A Warning Ignore
323 Words
Marge continued her story, her voice growing quieter. “Your mother became obsessed with the artifact. She said it was the key to unlocking the secrets of the sea a bridge between humanity and the ocean’s power. But strange things started happening the closer we got to it.”
“Like what?” Iris asked, leaning forward.
“Currents that didn’t make sense. Storms that appeared out of nowhere. And the melody it wasn’t just in our heads. We recorded it, played it back, and it was real.”
Iris’s pulse quickened. “You recorded it?”
Marge gestured to an old reel to reel tape recorder on the shelf. “It’s there, if you want to hear it. But I wouldn’t recommend it.”
“Why not?”
“Because it drove us mad,” Marge said, her voice heavy with regret. “One by one, the crew started losing their grip visions, nightmares, paranoia. We tried to turn back, but your mother wouldn’t let us. She said the ocean was calling her, and she had to answer.”
Marge paused, her eyes distant. “I told her it would kill her. And it did.”
Iris swallowed hard, the weight of her mother’s obsession settling on her shoulders. “And the artifact? What happened to it?”
Marge shook her head. “We left it where we found it. There was no other choice. Whatever power it holds it’s not meant for us.”
“But the coral,” Iris said, her voice urgent. “If the artifact is connected to the poison, we have to find it again. We have to stop this before it’s too late.”
Marge’s expression hardened. “And what happens when the ocean takes you, too? Are you ready for that?”
Iris met her gaze, unflinching. “If it’s the only way to save my mother’s legacy and the ocean itself then yes.”
- Writer
