The Deep

Chapter 4

*Mack*

I had endless dreams of the girl from last night. Dreams where a melody carried me from my car to her side. Her stare followed me apprehensively. I fell to my knees in front of her, earning a dazzling smile. It hit me like a ton of bricks. I wanted to make her smile again. I wanted to please her in anything. In any way.

Her hand caressed my face. And I swear, it felt so real as if we were both there. But, when I opened my eyes, she had transformed into something terrifying, something deadly. Her eyes had gone entirely white, and her teeth had turned sharp. And before I knew it, her claws dug themselves into my neck- killing me instantly.

When I woke, I realized that I did have someone's hand near my neck, but it wasn't the same woman from my dream. Ava.

The guilt hit me all at once. It still does, even now as I get ready for a long day ahead. "Good morning, love." Ava wraps her arms around my waist from behind. "Why are you up so early? Da isn't expecting us until later." I lightly tap her arm and step out of her embrace.

"Actually," I clear my throat, "I have some errands to run around town before getting to the office." I grab my things from my kitchen counter. "I promised Jamie I would stop by port and help him with something." It was partly true. Jamie asked me to stop by sometime this week, but I just felt the need to leave. Immediately. Ava pulls a face at the mention of Jamie before kissing my cheek. "Just don't be late, please."

She goes into the bathroom without a second glance back. But even as I watch her silhouette walk off, my mind just wanders towards my imaginary woman from last night. Her eyes were starkly frightened and wild. And that sound...I wouldn't know how to recreate it even if I tried.

The drive to town was a quiet one. Last night, nearly everyone was down at the pub for a townwide party. It usually happens once or twice a week. But, during the day, the town life really shines through. Everyone is out and about with their lives. Some are going down to work at the port while others go to open up their stores. Tourist season is down but that doesn't stop us from working as hard as we can. When the factory opened, many of them decided to work during the off-season.

Then there are those who work at the port. These are the fishers that have lost their workers to the factory. It's been tough on them these couple of years. I haven't been down here since I took a job at the factory. Many don't view me being there as a wonderful thing and I wouldn't blame them. I'm only there to help improve things for them out here.

I park my car and head down the boardwalk to Jamie's boat. I remember the days when my dad would take me down to the port to help. It's the reason why I went into marine biology.

The port is unusually quiet this morning. I look over all the boats in the harbor. My dad's blue boat is way on the other side, away from the fishing boats in town. He wasn't a fisherman like the rest of the men in town. He simply loved being out in the water. So do I.

"Hey, man!" Jamie waves me down to his washed-out yellow fishing boat. "I didn't think you were going to come today. Isna it your first day at the factory?" I roll my eyes at his condescending tone. "You asked, Jamie. I'm here." I jump on board the Gorse. "What did you want me to see?" Jamie's easy-going smile drops entirely as he rubs his face.

This can't be good. "There's something weird going on, Mack," he begins. "Our traps have produced less and less fish. Some of them have even gone missing in the tides! Most of us have not even found any of them still." I drop my bag on the dock and sit down at the edge. "The other crews came to me a few days ago to ask if you were willing to help us figure out the cause of it. I didn't know if you were able to but it then happened to me." Jamie walks over to a mangled mess of what I assume used to be a cage.

The metal is entirely bent through with some of the bars detached from the base. "Bloody hell." I survey the damage carefully. Many marine life could cause great damage to any kind of object made up of metal. Dolphins alone have great strength in their tails. But in this loch, there aren't many that could do this, let alone dolphins. "Do you know what could've done this? A shark? Anything?"

Honestly, I had no idea. There are no known sharks in this area that could demonstrate this type of aggression. Their teeth wouldn't be able to rip through steel this way. "Is this how all the retrieved traps have looked like?" Jamie nodded. So, this isn't just a few traps rolling out with the tides. This is a consistent attack on the fish traps. Whatever did this, knew that this would be a reliable food source. I try to list the species that could possibly have the strength and intelligence, but I come up empty. There aren't even teeth marks.

"Jamie!" Both of our heads turned towards the frantic voice. Old man Fraser and his son are rolling in on their own fishing boat with the grimmest look on their face. "What is it?" Jamie calls out. "Have you checked on yer cages yet, son?" We walk around the helm and head to the waterside of the deck. "No, not yet," Jamie answers as they dock. "I haven't even left the port. Why?"

Old Man Fraser's son leans over the stern and says, "There's no fish, mate. All the traps are empty." Jamie and I both share a look of surprise. "Da ran into the others out in the loch and theirs were empty!" This time all three of them turned and gave me one long hard look. There could only be two possibilities as to why all the fish have 'disappeared'. 1, something has happened to the ecosystem to the point that it is on the brink of collapse. I would consider this option if it weren't for what Jamie just showed me.

2, there's a bigger predator nearby that has scared all the life away from this particular area. And based on this crumpled excuse of a cage, I can't help but consider it. This isn't good.

*****

I broke about four traffic laws to get to the Cumberland Fishing Factory. Jamie and Old Man Fraser continued to ask me questions that I had no answers for. At least not without my equipment first. On the drive over, I had already formulated a plan that involved many days and nights out on my dad's boat.

The Fishing Factory was built right next to Corran Bay, extending the public port into the factory grounds. The company owns five fishing boats that have the capability to go beyond the Bay and into the ocean. Our fishing equipment is much more advanced than the townee fishermen. It's one of the reasons why they abhor the factory. That and the amount of money they make in one week is far more than they can make in a month. Sad realities of the world.

I quickly walk through the building, heading to the private docks. I had a sneaking suspicion that the local fishermen weren't the only ones who would have a bad day ahead. "Mack!" Ava runs up after me. "I've been calling you for a while now. What's wrong?"

Normally I wouldn't talk to Ava about what's going on in town for obvious reasons, but this is going to affect everyone. "The local fishermen have been losing fish traps for the past few days," I tell her. "And if they do find them back, they find them battered and trashed. This morning Old Man Fraser's crew hauled nothing. Nobody has gotten a catch at all this morning."

"But that's good, isn't it? Our competitors are losing their catch due to faulty equipment. Their clients will be looking for other providers."

Ava thinks too much like her father. They believe that any small thing can provide them with a leg up on their competitors. I'm not on the same page as them. "No, Ava, it's not good." I weave my way through the warehouse carefully. The surplus of coolers on the floor makes it especially hard to get anywhere. "If there's no catch in the Bay then we don't have any catches either. Our daily quotas won't be met and the only fish that we'll have will come from our bigger ship that's currently out at sea. They won't be here for another two weeks."

I leave her behind to think about what I just dumped on her and head to the first crewmate that I can get my eyes on. "Micheal!" Micheal, a crewmate from the Doll Lass, reacts and spins around. "Hey, did you just come back from checking our sites?" My eyes look past him, onto the deck, and already know the answer to the many questions that I was planning on asking. I sigh deeply, cursing under my breath.

To hell with my first day.