Jim Napier is a retired naval officer who plans a fishing trip to Platoon Lake with his grandson Reece, an amateur paranormal investigator. After encountering strange events on the way there, Reece begins to research the area and finds that hundreds...
"Isaac, I'm sorry about Jim, but we have to get out of here. Help me get Reece up."
"And are we supposed to carry him down the road? My truck is smashed to bits!" Isaac yelled.
Heath rummaged through Jim's pockets and pulled out his keys.
"Stay here, I'll go get Jim's truck and drive to the bridge. We won't have too far to carry him from there."
"And leave me alone?!"
"Do you have any other plans?" Heath asked.
Isaac shook his head but was visibly afraid. Things moved about in the trees around them. The night birds were flying away and the cicadas stopped singing their songs. Another tree fell down within their line of sight, and both saw something long, something slimy slither behind it.
"Reece, can you get up?" Isaac asked, with a stutter.
Reeceopened one eye. The visage of Isaac's face was but a blur, and Isaac tried tosit him up. He dragged Reece's dead weight as far from the lake as possible,while Heath darted up the hill for the truck. With the rustling of the treesand strange growls in the distance, Isaac had his finger on the trigger. Reecestruggled to talk as he choked on his own blood. Isaac tilted his head so some of the blood would run out of his mouth.
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
Reece continued to whisper. Isaac lowered his ear to his mouth to try and get an understanding.
"Watch for the tail," Reece muttered, just before he passed out.
"Tail? Reece!" Isaac shouted frantically.
Isaac shook Reece, as something was moving fast beneath the sand. Isaac was too late to notice it. He looked up and did not see a tail, but rather a large tentacle coming down on them. The tentacle wrapped around Isaac, but not before he fired a shot and dropped the gun. As Isaac screamed for his life, a large serpentine head rose from the waters; blotting out the shine of the moon. It opened its mouth and Isaac went in whole.
Heath could hear Isaac's screams, and as he reached the truck, he had forgotten about the tree that was lying on the road. He looked around and could see a little bit of space on the left side and decided to give it a try. He fired up the engine, reversed the truck far enough to give him space so he could get around the tree. He pressed on the gas and the side mirrors broke off and the side doors were scratched and punctured as he squeezed through the tiny opening.
Heath's heartbeat raced, even more so when Isaac stopped screaming.He quickly reached the parking lot area just as the large serpent dove its headback into the water. Three more tentacles were slithering toward Jim andReece's bodies. Heath hit the gas and drove through one of the tentacles, splitting it in half. The monster roared as it resurfaced, and Heath putthe truck in reverse.
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
"God damn, you are real. Well, guess what Mr. Q'thahkral, you're about to be real dead too. So come on with it!" Heath shouted, as he leaned out of the driver's window and took several shots.
The Q'thahkral turned in Heath's direction, revealing its gargantuan body. It had dozens of tentacles both small and large. Its head was full of eyes and a mouth as wide as the abyss. Its demonic wailing was sure to wake the dead, but they did not stir. A tidal wave of lake water came upon the shore, splashing the truck, and pushing it to face the opposite direction.
The truck suddenly went dead, and Heath frantically tried turning the engine. It would not crank. A tentacle slammed the front of the truck, breaking the glass and denting the hood. Heath struggled to get out, but the tentacle came down again, bending the roof and doors in such a way that he couldn't get out. He dropped the gun as he fought with the door before deciding to try and get out through the now-open window. He cut his hands and arms as he pulled his large frame through the window just as the tentacle came down again.
The gun was too far to retrieve, so he darted up the hill to the woods for safety. He panted as he ran down the dark road, hoping to get out of the Q'thahkral's path of destruction. Heath went deep into the forest, hoping to keep his presence hidden as he ran. The Q'thahkral continued to wail unearthly sounds behind him. He stopped for a moment to catch his breath, leaning against a tree while he built up the courage to continue running.
"Davy I could sure use you now," he said.
Something close by crunched leaves and tree branches popped every few seconds. Heath continued to run only to find himself facing the Q'thahkral. It stood in the middle of the road roaring at him. The tired and nonathletic man had nowhere to go. He tried running but was scooped up by one of the tentacles. Heath screamed as he entered the Q'thahkral's mouth, only to be quelled by the deep dark depths of its stomach.
The monster burped and slithered its way back to the lake where it grabbed Jim and swallowed him. Reece attempted to regain consciousness. Reece could feel his body surrounded by something warm, something squishy. His body was slowly sliding, as though being pushed out of the chute. Reece attempted to open his eyes but they seemed to be glued shut. Acid burned his skin as he struggled to see, his body was paralyzed, his breathing labored, and his thoughts were jumbled. He could hear the faint mumbling of Isaac who kept repeating: "Watch for the tail."
