Blood Pearls

A small island closest to the coast of Africa held the world’s wealth combined three times over. However, the names and faces of these people were never known. It’s not a massive tourist location, nor is it a land acknowledged by the authority of any nation. They are, by all accounts, a phantom island. So then how is it that they are wealthy with more resources than any other nation on Earth? My name is Anthony Walters, and this is my documentary on the island of Mwezi Mwekundu, or Red Moon Island.

Day 1

I’m currently on a ship sailing to the island with a private group of African sailors. A small crew of twelve individuals who have a medium-sized ship that looked like a redecorated cargo ship. I kept in the back of my mind that they may be pirates, so I couldn’t really relax. The boat creaked and shook wildly on the waves, making me believe it wasn’t very well kept, or even capable for deep sea sailing. I wasn’t going to let my fears stop me from seeking the details about this island. It took a while to even find someone willing to sail to this island, so I couldn’t pass up the offer.

I was given a small room away from the others for a little privacy. That’s where I found a moment to write this on my social media accounts, repeating it on multiple platforms with pictures that I secretly took. They refused to allow me to record anything, which doesn’t make the pirate allegations any better. Luckily, access to American social media isn’t very prominent around here, so with a simple VPN, and a mobile Hotspot,  I’m able to keep informing everyone of my movements without being noticed by anyone on the ship, or on the island, for that matter.

Looking around the room, the hygiene of it is… lacking. The walls are stained and rusted. The constant smell of rotted fish is so strong that even the most avid seafarers would struggle to enjoy this. The bed is a thick cloth looped around two hooks hanging on the walls. Not exactly a sign of comfort, but at least I’m not sleeping in a group pile with the other ship members. The floor is riddled with rolling bottles and broken glass. Maybe I’ll clean this up in an attempt to pass time. They expect it to only take two days to arrive, but keep in mind that if I go silent for longer than a week, it’s best to assume the worst. I still have no idea what to expect from here on, so as always, question everything! Discover the new!

Day 3

My apologies for a silent day. I was requested to help around the ship after I asked if they had a trash storage somewhere. They were so impressed that I cleaned… well, anything, and they wanted me to clean more of the ship. I had worked until I physically couldn’t stay awake any longer. I did log on to a couple of my accounts, so at least people saw me online and knew I didn’t die. The ship still isn’t particularly in good shape, but at least some of the trash is cleaned up, and some of the walls were scrubbed. During this, I found the source of the rotting fish smell. A massive collection of bones, tails, and heads built up from potentially years of throwing trash below deck had accumulated and made the whole place smell rancid.

The crew of the ship isn’t that bad. They like to talk about their dreams and goals of escaping poverty and make something of themselves. Each seem genuine in their dream to simply be more than they are. It’s never a bad thing to have dreams, but just for my readers, let’s not do anything illegal to achieve those dreams, okay? Anyway, we’re supposed to come into sight range of the island today. The weather is fairly calm and the waves are gentle. The sky has very few clouds, so hopefully we get to the island before it gets too dark. For something so secretive and recluse, they might retaliate with the assumption that we’re invaders or something.

The island came into sight around 4p.m. The crew was noticeably more excited as we inched our way closer to the port. My body was sore from spending all yesterday cleaning, but if the rest of this investigation goes as well as I’m hoping, then the rest of my life might be comfortable enough to make up for the pain and stress of all this effort. The closer we got to the island, the more its beauty shown. The entire island looks like a floating mountain with the surrounding edges covered in foliage. The mountain itself seems to glow in the dimming light as large houses and roadways illuminate with florescent lighting.

We approach the island just before the sun fully falls over the horizon. A dock with pristine brown vinyl planks, perfectly projecting a wooden dock with a lot more durability than a standard one. There is no building to accept passports or to register as a visitor of the island. There are only trees surrounding the dock with a gap that is presumably an opening for the road into the town. Looking out, there appears to be several people standing at the dock, as if awaiting us to arrive.

I’ll end this entry here. Hopefully this encounter goes well and I… ya know… live this. As always, question everything! Discover the new!

Day 4

I had the most comfortable nights sleep I’ve ever had in my life last night. Perhaps it was the rough time sleeping on the ship, then moving on to an actual bed, or it was these incredible mattresses and blankets that feel as though they’re woven silk stuffed with angel feathers. This is hands down the most comfortable bed and blankets I’ve ever had the pleasure of laying on. To give a quick recap of how last night went, the people of this island are very kind, offering us a peaceful nights rest in a luxurious hotel-like building. Aside from the beautiful white with gold trim rooms, the fantastic furniture, and the fully stocked refrigerator with fresh food, the view outside of the window to the morning sunrise really is unbeatable.

The people of this island are darker-skinned, so they’re definitely voyagers from Africa who settled here at some point. They also wear loose, breezy white clothing with gold trim around the openings and down the seems. It appears to be their theme around here. Weird enough, despite not interacting much with the outside world, they spoke both perfect English and African. They have definitely made use of their astonishing wealth. Another weird thing I observed was an unusual cave on the way here. They said it was a place of worship for them, and offered us to see it soon during the Red Moon festival. The way they offered it felt… kinda culty, so I’m gonna keep looking over my shoulder for a while.

The islanders offered to clean up our ship, as well. They took it to a port on the other side of the island where they have their own fishing ships. We didn’t go that way to get to the hotel, so I don’t know what their actual port looks like, but if this room for uninvited tourists says anything about their quality, then I’m sure their fishing ships are immaculate. They’ve offered to make us a breakfast feast, so I’ll end this entry now. As a representative of the outside world, I don’t want to be seen as rude. As always, question everything! Discover the new!

Day 4 (part 2)

Spectacular hospitality! This won’t be a large entry, but I just wanted to gush over this! These people are amazing! They’re beyond generous, giving myself and the ship crew a place to stay, but to also feed us a luxurious meal and cater to us as if it’s a five-star spa! This is unbelievable! The lamb chops? Absolutely perfect! How is this place not a tourist spot?!

Day 5

Another beautiful night of sleep and relaxation. However, there seems to be something a little odd going on. From my window, I can see the islanders going into that cave. That, in itself, isn’t weird, but they’re taking animals with them and exiting without the animals. They really aren’t beating the cult accusations I gave them earlier. The generosity will mean something completely different if this is some Hansel and Gretel stuff happening here. I’m not entirely sure what’s in that cave, but I doubt it’s a farm.

The people of the island seem to be setting up for that festival they were talking about. They’ve put out tables and hung up decorations of red balls on cables like Christmas ornaments. They also have what looks like giant… clam sculptures? Must be some kind of island mascot or something. All of it is being placed in the clearing in front of the cave. There are less than one hundred people on this island, but I guess when you have money to throw around, I guess you can go as extravagant as you want.

They told us to eat our fill at this festival. They’re definitely gonna be overshooting the amount of food served. All this generosity and kindness towards a handful of people who randomly shown up on their island all leads back to the same questions. Why is this not a tourist spot? What is the problem with this island that there’s practically no information or mention of any of this? The whole thing is making me almost curious enough to sneak into that cave now and see what they have in there. Maybe a golden clam statue to some ancient story of a god clam or something.

They’re knocking on my door now, so I’m guessing they’re about finished with the festival setup. I’ll be sure to return with any and all details of the event. As always, question everything! Discover the new!

Night 5

*LIVE*

(Oh shit! Oh fuck! We’re gonna die! Listen, viewers! We found out some bad shit here! There’s only three of us now, and we’re hiding to avoid the islanders! The thing in the cave was some kinda giant oyster! They fed the rest of the crew to it! Just fucking shoved people into its mouth or whatever! I knew it! I knew this was some cult shit! Fuck!)

(I don’t see or hear anyone coming. I’m gonna guess they’re waiting by their boats to intercept our escape. We gotta get off this fucking island! Anyone watching this right now, spread this shit! Make it known what’s going on here!)

*STREAM ENDED*

Day 6

*LIVE*

“So we’re walking through the woods on this shitty island. Luckily my phone was fully charged before we became targets. Like I guessed, they’re basically monitoring their port, so there’s no way outta here. I got a couple of ideas of what we can do to distract them, but it’s not lookin’ good. I’ll keep this short to save on battery life. Anyone watching right now, call whoever the hell you need to call to get this place investigated because… this shit is fucked up.”

*STREAM ENDED*

Night 6

We snuck into the town and caused a little ruckus, giving two of us time to get into the hotel and collect our things, along with a little food. They don’t have a lot of cameras around here, which makes sense if they aren’t trying to document everything they’re doing in a traceable fashion. After all the panic last night, I didn’t even investigate what was going on. After sneaking back into the cave during our distraction, I realized there were murals all over the walls depicting some kinda sacrificial thing where they throw people to the oyster and that makes the pearls it creates red. I don’t know the science on it, but it’s horrible.

Part of the plan involved killing the oyster and stealing the pearl its currently forming, but we couldn’t get it open. It must still be breaking down the people it ate last night. Instead, we decided to cause another ruckus in the cave. If that doesn’t cause them all to rush over, nothing will. Hopefully my next post happens while we’re sailing to freedom… if at all. Wish us luck.

Night 7

*LIVE*

*Exhaling* “So… we… ended two lives today… I didn’t… I” *Exhale* “There were… still two guarding the boats, so… we did what we needed to escape… I keep telling myself that we had to do it… I just want… I need to tell the world about that place. They can’t just keep feeding people to a giant oyster.” … “This whole thing has turned into something I… wasn’t ready for. So, after I expose this island, I’m gonna turn myself in. First, I have to show all of this stuff to… Police or FBI or someone. I don’t know who would deal with this.”

“I looked online to see about these blood pearls. Apparently there are eight of them around the world. All of them in the hands of rich and powerful people. It explains everything about how the island made all of their money. But don’t you worry. I’m gonna expose them, and I’m gonna get this whole thing shut d-“

*STREAM ENDED*

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