The Mad One: Part Four (special preview)

Several years after the Sunken left their island to go underwater, the island became a mass grave. Bodies were left there, buried, hidden away. And several years after that, someone moved onto the island, using the bodies there for their own purposes. The island continued to be a mass grave site, but with it came the knowledge that the body being buried there might not stay buried. The main inhabitant of this island, queen or king or whatever they might be, would take the body as an offering to continue working their experiments. Known simply as the Scientist, this person would use the dead bodies for experiments, and supposedly, had found a way to raise the dead and make them living again.

For a while now, the Island of One Thousand corpses had gone unused for the most part. Due to rumors of the Scientist and their experiments, most people decided to avoid the place all together. Though some still buried the dead there, or like Slasher, chose to hide there for a period of time. Not many people spoke about what they saw if they saw anything during their stays. Captain Lowe even admitted that he had not set foot on the island since his family first abandoned it.

“The children are frightened of it,” he said one evening. “Too many stories about dead rising and the like. The ground feels strange now to me. Granted, I was merely a child when we left, but something about that place now feels haunted. It’s a creepy place.”

“Creepy?” Hades chuckled.

“It’s fucked up is what it is,” Lowe sniffed. He scratched the top of his head as he looked over the map laying before them. “Creepy is the best way I can put it without freaking myself out too badly. You see dead things walking about and you come up with another word for it.”

“Rather not,” Hades said with a smirk.

Mad One was pleased to see the three getting along, although her marriage to Lowe wouldn’t be proper until back in the City of Red Tide, she was already considering him part of their family, one of her own.

“Getting onto the island isn’t the issue anyways,” Huni Buni butted in. “It’s getting off the island that is going to be the issue. Whether it be the Scientist or Slasher.”

Mad One leaned back in her seat. “The Scientist only wants dead things, though. Surely they wouldn’t bother us a bit if we just came walking through.”

“We don’t know what the Scientist does exactly. They probably mind the dead walking around. Not only that, the living can become such a thing very quickly,” Lowe argued, waving his hand around the top of his head to mimic a halo. “Lots of ships have gone to the island and some never go back out. I find lots of boats empty out in the open water these days.”

“That could be Slasher though,” Huni Buni murmured, their screen illuminated over the map. “We have no idea what we could find on the island once we get there.”

Mad One then shook her head. “I’ll go on my own.”

“Are you crazy?” Hades balked.

Lowe looked at her crossly. He usually had a fed-up expression upon his face, but now it was personal. He was cross as well as done. “There’s no way you can go onto that island alone! After everything I just said, you really think that is the smart thing to do?”

“It’s my responsibility. Besides, it is only right I fight Slasher alone.”

“Are they even there though?” Lowe snapped. “How do you know for sure this person is there waiting on you?”

“It’s in the debris,” Mad One murmured. “Slasher knows I’m coming for them. They must know.”

Lowe sniffed. “Confident in something like that huh?”

“They know, but what if they decided they didn’t want to wait around?” Hades asked. “What then?”

Mad One frowned. “But all Slasher wants is to-”

“Make your life miserable,” Huni Buni whispered as a big exclamation point flashed upon their screen. “That’s all Slasher ever wanted to do. If they wanted you dead, they could have done it!”

Mad One scowled. “Then why kill Mom? They knew if Mom died I would still be heir. They didn’t want me to take over.”

“Maybe this,” Hades said thoughtfully. “A chase. A long hunt.”

Huni Buni turned to her, placing their hand over hers. “You did say you wouldn’t come home until Slasher was dealt with and you felt worthy to take over the City of Red Tide. They knew you would say something like that.”

Mad One shook her head, still keeping Huni Buni’s hand in her own. “No, that’s crazy. Slasher has always wanted to fight me, to beat me. Why would they just toy with me like that? It isn’t their style.”

“It’s still a thought,” Lowe sighed heavily. “And something to keep in mind, just in case. Don’t get disappointed if this is all smoke in the end.”