Any sound Flynn makes is muffled behind a large, scale covered hand that clamps around his mouth and drags him down to his knees all in one movement. He can feel a set of claws lightly scraping the back of his head.
The creature is now kneeling on the deck in front of him, gripping his head with one hand and holding one long finger up to it's lips as it hisses out a "shhhh".
From the vaguely humanoid parts of the creature's appearance, Flynn now knows that it definitely is a male.
He feels the creature loosen their grip slightly and he reaches up to move the beast's hand off of his face.
"You made your point. No need to break my jaw."
He shuffles back slightly, refusing to take his eyes off the creature.
Three slits on either side of its neck open and release a puff of air before sliding shut, the breathing switches from gills to lungs and the creature gasps through a set of teeth that mimic those of a shark before slowly leaning towards Flynn.
"Who..are you?"
It rasps the question out in a voice that sounds horrendously strained, as though the creature has to force out every word.
"Flynn Amati, I'm a resident of the islands not far from here. I'm part of the investigation team here to investigate...well...you but you knew that part already... Who are you?"
The question comes out after a moment of hesitation and Flynn has to resist the urge to cringe at how freaked out he sounds.
The creature seems to sense his fear and grins at him.
"I am what heaven fears."
Those words remind him of Sagan's theory that the angels had wronged the creature, the flame of anger behind the beast's eyes sends a shiver up his spine.
"This was your boat wasn't it? Before you died..."
The creature nods and Flynn gives him a gentle smile, an attempt to seem friendly.
"Why did you park up here in the first place, it doesn't seem like a nice place to settle down."
The creature bares his teeth and twists his head in the direction of the expedition boat, he hisses angrily and clacks his teeth together in what seems like frustration.
"Heaven's son knows what he did. I ran, they followed."
Flynn glances back at the bloodied fishing gear and the tribal knife.
Suddenly everything seems more morbid than it had first seemed but that's a thought he keeps entirely to himself, it doesn't seem right to even consider asking the creature how he died.
"I don't know why you're doing what you are but I understand that someone has done you a lot of wrong in your lifetime. Originally I was here because I feared you were a savage monster, now I'm going to do what I can to help you."
He now meets those glowing red eyes, noticing a few scars that cover the creature's head and face as he does.
"We dive tomorrow to investigate the reef and the trench, the demons will be with me."
The creature grins at Flynn for a moment before rising to his feet so he's standing almost crouched, he offers a hand to Flynn who takes it with a measured amount of caution.
Flynn allows himself to be lifted into a standing position and then hauled off the deck onto the rock plateau.
The creature joins him, moving across the rocks on all fours to avoid being visible above the jagged peaks.
Flynn notes that the clothing it is wearing doesn't fit very well at all and has become torn up and faded from years in the water. He assumes that clothing is something the creature chooses to wear out of habit, a reminder of what he used to be.
They walk across the rocks together for a moment, approaching the area where Flynn had entered the plateau in what could easily have been mistaken for a comfortable silence but was more like a silent alliance between kindred spirits.
As they reached the area where Flynn could leap back onto the boat he turned one final time to the creature, offering his hand which the creature shakes awkwardly due to the difference in the size of their hands.
"So I guess it's back to work. Stay safe and thanks for cooperating with me."
Flynn steps up onto the rocks and climbs over and jumps back onto the deck, listening as the creature slips back into the water before silently entering the boat and heading for his cabin with the books hidden in his jacket.
Now he knows that the story isn't as straightforward as he'd been told - that feeling of morbid doubt for the reasons of the angels returns.
YOU ARE READING
Dark Water
Paranormal"Hollow Born, people born without a soul. Sought after by both heaven and hell. At the time of their death, they transform into a creature of either heaven or hell. The circumstances of their death often dictate this." ----- She screams within her d...
