Blog Tour: No Vacancies – Day 2

Nicholas Caster waited patiently at Pier 29 for the arrival of the sea vessel called the Windlass. Mr. Vandenberg’s assignment was to deliver a letter to the ship’s captain. With his years of experience with the family, Caster knew the deep seeded obsession the Vandenberg men had with the occult. Tonight’s mission was surely to further those obsessions.

According to Vandenberg’s instructions, the Windlass was to arrive at the docks between nine pm and twelve am this evening and according to his watch, it was almost midnight. He glanced around the empty docks and checked for any sign of life or incoming vessels, but the night was still. The heavy fog in the air made it difficult to see; coupled with the fact that the docks had no lighting.

Another glance at his watch showed the time as 11:57 and it seemed to Caster that his meeting would not take place this evening. He started to walk away from the dock, back to his car, when a very low hum filled the air. He turned and looked back at the pier and saw a dark form move slowly into dock. The ship, which ran in complete darkness, was barely visible to the naked eye. Caster approached the edge of the pier and waited for the ship to make port. It took a few minutes, but the ship finally stopped and the low hum of the engines faded into silence. The gangway lowered slowly to the dock and Caster waited. A few seconds later, a man dressed in jeans, a dark leather jacket and work boots appeared, approached Nicholas and said, “You Caster?”

The man smelled of fish, sweat and engine grease. Caster reached into his jacket pocket and pulled the letter from Adrian out. He reached to the man and said, “I think this is for you.”

The man opened the envelope and flipped through the contents. Caster saw that there were several large bills in the envelope. When the man finished, he thrust the envelope into his jacket and zipped it up quickly. He turned and waved behind him and two men that stood on the Windlass disappeared from sight. “It’ll just be a minute,” the man said, his smile revealed a few missing teeth.

A little more than a minute later, the two men came down the gangway, a large wooden box in tow, decorated with ornate, Middle Eastern text. The men placed the box on the ground in front of Nicholas Caster and stepped behind the captain. “Tell your boss it was a pleasure doing business together. You have a nice evening,” the captain said as he turned to head up the gangway.

The three men stopped short as they proceeded up the gangway and froze in their tracks. At the top, stood a man dressed in black robes and a hood, which shrouded his face. In his left hand, he carried a black scimitar, the blade pointed down at the three men. In the darkness, Nicholas could not see any more details of the man’s face.

Nicholas turned to his right and looked towards the end of the dock and saw three more men, dressed the same, ancient and ornate bladed weapons at the ready. A noise from his left turned Caster to face yet another group of three robed men. Seven in all surrounded Nicholas, the captain and the sailors.

The man at the top of the gangway spoke first and said, “You have something that belongs to us.”