The Deep

Chapter 8

Mack

2 weeks and 6 days later

My research has brought nothing substantial to bring back to base. The initial hypothesis on the sudden shift of immigrational patterns in Corren Bay's marine life is still just that: a hypothesis. Our recent dives into the deep have not shown anything out of the ordinary to the marine life that is just ten miles outside of town.

However, the weather hasn't made it easy for our sonar machines to pick up anything. There isn't a grand change in the ecosystem out here, but certain behaviors have caught my attention. For example, there is no marine movement at night. None. At all.

What could be causing the fish to hide at nighttime? Why would all marine life flee at their most advantageous time? My only answer is that there is a higher predator. One that hunts in the night and kills like no other. Have I found any evidence of that? No.

I finish typing my last report with great frustration. The board has been hassling me for answers these last five days, but I had nothing to give. Every single test and experiment that I ran gave me nothing to go on. The only thing I was able to tell them was that I found the fish that used to reside in the Bay. And that they left earlier in the season than they should have.

I would stay another three weeks, but Jamie and I are both homesick. I miss my bed and Jamie misses his spirits. Not to mention the incoming storm that will no doubt hit us on the way back tomorrow. "How's it looking, James?" I call to him from the deck. We've been burning the midnight oil trying to get as much last-minute data as we possibly can. "Nothing's changing on the scanners! Even the clicking thing has gone steady."

After the first few days of me explaining what each screen that I brought does, I relented to Jamie's nonsensical nicknames. "Alright, just keep your eyes on them!"

The boat sways along with the rocky waves. It was actually quite therapeutic until I realized how small my dad's boat is for two grown men. I rub my face as the fatigue begins to hit me with every wave that crashes on the side of the boat. Now where was I?

My theories about what's going on inside the water are just that thus far. Just theories. I still have the same exact theories that I turned in to the board my first week out here. Although my contact is very much limited to these kinds of reports, I have had some updates from the Bay.

1, the catches have not gotten any better for neither the factory or for the local fishermen.

2, none of the established traps have been found since I left.

3, nets have barely made a dent on the locals' quotas

4, the bigger boats from the factory returned not too long ago and the supply wasn't as big as they would've liked. But the problem really lies with the destroyed nets that have returned from the journey. The pictures that I have received seem to have the same kind of brutality inflicted on them as the cages that I saw three weeks ago.

The boat hits something. I feel it vibrate through the hull. "Mack!" Jamie's panicked yell makes me scramble up from my seat. "What is it? What just happened?" The boats rock violently against the waves that have increasingly gotten taller. "I just saw something on this scanner! Something big." Whatever it was is gone. The scanner doesn't register the big blip that he saw only a moment ago-which means that this thing is a lot faster than our man-made echo scanners.

My boat gets hit again. This time the force of the hit completely shoves my boat to the side. "There it is!" Jamie shoves his finger on the screen. "That's it, Mack!" The blip on the scanner is bigger than any shark I have ever seen. Then, just like before, it disappears. What the hell is this? I run through all the species that could reach this level of weight and speed, but I come up empty.

I look over monitors as I try to think harder about this mystery, and that's when I see it. The biggest wave I have ever seen in my life. "Bloody hell, Mackenzie!" Jamie sees it too. The wave curves inward as it begins to drop.

"Brace yourself, James!"

We grasp tightly onto the railing, yelling at the top of our lungs as we crash into the water. Sea water floods the deck, briefly sinking us under. My heartbeat thunders inside my chest. That was a close one. It could've easily taken us down with this type of boat. I close my eyes and take a moment to calm myself.

"eEelinn."

The air gets stuck in my throat. I haven't heard those notes since I left for the sea. The dreams left me alone this entire time. I had thought that leaving the mainland would chase my problems away, but it seems that it has found me again. A screams tear through the melodical song. Or more like a shriek. An animalistic shriek. Both Jamie and I look at each other with wide eyes. We both heard it. That terrifying sound that no marine mammal could make.

I quickly stand up and rush out to the deck with Jamie right behind me. "What was that?" Jamie exclaims. "That sounded like a feral cat was dying! But it can't have been a cat because we are in the middle of bloody nowhere!"

"Will you stop talking? The constant yelling isn't helping me figure this out any faster."

The water has calmed down a bit and there's a distinct silence in the air that I don't like. It makes my skin crawl with unease. Any natural light that we could've gotten by the night sky has been drowned out by storm clouds overhead. All we see are the dark shadows that hang along the deck. We check the entire deck and come up empty. There's nothing stranded on my boat. So where did that noise come from?

"Go."

Jamie and I both turn around, startled by the sound of a third voice. The wind blows her hair back, giving us a clear view of her face. The face that I have been dreaming about this last month. "Go back, Elin. Not safe here." Her voice is smooth and reassuring but stern. There's a sharpness to her that may cut you if you disobey. "You're here," I take a small step towards her. "You're real."