Category:The Death of Samuel Rue

The harbour had never seen a storm like it. The sky was thick with the darkest clouds, illuminated only by harsh flashes of lightning. Constant thunder filled the air like machine guns and the rain was strong enough to shatter windows. For the Silver Fish, it seemed as if there was little chance. The small ship, completely at the mercy of the waves, was manned by four sailors. Their houses were by the harbour, but their homes were at sea.

The youngest of the crew was Tom, a boy who had set out to find his fortune at sea only the day after he turned eighteen. He stood on the deck then, a lantern in hand. The lantern gave off little light with the wind and the rain, but the flame burned courageously all the same. Tom was not looking for the light of the lantern, however. The crew of the Silver Fish knew the harbour must be close, and so any minute expected to see the beam of the lighthouse cut through the clouds and the rain. And yet they didn't. He knew then, in a moment of dread, that they were doomed. The lighthouse light was off. The ship went down only a hundred metres from the harbour, though it could have been a thousand for all the good it did. There was no going home.

Tom went below deck, to bring the news to his captain, a man named Samuel Rue. The captain was asleep at the desk, and a small golden compass resting on the table before him. Tom picked up the compass, turning it over in his hand. On the back, the captain's initials were carved into tarnished gold. Yet just then, the Silver Fish was thrown violently to the side. The compass fell from Tom's hand, and the captain awoke with a start. Water flooded the cabin quickly, making escape impossible. Tom made it above deck as the next wave hit, and he was flung overboard. The last thing he saw was Samuel Rue, struggling for breath as the water rushed into the cabin.

Back at the harbour, the people were safely at home. Or at least, those that had a home were. Nobody knew about the child watching from a rooftop. Once, her name was Lyla. Now though, she had no name. She was a child of the streets, and that was all the people of the harbour saw her as. And so it happened that she saw the shadow walk up the stone steps toward the lighthouse. Curious, she followed the shadow up the stairs, and into the lighthouse. She followed the shadow as it climbed the winding stairs, and into the small room at the top. She stood by the doorway as the shadow killed the lighthouse keeper, and the light shut off. She hid as the shadow went back down the stairs, but this time she did not follow. Yet she saw the object fall from the shadow's pocket, and picked it up. It was a compass, the needle pointing south, engraved with the letters S.R.

When the storm died down, the wreckage of the Silver Fish was explored. Three bodies were found floating through the water around the shipwreck. The body of the captain Samuel Rue was never found. The people of the harbour believed Samuel Rue had survived the shipwreck. But there was one girl who knew otherwise. Because in that moment before the light turned off, she had seen the face of the shadow. She had seen the bloated flesh and empty eyes, and she knew. Whatever he was, Samuel Rue was not alive.