The fear and Dr Dreiber

The globe sat on the side board of the dusty study of Dr Dreiber which was bathed in the soft smoky yellow light of his three gas lamps. He sat asleep with the large tome across his chest. The rest of the Victorian house sat empty and outside the wind blew the damp autumn leaves which swirled around the heavily wooded garden in what was the outskirts of the house in north London. He grunted in his sleep the thought of the titan that disturbed his dreams once again. It had been twenty years earlier when he was a younger man, an adventurer of sorts, charged by the Bodlein society to research the reports of the monster that swept the inland seas of the northern coast of Italy. Locals had disappeared, local fisherman feared to go to sea and the oceans around the coast had been off limits for months.
When Dr Dreiber arrived with his sloop with his small party of fellow adventurers, scientists and hunters it was the early summer of 1869, he had first interviewed the assorted locals about their claims of the monster that had been terrorising their coast for the previous 10 months, in total 30 people had disappeared. An assortment of fisherman, tourists, ferryman and families in small boats or swimmers close to or some distance from the shore had vanished without a trace. In fact it was one of the tourists, the eminent Dr Shringinger who had brought the phenomenon to the attention of the Bodlein Society, as he had been one of their most eminent scientists.
The motley crew sat in the small fishing village in a coffee house and discussed what they were to do. They had brought all the equipment they needed for an expedition to catch a large mysterious creature of unknown description, although it was Dr Dreiber’s belief from the reports that what they were dealing with was no more than a large great white shark. For many years there had been many reports of great whites in the Mediterranean where they were believed to birth their young. They sat and drank wine carousing the great hunt to come and the glory that the kill would inevitably bring them. Indeed the local Mayor had awarded a bounty of four hundred pounds for the capture of the beast, this glory was to be theirs of that they had no doubt. Malcany was a local fisherman and was with them in the coffee house, he was giving his account of what he had seen three months earlier and was one of the few to have survived an attack.
“We were out at night fishing for squid, we had the lamps on and the lines over the side. It was calm with a cool wind coming in from the south. Perfect squid fishing weather. On the boat was me and little Danquin. We had been out for three hours when one of the lines got caught around the rudder. Me and Danquin couldn’t free it, with all the bait on it we didn’t want to cut it free so Danquin took off his shirt and climbed in. He bobbed around the boat for a few moments and then dived under the boat. After a few second there was bump on the underside of the boat. I thought it was Danquin, but then there was a much heavier bump that lifted the boat out of the water. I clung onto the side as it was nearly upended. For a few moments I daren’t look over the side, when I did there was a huge pool of blood in the sea. I called out for Danquin but feared the worst, I darn’t get in the sea, then I saw it. A huge tail whipped out of the sea, I was so scared I can’t recall it clearly, but it could been an octopus tail or a shark, it bore little resemblance to either in full honesty. Then Danquin’ s severed body floated to the surface then it was sucked down by a huge maw. I laid on the bottom of the boat hanging on to anything I could find, and then it was quiet, it was a deathly quiet. I looked over the side hanging on to the cabin of the boat, but it was still, the torso had disappeared and the blood diluted to a mild pink. Crying, I set off back to port. And that was that. Something horrible had taken Danquin, to this day, what it was, I could not say.”
The group sat listening to his tale, they were buoyed by the copious amounts of wine they had consumed, but a few still felt a feeling of haunting disquiet when the story was over, tomorrow they would be going out into the deserted ocean to find this beast. The wine only helped so much. Later that night Dr Dreiber sat in his room smoking his pipe he had assorted accounts from locals, none conclusively explaining what type of creature they were actually dealing with, large tails, tentacles, teeth, colour orange, red, grey, or white. Twenty foot, thirty foot long, even that there was two or three attacking together. He sucked on his pipe one last time, put it in the ash tray and went to bed.
In his room in north London Dr Dreiber awoke, it was late, what a dream, he looked down at the stumps of his legs and rubbed them, his feet still itched sometimes, he could not understand how the mind played tricks on you like that. He climbed into his wheel chair and pushed himself into his bedroom. He should try and not fall asleep in his chair he told himself, he would have trouble trying to get back to sleep now. He undressed and pulled himself into bed and lay there on his back. After what seemed like an eternity he was back to sleep.
The morning broke with an intensity of heat that spring in the Mediterranean can sometimes bring. The boat was already being set for their trip when Dr Dreiber got down to the Jetty, the crew of Jones, Derry Jones, Michaels, the hunter Drivner, from Africa, were all on board, there was a quietness in the preparation as Dr Dreiber climbed on board and the moorings were released. The gentle south wind brought them out of the bay in due course into the open stretches of water. On board were their provisions for two weeks at sea and enough chump to attract half the predators in the vast ocean of the Mediterranean. The plan was to traverse backward and forwards no more than thirty miles out from the coast where all of the disappearances had occurred. For next few days they sailed backwards and forwards along the coast chucking chump over the side on the third day it happened. They were towing half a cow over the side of the sloop when suddenly the boat lurched heavily to the side as if the cow had caught on a solid outcrop of rock and snagged there. Whatever this creature was it had the strength to stop the sloop in its tracks. The crew fell forward on the deck as the boat was suddenly pulled to starboard and then there was silence as though they were cut adrift. The wind filled their sails again and once again they continued on course. Then with a sudden vigour the boat lurched to port, in total it was turned a hundred eighty degrees, the boom swept across the deck knocking Derry Jones into the sea. Jones leapt to the side to see Derry Jones flailing petrified in the water. Then the cow popped up out of the water next to him, only half remained and the rope was severed. Derry Jones grabbed hold of the rope that was still attached to the boat but something had got his legs, in an instant he was gone.
“We’ve got the first tumour out.” Said the doctor, light flared brightly down onto the patient in the operating room, the nurse received the tin with the golf ball sized tumour in it and put it on the trolley.
“He wouldn’t be in this condition if wasn’t a smoker you know, how are the morphine levels?”
“He’s out like a baby, dreaming happy thoughts.” Replied the nurse.
For a moment calm yet again descended over the sloop, all on board were frozen in shock. The crew stood transfixed staring at the water where Derry Jones had just been.
“Ok lads pull yourselves together.” Shouted Drivner, he grabbed two harpoons from the prow of the ship and gave one to Jones.
“Michaels, get another half a cow tethered and over the side, it’s here” Michaels secured another cow and tossed it over the side. “More chump” shouted Drivner. Michaels got the vat of chump and started heaving it over the side. A huge swirl appear on the surface something huge moved beneath. Jones thrust the harpoon into the water where it got purchase on something solid and power he hung onto the rope and called for Dreiber to grab hold. In a flash though he too was over the side. Hanging onto the rope the beast pulled him through the surf and then he too was enveloped in the swirl of the sea. Dreiber stood blinking at the sea.
“That’s the second.” Said the doctor passing the tumour to the nurse. “ How is the patient?”
“Sedated.” Replied the nurse.
“OK, now for the amputation” said the doctor, selecting a large saw from the sterile metal trolley.
Michaels stood on the sloop next to Dreiber, Drivner looked down into water. “Jesus” he said, “Dreiber, grab the harpoon and this time we will secure the rope to the mast”. They secured the rope and Drivner took back the harpoon standing above where the cow was being dragged through the water he pointed at the chump “Toss it over.” Dreiber and Michaels heaved it over the side. The sea around the sloop flashed red with blood and gore. A huge head appeared through the gore and Drivner thrust his harpoon into it, the head plunged back into the water and disappeared, the rope start whipping around on the deck as the huge beast plummeted into the depths. Too late Dreiber saw rope spinning towards him, he lifted his foot but it was too late it looped around his foot and he was pulled to the deck, in an instance he was pulled over the side and into the depths. He grappled with rope and released himself and struggled to the surface. On board Michaels and Drivner got a second rope, when Dreiber resurfaced he was some twenty feet away from the sloop. They shouted to him to swim for it. He started to struggle towards the boat. In what seemed hours he got within ten feet of the sloop. Michaels and Drivner were shouting wildly, Drivner tossed the rope into the water and it landed about five feet from him. Then he felt it a huge knock from beneath, no pain but it was though he was suddenly without any forward propulsion. He looked around in stunned silence, blood pooled in the surf. He grabbed the rope, Drivner and Michael pulled on it and he was once again moving through the water, he clung onto the rope and they pulled back onto the boat. He looked up at them gratefully, and saw them looking down at him in horror, he looked down, his legs were gone. He blacked out.
When he awoke he was back in his North London study, he lay on his bed with a befuddled brain half awake and half asleep.
“Are you awake, Dr Dreiber.” Came a voice from the distance, suddenly a piercing bright light shot through his delirium. “Dr Dreiber, are you awake?” In front of him stood a primly dressed nurse, “Where am I?” Asked Dreiber.
“You are in Guys hospital, the operations were a success, we got the two tumours, we couldn’t save your legs, but you knew that was likely, I’m sorry”
Dreiber looked down at the flat blanket tightly pulled across the clinical hospital bed.
“I’m dying for a cigarette, when can I smoke?”
“Smoking is what did this too you.” Replied the nurse. “ Arrr, here is Dr. Shringinger”.
Dreiber layed back, smacked his lips and looked at the globe on the side cabinet next to his hospital bed, next to lay his book, 20,000 Leagues under the Sea, God, all he wanted was a cigarette.