Mysteries of The World: Bermuda Triangle

The Bermuda Triangle, also known as the Devil’s triangle is considered to be one of the biggest hotspots of unnatural and unexplained phenomena in the world. Attracting the attention of millions of mystery and paranormal lovers every year, it has been a nightmare for all those who have dared venture inside.

                                                                              ***

“I can’t believe this, Benji! Fifteen years of hard work, all for THIS? My name isn’t Doctor Rebecca Schulz for nothing. The gall of that guy! I- “

“What happened exactly, ma’am?” Benji interjected.

“That Chad, he thinks my thesis is wrong! All his footmen backed him even with the blatant flaw in his argument! Just because he’s the head of the Evil Scientists’ Board? Bermuda triangle- ha! Forget all that. You won’t even understand half of it anyway.

“Did you get my laundry? I don’t pay you to ask me what happened. I pay you to do my work.” Dr Schulz replied.

“Yes, Ma’am. I’ve arranged all the clothes in your closet too.” Benji said, a bit dejected.

Benji was used to this. In his 23 years of service, he had never met a tougher boss. He did get paid quite handsomely, though, so he stuck around. He was aware of the long line of ill-fortuned people that had tried (and failed) to be of adequate service to her.

“Closet? No no no. Benji, pack my bags now. Enough luggage for about a month. While you’re at it, pack yours too. Quickly!” Benji’s thoughts were interrupted by Dr Schulz’s raspy voice. “We’re paying a visit to this so-called Bermuda Triangle. I’ll show them…” Her voice trailed off.

*

A week later, Benji was living his worst nightmare, trapped in a tiny cabin aboard the USS Greyjoy, somewhere off the coast of the Bahamas.

It was worse than he had expected. Benji was in the middle of trying to cook salmon for both of them when the storm hit. The violent winds swirled around with all their might, sucking everything in without the slightest of mercy- it was ruthless.

 The air swivelled around them, seemingly with the wrath of Poseidon himself. Furious waves lashed on their ship, trying to break it into pieces. Round and round the ship swirled, with Dr. Schulz and Benji struggling to hold on. He then realized that only a fool would plan to stay on board. “We need to leave! Jump!” Benji yelled.

 Meanwhile, the look on Schulz’s face suggested they’d gone for nothing but a merry-go-round in the yearly fair. It almost seemed like she was happier on the ship than she was in safety. It took quite a bit of convincing, but Dr Schulz finally agreed to take the leap of faith into the water. “On the count of 3!” Benji screamed. “One, two, th-”

 “Wheeeeee!” Benji was interrupted by Dr Schulz jumping off the railing. Muttering curses to himself, Benji followed suit.

 As Benji expected, the impact was brutal. The water felt like knives stabbing every inch of his body. Once he came to his senses, Benji got up frantically to the surface. His cries for Dr Schulz were inaudible because of how breathless he was. They soon found each other and desperately swam out to find safety on the remains of the USS Greyjoy.

“Benji, we’re here!” Schulz said, propping herself up on the floor and pushing the hair out of her face.

“Yeah, I think we are.” squeaked Benji, still disoriented from the sudden storm.

 “It’s beautiful.” The water had calmed down and sunlight touched their faces for the first time in days.

“It sure is Benji, but we’re not here for sightseeing, we’re here to prove Chad and those idiots wrong!”

 It was an alarming change of pace. A second ago they were trapped in the middle of a hurricane, barely holding on for dear life and now, well now, they were staring at what could be nothing less of paradise.

 Clear skies, blue water, a cool breeze- it was the kind of weather you could live in forever. Rebecca Schulz, however, did not care about the weather. Still riding high on the sudden turn of events, the scientist ranted on about the look on the Evil Scientists’ Board’s faces when she would prove that the Bermuda Triangle was nothing but a silly myth. Benji, on the other hand, could not stop shivering. They’d managed to survive a hurricane- an actual hurricane.

 “Benji, we need to get to land, I have to send a signal to the board-”

A loud horn interrupted her mid-sentence.

 The size of a speck of dust, Benji and Rebecca stared at it mouths agape till a giant glistening mast came into sight. A sleek ship, its white flag flaring in the wind and hull glistening under the rays of the sun slowly moved in front of them.

It was beautiful. It was brown and giant and it could put the British navy to shame. “Full steam ahead!” They heard a voice cry out, cutting through the silence like a knife through butter. Scanning across the ship, they could only make out a solitary figure, standing completely alone on the helm.

 “On your posts, men! We haven’t a second to lose!” He started. As the ship neared them, the man began speaking with his sharp voice. “What’s up mateys?” he inquired. “Why, I am Captain Mayweather, the first of my name, captain of the USS Cyclops. And who, pray do tell, are you two scallywags?”, he continued, as the two of them stared at the magnificent ship in awe.

 He invited both of them on board after they introduced themselves. Hesitant at first, they decided it was the better alternative to probable starvation. 

The ship was eerily empty. They realized that they were the only two aboard apart from the Captain. He seemed friendly enough, but his clothes looked like someone from the 19th century and he was pale beyond belief, and the sun had never shone brighter. Not to mention the fact that he seemed to be under the impression that his ship had a full crew.

 Mayweather was ridiculously over giddy- his smile seemed to stretch wider than the ship itself. His glazed eyes had the look of a deranged person. They unnerved Benji to his very core.

Schulz, however, had the curiosity of a child. She was overly enthusiastic about everything to do with ships. She didn’t seem to realize how empty the ship really was. It seemed to have a mind of its own (how did the ladders lower themselves?).  Benji did not see another soul on board. Who was working in the furnace? Who was scrubbing the floors, which looked so meticulously clean? And no one was manning the masts. Even being stranded on a piece of driftwood with no land in sight was starting to seem like a better option for him.

 As Mayweather was showing them around the ship and introducing them to the supposed crew members, Benji was busy trying to convince Schulz to get away from this madman and off-board. Meanwhile, Schulz was in the mind of her own. Her scientific brain was running rampant, her thoughts came faster than she could track. She examined everything- from the mould on the floorboards to the cloth of the flag on the mast. Benji gave up for the time being.

 Lost in his thoughts, Benji wondered how the weather had changed so abruptly- just five minutes ago they were in the midst of a monstrous hurricane and now they were standing under a clear sky and on the water that he could swear was getting stiller by the minute. Also, how was it that they stumbled upon an almost empty ship in the middle of nowhere? Was it all a coincidence, or something more? Luckily, his mind was diverted quickly. He spotted two lifeboats, almost hidden under half moth-eaten cloth, and a plan began to formulate in his mind.

“Doctor!” Benji hissed at Rebecca only for her to shush him and go back to listening to Merryweather talk about the weather.

 “Rebecca!” he whisper-screamed at her, desperate to get her attention. “We have to get out of this place!”

 “What? You wanna get out? It’s been a blast here!”

 “Excuse me? We’re probably gonna die out here, how in the world are you even thinking of having fun?”

 “Okay fine. Benji, let’s get going. Mayweather, it’s been fun buddy, but we gotta go.”

 Mayweather, still smiling, tilted his head “What do you mean go?”

 “I mean we gotta say bye and leave,” said Benji.

 “Oh. Yeah, that’s not an option.”

 “What do you mean?”

 Mayweather somehow managed to smile even wider. The ship started to sway- a quite impossible thing because the water was still as ever. The wheel on the deck started to spin furiously, with no signs of stopping.

 “This is GREAT!” screamed Rebecca.

“No, it’s not, you madwoman! We need to get out of here!” screamed Benji, grabbing Schulz’s hand and dragging her to the boats.

 They sprinted across the deck, while Mayweather just stood there screaming “No!”- he was clearly dejected by the thought of them leaving. The ship rocked faster.

 “Help me get the covers off this!” screamed Benji.

The two of them uncovered the boats and lowered it into the sea. The sound of Mayweather’s sobs cut through the quiet tension between the two.

 “How are we supposed to get out of this place?”

Doctor Schulz was disappointed. She could have talked to the ghostly captain forever and ever. Something felt off. They realized that they couldn’t hear the wails of the captain anymore. USS Cyclops seemed to have vanished into thin air. Their boat suddenly started swaying back and forth, this time by Benji shivering in anxiety.

 “Come, now, Benji. We mustn’t lose track of why we’re here. I can still say that I’m having the jolliest of times. I only hope you realize it too. Seriously, why can’t you just live in the momen-”

 “Okay, that is it, Becky, I’ve had enough of you! Enough to last a full lifetime! I have been the best assistant I can possibly have been to you. You listen here and listen well- I. AM. DONE.

 I QUIT!”

 Benji had finally snapped.  He was glaring at her, red with rage. What infuriated him, even more, was that she seemed utterly uninterested. Her face seemed to be devoid of any emotion.

Suddenly, a gigantic fish flew out of the ocean with a splash, its solitary eye staring at the humans disturbing its deep slumber.

 

—Written by Rushil Dalal and Tanya Jain for MTTN

—Edited by Sushanth Reddy for MTTN

—Featured Image by Ashirwad Ray for MTTN

—Images from Google

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