Fangtooth

by Shaun Jeffrey

  “Yeah, whatever. See you later.”

  Once outside, Jack hurried towards the harbour. The overcast sky looked leaden this morning. Out to sea, he noticed a bank of fog rolling in.

  When he was out of sight of the house, Jack lit a cigarette. As he slid the lighter back into his pocket, he became aware of the sensation of being watched. He gazed around surreptitiously, but couldn’t see anyone.

  In the village, Jack noticed the cafe was open, so he headed across. Although he had only just eaten breakfast, he was hungry. The ruddy faced girl stood behind the counter, wiping the surfaces down. She smiled at Jack as he entered.

  “Glad to see you’re still around,” she said.

  Jack wondered whether there was more to her words than she was letting on. “You can’t get rid of me that easily.”

  The girl grinned. “So what can I get you?”

  “Can I have a can of Coke and one of those chocolate éclairs?”

  “Looks like we’re in for a bad one,” she said as she walked across to the fridge to get the can of Coke.

  Jack looked out of the window and saw that the fog bank had crept closer, nearly obscuring the harbour and Zander’s boat, making it look almost ethereal in the gloom.

  When he had paid, Jack walked back outside. The morning chill had now turned into a refrigerator cold and he shivered and tugged his baseball cap down. The fog seemed to blur reality and muffle sound. He could just hear the soft creak of the boat in the harbour, the clink of metal from the many masts and the peal of a bell, made ominous in the murk.

  The fog lapped at his feet, then drifted over him in a cold embrace. Jack breathed deeply, and the air chilled his nostrils and iced his lungs. He coughed.

  With visibility down to less than twenty feet, Jack felt slightly wary. If someone was following him, he wouldn’t see them now. Dressed in only a thin sweater and jeans, he wasn’t prepared for the sudden change in weather, and he couldn’t believe how quickly the fog had drifted in.

  His original plan had been to call on Jen, and despite the fog and the cold, he saw no reason to change it now.

  The mist made the streets seem surreal; caused him to lose his bearings after only a few feet. He’d have thought he couldn’t get lost in such a small village, but the thick fog soon changed his opinion. He popped open the ring pull on the can of Coke and took a swallow.

  He thought he heard footsteps but he couldn’t be sure so he stopped to listen. He couldn’t be sure of anything in the fog. His pulse increased and when he shivered this time, it wasn’t due to the cold. Whatever it was, he couldn’t hear it now and so he continued, his ears attuned for the slightest noise.

  Being in the fog was like being wrapped in cold cotton wool. Visibility was now around ten feet, and Jack followed a low wall at the side of the road.

  Then he heard the noise again, louder and closer than before, and he spun around, eyes wide and ears alert.

  “Hello, is anyone there?” he whispered. No one replied.

  Sudden movement caught his eye. “Who’s there?”

  The figure didn’t answer and was soon lost in the fog. Jack’s heart did a little drum roll and he breathed deep to draw much needed air into his lungs. His fingers tingled slightly, and his cheeks prickled with anxiety. He didn’t know what he was afraid of, but he used his training to try to regulate his pulse, concentrating on each breath he took.

  He considered using his phone to call his dad, but then thought how stupid he would sound, asking him to come and find him because he was scared of a little bit of mist. If he could just reach Jen’s house, then everything would be fine.

  He started walking again when he heard the sound of scuffling feet directly behind him. In his panic, Jack dropped his cake and can of Coke. The can hit the ground and pop fizzed into the air. He didn’t see the raised arm with something clamped in the hand before it was too late.

  Chapter 20

  Bruce had known asking Jack to help him would have the desired effect and drive him away. He felt a little guilty, but now he could visit Erin again without having his motives questioned. He knew Jack wouldn’t be happy about him having feelings for another woman, but until he knew those feelings were reciprocated by Erin, he wasn’t going to mention anything.

  As he drove out of the village, he saw a bank of fog rolling in off the sea. From his higher vantage point, there was a dreamlike beauty to the scene.

  The ruckus in the bar had disturbed him more than he let on to Jack, and although he knew his son could take care of himself, he was slightly apprehensive about leaving him on his own. The villagers’ despair and anger was only to be expected under the circumstances, but it wasn’t right for them to pick on Jack and himself.

  When he arrived at the hospital, he parked and headed towards the entrance only to see Erin walking through the door with a bag slung over her shoulder. Although he had been nervous the first time he visited, now he felt more at ease, the ice already broken by his previous visit.

  “Erin. I was just coming to see you,” he said, smiling.

  Erin looked puzzled.

  “I was just coming to see how you are, but I see you’re well enough to leave.”

  “The doctors gave me the all clear. They kept me in for tests, that’s all.”

  “That’s great.”

  Erin looked at him for a moment, and Bruce fell into silence. He didn’t know what to say now.

  Eventually, Erin spoke, “Well thanks for the interest in my well-being, but I’ve got to go and call a taxi.”

  “Right, right, of course,” Bruce said as he stepped aside to let her pass. Then as an afterthought, he said, “You don’t have to phone for a taxi you know. I mean, I’ve got to drive back to the village, if that’s where you’re going.”

  “No, it’s all right; I’ll find my own way.”

  “Honestly, it’s no problem. It just seems daft you using a taxi when I’ve got the car.”

  Erin stared at him apprehensively and bit her bottom lip.

  “I’m quite safe to be around. Honest.”

  “I’m sure you are. I just don’t really know you.”

  “Well, here’s your chance.” He gave her what he hoped was a disarming grin.

  A moment later, Erin shrugged. “What the hell. After what I’ve been through, a ride in a car’s not going to hurt.”

  Erin’s comment reminded Bruce of her previous assertion that there was something other than a shark in the water, but he wasn’t going to badger her for more information now.

  “Here, let me carry your bag,” he said.

  “I can manage,” she said sharply. Then she smiled. “But thanks for offering.”

  Bruce led the way to his car, making idle chitchat on the way.

  He drove out of the car park and onto the main road. Erin stared out of the passenger window, her arms folded across her chest in a protective manner.

  “I heard your diving partner is missing.”

  When she looked across at him, her expression was grim. “He’s not missing. He’s dead.”

  “Dead? How?”

  “Something attacked him.”

  He recalled the man on holiday that had supposedly been attacked in the sea. “So what do you think it was?”

  She bit her lip, thought for a moment. “I don’t know. There was something familiar about it, something that I recognised … but I’m not sure.”

  “Give it time, and it’ll come to you. The brain’s funny like that. Leave it to its own devices, and eventually the subconscious will work it out.”

  “Perhaps I’m better off not knowing,” she said quietly.

  To change the subject, Bruce said, “So where are you staying?”

  “I live and sleep on board the research boat, so I’ll have to contact them and have them come pick me up.”

  “Well, you could come and wait at my house if you want, you know.” He would just have to take whatever his son threw at him.

  Erin frowned. “I don’t unders
tand why you’re taking such an interest in my welfare.”

  Bruce coughed to clear his throat. “If I’m being honest, it’s because I like you.” He kept his eyes fixed on the road ahead, too afraid to look at her in case she was laughing. He noticed the wedding band on his finger. It felt as though it constricted slightly on his finger.

  After a moment, Erin said, “Oh.”

  Bruce didn’t know what he thought his disclosure would produce, but ‘oh’ most certainly wasn’t high up there on the list. Thinking he had embarrassed her, and that she wasn’t interested, he could feel his cheeks glowing red. He had ruined his chances before even getting to know her.

  “I’ll only come to your house on one condition: that you tell me why you call your dog Shazam.”

  Bruce turned to look at Erin, delighted to see she was smiling. It was almost unbelievable she had remembered his dog’s name. “Yes, right, of course,” he said, unable to keep the grin from his face. “As a kid, I always read Captain Marvel comics, couldn’t get enough of them. When I bought Shazam as a puppy, I couldn’t really call her Captain Marvel, especially as she was a bitch, and my wife … I told you about my wife, didn’t I?”

  Erin nodded.

  “Well, she said Captain Marvel would be a stupid name for a dog, so I called her by the name of the wizard who granted Billy Batson the ability to transform into Captain Marvel, Shazam.”

  “That’s quite sweet in a way, naming a dog after something you remembered from your childhood.”

  “Some people might say sad.”

  “That all depends on who you tell the story to.”

  Bruce smiled. It was the first time since his wife had died that the expression felt genuine.

  When they arrived back at the village, the fog was thicker than ever. Dense clouds of mist rolled across the road, and Bruce cruised along at a walking pace to avoid crashing. It took almost fifteen minutes before he reached the house, whereupon he exited the vehicle and stood in the fog for a moment, shivering as the mist embraced him. Just as he made his way around the vehicle to be gallant and open Erin’s door, she stepped out.

  “You always leave your door hanging like that?” Erin asked.

  Bruce frowned, then looked to see the front door hanging off its hinges. “Oh my god,” he said as he ran into the house. “Jack, Jack, are you in there?”

  The place was a mess. Cupboards were open and drawers were pulled out, their contents tipped on the ground. The settee had been torn open like a gutted animal. A sudden bark from the dining room alerted him to Shazam, and he tore across the room to find the door barricaded with a chair beneath the handle. Bruce yanked the chair away and flung the door open. Shazam bounded out, barking loudly.

  “Where’s Jack?” he asked the dog. At the mention of Jack’s name, Shazam barked even louder. Bruce wished he could interpret the sound. He took his phone from his pocket and called Jack’s number. The phone rang a number of times, then voicemail cut in asking him if he wanted to leave a message.

  “Jack, it’s me. If you get this message, call me straight away.” Sensing someone behind him, Bruce spun around to find Erin standing in the doorway, looking around the room in shock.

  “Good god, what’s happened?”

  Bruce shook his head and put his phone back in his pocket. “I think we’ve been ransacked.”

  “You mean burgled?” she said.

  “I only hope that’s all it is,” Bruce replied.

  Erin frowned. “Is there something you’re not telling me?”

  “My son and I, we had a little run in with the locals. They were blaming us for the shortage of fish.”

  “That’s crazy.”

  “Try telling them that.”

  “And you think this could be something to do with it?”

  “I’m not a gambling man, but I’d put money on it.”

  “Even more reason to call the police then.”

  “I know. It’s just … it’s Jack.”

  “Jack? What’s he got to do with this?”

  “Nothing. At least that’s what I’m hoping. I just need to find him first.”

  Erin scratched her chin. “You think he’s missing?”

  “I don’t know but I’d better go look for him.”

  “Well what are we waiting for, let’s go.”

  Bruce followed her out of the room with Shazam at his heel. If anything had happened to Jack, he wouldn’t be able to live with himself.

  Chapter 21

  Jack never would have believed his head could hurt so much. A roaring sound bombarded his ears, and he gingerly opened his eyes to find himself bound hand and foot to a stake in rocks at the edge of the sea. A thick wall of fog billowed around him, clammy and cold.

  He tried pulling his hands free, but the binding was too tight. A ringing sound caught his attention, and it took him a moment to realise it was the phone in his pocket.

  He couldn’t understand what he was doing there. His fingers felt numb, the rope or whatever was used to tie his hands, too tight. He tried prizing his wrists apart to relieve the pain, but whoever had tied him had done a thorough job.

  The phone stopped ringing.

  He couldn’t see much through the fog, but there were small rock pools around his feet, and waves crashed into the rocks, spraying him with rabid foam. Cold and wet, he shivered and fought to hold back the tears.

  Tenerife had nothing on this.

  “Hello, is anyone there?” he shouted. The only reply came from the roar of the sea as waves crashed ashore. “Please, tell me what’s going on. Why am I here?”

  When no one answered, Jack struggled against his bindings, but all he succeeded in doing was inflicting pain on his wrists worse than any Chinese rope burn.

  A shrill cry made him jump and he twisted his head to see a seagull on the rocks. The bird eyed him for a moment, then took flight and disappeared into the fog.

  Jack couldn’t understand what he was doing here. It was crazy. Saltwater stung his head, probably from a cut where his assailant had struck him. He ached to rub it, to make the pain go away.

  Movement caught his eye and he looked down to see a large red crab scuttling across the rocks near his feet. It stopped and clicked its pincers a couple of times. Jack wanted to kick it away, but couldn’t with his feet bound. If it wanted to nip him, there was no way he could stop it. He watched as it scuttled closer.

  “Get away, shoo,” he said, a slight tremor in his voice. “Go on, get away.” He felt ridiculous trying to scare a crab away, but by the look of its large pincers, it could deal a wicked nip, which was the last thing he needed on top of his current predicament.

  Desperate to escape, he lunged forward as far as he could, hoping the post might be rotten and would snap, but it held firm.

  At his feet, the crab scuttled into a rock pool and disappeared below the surface of the water, where it sat, seemingly staring up at him with its stalk eyes. Molluscs’ clung to the rocks in the shallow pool, along with trails of seaweed that drifted like a mermaid’s hair.

  Jack looked back out to sea and screamed as loud as he could, his cry cut off when a fresh wave of sea spray hit him in the face, making him cough and choke as it entered his mouth.

  The saltwater stung his eyes and he blinked rapidly to try to clear his vision. When he looked back down at the rock pool, he noticed the level of the water was slightly higher than before. The tide was coming in.

  He screamed again until his throat was raw, but no one answered. Breathless and exhausted, he slumped against the post. He wondered how high the water would come, then remembered rubbing his face against the molluscs, a marker for the high tide, which meant the water would rise above his head.

  Panicked, he struggled against his bindings, but it was hopeless. There was no way he could break free.

  Why had his dad moved them out here? Why couldn’t they have stayed in the city where he was happy? If only his mum hadn’t died …

  He chastised himself that last thoug
ht. It wasn’t her fault. Tears ran down his cheeks, blurring his vision. Unable to wipe them away, he blinked rapidly and shook his head to clear his sight.

  The crab still sat in the rock pool, but there was something next to it, wedged into a crevice. Jack squinted to see more clearly but the incoming tide churned the water, further obscuring his view. He waited for the water to retreat, allowing the rock pool surface to calm.

  And that’s when he recognised what it was. Bones.

  There were bones in the pool. Jack was no expert, but these weren’t any old bones–by the looks of them, they were goddamn human.

  Chapter 22

  “Duncan,” Bruce said as he entered the shop, “you haven’t seen my son, Jack, have you?”

  Duncan looked up from where he sat behind the counter and shook his head. “I’m sorry about that scene in the bar.”

  “I’m not worried about that. I need to find Jack.”

  “He hasn’t been in here. Sorry.”

  Bruce scratched his head and ground his teeth. “Someone’s gone and ransacked my house.”

  “Good god. Have you called the police?” Bruce shook his head.

  “I told him he should,” Erin said from the doorway where she stood holding Shazam on the lead.

  “I don’t know what the world’s coming to,” Duncan said. “It wasn’t that long ago when people could leave their doors unlocked.”

  Bruce pursed his lips. Where the hell was his son? Raw panic coursed through his veins. “I’ve got to find him.”

  Duncan frowned. “What’s the big problem?”

  “I think something might have happened to Jack. It’s too much of a coincidence after yesterday’s trouble in the bar.”

  “Happened to him in what way?”

  “I don’t know. I just feel … he isn’t answering his phone.”

  “What kid ever does answer his phone to his parents?” Erin said.

  “I know, I know, but … it’s just, I feel it. Something’s happened to him.”

  “Then what are we waiting for? Let’s call the police,” Duncan said.