Edward Prendick was in a real pickle. He found himself all alone in a tiny dinghy, floating aimlessly in the middle of the ocean after surviving the wreck of the Lady Vain.For days on end, poor Eddie was fighting a losing battle against the sun and his own body. The little boat might as well have been a frying pan, with him as the main course. His lips were cracked like old leather, his skin was turning into a painful patchwork of blisters, and his hope was drying up faster than a puddle in the desert.But just when he was about to throw in the towel, something appeared on the horizon. At first, he thought his sun-baked brain was playing tricks on him. But nope, it was real alright - a ship, cutting through the waves like a hot knife through butter. The Ipecacuanha, it was called.As they hauled him aboard, Eddie felt a mix of relief and"what the heck have I gotten myself into?" The deck was like Noah's Ark gone wild. Crates and cages everywhere, filled with all sorts of critters making a racket.Enter Montgomery, a doctor with kind eyes but the look of a man carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders. He took Eddie under his wing, patching him up and slowly bringing him back from death's door. With each sip of water and bite of food, Eddie could feel life creeping back into his body.But as Eddie got stronger, he started noticing things. Weird things. The ship itself seemed to be holding its breath, like it was keeping secrets. Conversations would stop dead when he walked by, and the crew looked at him like he was some kind of alien.And then, oh boy, then came the moment that would give Eddie nightmares for weeks. He saw something - or someone - that made his brain short-circuit. It was like someone had taken bits of a person and bits of an animal and mashed them together. The eyes were the worst part - too human, too knowing.Adding fuel to this already bizarre fire was the ship's captain. Picture a walking, talking bottle of rum with anger issues. This guy's temper was shorter than a lit fuse, and he seemed to have it in for Montgomery.As they sailed on, the air got thick with all the stuff nobody was saying. Eddie felt like he was stuck in the middle of a giant game of charades, but nobody had bothered to tell him the rules. He'd catch bits and pieces of arguments between Montgomery and the captain, words like "island" and "experiments" floating around.The closer they got to wherever they were going, the more Eddie's curiosity was eating him alive. It was like an itch he couldn't scratch, a song stuck in his head that he couldn't quite remember the words to. And there, on the horizon, was this island. At first, it was just a smudge, like someone had accidentally dragged their thumb across a painting of the sea.What was waiting for them on that island? What was Montgomery hiding? And that creature - that impossible mix of man and beast - what was its deal? As the Ipecacuanha plowed through the waves, Eddie couldn't shake the feeling that he wasn't just heading towards an island.The Ipecacuanha was finally getting close to its destination after what felt like forever at sea. That mysterious island was right there, practically close enough to touch, promising all sorts of new adventures and secrets. But man, Eddie had no idea what he was in for.