make-up.
"Manny?" she asked as if she couldn't actually believe the man was there and stood up.
When falling from the ship Carla had been too surprised to realise what was going on. Only when she had hit the boulder rather painfully she had realised how serious her problem really was.
She had lived years in the port town of Rubacava so of course she knew about the bone eating monsters that lurked in the bottom of the sea and hunted down all those unfortunate ones who fell in the sea. She had always thought those stories were amusing, but then, being alone in the complete darkness, she had changed her opinion quickly.
Carla had never been as terrified and now and when she suddenly had both light and company she thought that everything was all right again.
"Are you all right?" Manny asked carefully. Carla had been lucky when no monster had managed to get to her.
"Now that I have light, I am. But what are you doing here? Did you fall too?" the woman asked walking to him. She seemed to have completely forgotten their earlier argument and Manny was happy about that. The situation was serious even without childish fighting.
He rubbed the back of his head.
"Mm, kind of," he muttered.
"He jumped after you to save you, Ms. Ferra," Glottis said and Manny glared daggers at him.
"Shh!" he hissed, but it was already too late. Carla stared at him clearly impressed.
"You jumped for me? Even when you knew how dangerous it was?" she said as if she didn't actually believe it. Manny shrugged.
"Well, I am already dead," he said and in the next moment Carla had rushed to him and given him a tight embrace.
"No one has ever done that for me!" she exclaimed making Manny yelp. He was thankful for not having lungs anymore; he would have been choked under her arms if he had.
"That's nice -- or nasty and... Why don't you let go so that we could come up with a way to get out of here?" he said. Carla let go and eyed him in surprise and annoyance.
"You don't have a plan? So you just jumped like an idiot not knowing how we'd survive?" she asked.
"Yes."
"Oohh! I can't believe you men! Why do you all have to be like that?" the woman snapped and her sudden change of mind made Manny sigh in frustration.
"I was too busy to think of anything," he stated.
Carla didn't say anything, just sulked.
Manny turned to face Glottis.
"Do you have an idea of how to get back to the surface?" he asked hopefully. Glottis shrugged.
"Well, we could walk 'till we find the shore, but I don't think the batteries of this lamp will last that long," he replied, not sounding worried at all, as if he didn't really understand how serious the situation was. But Manny knew his friend wasn't stupid, he just had a light hearted way of thinking.
Sometimes he hoped he could be that optimistic too.
The water was cold and black around them and Manny knew that outside of the light of Glottis' torch they would be gone. It didn't actually cheer him up, he didn't like the idea of that their survival depended on a very small piece of machinery.
Suddenly the water seemed to move and for a while they thought they were standing in a stream of water. It wasn't powerful enough to make them lose their balance, but still worried them. You never knew when it would grow stronger and take them who knew were.
And then Manny more felt than heard it.
"What -- " he asked quietly and lifted his gaze up, he could clearly see... something. None of them could say what it was, but something big and most likely dangerous it had to be.
And it was getting closer.
He heard Carla calling out his name, but didn't pay any attention. It wasn't important, the only thing that mattered was that something that was coming towards them and what it wanted.
"The flashlight Glottis! Point the light at it!" he told his friend, who obeyed immediately and pointed his torch up. What they saw made them all freeze.
"What is that?" Carla whispered and moved closer to Manny. That time she hadn't planned it and neither of them noticed.
Manny just shook his head in confusion; he had never seen or heard of something like that.
"I think it looks like an octopus inside of a submarine," Glottis stated for them and the two souls glanced at him.
"Of course it is, but why is it here?" Manny asked slightly irritated. His question was answered soon -- and he didn't like it at all.
"Manny!" Carla shrieked when one of the tentacles of the creature was wrapped around her waist and lifted her from the man. Manny could only stand and watch helplessly as the creature opened the lid inside the submarine and dropped Carla in.
"Hey, let her go!" he shouted, though he wasn't sure would the huge animal understand him. Or actually the huge demon, no dead octopus was that big.
The octopus turned the stare of its bulging eyes at him and Manny thought he saw a flicker of amusement in it. It seemed the demon was intelligent enough to understand what he said. It stretched its tentacles and before Manny managed to dodge he found himself in the demon's tight grab.
"Escape Glottis!" he shouted realising the creature wanted them all. Whoever had made it to gather souls from the bottom of the sea didn't want anyone to go to waste.
But even when he said those words he knew they were for nothing, Glottis would never leave him. He felt really guilty knowing that the demon had got to the mess only because of his loyalty to him.
"Ouch," Manny said quietly when he too had fallen inside the submarine. He stood up and looked around to see what kind of place it actually was.
The first thing he noted was that he most certainly wasn't alone. The place was cramped with souls and each of them looked more or less scared. There was light and he saw well enough everything there was. But one soul looked different from the others.
He was a funny little man whose bones seemed to be almost blue. He had a lamp of some sort above his head and it made the man sit in his own private spot of light. His face seemed strange too and it took a while for Manny to realise that he had eye brows.
"Strange," he muttered to himself. Manny was just about to step closer and have a word or two with him when he found Carla standing next to him.
"Manny? Do you know where we are?" she asked, but her voice didn't sound very scared. Now when she was out of the water and not alone she was feeling brave again.
"No, but I am just about to find out," Manny replied. When he said this Glottis fell in the middle of them all and the big demon made sure there was no extra space at all. Some souls were also terrified of him and tried to back away.
Manny could have assured them that Glottis wasn't dangerous, but he wasn't on the mood to do it. He was now much more interested in what was going on and what it had to do with him. He gave another glance at the strange man and just now noticed how annoyed and a bit sick he looked like.
"Hello," he said sitting next to him. The man didn't pay him any attention.
"So... you know where we are?" Manny asked hoping to stir some life in the man. He snorted at the irony of the thought.
"Do I know where we are? Let me tell you! We are in a boat! In a damned, closed boat!" the man snapped and Manny was totally caught off guard because of his burst of feelings.
"Well, I suppose this is a boat of some sorts. But so what? At least we won't get wet," he stated and the man glared at him looking really mad.
"Boats, boats, boats. Why is everyone always on their side? This one could sink at any moment and what are we going to do then? Just asking!" he lectured.
"We are already dead," Manny pointed out and the man sighed.
"Yes, yes we are. But who knows how long even that," he said.
"What do you mean?" Manny asked in confusion.
"You innocent souls are always so naive. I have seen this submarine fetching souls many times, but until now I've managed to keep a good distance. I just know that wherever this creature is taking us, no one has ever come back," the man replied. Then he seemed to think of something.
"My name is Chepito," he added.
"Manny Calavera. And this is Carla and that demon over there is called Glottis. I don't know about the others," Manny said. Chepito nodded knowingly.
"Yes, yes, I don't know them either. And I don't care, it is really uncomfortable when souls this many are in one place," he said.
"Do you know where they are taking us?" Manny asked in curiosity, but not very hopefully.
"Nah, and it doesn't interest me. Darn it, because of this my trip to the Ninth Underworld is going to be delayed for at least three days," Chepito said in annoyance.
Carla looked around.
"I bet that octopus doesn't have the authorised driver's licence to drive this. That's going to get expensive!" she said. Few souls glanced at her, but most were too concentrated in their own problems to care.
Manny wasn't on a good mood. He was sure that it wouldn't end well and he already thought what could happen to them. Maybe the demon gathered food for other monsters and was taking them to a huge demonic party were they would be made into something really delicious?
Not a very nice idea.
"I really want to see who has organised this and have a word with him. These conditions are clearly against the law," Carla muttered to herself and Manny sighed. Not that, please.
He knew that when she was either frustrated or nervous Carla got the odd desire to make sure no one broke the law. She wasn't a police officer, just a security assistant, but she took those matters very seriously nevertheless.
And the woman hadn't realised there was no law in the Land of the Dead. Everything was ruled by those who had the most money and power.
"Sit down, Carla and calm down. I'm sure this submarine isn't properly registered, but let that be. At least we'll reach the surface this way," he said to her and she gave him a short glance before sitting next to him.
"I guess you are right. Sorry," she said.
"For what? You've done nothing. Yet," Manny stated.
"For being me."
"And what's wrong with that? You are not absolutely horrible, just a bit irritating," Manny assured not really knowing what was going on. Carla turned to face him as if she didn't actually believe what he said.
"You don't hate me though I forced you to take me with you, argued with you and got you into this mess? It is my fault you had to abandon your ship," she said in uncertainty. She couldn't even remember when she had last time apologised someone and for some reason she felt really ashamed.
"Nah, I've met worse people," Manny stated not really bothering to concentrate in the problem. Women were all alike, changing their mind all the time and he was sure that in a few minutes Carla would be her own edgy self again. She was such an unstable person.
Suddenly they all felt how the submarine stopped. It wasn't a soft stop and many hurt themselves, but nothing serious happened. Those who had been close to Glottis thanked their luck for not getting caught under him.
"I think we are soon going to find out what is going on," Manny stated mostly to himself while standing up. He didn't like it; his pessimistic nature didn't let him like anything that seemed even a bit threatening.
And he liked it even less when the octopus shove one tentacle in and grabbed the first soul out.
It was an old lady who screamed when she felt the tentacle grabbing her and Manny could even feel sympathy towards her. He didn't usually care for what happened to others, but they were sharing the same problem after all.
The tentacle returned soon taking another soul and Manny was more certain about that he didn't want to know where they were being taken. He took a look around to find a way to save himself and his friends, but found none.
"Manny!"
He turned on his heels when he heard Glottis shouting and saw that the tentacle was back again and had taken his best friend. Manny knew he could do nothing, but that sure didn't stop him from grabbing the demon's hand anyway.
And when he rose in the air with his friend Manny realised he was free. When the tentacle had lifted the both of them out he glanced at his friend once, let go and fell softly on the ground.
"I will find a way to help you and others. I promise," he said to Glottis, who couldn't do anything but hang in the iron hold of the tentacle.
"All right, Manny," the demon said sounding a bit gloomy, but Manny waved at him hoping to cheer up his friend. He watched as the octopus made Glottis slide down a slope of some sorts and then he didn't see the demon anymore.
He let out a heavy sigh and glanced around.
He wasn't in the water anymore, but clearly stood on some kind of wharf. A ceiling made of grey steel rose above him and here and there was huge wooden boxes. The floor was cement and very edgy at some places. Right next to him was an ocean pool where the submarine floated while the octopus took care of the souls.
Seeing the demon reminded him of that it was probably very wise to get lost and come up with a plan. At least he had to find out what was going on and who led all that. Then he could start to think of how to free his friends and the others.
There was a staircase some distance away and after a swift moment of hesitation Manny started to climb up. It was the fastest and nearest way to get away and he didn't want to waste any time. Glottis, Carla and the others needed him now and he couldn't ruin it by getting caught.
"I just wonder what kind of place this is," he muttered to himself. Lola had been on her way towards a small port town on the Edge of the World and they had jumped in the sea when they had almost been there. After that they had walked a bit and then the submarine had caught them. When you took into notice how long they had spent in the submarine it was easy to guess that they had to be somewhere close to the Edge of the World.
But who was stupid enough to build something in there?
The staircase ended and Manny took another glance around. He was standing on some sort of terrace built of red steel and a small fence surrounded it. There was a strange looking elevator some distance away and a door right next to him.
He took a step closer to the door to see if it was open, but didn't get very far before it was opened. Manny backed away quickly to be able to escape if the situation got threatening, but he never had to do that.
"Meche!" he shouted in surprise and the woman answered to his stare looking just as shocked. She closed the door after her and Manny thought he caught a glimpse of a cage of some sorts, but didn't pay it very much attention.
"Manny? What are you doing here?" Meche asked in confusion and there was a small twinkle of hope in her voice.
"I came here by accident. But I've been looking for you since I got you into this mess," Manny replied feeling just as weird. He had been looking for this woman for over two years and now she appeared in front of him just like that.
Meche lowered her gaze as if she was ashamed.
"You shouldn't have," she muttered. Manny guessed everything wasn't okay and he wasn't surprised. When he had last seen the woman she had been with Domino and the man was never good wherever he went. And that reminded him of that if Meche was there, so was probably Domino.
"Meche, what is this place?" he asked and the woman glanced around as if expecting someone to listen at them. When she saw there was no one she dared to relax.
"This is a factory island located on the Edge of the World. Hector LeMans and Domino bring here souls who should have got tickets on the Number Nine. I don't know what they are up to, but we have to work here as slaves. Or the others have to, I work as Domino's secretary," she explained and while saying the last sentence she lowered her head again.
Manny guessed it was merely because a good person like Meche didn't want to have it easy when others laboured.
"Domino is here? And I thought I'd never have to see the face of that crook again," he said. Then he placed his hand on Meche's shoulder. She flinched.
"Meche, you have to help me. A huge octopus caught my friends and I have to help them," he said.
"They are going to have to work at the bottom of the sea searching for shining coral. Everyone here does that," Meche told and it made Manny feel a bit more relieved. At least everyone was still all right and he had time to figure out how to save them.
And then he concentrated on Meche again.
"But what about you? Are you all right? Has Domino harmed you in any way?" he asked in worry and Meche laughed sounding a bit embarrassed.
"He has been treating me well. And he saved me from the demons of the Petrified Forest," she replied. Well, that idiot is useful after all, Manny thought bitterly. He had tried to find Meche too, but somehow Domino had got to her first.
"Whatever, we have to free all the trapped souls here and take them to safety," he decided. It wasn't probably like him to play the hero, but for some reason he wanted one certain woman to think he was brave.
He just wasn't sure which woman he was talking about.
To be continued...
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