Read Online The Raven (A Jane Harper Horror Novel) by Jeremy Bishop - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Jeremy Bishop
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the digestive organ, I’ve also provided an exit for the ton of shit—literally—held in the humpback’s gut.
A brown cloud explodes around me, blocking my view. I gag at the sight despite the wet suit protecting my body from the sludge and the mask keeping me from smelling it. But as disgusting as being showered in whale feces is, it’s the worm-shaped flecks of white wriggling past that turn my stomach. If the parasites hadn’t found my body before, they have now.
“Jane!” Jakob shouts. “Are you okay?”
Never better
, I think, but I don’t say a word. I’m too focused on freeing myself and getting clear of the shit storm. I’m being dragged by my feet now, and the current has knocked me back, keeping me horizontal. I crouch my legs and stretch my arms down. The first tendril of intestine I find gets knifed a moment later.
The cloud of filth around me thickens for a moment, but then I’m free and the whale is moving beyond me. I kick away from the cloud billowing out from the backside of the Draugr like a jet contrail. I lose the creature in the cloud.
“Jane!” Jakob sounds horrified.
“I’m here,” I say. “I made it out.”
There’s no “Thank God” or “Are you okay?” though. He’s all business. “Jane, it’s coming back around. We’re coming for you, but it’s going to be close. You’ll have to come to us.”
I start swimming toward the distant black hull. The whale must have fled after swallowing me. I’m swimming as hard as I can, but it feels like I’m barely moving. That’s when it dawns on me that I’ve lost the DPV. Not only that, but since the DPV is controlled by feet, I’m not wearing swim fins. I might as well be standing still for how fast I can swim. But I try anyway. I’m not about to quit after passing through the gut of a humpback.
As the
Raven
gets closer, I realize they’re backing up to me, which will help me get onto the dive deck faster, but the spinning prop will pull me in. The end result will be something like a frog in a blender. Well, not something like. Exactly like.
“Jakob, cut the engines!” I shout. “I’m almost there.”
The rumble emanating from the
Raven
dies down, and I see the prop slow to a stop. The ship is still drifting toward me, but now that it has slowed, it feels impossibly far away. I surface for the first time since my retarded dolphin leap and see Malik standing on the dive deck, waving me on. Behind and above him is Willem. He looks like a noble Viking hero, with his blond hair caught up by the wind, a look of fury carved into his face, and a powerful harpoon gun gripped in both hands—a harpoon gun that seems to be aimed directly at my face.
When I hear him shout, “Dive,” I understand why.
The whale is upon me.
Without looking back, I dive beneath the surface and kick as hard as I can.
I hear a muffled crack, followed by an impact, a high-pitched squeal, and then—oblivion.
A concussive force hits me hard at the same time I hear its deafening roar. I feel pain on every bit of my body. And then, nothing.
If I weren’t wearing the mask, I’m sure I would have drowned. But I just kind of float limply like one of the many hunks of whale meat bobbing around me. I’m only partly aware of this. I’m flickering in and out of consciousness, severely dazed. I’m so far gone that when something wraps around me from behind, I don’t fight against it.
What happens next is a blur. I’m moving—being pulled, really. Then I feel heavy. The weightlessness of water is gone. I’m lying on my back. I hear voices. Shouting. My name.
Despite the volume and intensity of the voices around me, I feel comforted by the knowledge that I’m on the
Raven
. Someone came in to get me. But then some of the words filter in: “get it off,” “parasites,” “careful,” “everywhere.” I finally register what’s happening to my body. I’m being manhandled. I’m yanked, pushed, and pulled like I’m the last piece of
A brown cloud explodes around me, blocking my view. I gag at the sight despite the wet suit protecting my body from the sludge and the mask keeping me from smelling it. But as disgusting as being showered in whale feces is, it’s the worm-shaped flecks of white wriggling past that turn my stomach. If the parasites hadn’t found my body before, they have now.
“Jane!” Jakob shouts. “Are you okay?”
Never better
, I think, but I don’t say a word. I’m too focused on freeing myself and getting clear of the shit storm. I’m being dragged by my feet now, and the current has knocked me back, keeping me horizontal. I crouch my legs and stretch my arms down. The first tendril of intestine I find gets knifed a moment later.
The cloud of filth around me thickens for a moment, but then I’m free and the whale is moving beyond me. I kick away from the cloud billowing out from the backside of the Draugr like a jet contrail. I lose the creature in the cloud.
“Jane!” Jakob sounds horrified.
“I’m here,” I say. “I made it out.”
There’s no “Thank God” or “Are you okay?” though. He’s all business. “Jane, it’s coming back around. We’re coming for you, but it’s going to be close. You’ll have to come to us.”
I start swimming toward the distant black hull. The whale must have fled after swallowing me. I’m swimming as hard as I can, but it feels like I’m barely moving. That’s when it dawns on me that I’ve lost the DPV. Not only that, but since the DPV is controlled by feet, I’m not wearing swim fins. I might as well be standing still for how fast I can swim. But I try anyway. I’m not about to quit after passing through the gut of a humpback.
As the
Raven
gets closer, I realize they’re backing up to me, which will help me get onto the dive deck faster, but the spinning prop will pull me in. The end result will be something like a frog in a blender. Well, not something like. Exactly like.
“Jakob, cut the engines!” I shout. “I’m almost there.”
The rumble emanating from the
Raven
dies down, and I see the prop slow to a stop. The ship is still drifting toward me, but now that it has slowed, it feels impossibly far away. I surface for the first time since my retarded dolphin leap and see Malik standing on the dive deck, waving me on. Behind and above him is Willem. He looks like a noble Viking hero, with his blond hair caught up by the wind, a look of fury carved into his face, and a powerful harpoon gun gripped in both hands—a harpoon gun that seems to be aimed directly at my face.
When I hear him shout, “Dive,” I understand why.
The whale is upon me.
Without looking back, I dive beneath the surface and kick as hard as I can.
I hear a muffled crack, followed by an impact, a high-pitched squeal, and then—oblivion.
A concussive force hits me hard at the same time I hear its deafening roar. I feel pain on every bit of my body. And then, nothing.
If I weren’t wearing the mask, I’m sure I would have drowned. But I just kind of float limply like one of the many hunks of whale meat bobbing around me. I’m only partly aware of this. I’m flickering in and out of consciousness, severely dazed. I’m so far gone that when something wraps around me from behind, I don’t fight against it.
What happens next is a blur. I’m moving—being pulled, really. Then I feel heavy. The weightlessness of water is gone. I’m lying on my back. I hear voices. Shouting. My name.
Despite the volume and intensity of the voices around me, I feel comforted by the knowledge that I’m on the
Raven
. Someone came in to get me. But then some of the words filter in: “get it off,” “parasites,” “careful,” “everywhere.” I finally register what’s happening to my body. I’m being manhandled. I’m yanked, pushed, and pulled like I’m the last piece of
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