The boat tour had gotten off to a rocky start and with the approaching storm things didn't look like they'd improve. They were meant to head out to a reef several miles from the coast to spend two hours diving followed by a stop on a nearby island for lunch and ending back at the pier. So far the boat had pulled into the pier too fast nearly breaking it, the captain had tried to play it off as a joke but his breath stank of cheap whiskey and he vomited on a would-be passenger who had the sense to walk away.
For the rest they were taken completely off course, ending up twenty miles from the reef by one passenger's rough calculations. There was an island nearby but the captain swore it shouldn't be there, sadly he was overruled by his passengers and they docked at the sturdy concrete pier with only a slight crash. No matter how passionately the captain insisted they leave and that the predicted storm could isolate them or flood the island and sink them all, he was ignored as his passengers spread out to find a local place to shelter and plan their next move.
The thing they couldn't see from the ocean was just how decrepit the buildings looked inside and how unusual it was for this region to have so many concrete houses, or indeed any concrete houses at all as the most common resource was wood. They also couldn't possibly have seen the way the houses shifted and twitched with impatience, smelling the incoming group and wanting to eat.
It was so utterly silent on the island, even the ocean waves seemed muted by something that they couldn't quite place. It was something close by, that much they all agreed on as the hairs on the backs of their necks rose in unison and the feeling of countless eyes staring at them made them huddle just that little bit closer, unconsciously seeking protection from something yet to be seen.
The captain shouted at the group from the alleged safety of the boat, saying something about the windows are the eyes of the home before ducking into the lower deck and shutting the door behind him with a muted thud. Though the group felt nervous and isolated on the island's seemingly deserted street they felt worse about going back into the boat of someone clearly too drunk to get them home safely.
After one person spoke up and declared that they could just wait in the cafe nearby the group's minds were made up. When the cafe's door practically threw itself open the second the handle was touched the group were startled enough to take a few steps away from the buildings, barely beginning to notice the way the other windows were now full of tempting goods and vague human forms.
The windows were both clear and misty in unusual ways so that the food and expensive items were in perfect view while the people inside moved about like they were surrounded by fog. One brave fool tried to duck their head into the shoe shop next to the cafe only to be pulled in by one of the blurry people.
Their screams seemed to break the tense silence that had been smothering them all as they struggled and thrashed about, eventually breaking free and breaking through the glass door, bleeding heavily from several deep wounds and missing their left hand. They babbled on about how the people were teeth dressed in bones and rags and that the island was hungry before fainting from the shock.
The passengers couldn't get back to the boat fast enough, roughly dragging the wounded person behind them, uncaring that their remaining fingers had all been caught by the paving stones on the street on the way to the boat. Not a single one of them noticed the tiny pebbles caught in their shoes,somehow gripping the soles tightly and gradually rolling upwards to meet their unprotected flesh.
Their boat never arrived back to the pier, washing up further down the beach almost three months later full of stones and naked bones. The door leading to the lower deck was covered with deep scratch marks on the inside and heavily dented as though someone had been throwing themselves at it for hours. The captain's finger-bones were embedded in the handle, holding it shut against the people who'd been trapped below. The rest of his body was never found.
For the rest they were taken completely off course, ending up twenty miles from the reef by one passenger's rough calculations. There was an island nearby but the captain swore it shouldn't be there, sadly he was overruled by his passengers and they docked at the sturdy concrete pier with only a slight crash. No matter how passionately the captain insisted they leave and that the predicted storm could isolate them or flood the island and sink them all, he was ignored as his passengers spread out to find a local place to shelter and plan their next move.
The thing they couldn't see from the ocean was just how decrepit the buildings looked inside and how unusual it was for this region to have so many concrete houses, or indeed any concrete houses at all as the most common resource was wood. They also couldn't possibly have seen the way the houses shifted and twitched with impatience, smelling the incoming group and wanting to eat.
It was so utterly silent on the island, even the ocean waves seemed muted by something that they couldn't quite place. It was something close by, that much they all agreed on as the hairs on the backs of their necks rose in unison and the feeling of countless eyes staring at them made them huddle just that little bit closer, unconsciously seeking protection from something yet to be seen.
The captain shouted at the group from the alleged safety of the boat, saying something about the windows are the eyes of the home before ducking into the lower deck and shutting the door behind him with a muted thud. Though the group felt nervous and isolated on the island's seemingly deserted street they felt worse about going back into the boat of someone clearly too drunk to get them home safely.
After one person spoke up and declared that they could just wait in the cafe nearby the group's minds were made up. When the cafe's door practically threw itself open the second the handle was touched the group were startled enough to take a few steps away from the buildings, barely beginning to notice the way the other windows were now full of tempting goods and vague human forms.
The windows were both clear and misty in unusual ways so that the food and expensive items were in perfect view while the people inside moved about like they were surrounded by fog. One brave fool tried to duck their head into the shoe shop next to the cafe only to be pulled in by one of the blurry people.
Their screams seemed to break the tense silence that had been smothering them all as they struggled and thrashed about, eventually breaking free and breaking through the glass door, bleeding heavily from several deep wounds and missing their left hand. They babbled on about how the people were teeth dressed in bones and rags and that the island was hungry before fainting from the shock.
The passengers couldn't get back to the boat fast enough, roughly dragging the wounded person behind them, uncaring that their remaining fingers had all been caught by the paving stones on the street on the way to the boat. Not a single one of them noticed the tiny pebbles caught in their shoes,somehow gripping the soles tightly and gradually rolling upwards to meet their unprotected flesh.
Their boat never arrived back to the pier, washing up further down the beach almost three months later full of stones and naked bones. The door leading to the lower deck was covered with deep scratch marks on the inside and heavily dented as though someone had been throwing themselves at it for hours. The captain's finger-bones were embedded in the handle, holding it shut against the people who'd been trapped below. The rest of his body was never found.
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