Vanished

He gazed out at the water. The waves were calm. He looked over his shoulder at his boat.

“I will go look for the missing people,” he thought.

Everyone had scoured the island. Over and over. 

It was a small island, and there were not many places to check. And yet they had five people go missing in the last month. Gone, with no trace.

The only possibility worth checking at that point was the ocean. But then again, at least one of them should have washed up on shore by now. He frowned.

He launched his boat and spent a couple of hours rowing, scanning the water. But he could not find a single thing. All he saw were fish and seaweed.

The sun was beginning to set and he rowed back to the shore. He walked to the tavern. 

Everyone was relying on him to find the missing people. He was doing everything he could, but it wasn’t enough. He talked to their families, checked the water every day that the ocean was safe to maneuver, and looked through every part of the island.

It was as if they had vanished into thin air.

“Your usual, Albert?” the barkeep asked.

Albert nodded.

The barkeep began pouring his drink.

“Still no luck, eh?”

Albert sighed. 

“Absolutely nothing.”

“You will have to catch the culprits in the act.”

“How? We don’t know where they are taking them, or if there is even a culprit to catch. We don’t know where the people went missing from. Where do I start?”

“I haven’t the slightest clue. That’s why you are the detective. I’m just a barkeep.”

He passed Albert his drink. Albert took a swig.

Across the room, someone yelled.

“No wonder you haven’t found my wife!”

A man stumbled towards Albert, yelling the whole way.

“There’s five people missing and you come here and drink. What good are you?!”

Albert turned towards the man.

“I am doing the best I can. I’m sorry.” He paused. “Once the sun goes down the search is difficult. I can search by lantern, but they do not light the ground the way the sun does. I am looking for your wife. Every day. And everyone else who has gone missing.”

“You aren’t doing enough! It’s been a month since she went missing. Where is she? You haven’t given me a single lead.”

The man looked like he was going to punch Albert. 

One of the guards for the tavern walked over and gently grabbed the man’s arm and turned him away from Albert, towards him.

“Not here. Not him.”

“But he’s not—”

“Stop. He is doing his job. You and I have both been part of the search parties he has organized. There’s nothing. And I have seen him out on his boat searching nearly every day.”

The man’s shoulders slumped and he stumbled away.

The guard gave Albert a weak smile.

“Sorry. It has been rough for him.”

Albert sighed.

“It’s been rough for us all. I can’t blame him for being angry with me… I am angry with myself too.”

“I know you are.”

Albert left the tavern and walked back to his home with a lantern. Every sound had him on edge. He startled at the sight of every shadow.

Those people who had gone missing—there were two women, and three men. Some were young adults, and some were elderly. There seemed to be rhyme or reason. Nobody was safe.

Finally, he arrived at home. 

He started a fire and lit several candles so that he could see.

He sat down with paper and dipped his quill in ink and began to write:

How to Catch the Culprit:

1. Stand by the ocean in the evening.

2.

He stopped writing, crumpled his paper into a ball, and threw it in the wastebasket.

It was a small island, but it was impossible for him to see the entire shoreline throughout every evening. And even if he did, what was to stop him from being the next victim?

He shuddered.

They had to be in the ocean. The fact that they had not found any evidence on the island convinced him of that.

He knew searching for evidence in the evening was a waste of time. But maybe he could find the actual culprits and catch them in the act. He would have to bring a weapon to protect himself. He could knock them unconscious, tie them up, and produce the culprits to the town. 

He knew he probably couldn’t bring the missing people back. At this point, everyone knew they were looking for bodies. But he could get the answers everyone so desperately wanted. He could rescue the next person.

He still worried that he wouldn’t be in the right place at the right time. He frowned. But it was more than what he was doing. And what he was doing wasn’t working.

He peeked through a window. It was very dark out now, but he put on an overcoat, and left.

He walked a lap around the island. He planned to do it again each evening, varying his timing.

He walked along the sandy shore with a lantern in one hand and a heavy wooden club in the other.

Waves crashed along the beach. He watched the ocean cautiously. But he found nothing. 

He returned home, and went to sleep.

The next day, he repeated the same things as he had done for the entire last month. He searched every single part of the island for signs of the missing people.

Nothing.

He launched his boat into the ocean and searched the water until the sun began to set. He went to the tavern, had his usual drink, and went home. 

That night he went later in the evening. He waited until after he normally would have been asleep to begin walking around the island. 

Like the night prior, he found nothing.

After several nights, another person went missing. Albert felt sick. Despite walking the shore each night, he still missed it. Another person was missing, and he was unable to protect them.

He went through all the steps. He questioned the family and asked about the circumstances behind their disappearance. He organized a search party. They scoured the island.

He wished he could say he was surprised when nothing turned up.

This woman vanished from her home in the middle of the night. How did this keep happening? Everyone kept their doors locked, especially since these disappearances began. 

Albert checked the ocean, despite knowing that he wasn’t going to find anything. He was correct. The ocean was full of fish and seaweed. Nothing else.

This was the last straw for him. He decided he would walk the shore every evening, and sleep during the day. His daytime investigations had proven useless anyways. He was more likely to catch whatever phenomenon was causing people to go missing if he was outside the entire night.

He stayed up all evening, walking the shoreline lap after lap. He clenched the wooden club in his hand, and was prepared to drop his lantern to protect himself at a moment’s notice.

Eventually, the sky lit up with an orange glow as the sun began to rise. 

He walked home and went to sleep.

He awoke past midday. He ate and prepared himself for another evening of walking.

Several nights passed that way with no answers.

One late afternoon, he went into the tavern to have his usual drink. He overheard whispers as people subtly pointed at him.

“Have you seen Albert? He’s been up every night walking the shore with a club.”

“It’s really strange, especially given that he’s been investigating. Makes me wonder if he was responsible and he’s starting to lose it.”

“He already lost it years ago when his wife died.”

“We need to get someone else out on the water. I bet they would find the evidence he says isn’t there.”

Albert sighed. He paid his tab, and left. He couldn’t handle hearing any more of their whispers.

Several more evenings passed.

Finally, one night, he heard a splash from the ocean. It sounded different from the waves that regularly crashed onto the shore. 

His eyes squinted as he tried to focus on what he was seeing in the darkness.

A person emerged from the ocean. 

He frowned. 

Who would go for a swim at this time of night?

The person walked towards the town. 

He quietly followed behind them, watching as they walked towards a home.

It was pitch-dark, and he could barely tell which house was being approached. 

But he felt that he was about to get answers.

He planned to watch the person enter the home, run up and see which home it was. Then, he would know who to question more seriously. Because there was no innocent reason for someone to be swimming at this time of the night.

He watched as the person jiggled the door handle.

And then…they melted into a puddle, and seeped under the door.

“What the hell?”

Albert rubbed his eyes and stared at the door, where the person was no longer standing.

He glanced toward the ocean.

Was he seeing things? Maybe the strange sleeping hours were beginning to affect his mind.

He rubbed his forehead.

And just as he was about to turn away to continue walking his laps, two people stepped out of the home.

He still didn’t recognize either of them due to the darkness, but watched as they strode towards the ocean.

“Stop!” he shouted.

He raced toward them as they got closer to the shore. One of the people glanced over their shoulder at him, but neither answered or stopped.

The water rose to Albert’s knees, and both people were further out.

“You won’t get away with this!” Albert bellowed.

One of the people turned toward him. A long, slender fish tail splashed behind them.

The fish-woman looked directly at Albert.

“I will, though.” 

“No. We will get divers out. We will find wherever you are taking them. We will stop you.”

She smiled, revealing rows and rows of sharp teeth.

“Nobody will believe you. They already suspect you.”

She was right. They already suspected him. And they would never believe what he witnessed. They already believed that he was losing his mind.

He frowned. 

“I will still try.”

“No. You will take your boat, capsize it, and drown. You will die so that my people may eat.”

Albert’s brain screamed as his body moved. He was no longer in control.

He turned away from the water and walked toward his boat.

Step after step, after step.

“Stop it!” the voice in his head screamed.

But he kept going. He took his boat, and went out on the water. 

The waves crashed around him, flinging him into the air.

Then, the boat flipped.

He sank all the way to the bottom. His head hit a rock. Everything went black. 

After what felt like eternity, a bright light shone in front of him. He walked toward it. His steps felt as if he were made out of feathers. 

He no longer felt any pain. His memories of the last month were no longer important to him.

Out of the light, the most beautiful woman emerged. His wife. His heart melted. He missed her so much. She smiled and extended her arms toward him. He embraced her.

Behind her, he saw his mother and father. His grandparents. He smiled. Everything was okay now.