The King of the Vampire Island

Chapter 7: Arrive at Vampire Island

The eastern sky was beginning to brighten. The sun hadn’t risen yet. The water was clear and blue. The sky matched it perfectly. Not a single cloud in sight.

Jack was steering the boat, silently looking ahead. The boat sped forward. Right beside him sat Paul, also staring quietly into the distance. The rest were seated in the back. No one was speaking. It was as if they were observing a moment of silence.

Luna had been looking down, lost in thought. Max had fiddled with the Annihilin gun, inspecting it from different angles. Tulip had pored over the Vampire’s Island map spread across her lap, examining it closely.

“How much farther?” Max suddenly broke the silence.

“Not much farther,” Paul replied. He was the only one among them who had ever been close to Vampire’s Island before. He turned to Tulip. “Pass me the binoculars, will you?”

Without a word, Tulip handed the binoculars to Paul. Taking them, he raised them to his eyes and began scanning the area. In the northeast, he spotted an island. Focusing on the binoculars, he recognized it. It was Grenada Island. Just beyond it lay Vampire’s Island.

“Turn the boat northeast,” he instructed Jack, still peering through the binoculars. “We’re getting close to Vampire’s Island. It’ll probably take another fifteen or twenty minutes.”

At Paul’s words, everyone checked their weapons. Sure enough, after exactly twenty minutes, they arrived at Vampire’s Island.

There was no dock or jetty on the island, which made sense. No one ever came here, so why would there be one?

Jack searched for a suitable spot to anchor the boat. After a bit of scouting, he found one. He brought the boat to a stop, and everyone got out, one by one.  

Everyone was captivated by the sight of the island. No one could believe that blood-sucking vampires supposedly lived on such a beautiful island.

“Wow!” exclaimed Max. “This place is amazing!”

“Yeah, it’s really beautiful,” agreed Jack, looking around. “I can’t believe vampires live here.”

“Neither can I,” Paul added.

“Whether we believe it or not doesn’t change a thing,” said Tulip. “The truth is, vampires exist on this beautiful island. Remember, sometimes the ugliest things hide within beauty.”

“You’re absolutely right,” Max nodded in agreement. “Evil hides within good, and we fall for it because we don’t see it.”

“It’s already 8:30 AM,” Tulip said, glancing at his wristwatch. “Dusk falls here at seven. We need to finish our task before nightfall. Once it gets dark, there’s no coming back. Vampires are way more powerful in the darkness than we can imagine. 

So we have to get this done in daylight. Not that we can easily kill them even in daylight—though we have modern weapons, it’s still going to be tough, because they outnumber us.”

“I heard,” Jack said as Tulip paused, “that there are also man-eaters here.”

“Yeah, I’ve heard that too,” Max confirmed.

“How are we supposed to kill these man-eaters?” Jack asked. “Where are they now? They’re not like vampires, afraid of daylight, so they won’t be hiding.”

“You heard right,” said Luna. “There were man-eaters here before, but not anymore.”

“They’re gone?” Jack was surprised. “Where did they go?”

“A few years ago, there had been a battle between the man-eaters and vampires here. In that fight, all the man-eaters had been killed. The vampires’ numbers had also dropped a lot after that.”

“Oh, I see.”

“Yeah.”

“Let’s not waste any more time. Let’s get to work,” Paul urged.

“Yes, yes, let’s go.”

They had pulled out the map and carefully studied the layout of the island. According to the map, the vampires’ lair was on the western side, near the center of the island. They were currently on the southern side, so they needed to head left. 

After orienting themselves, they ventured into the jungle on the island. Even though vampires weren’t a threat in daylight, they remained cautious.

The island was quite large. Inside, the jungle was full of unknown, beautiful flowers and fruit trees. Luna and Tulip had warned everyone not to touch any of the fruit or flowers, even by accident. They were pretty to look at, but who knew what dangers they might have held inside?

But by mistake, Max had plucked a fruit. Instantly, he had felt a jolt like an electric shock and had been thrown several yards away. Everyone had rushed over to him. Jack had grabbed his hand and helped him up. “Are you okay?” he had asked, his voice filled with concern.

“Yeah.” Max had shaken his head, staring at the fruits in amazement. “But how did I get an electric shock even with gloves on?”

“I warned you,” Tulip had said, a bit irritated, but had quickly held back.

Nobody had said anything else. They had all begun moving forward, more cautiously than before.

Suddenly, something had cracked under Paul’s shoe, snapping a branch. Before they could react, a net had fallen down from above, trapping them. With a swift pull, it had lifted them up to the top of a tall tree, where they had dangled like a bird’s nest.

“What just happened?” Paul had looked stunned, clearly unable to process the situation.

“What do you think? We’re caught in a trap,” Jack had said bitterly, tangled awkwardly in the net.

“We should have been more careful,” Luna had said, hanging close to Jack, her arms and legs tangled in the net.

“How much more careful can we be?” Max had snapped. “Who would’ve guessed they’d set a trap here too?”

“We should have known,” Jack had replied dryly. “This was their island, so of course, they’d have security measures.”

“Instead of worrying about that, focus on how we’re going to escape,” Tulip had interjected.

“We need to cut the net,” Jack had said, still in that flat tone. “But there’s a risk with that too.”

“What risk?”

“If we fall from this height, not a single bone would stay in one piece.”

Hearing this, everyone looked down and recoiled. Jack had been right. They were incredibly high up. A fall from there would not only break bones but could even have been fatal.

“What do we do now?” Max had asked, his voice lacking strength.

No one had answered him.

After a few moments, Luna said, “Hanging here is pointless. Let’s cut the net and see what happens.”

“But with what?” Tulip had asked.

 ”Why? No knife or anything?”

“Nope.”

“I had a knife,” Jack informed them.

“Where?”

“Inside the sole of my shoe.”

Tulip was surprised. “Inside the sole of your shoe?”

“Yes, inside the sole of my shoe.”

“Then take it out. Cut through the net.”

“But how would I get it out? My hands and feet were all tangled up in this net.”

They deflated like a burst balloon. “So, were we just going to stay trapped like this and die?” Worry filled Paul’s voice.

No one answered.

Meanwhile, noon was approaching. But they still hadn’t figured out any way to get free. Suddenly, Paul said, “Hey Jack, my hand is right by your foot. I could try to get the knife out.”

Their faces lit up. Jack said, “We were such donkeys. No one had thought of this simple solution all this time. Yes, Paul... see if you can get it out. It’s in the left shoe.”

Without another word, Paul took the knife out from the sole of Jack’s shoe. Then he started cutting the net. As he was cutting, he said, “I’m going to jump down first. You all hang on here. Once I’m down, I’ll help you get down.”

“But jumping from such a height won’t be a problem for you?” Jack asked.

Paul laughed—a dry laugh. “Even if it was, there was no other choice. Better one of us took the risk than all of us. Besides, I’d jumped from greater heights before.”

They didn’t say anything more. Silently, Paul cut a hole in the net. Then he leaped down through the opening. As he hit the ground, he rolled a few times, then lay there for a while, face down. They grew anxious, but the worry didn’t last long. 

After a moment, Paul got up, cut the ropes, and helped them down. Everyone thanked him once they were on the ground. Paul grinned, showing his teeth.

Jack told everyone to take a stick about seven or eight feet long. When Luna asked why, he explained, “We were going to hold these sticks out in front as we went. We’d use them to check the path ahead of us. If there was any danger or trap ahead, the stick would take the hit. We’d stay safe.”

Everyone praised Jack for this clever idea.

Following Jack’s advice, they moved forward with their sticks. Along the way, they encountered many dangers, but their sticks saved them each time.

But even though it had been 4 PM, they hadn’t found any trace of the vampires’ hideout. Tulip had pulled out the map again. Looking at the map, she said, “The map indicates we are very close to the vampires’ hideout.”

No one had said anything more. They started searching again. After searching for a long time, around 5 PM, they finally found the entrance to a cave. Tulip had compared it with the map and saw that the cave was exactly where the vampires’ hideout was supposed to be.

Everyone had assumed this must be the vampires’ hideout. They carefully moved closer. Suddenly, Jack had seen something. He was startled. He said absentmindedly, “How is this possible?”