Prologue

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by Gillukka20

by Gillukka20

7:45 PM

"Hello, and welcome to the Atlantic Conservatory of Marine Life! While on your tour, please remember to turn off the flash on your cameras and cell phones, not hit or tap the glass, and wash your hands before and after touching the stingrays, dogfish, and horseshoe crabs in the tide pools. Thank you for your cooperation and we hope you enjoy your visit!"

Two young boys ran far ahead from the crowd at the entrance of the park, their laughter bouncing off the walls of the underwater tunnel, and came skittering to a complete stop out of a mix of fascination and wariness. The eldest quickly overcame his shock, straightened himself, and grinned.

"Shark Cove."

His younger brother, a curious yet cautious eight year old named Jack, whimpered and shrunk back when a particularly large Great White, around thirty feet in length, passed by overhead. His brother just rolled his eyes, grabbed his hand, and dragged him deeper into the exhibit. He paused at a plaque, "It says here that Great Whites are the closest living relatives to a shark known as the Megalodon. Carcharodon Megalodon could reach an average length of 75 feet and weight over 50 tons. You won't have to worry about swimming with one on your next vacation, though, as this monster has been extinct for the past two and a half million years!"

"Look, boys! You have a new friend!," their mother burbled and Jack glanced up from the plaque to see the shark now hovering in front of him, staring and her mouth gaping and closing. Gaping and closing. Gaping and closing. Whether it be to pump oxygen rich water through her gills or out of hunger, he didn't know and didn't want to know. It was then he noticed her back was arched and the gaping and closing of her enormous mouth had become rapid, but the protective, white film wasn't covering her eyes. Instead, they were the color of the deep sea. A pool of black and blue. She wasn't going to attack them. In fact, she wasn't going to attack anything or anyone at all. She was afraid and sending a warning to the park's visitors and the other fish that something else was out there. Something big, and there would be no point in fighting whatever it was.

"Say cheese!"

Jack forced a smile for the camera before tugging on his brother's shirtsleeve and, through clenched teeth, said, "Something doesn't feel right. We need to get out of this park or move on to another exhibit and take as many people as we can with us ASAP."

*************************************

10:10 PM

It had been three hours since the park closed, but the visitors had left far before then. One minute business was booming and, the next, the tunnels were empty. Nothing in sight but candy wrappers, forgotten miniature stuffed sea turtles, sharks, and jellyfish, and photographs strewn across the ground. Juan couldn't make any sense of it. Not until he picked up one of the photographs and stared at it in horror. It was of two young boys, one of them around the age of eight and the other thirteen, standing in front of a large Great White. The eldest looked thrilled to be in the picture while his brother looked as though he was in a tremendous amount of pain. The same could be said for the shark, whose back was arched and mouth agape. She and the boy were afraid of something, but what? Juan then saw the plaque between the brothers and read it aloud, "Great Whites are the closest living relatives to a shark known as Megalodon. Carcharodon Megalodon could reach an average length of 75 feet and weight over 50 tons. You won't have to worry about swimming with one on your next vacation, though, as this monster has been extinct for the past two and a half million years..."

A chill went down his spine and he shivered before turning to see something floating in the murky water. Squinting, he could make out the shape of some sort of fish when it finally hit the glass and was staring right at him. It was the upper half of the Great White in the photo.

"Fuck! Oh, fuck! Holy shit!," Juan exclaimed and scrambled back in shock before quickly pulling out his cell phone to take a picture and making a mad dash for the exit.