{"id":761,"date":"2026-08-28T05:37:58","date_gmt":"2026-08-28T05:37:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/insidemayasmind.com\/?p=761"},"modified":"2026-09-10T19:31:38","modified_gmt":"2026-09-10T19:31:38","slug":"the-fate-of-the-hapet-chapter-9-a-dead-mans-voice","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/insidemayasmind.com\/?p=761","title":{"rendered":"The Fate of The H\u00e5pet – Chapter 9, A Dead Man’s Voice"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The thick, acrid reek of powder smoke filled the steerage compartment, burning my nostrils and clawing at my already parched throat. My ears rang with the high-pitched lingering whine of the shot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The body of the second mate lay sprawled on the deck, his vacant eyes fixed on the thick oak beams overhead. Around him, an oozing puddle of crimson gore had begun to seep outward, staining the worn deck boards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ashen faces stared at me, wide-eyed from the gloom. Seemingly frozen in place, the only movement being the occasional shuffle of feet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jens\u2019 voice hissed from over my shoulder, \u201cGet him up and over the edge. Traitors don\u2019t deserve a proper burial.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cJens, stand down!\u201d my voice echoed in the cramped space.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The men didn\u2019t move, their gazes were fixed on me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHe\u2019s gone crazy,\u201d Erik snarled through gritted teeth. \u201cHe hasn\u2019t been right since we got back from that English wreck.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe rot has gone into his mind,\u201d said Johan, stepping to his brother\u2019s shoulder.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cEasy, lads. We don\u2019t want anyone else getting hurt,\u201d Christian said in a hushed tone, stepping between Jens and the twins. \u201cCaptain, let me have that pistol.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He didn\u2019t spare the first mate a glance; his eyes were firmly focused on me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHand the pistol over, Jens,\u201d I demanded. \u201cThis isn\u2019t how we settle things on this ship.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A low murmur rose up from the gathered crew members.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWho are you talking to, Captain?\u201d Christian said softly, his head tilting at a slight angle. \u201cJens is dead.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDon\u2019t be ridiculous, man!\u201d I retorted, glancing over at the big, bearded man standing at my shoulder. He was so close that I could feel his breath on my neck.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cTorstein, listen to me,\u201d Christian\u2019s voice took on a hard edge. \u201cYou saw him fall into that crevasse. How could anyone survive that? I pulled his frozen body from the ice myself.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thoughts tumbled through my mind like a maelstrom of swirling colours and fragmented images. His scream echoed inside my skull, a raw, piercing sound. The look on his face as he vanished into the blue-black darkness of that crevasse flashed before my eyes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How could Jens be dead? It didn\u2019t make sense. I had been speaking to him. He had been standing here just moments ago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But now he was gone. He had vanished.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My breath slammed into my chest like a sledgehammer, my heart pounding out a staccato beat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My gaze dropped, trailing down my right arm. My fingers were locked in an intense, clamping grip. Pressed into my palm was the heavy walnut stock of my percussion pistol, my finger still pressed hard against the cold, hard wrought iron trigger.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thomas\u2019 words from earlier in the day screamed in my mind, \u2018Eight tolls of the bell for eight dead men<\/em>\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Six for Gunnar and his whaleboat crew, one for young Henrik and one for\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The pistol slipped from my soot-blackened grasp, hitting the wooden flooring with a solid thud.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I scrambled for the hand ropes, pulling myself up the steep ladder, my limbs quivering as I hauled my body onto the main deck.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Somewhere in the distance, faint and muffled, a bell tolled. But paying it no heed, and with boots slipping on the frost-covered deck, I bolted for the quarterdeck and the aft companionway.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The fog pressed in around me, thick and suffocating. The stench of stagnant bilge water and dead krill hung heavily in the air. Pushing through it, I flung open the heavy hatch of the companionway. Taking a step forward, my boot suddenly slipped on the slick iron runners. My leg shot out from under me, and for a sickening moment, I was weightless, just hanging in the air before plummeting into the pitch darkness below.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My elbow cracked against the hard wooden steps. The searing white heat of pain shot up my arm. Tumbling down, I crashed into the deck boards. The impact was brutal, knocking the breath from my lungs. My head slammed hard into one of the bulkheads, and for a dizzying moment, there was nothing but an empty, ringing void.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pulling myself to my feet, desperate to prove my own sanity, I scanned the room until my eyes landed on the large dining table. My chest twisted as I saw Jens\u2019 massive figure, sitting exactly where I\u2019d found him on returning to the ship. His glazed eyes stared blankly ahead. Small, glinting crystals of ice and salt had begun to form on his skin and clothes, while a puddle of ice shimmered around his feet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cCaptain,\u201d a voice rasped from the shadows.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not Jens, something else moved towards me. Its dark, wispy shape writhed and morphed, its form vaguely resembling Jens but somehow different.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Trembling, I stumbled back against the dark-stained wooden wall. An icy shiver surged through my body.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWha\u2026\u201d my lips desperately tried to form the words, \u201cwhat are you? You did all this? You killed the men?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNo,\u201d it hissed, getting closer. \u201cYou killed them.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMe?\u201d I said, pressing my back into the bulkhead, desperately trying to escape its encroaching presence. \u201cWhat are you?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI am whatever you make me. I\u2019m your shadow, your greed, your recklessness.\u201d Its breath was a chill frost against my skin as, leaning in, its face came to just inches from mine. Features twisting, its black beard faded to white, the wrinkles around its eyes deepened until I saw my own face looking back at me. \u201cI am you. While you act the respectful captain, I am the darkness that lurks beneath. I am what you hide, what you deny.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou killed them,\u201d it wheezed again, its voice ragged, like the wind through tattered sails. \u201cYour greed demanded one last hunt; your greed demanded three kills. You forced your men onto that English wreck. You brought the evil back to this ship. They all died at your hands.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cEvil?\u201d I repeated the creature\u2019s word. \u201cWhat evil?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It didn\u2019t answer. Its form shimmered and began to dissolve before me. What one minute had seemed solid, now unravelled into slender tendrils of black mist. They stretched and twisted, fading until there was nothing left. The last of the wisps of vapour slipped silently into the cracks in the woodwork, and it was gone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Evil. The word rang in my ears.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Could it be true? Could the men have been right all along? Was it possible that the boy was a Jonah? Was he really the cause of everything?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cChristian!\u201d my voice screamed in panic as I burst onto the quarterdeck.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But it was too late.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The thick, acrid reek of powder smoke filled the steerage compartment, burning my nostrils and clawing at my already parched<\/p>\n

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