Her crying became uncontrollable. I tried to sit up and do something, I don’t know what exactly I could have done. Given her a hug maybe? I don’t know, it wasn’t nice to see a young woman crying.
I started to feel tired, my vision was beginning to blur again.
“Sadie,” I asked.
“No,” She blubbered. “Hayley.”
“I love you.”
Everything turned white. It was like a really bright light shining right in front of my eyes, it didn’t hurt, it felt like I had just awakened from a dream. I could hear a voice.
“Bill,” it said.
I turned to see a silhouette, it was growing, moving towards me.
“Bill,” again in a soft voice.
It’s an angel, I thought.
“Bill.” the voice again.
I looked up, the light began to fade away. My vision began to come clear again.
“Bill, wake up, hon, you fell asleep at your desk.”
It was Sadie, she looked more beautiful than ever, she was glowing.
“So then, Daddy,” she smiled. “What are we going to call our newest arrival?”
I kissed her on the forehead. Then, stroking her tummy, I said, “Hayley, let’s call her Hayley.”
Devourer
Pete and his family were on holiday in Malta. It was the second day of their escape to the sun, one the family rarely experienced together.
A true family holiday.
Pete’s father spends his days as an accountant, working long hours, so Pete was lucky to see him for an hour or two at night. His mother was a hairdresser; luckily her salon closed early so Pete was one of the fortunate kids who could go home from school and his mother would be there waiting. They decided to go and spend the day at Golden Bay beach. It was one of Malta’s most popular beaches, set among the countryside and is relatively undeveloped. It has a café-restaurant along with a games room. The beach itself is renowned for its beautiful view of the sunset. Pete didn’t know it, but his cousins had also gone on holiday to Malta with their parents. Both sets of parents had arranged to meet up; it would be a nice surprise for the children.
When they arrived, Pete’s aunt, uncle and cousin were already there. They hadn’t been there long as they began putting down towels on sunbeds and trying to adjust the parasol so James, Pete’s uncle, could sit in the shade.
“Sarah!” Pete shouted when he saw his cousin, a huge grin of excitement washed over his face. He sprinted over to her, leaving his parents to carry their bags along the sand. Sarah shared Pete’s excitement. When she saw him, she clutched him in a big hug and lifted him from the ground, partly a sign of affection, but also a slight reminder to him that she was older, and still bigger. Pete didn’t care. He was just happy to have someone on holiday that he knew. Holidays were always fun, but not when you have to go on days out and leave the few friends you have made behind at the hotel.
Pete greeted his aunt with a hug and his uncle with a handshake as was always the custom. It had to be a firm handshake as well. His grandad had always told him that you can judge a man by his handshake. Never trust a man who shakes with a limp hand.
“Hello, Melanie,” Pete said, looking curiously at the man that was rubbing sun lotion on her back. Melanie was Sarah’s older sister. She had turned twenty-one a few months ago so to Pete she was really old. He didn’t recognise the strange man with her, though.
“Hi, Pete.” Melanie looked up and smiled from the sunbed. “This is Roger.”
“Nice to meet you, Pete,” Roger smiled and shook his hand, with a firm but slippery grip. Pete looked at his hand in disgust and wiped it on his shorts.
“Sorry about that,” Roger laughed, holding up his slick hands. “Sun cream.”
“Oh, yeah,” Pete laughed as well. “Well, nice to meet you.”
Sarah threw the beach ball at Pete’s head. It bounced off and knocked her mother’s drink over, soaking her towel in cold Pepsi.
“For God’s sake, Sarah! Now there’s going to be ants all over the place.”
“I’m sorry,” Sarah pouted. “I was just throwing the ball to Pete to see if he wanted to play for a bit.”
“Well you should…..”
“Hey I’ll play with you,” Roger butted in quickly, defusing the scalding that Sarah was taking. He picked up the ball and ran over to an empty space in the sand. “Hey, Pete. Are you playing?”
Roger and the two children were laughing and joking while throwing and kicking the beach ball to each other. They had asked Melanie to play, but she refused, telling them that she had to lie down to ensure she got a full, even tan. They laughed at her and continued their game.
“You know, Melanie. He's great with kids,” Jenny said.
“He’s just perfect isn’t he?” Melanie smiled as she gazed at Roger.
“So, when is yours coming?”
“What!” Melanie shouted loud enough to make everyone stop what they were doing for a second. Jenny laughed.
“I’m not having kids until I’m at least thirty.” Melanie said, matter of factly.
“Well, just putting it out there.”
“Well I’m not putting out,” Melanie confirmed with a giggle.
Roger kicked the ball so it flew over Pete’s head and rolled into the waves coming onto the beach. Pete ran to retrieve the ball. Speeding along in front of him, with water firing behind it, was a red jet ski. It bounced and bobbed along the waves.
“Whoa.” Pete stood with the beach ball in his hand.
“Pete, bring the ball back!” Sarah called, but Pete didn’t hear her. His eyes didn’t move away from the jet ski. It was the coolest thing he had ever seen. It was like a motorbike, but on water. He imagined himself as James Bond chasing after bad guys, no chance of anyone escaping in a speedboat. He would catch them on his jet ski.
“Cool aren’t they,” Roger said, suddenly standing beside him and bringing Pete out of his daze.
“Yeah, they’re amazing! I want to go on one.”
“You can,” Sarah said. “There's a guy over there that you pay for a ride.”
“Really?” Pete asked. He looked in the direction Sarah was pointing. She was right, he couldn’t believe he hadn’t noticed them earlier. There, just sitting on the shore were a whole bunch of jet skis. Pete didn’t even look back at Sarah, let alone say anything else to her. He sprinted to ask his parents if he could go and rent one of the jet skis.
“Please,” Pete begged.
“I said no!” His father, David, scowled.
“Well, perhaps if we just….” Jenny, Pete’s mother started.
“No. I don’t have a good feeling about them.” David responded then continued to read his book.
“Sorry, Pete,” Jenny said. “If Dad says no, then its no.”
Pete looked at his feet in disappointment. Melanie looked at Pete’s face and felt sorry for him. She stood up from her sunbed.
“You know,” Melanie whispered, but so loud that everyone could still hear. “Roger is a lifeguard. So he can take him. He’ll be perfectly safe.”
Pete’s mouth opened from ear to ear with a huge grin.
“Roger is a lifeguard?” He asked in a high pitch screech of excitement. “Can he take me, please, please, please?” He dropped to his knees and begged. He could feel the sand burning them but he wouldn’t rise. Not until he was given an answer.
“Well it’s not fair to dump it on Roger like that is it?” David said.
Roger picked up his drink, only arriving at the tail end of the conversation. “What’s not fair on me?”
“For you to take Pete on the jet skis,” Melanie said. “I told them that you’re a lifeguard so he’ll be safe.”
“Yeah, I’m fully qualified.” Roger said. “Starting my own business soon to train lifeguards and swim teachers. He’ll be fine with me, David. Plus, there is a jet bike we can rent, specifically designed to have two people on it.”
“See, Dad! See.” Pete silenced quickly at the g
lare from his father.
“I’m not happy about this,” David mumbled.
“Come on, love.” Jenny put her arm around David “It’s all part of the holiday isn’t it. Just let them have their fun.”
“If anything happens I…”
“Nothing will happen, they’ll be fine,” Jenny re assured.
“Fine,” David spat.
“Fine? As in yes?” Pete asked.
“Yes! Fine!” David shouted. “But be bloody careful.”
Roger smiled. “Come on, Pete. Let’s go and see how much it is.”
After paying the man in charge of the jet skis they were led to a roped off area where they waited for the man to pull the jet bike into the water. Roger climbed on first and then, with a little help from the man, Pete climbed on too. As instructed he wrapped his arms around Roger’s stomach. It was difficult at first as they were both wearing life jackets, but once he’d gotten himself seated comfortably, Pete was fine.
Roger revved the engine and before he knew it, Pete was speeding across the water. The wind was blowing in his face, along with a salty spray of water from the sea. The adrenaline rush was fantastic.
“Woohhhhoo,” Pete screamed.
“Are you having fun there, Pete?” Roger shouted above the roar of the waves, but Pete could barely hear him over the wind.
“Wooo hooo!” Pete screamed again.
He looked around to see that there were other people on jet skis racing across the water as well. Pete thought about waving for a second but then decided against it as he was too scared to let go in case he fell off.
They rode into a wave which sent the ski bouncing into the air. Pete giggled and screamed with excitement. Roger let out a manly yell. "Yeah!"
The pair laughed as they sped along. Pete glanced to the side; he could see another one of the skiers pacing along the water with them. The man riding it had long black hair. It was flying about in the wind behind him. A spray of water went into Pete’s eyes forcing him to close them. The salt stung and he had to blink repeatedly until the sting calmed down a bit. He was able to look to the side again just in time to see the other jet ski crash into the side of them.
Pete flew through the air like a rag doll. He was unconscious before he hit the water. The life jacket, which now became evident was bought on the cheap from the jet ski vendor, had ripped and simply slid off of Pete’s floating body. Pete slowly began to sink. By the time Roger came to, his life jacket still intact, Pete was nowhere to be seen.
The long talons gripped tightly around Pete’s ankle, pulling him further down into the depths of the ocean. Pete slowly started to come around. He looked to his surroundings, he could see that he was under water. But then why wasn’t he drowning? He felt something tight on his ankle.
“Ouch! Let go of me!” he screamed.
Again, Pete felt shocked and confused at the fact that, not only had he not drowned, but it appeared that he was able to both breathe and speak under water. His attention returned to the thing around his ankle. It definitely looked like a hand, of some sort. The finger nails looked really long. Pete tried to learn forward to get a better look but suddenly he was surrounded by complete darkness.
“Ahhh, Help! Help!” He cried “Where am I?”
“This is the meeting space,” something slurped in response. “You’ll pass through soon enough.”
“What do you mean the meeting space?” Pete asked. “Let me go!”
“Oh, I don’t have hold of you,” a slurped wet giggle followed. “I don’t even have any hands.”
“What’s got me then? Can you get it loose? And why can’t I see anything?”
“So many questions at once. You do not want to know what has got hold of you, it’s best you don’t know. It's easier that way, for you at least. I cannot get it loose, I am not so stupid as to even try. And you cannot see because you are in the meeting space. As I’ve already told you.”
Pete tried to swim away, but whatever it was that had hold of him was strong. His efforts amounted to nothing. He didn’t even feel the momentum in his movement shift slightly. He gave up almost instantly, he didn’t need any longer to see that it was useless.
“OK, so what’s the meeting space?” Pete asked. As he did, his surrounding gradually started getting lighter.
“That darkness above you is the meeting space.”
“Yes, but why is it called the….” Now the light had returned to normal, Pete was able to get a good look at the thing he’d been talking to. He tried to scream, but nothing came out. He was frozen with fear. The face, which was mere inches away from his own, was like nothing he had ever seen. It had teeth like long pointed fingers. They curled up around its mouth with more entwined curling below. It had small beady black eyes. As it had already told Pete, it had no arms. Only small fins. It looked like a fish, but its face was almost human. Besides the long teeth and beady eyes, the rest of the features were the same. A normal forehead, what looked to be normal lips, cheeks, chin? It even had ears.
“Please don’t hurt me, please, please,” Pete cried.
“I am no threat to you,” The thing slurped. “Please do not judge me by my appearance, down here. It is you that looks strange.”
“I, I suppose,” Pete said. Now composing himself a little bit.
“Anyway. It’s not me you need to be scared of, it’s him.” The thing gestured with its head.
Pete looked down to the thing that was dragging him. He couldn’t see anything except for a large, muscular arm and fin, but it was a large fin. The only thing Pete could think of that had a fin of that size was a shark, which meant whatever was dragging him was at least the size of a shark. He tried again to swim away, but it was no use.
“I thought you would have learned by now that it’s too strong for you.”
“What is it? And what is this place? Is this still the meeting?”
“No, the meeting is that dark bit up there. It’s where your world meets our world. You people never usually see it because once it gets so dark then there appears to be nothing. You assume there is nothing. Your ignorance keeps us safe down here.”
“Well, where is here?
“Here is our home. There is no other name for it.”
“OK, and what is that thing dragging me. And why the hell am I not dead then if I’ve been dragged all the way to the depths of the ocean?”
“We call it Boreas. I don’t know why you can breathe, all of the things it drags from your world can breathe down here. I think it’s something to do with the long talon that he stabs into your misshaped hand.”
Pete looked at his hands. He couldn’t see any markings at all.
“What did he stab into me? I can’t see anything, and what the hell does Boreas mean?”
“Not those hands, stupid. Those ones down there."
“Oohhh, you mean my feet. Well what the hell did he stab me with?”
“I already told you, its talon.” The being slurped.
“Well I can’t feel anything?”
“That does not mean it hasn’t happened.”
“Yeah, I guess. OK, so why do you call it Boreas? What does that mean?”
“Devourer.”
Pete’s eyes widened with fear. He realised now that whatever this thing was, it was dragging him down here so that it could eat him.
“Please! Please let me go. I don’t want to die!”
“It’s no use. It, unlike me, does not have ears. That’s why it does not speak.”
“Where is it taking me?”
“To its lair. We’re not far now.”
Pete cried. He couldn’t think of anything else to do. There was no point in struggling because this thing was too strong. No point shouting because it couldn’t hear him, and if it could, Pete was sure that it wouldn’t care about anything he had to say anyway.
“What are you called?” the thing slurped.
“Pete. My name is Pete. What about you?”
“I am Sqonk. You don’
t look like the last Pete that it dragged down here. And that one didn’t say it was a Pete.”
“Huh, what do you mean? What did it say I was?”
“It said it was a Michael. But it looked just like you. Had the weird bottom hands and everything.”
“You mean it’s had more than just me!”
“No, you are the first Pete. Do you taste the same as a Michael?
“What? What the hell do you mean do I taste…”
Pete’s sentence was cut off when the creatures large curved teeth ripped into his cheek. He clutched his face and screamed out in pain. He could see the water around him changing colour. A mix of blood red added to it.
“What are you doing?” Pete cried.
The creature attacked again. Pete tried to protect his face, but the large teeth were so sharp. When he put his hand out, a finger was ripped off. Pete stared at his hand in shock, looking at his missing digit. It was too late before he could see the next attack coming. Again another chunk was taken from his cheek, but this time his eye was taken with it. Pete howled like a wild animal. The pain was too much to bare.
“Ahhh, why? Why? Please.”
A loud growling noise came from below him.
“Have to eat,” his attacker slurped.
For a second, Pete heard a crunching sound. Was that his eyeball? He couldn’t think anymore. The pain was too great. He could feel himself slipping out of consciousness, perhaps it was better this way.
“No,” Pete encouraged himself. No matter how hard it seems. I’ll survive this.”
He looked down below him, as best he could, his vision being greatly impaired now. Even with his remaining eye, flashes of white came with searing pain. The nerves within his socket were still very active. He managed to get a glimpse further down again.
Past the huge fin, he couldn’t see any sort of end, but there was a strange hole in the water. Had it been land he would have guessed it was a tunnel. But this just seemed to float in the middle of the water. The Boreas disappeared into the hole. Before Pete knew it he was also dragged in and then was surrounded again by complete darkness.
Twisted Shorts: Ten Chilling Short Stories Page 7