Judy walked forward and joined Niles at the pilot’s house. He was mumbling under his breath as he steered the boat downriver.

“What is it?” Judy asked.

“That whole exchange was just stupid,” Niles said. “I can’t believe so many people can be so superstitious and gullible. That wasn’t their encantado boogeyman. That was somebody pulling a very good practical joke for their own amusement.”

“Then how’d they get the dead dolphin there?” Judy asked.

“It’s just a bunch of sleight of hand,” Niles said, “If David Copperfield can make a jet disappear on live television I’m sure a couple of men could make a dolphin appear in front of a bunch of drunk villagers.”

Judy thought about mentioning the identity of the man, how she was suddenly suspicious of Victor. But she decided against it, seeing as how it made no difference anyway.

The boat chugged on into the dark night. The rainforest was on both sides of them now, alive with nocturnal wonders and horrors. Birds screeched, insects buzzed, and somewhere in the inky blackness a jaguar’s scream pierced the air like the cry of a dying woman. This animalistic cacophony assaulted the ears of the two sober Americans. Finally Niles leaned over and began to mess with the radio.

“I can’t stand that,” he said. “Those things make me nervous.” He flipped a switch and loud rock music began to blast out over the speakers. Judy put her hands over her ears to protect them from this new barrage.

“How is this any better?” she asked.

“How can you not appreciate good music?” Niles asked. “This is so much better than those nighttime things.”

Judy turned and walked to the back of the boat, her hands over her ears all the way. That was more than she could stand. Besides, she was tired and needed to rest. She walked over to her hammock. Pete was already snuggly in his, passed out with drool running out of his mouth. He was not one to hold his drinks very well, especially when the beer here was much stronger than it was back home.

Judy crawled into her hammock. She lay awake for a little while, watching the dark jungle flow past. The river rushed on into the night, taking the boat along into whatever might be waiting. Soon, the soothing rhythm of the water had put Judy to sleep.

Judy woke up a little bit later to the sound of the rock music blaring, and no other sounds. The motor had stopped chugging, the animals had stopped making noise, everything had suddenly become as silent as the grave. Judy looked around apprehensively, unsure of her surroundings now that a familiar element was gone. Everything else seemed normal. The boat was still floating on into the dark night.

Judy got out of her hammock and began to walk along the deck. She looked over at Pete’s hammock and saw that he was gone. Where was he? Had he woken up and stumbled down to the galley for something?

“Pete?” she called out.

“Judy?” Niles asked from somewhere in the darkness. “Is that you?”

“It’s me, Niles,” Judy replied. “What’s going on Niles? Where’s Pete?”

“Not so loud,” Niles said, his voice filled with uncertainty, “I don’t think they’re gone yet.”

“Who are they?” Judy asked

“To hell if I know,” Niles replied, “All I know is that the motor turned off a little while ago, all by itself. I turn around and saw these shadowy figures by the hammocks. You were sleeping soundly, but Pete was gone. There were just a few fish flopping around on the deck nearby. I figured it was bandits, so I grabbed the shotgun. But I turned around and they were gone. I keep hearing flopping noises though, like they’re still somewhere on this boat.”

“What do you want me to do?” Judy asked.

“Come up to the pilot house,” Niles said. “But be careful.”

Judy began to walk along the deck of the boat. The wood creaked beneath her feet. She listened for any footsteps besides her own. But there was nothing to hear but the river sloshing against the boat as it drifted downstream. Soon she reached the pilot house. Niles reached out and grabbed her arm. He dragged her into the shadows of the boat house. She struggled for a moment but relaxed once Niles let her go.

“You don’t need to be so rough,” Judy said.

Niles put his finger to his lips as a sign to be quiet. “We need to see what’s wrong with the motor,” he said. “It’s not electrical, cause the music’s still playing. But we need to fix it and get moving before we run aground.”

“What about Pete?” Judy asked.

“I don’t know,” Niles said.

“We need to find him,” Judy said. “If there are bandits, who knows what they’ll do to him.”

“If these guys are bandits,” Niles said. “Then the smartest thing we can do is get started again and get away from them. Pete’s a big guy. He can take care of himself.”

Judy didn’t want to leave Pete. But she looked at Niles and saw that she really didn’t have a choice in the matter. He leaned out and looked down the deck.

“The coast is clear,” Niles said. “Let’s get moving.”

He stepped out into the moonlight and began to walk down the deck. Judy followed after him. They crept along slowly, reaching the door that lead to the lower decks after what seemed like an eternity. Niles pushed it opened and pointed the shotgun down the stairs, ready to deal with whatever might be down there. But there were only dark shadows cast by the pipes of the motor. Niles went down the steps. Judy followed closely after him, not wanting to be separated from the only protective figure in this dark place.

“Take this,” Niles said as he handed the shotgun to Judy. He pointed at the open doorway. “Shoot anything that comes through there.”

Judy took the shotgun. It was a heavy, dead weight in her hands. She watched the door, waiting for some shadowy figure to obscure the moonlight. It seemed as though she sat like that for an eternity. Then Niles tapped her on the shoulder. She gasped in fright, startled by the sudden contact.

“Take it easy,” Niles said. Judy glared at him, angered at his lack of sympathy. How could he take it easy at a time like this?

“The motor seems just fine,” Niles said as he took the shotgun back from Judy. “We’re not out of fuel and we haven’t run aground. I have no clue why we’re dead in the water.”

“So what do we do?” Judy asked.

“We go back up top and wait,” Nile said. “I’d guess that whoever was here is probably gone by now. I’d also guess Pete managed to see them coming and hid before they came onboard. He’s probably up there wondering where we took off to. We’ll have a good laugh, then we’ll wait for somebody to come by and help us.”

The two began to ascend the stairs again. Suddenly a dark figure materialized on the deck in front of them. Judy barely had time to be afraid of it before Niles pulled the trigger of the shotgun. The hot buckshot tore into whatever stood in the doorway. It flopped to the deck, lifeless. Judy caught a glimpse of it in the moonlight. It had grey hairless skin, webbed hands and feet, and a long snouted face with a hole in the top of its head. Then it shifted before Judy’s eyes and became a freshwater dolphin. She screamed in horror.

Niles stumbled onto the deck in shock. Judy followed after him, but kept her distance from the body. Niles kicked the corpse with his foot.

“It’s just a joke,” he said so faint it was near a whisper. “It’s just a really good joke.”

“That’s no joke,” Judy said. Her mind raced as she began to put things and events together. She grabbed at Niles and shook him in an attempt to make him see reason. “Can’t you see?” she asked. “That’s not a joke.”

Niles shook his head. “It’s just a joke, Judy,” he said, though his voice sounded like he didn’t even believe himself. “It’s just a very convincing joke.”

Something splashed and slapped onto the stern of the boat. Judy did not want to turn and look, did not want to see what had clambered up from that ancient river. The sounds of wet footsteps and hissing air met her ears as she trembled with fright. Finally she could take it no longer and turned towards the sounds.

They were standing there, in all their mythic and cosmic horror. These creatures from a dark place and an even darker time were now fully illuminated in the awful light of truth. They turned towards the two humans, Judy with her fearful eyes and trembling hands, Niles babbling about it being one great joke. Then they came forward with a frightful purpose.

Judy drew away from Niles in a primal act of survival. She backed away to the pilot house and huddled down in the corner, fear coursing through her. Niles turned to her with a pleading look in his eyes.

“Judy,” he said, his voice low with meek fear. “Help me. Get them away. Help.” But Judy did not. She held her legs as she sat in the corner. She saw his fate, saw it written on the faces of those inhuman creatures as they advanced on him.

Niles turned back to the dark ones. He raised the shotgun and pointed at them. Judy guessed that he figured he had nothing to lose. The shotgun sounded over the rock music like an atomic explosion. One fell, but the others kept coming as though it did not even matter. Niles pulled the trigger again, but the shotgun shifted to something else as he did so. He screamed in horror as a live boa constrictor fell out of his hands and slithered off the deck and into the river.

Judy watched as Niles backed away from the advancing beings, his breath short and worried. Then he tripped over his own feet and sprawled on his back on the deck of the boat. He held a hand out, talking quickly as though he hoped to bargain with these beings who sought retribution for the loss of their compatriots.

“I didn’t know!” the words came pleading from his mouth, “I didn’t know! You aren’t supposed to be real! Just a story! You’re supposed to be just stories!”

Niles was about to say something else, but he made an odd choking noise in the back of his throat. He turned on his side and retched horribly. Something small and dark and wet fell out of his mouth and onto the deck of the boat. It was a fish. Niles put his hand into his mouth. He tried to scream, but he had lost the ability.

Now Judy watched as Niles began to hold his stomach as though he was about to heave up all the food he had eaten for the past week. He moaned a low, odd moan, the only sound he was capable of making. Then he began to throw up more black fish. They began pouring out of him in a copious stream. Judy noticed that Niles was turning a sick shade of black as well. Then more fish began to fall out of his pants. Niles rolled and writhed on the deck much like the fish that were pouring out of him. He turned towards Judy with an expression of stark and primal terror forever etched on his face. The he exploded into a pool of black fish. They flopped on the deck for a few moments and then slithered into the river.

Judy shook and whimpered on the floor of the boat. That had been horrible. Now she knew just what had happened to Pete. But what was to happen to her? The beings moved forward now, encircling her. One of them shut off the radio.

“There,” it said, its voice sounding all too familiar to Judy. “Now we can talk without that noisy refuse tainting the air.”

“Victor?” Judy asked, her eyes wide with fear.

“That is not my real name,” it said to her, “No human tongue can pronounce my real name. Of course, you will be saying it very soon. And I will give you a like one.”

The encantado knelt before Judy. It stroked her cheek. She moaned as its slick, webbed hand touched her skin.

“It is not so bad,” the creature said. Judy smelt its breath, full of fish. “We have eternity. And you were such a lovely dancer.”

Judy tried to resist. Her mind screamed at this, screamed that it was wrong in every since of the word. Everything seemed to plead for her to run for the cabin, lock herself inside, and pray she didn’t start puking fish or become some slimy river creature. But the encantado looked her in the eye. She gazed into that black, soulless pool and lost all desire to resist. There was no choice. She would go down to ancient depths

There were splashes as bodies left the front of the boat and entered the river. Then the boat sailed on, deserted, into the Amazonian night, with a mystery all its own.