April 16th, 1912

High above the ocean waves, lightning cracked the sky and thunder rolled through the swirling darkness. Icy rain came down in sheets to lash the fin of a monstrous shark as it rose from the depths like a blunted cleaver. The shark smashed hard into the lifeboat with a nauseating crunch. White wooden splinters burst from the vessel’s once-smooth hull.

Quite why the beast seemed so determined to overturn the lifeboat, Theodore Reed could not have said. The shark, the abrupt storm that came from out of nowhere—everything felt off. Please… just leave us alone, he pleaded silently. Tears welled in his eyes. He knelt at the bow, hacking desperately with a hefty dock pole to keep the predator at bay. Each frantic blow missed its target.

Theodore’s younger sister, Minnie, cowered at the stern. She shivered, clinging to the tiller with two trembling hands. An expression of pure dread spread over her pale, heart-shaped face as the shark circled the boat, before mercifully vanishing below the water.

For hours now, the ocean had played a tedious game—dragging and jostling the youngsters’ lifeboat up waves the height of church spires and down into rifts so deep that the world turned black. Minnie and Theodore had seen only sea and sky in all of that time. Light, and then dark. Nothing more. Neither had ever felt so threatened or vulnerable. So very alone.

“It’s gone,” Theodore called out through the rain. “The shark’s gone. It won’t come back.” He dropped the dock pole into the bottom of the boat and held his sister’s quivering hands. “I promise you, Minnie. I promise.” Thunder boomed and lightning lit up the night sky, momentarily turning it to day. Not like this, he begged. Please, don’t let it end like this.

***

April 14th, 1912

They were two ordinary siblings bound for a new life; two ordinary siblings longing each and every day for their old life to return. But that could never be. Aboard the Titanic—an immense steel ship en route to America from England—Theodore and Minnie’s situation began in all innocence. No one could possibly have imagined that a playful evening of chasing and hiding from a host of other gleeful children on board could have ended in such catastrophe.

“You lot shouldn’t be up here,” a stern voice called from the stairwell. The spirited youngsters glimpsed the white of his beard—it could have been Captain Smith—but not one of them dared to stop and check. Instead, they ran. A dozen well-dressed boys and one fed-up girl scattered in all directions like cockroaches scuttling beyond the pantry door.

Minnie and her older brother dashed hand-in-hand over the polished slats of the upper deck, charging past windows clouded with cigar smoke. They went darting between gentlemen dressed in their evening finery and ladies in long, vivid gowns, clutching embroidered bags and giggling at the latest quip their partners offered.

In the shadow of a towering smokestack, the siblings crept back up to the boat deck, tiptoeing beneath a row of round, brass lamps that flickered in the darkness like fireflies. Here, Theodore led his sister to his latest, daring hiding place, well away from the other passengers. Having explored almost every inch of the ship permitted to him—and many other areas that were clearly not—he had discovered the perfect location that very morning.

“Come on, Min. Get in.” Theodore peeked out from beneath the tarpaulin of a sizeable lifeboat. “They’ll never find us in here,” he said with a smirk. “The other boys are all terrible at hide-and-seek. Robin’s the worst; he’d struggle to find the hand at the end of his own arm!”

“This is a stupid game,” Minnie groaned, rolling her eyes. “Such a pointless game for silly little boys. We’ll get in so much trouble. Aunt Cordelia… she’ll be furious when she finds out we’ve been in here.”

“We’ll be fine. Just stop moving!”

“Please, Theo, I don’t like it,” Minnie persisted. “The band… they’re starting.” I hope they play the David’s City song tonight, she thought to herself. Father liked that song. “Right, that’s it! I’m going. I want to watch the band.”

“Wait… keep quiet.” Theodore held his sister back by an arm. “Someone’s coming. Get down.”

The pair fell silent, listening to the clomp and thump of approaching footsteps—the trudging boots of the ship’s crew, all set to carry out their final inspections of the day.

“They’re right outside!” Minnie breathed.

Idle chatter wafted in through a gap in the tarpaulin on breath thick with brandy and damp cigarettes. The second officer oversaw the muster drill with half-hearted instruction, completely unaware of the hidden children. The curling moustache plastered to his upper lip twitched with each command called out. “Lift!” he bellowed.

Like a hundred times before, inch by inch, the lifeboat swung out over the side of the ship on sturdy ropes. Tonight, however, the drill failed. By error, reckless behaviour, or sheer rotten luck, the crew allowed the vessel to come untethered. The lifeboat plummeted down to the ocean with the groan and screech of straining metal and rope.

While the bewildered men pleaded their innocence, argued, and blamed one another for the mishap, the lifeboat drifted steadily away. A veil of ghostly evening mist quickly swallowed up the white vessel. Over an hour went by before the children’s disappearance finally came to light. By then, the lifeboat was nowhere to be seen, utterly lost in the vastness of the Atlantic Ocean.

***

Night-time came swiftly, just as it had the previous day; Minnie and Theodore’s second since the calamity aboard the steel ship. Alone on the ocean, hungry, thirsty, and petrified of what lay beneath the waves, the young siblings now found themselves in immediate and terrible danger. Any luck that remained with the two children—a boy of thirteen and a girl of twelve—had run dangerously low.

The shark emerged for a fifth time.

Lightning flashed across the sky like ice-white veins to illuminate the monstrous creature. It looked to measure twenty feet or more, with mottled grey skin criss-crossed with the scars of countless deep-sea battles.

Minnie sat rigid, overwhelmed by fear. No. No. No. It was all she could do to point a rain-soaked finger, hardly able to form any words within her dry, pinched throat. “Theo,” she squeaked. “Theo, over there!”

“I see it.” This time he was ready. “Get down, Minnie… hold on to something.” Theodore clenched his jaw firmly and launched the dock pole through the air. His aim was shaky and he almost tumbled overboard with the effort, but it was a fine throw. The steel hook tore through the shark’s fin to leave a deep gouge. “Got you… I got you!” he jeered through gritted teeth. “Take that!”

The brute expertly concealed any pain it may have suffered.

“Why is it attacking us?” Minnie sobbed. I hate it. I hate it. Leave us alone!

“The storm… maybe this storm sent it mad,” her brother offered. “It’s gone now… it won’t come back.” Even he didn’t believe the words. Somehow, Theodore had to keep their spirits from sinking beneath the waves. The situation, in reality, appeared entirely hopeless.

A thunder clap ripped through the air. The pair huddled low in the boat, soaked and weary, gripped by panic, sheltering as best they could from the rain and wind that seemed to be growing fiercer by the minute. Both shivered uncontrollably. Their precious store of woollen blankets lay in a sodden, grey heap at the bottom of the boat. The meagre cover offered by the tarpaulin had disappeared some time ago, whipped away by a sharp blast of wind to vanish into the night. The unrelenting storm simply would not end.

Heavy rain rattled the hull and another great boom rang out. Then another. This was a veritable sailor’s storm, mighty and ferocious, the kind a boastful captain would recall time and again to his gullible young deckhands beside a crackling log fire in a shady tavern at some wind-swept port.

“I’m sorry, Min,” Theodore mumbled. He held up an arm to shield his blue eyes from the downpour. “The crew… they’ll find us.” They have to. “I promise they’ll find us.” Please find us. “It won’t be long. I’m sure we’re not too far away from the ship.”

His sister didn’t seem entirely convinced. “You promise?” Strands of wet red hair clung to Minnie’s face and shoulders. “It’s been such a long time. What if we’re stranded out here forever?”

“Don’t worry. They’ll be here soon. You’ll see. I double promise. And we’ll never play that stupid game ever again! Never, ever!”

Minnie let her eyelids close, half laughing, half crying, breathing in the sour reek of kelp wafting on the air. She felt safer in her brother’s arms. I never did like hide-and-seek, she told herself. Theo’s right. They’ll find us soon. The entire crew must be out searching by now. Every single one of them.

Their peaceful moment ended abruptly.

Despite her brother’s promise, the shark returned. Wood and water exploded into the air as it rammed the lifeboat with full force. The crunch of splintering timber rang in their ears. Seawater seeped in at an alarming rate, gushing in through multiple splits in the ruined hull.

The collision sent Minnie tumbling backwards onto the sopping wet blankets. In a moment of desperation, her hands seized the heavy handle of an oar. “Leave us alone!” With all of the strength left in her stick-thin arms, she jabbed repeatedly at the beast’s lidless eye through a wide crack.

There was no hiding the pain this time. The shark thrashed in agony, pounding the hull with the flat of an enormous tail before retreating beneath the waves.

Theodore ushered his panic-stricken sister to a low bench at the stern and tightened the drawstrings of her life-jacket. “Be brave, Minnie,” he yelled, fastening up his own. He forced their only lifebuoy into her hands. “Keep this close, you hear? I promise… we’ll be safe. Nothing—”

A gigantic wave cut short his comforting words, engulfing the boat with the force of a hammer striking an anvil. Theodore floundered between the slats. The plimsolls on his feet slipped uselessly against the wet wood. Both hands reached out for Minnie. Neither found her. His sister, his sweet young sister, was nowhere to be seen, lost in the blinding dark.

“Minnie!” he screamed. Theodore scrambled up and circled the vessel, scanning the churning water through eyes filled with salt and tears and sheer dismay. “Minnie, come back!” Where are you? “Come back! Please come back, Minnie.” I can’t lose you, his mind cried. Not you, Min… not you. You’re all I have left!

Wave after wave swept onto the crippled boat, pounding Theodore’s body and squeezing the breath from his lungs. Frigid seawater surged over him once, twice, and then a third time, before the ocean ultimately claimed its prize. In seconds, the waves swallowed the entire lifeboat whole, drawing the craft down into a murky abyss.

Overwhelmed and afraid, Theodore struggled to stay afloat. Any hope that remained—his very survival—was now entrusted to the life-jacket strapped to his chest.

Theodore lay spread-eagled on a vast, deserted beach running the length of an unfamiliar coast. All alone, but alive—and conscious. Drizzle fell from a bleak, grey sky as he awoke with a jolt and shivered. His head throbbed. Where am I? he thought. It took a few seconds to even notice the band of gnarly, pale crabs nibbling at the fingers of his outstretched hand.

“What in blazes?” Theodore leapt to his feet, staggering around on unsteady legs, barking out a flurry of deep, salty coughs. “Get off. Get off me!” he screamed, shaking loose multiple pincers clinging to his wrinkled skin.

Furious at having their meal disturbed, the ravenous crabs came at him in a sideways, screeching melee, scuttling over the sand, eager to latch back onto the boy’s soft flesh. They outnumbered him at least thirty to one.

“Get back!” Theodore dashed through the rain, only daring to slow down and look back when the crab army was almost out of sight—barely white specks along the shore. What is this place? He jogged on a little further, just to be sure.

Once his breathing had settled and his heart had stopped pounding, Theodore untied his soggy life-jacket and let it drop to the ground. Squelch. He brushed the sandy, black hair from his eyes and turned slowly to take in his surroundings.

Huge, frothing waves rolled between the craggy rocks just out to sea, breaking powerfully upon the sand with a rumbling crash. Great plumes of salt spray went tumbling through the air. The jungle was hard to miss. It ran parallel to the beach in either direction—an untamed wall of rubbery trees and tropical shrubs in countless shades of green and brown, red and copper.

Theodore trudged north, dressed in sodden canvas plimsolls, sagging wool trousers, and a once-cream shirt. A lilac silk waistcoat flapped limply at his chest like a flag caught in the wind, held loosely by a single, valiant button.

In the few months he and Minnie had known their new guardian, Aunt Cordelia, she had always made them dress to perfection, never allowing the children to appear as an embarrassment to her. If Cordelia could see Theodore now—as a vagrant—she would punish him for sure. Although, it never did take much for either sibling to receive a scolding from their spiteful aunt.

Eventually, Theodore’s eyes settled on a jagged black pillar half-buried in the sand up ahead. What on earth is that? He moved closer, eyes narrowed.

It stood twice the height of a man, dark and ominous, shaped very much like a giant arrowhead. A long-forgotten memory popped unexpectedly into Theodore’s mind. While he had taken only a pocket of conkers to school for his end-of-term display, Walter Clarke presented an entire glass case containing his grandfather’s collection of flint arrowheads from all across the world. No guessing who won first prize that day.

Some sort of obelisk? Theodore mused. On touching the glossy pillar, a tingle ran up his arm. The stone shimmered with a peculiar beauty. How strange. Silver veins pulsed beneath the surface and the warped reflection of a bedraggled boy looked back. “This is no arrowhead,” he muttered. This is very different.

Up and down the seashore, additional obelisks could be seen. Most stood straight, embedded in the sand, while others leant sleepily to one side between clumps of knotted coral weed and rainwater trickling down towards the ocean in runnels.

Within the hour, the coast curved inward. Theodore shuffled forward to peer through a sizeable gap in the tree line. “What happened here?” he pondered.

A whole section of the jungle lay decimated—palm trees reduced to splintered wood and fractured stumps, all wreathed in twisting red vines. Towering cliffs soared in the distance like tombstones amongst a field of unkempt weeds. Mountain peaks rose taller still further back, reaching up to caress the streaky, charcoal clouds drifting high overhead.

It was only then that the traumatic episode aboard the stricken lifeboat finally came flooding back to Theodore’s mind. The breath caught in his throat. “Minnie!” Guilty thoughts swelled, recalling the ocean snatching away his sister, with him, entirely powerless to prevent it. I promised her she’d be safe. “Minnie? Where are you?” he cried, barely able to hear his own voice above the thump and roar of the waves hammering the shoreline. I promised her.

Desperate to find his missing sister—and fearful he may not—Theodore jogged along the beach in a blind panic, head down, scanning every inch of sand for any glimmer of hope; a footprint, a bootlace, anything. Please be safe, Min. You’re all I have left. He continued to call out his sister’s name repeatedly, but heard no reply. Only the waves. She’s not here, he thought glumly. The jungle remained close by at every step, watching, dark and brooding, unwilling to offer any help, even if it could.

The rain petered out in time. In its place, a light mist rolled in off the ocean. Birds emerged from hidden nests and shelters throughout the treetops to twitter, hoot, and squawk. Down on his haunches and bereft of ideas, Theodore gazed along the beach to see a flock of scrawny waders tottering around on lanky, pink legs, long beaks probing at the sand for an early morning snack.

An object lurching in the waves piqued his attention.

“That looks like—” Ripples of trepidation arose in Theodore’s stomach. “The lifeboat!” he gasped. Only a part of the vessel remained, caught in the surf, nudging up against the shore. A painted red flag adorned the bow, as did a white metal nameplate. In black text, it simply read, S.S. Titanic.

“I’m coming, Minnie!” Even from a distance, it looked highly unlikely she would be found amongst the wreckage. Up close, Theodore knew for sure. He stood waist-deep in the waves, wishing he possessed the ability to change the past. Or the power to bring back everyone I’ve loved and lost, he considered solemnly. So many already. Too many.

Theodore clambered over the ruined hull in a sullen mood. A half-filled water canister hidden beneath a torn life jacket was the only useful item to be found. “There you are,” he mumbled. The other canister he and his sister had shared aboard the lifeboat ran dry long ago, most likely lost forever on the seabed by now. Theodore drank deeply and wiped his mouth.

He was about to abandon the wreck when a vivid object caught his eye, half buried in the silt amongst a school of translucent shrimp. “That’s—” Theodore scooped up the bracelet and held it tight. It had been a gift to his sister on her twelfth birthday not three weeks past, with each wooden bead painted a different colour of the rainbow. She must be alive, he told himself. She must be. He stood in a daze before the glittering waves. A fiery fortitude swelled inside his chest, burning brightly. I will find her.

A muffled thud wrenched Theodore from his trance.

Matted sand and shingle quivered all around. Another thud landed, louder this time, deeper. Theodore’s mouth fell open. This can’t be real. His first instinct was to recoil, astounded to see a huge, gruesome creature emerging steadily through the swirling white mist a little way up the coast. This is some nightmare.

The lumbering beast trudged upright on two stumpy legs as thick as tree trunks. It was terrible to behold—a demonic monster from a half-forgotten myth. Rust-coloured scales covered its stooped, heavy-set body, thick shoulders, and squat neck. Even from a distance, Theodore could make out foot-long claws jutting from its massive fists, and a dry, lipless mouth crammed with needle-sharp teeth, perfect for stripping the flesh from living prey.

He could barely breathe. Theodore cowered behind the lifeboat, edging backwards into the water. “It’s coming this way,” he gasped, hoping and praying that a soothing voice might guide him to safety. None did. What do I do? His body trembled; mind in utter disarray. Ice cold blood pumped through his veins, far colder than the waves sloshing against his back.

After digging at the beach with a cloven hoof, the hulking monster blew a rumbling snort through its tight, wet nostrils, and turned in a ponderous circle to stare out over the ocean. All the while, tiny orange birds darted around its mighty frame in search of parasites.

Stay away, Theodore begged. “Don’t come this way.”

Time stood still. Any hope of an escape vanished when two dead black eyes blinked, and locked on to the boat wreck.

Theodore could hear the beast approaching, panting with a deathly groan. Go back. Just go back! Theodore squeezed his eyelids shut and clutched Minnie’s bracelet in his shaky fingers. Stay away. He felt utterly paralysed.

The ruined vessel creaked as the creature arrived, prodding at the wet wood with a claw.

There was nothing left to do. I have to go… now! Theodore scooped up the water canister, drew in three deep breaths, and sprinted as fast as his legs would carry him. He went face first onto the sand almost immediately, betrayed by his own dangling laces. “Get up,” he shrieked. “Move!”

A ferocious roar sent him tumbling once again as he tried to rise. Birds fled from the treetops, screeching. Another bellow rang out, more terrible than the first. Enraged, the monster gave chase.

Theodore clenched his jaw and struggled to his feet. Just make it to the trees, he reasoned. Get to the trees. Despite the churning dread in his stomach, he forced himself to look ahead, only ahead. At every step, Theodore fully expected to be snatched up from the sand. He could not dare to imagine what might happen after that.

The creature had a sure stride but the boy was swift. When a sizeable gap opened up between the predator and its prey, the race looked to be lost. The beast, however, was far from finished. Two gnarled fists struck the beach like stone hammers, sending wet sand firing high into the air.

Theodore hit the ground hard. “Get up. Get up!” He scrambled forward on his hands and knees, desperate to reach the tree line. You have to move. Up he jumped, plastered head to toe in sand and bits of broken shell. His lungs strained. His legs ached. He could not rest, not even for a second.

Almost there! An earthy scent grew more potent with each weary stride. A little further. Stems and leaves whipped Theodore’s face as he charged deeper and deeper into the shadowy jungle.

The beast arrived a second later to slash at the jungle, swiping left and right. Branches cracked. Timber splintered. Thud. Smash. An act of wild fury saw the monster wrench a gigantic palm tree from the ground as easily as a toddler might pluck a flower from the lawn.

This can’t be happening. Theodore watched wide-eyed from the undergrowth. He cowered, exhausted and gripped with a fear he had never known. That very same fear saw him crawl inside a hollowed-out tree stump brimming with clammy, grey fungi. There he lay, head buried in his arms to block out all sight and sound of the horrific monster.

Eventually, the frustrated beast abandoned the hunt. It slashed at the trees a final time and let out a seething bellow, furious that a substantial meal of meat and bone had escaped its grasp.

Sweat ran over Theodore’s skin like warm rain, stinging the scratches on his hands and face. His heart felt ready to burst at any moment. Fatigued, confused and afraid, he wished with every thought to wake up, to discover this entire experience had all been a dark and harrowing dream.