Yuri and the Ghost Ship Part Six
More doors and stairs, every part of the ship had gone eerily silent as if it was waiting for him to make the wrong move. He strained his ears and his pace slowed only because of the unknown. With each new room and hallway, he wanted to check for mirrors, but didn't want to know if they would contain any malevolence. The transparent woman was one thing; she seemed to be warning him away from danger, but the anchor-wielding mermen and the ship's dead crew with their axes and swords were a whole other issue entirely. But then, Yuri also wondered why the crew would be so violent. Sailors weren't usually violent. If anything, they were peaceful people doing what they love the most.
Then what happened to them?
Yuri found another hallway with iron bars set across the middle, blocking his progress. He stood at the bars, staring past them at the hallway beyond. Was that an exit? He reached his hand through and felt cold air…
The mist from before rematerialized. Yuri stepped back.
"So which one are you?"
A woman appeared in the mist. She was the same one as before with the long blonde hair.
"Back again, are you? What's going on?" Yuri examined her pale face for any sign of recognition, but her expression was blank. Somehow, after the other ghosts, she didn't seem so scary. In fact, Yuri watched her with a kind of relief. Where the rest of the ship felt like danger and tentacles, the safest place on it was where this woman happened to be. Though, remembering the knife, Yuri did wonder if that safety was false.
She smiled and pointed down at the iron bars. Yuri looked and noticed what she was pointing at. Where the bars were rusted, an axe had been placed to hold the bars up just a few inches. It wasn't much, but if Yuri could lift the bars, he could possibly get through. And the axe might be enough to hold the bars long enough for him to slip under. He glanced up again.
"Is this really the right way to go? Will this get me outside?"
The ghost smiled and this time, he heard her whisper. "Life boat."
"There's a life boat beyond here?"
She nodded.
"Great! Thanks!" Yuri bent and heaved at the iron bars. It wasn't easy, pushing on the axe and pulling the bars up. He had worked quite a sweat before he glanced over to check his progress. The bars had raised, but not nearly far enough. He would have to try another tact. If he found something to put between the axe handle and the floor, he might be able to use the leverage to push up the bars even better. He had to backtrack some, but he did find some wood he could try.
Finally, the bars were lifted and they crashed behind him after he slipped through. Now, to the find the life boat, but Yuri felt the chill when he realized the ghost woman had left him. He hadn't realized just how comforting she was until that moment when she was no longer there.