Restless Waves

Chapter 4

The hunters and Rowan waited in silence for almost an hour until there was any sign if the supernatural creatures. The cold seeped into Rowan's bones and if his mother didn't elbow him every five minutes, he would have drifted in and out of sleep.

"There!" Wez hissed, wrenching the light to the left. The bright beam landed on the spot, just in time to see a ripple and a splash of something that dipped out of sight.

Mandy scuttled to the side and pointed the spear in the direction of the light. Her eyes never blinked. She was as still as an animal who stalked their prey.

Rowan didn't move. The violence part was the part he was dreading the most. The Thalassic Mortals had been killing people, but his mother's methods to kill the first one she saw was grossly flawed. They had no way of knowing if the creature they killed had harmed humans. Rowan was glad he wasn't handed a spear but watching made him feel just as guilty.

Mandy was always seething with revenge on every hunt. She despised the Thalassic Mortals ever since her 29th birthday.

Bo was at the back of the boat next to the engine, also armed with a long spear, ready to pull the trigger.

They waited in silence. Nobody moved. Rowan was very aware of the lack of noise, so he focused on calming his breathing and scanning his surroundings. Then suddenly, they heard it. The sound was like a muffled shotgun, almost as if one had been fired underwater. Rowan was educated enough to know that it was the creatures moving unnaturally fast.

When it grew louder, Mandy swiftly moved to her right and pulled her trigger. The spear shot into the water just as a Thalassic Mortal surfaced to dive at the boat.

That was the first time Rowan saw a Thalassic Mortal in the flesh. He had only seen the creature for a few seconds before it sank back into the water. Rowan only ever saw them in drawings, and he was surprised by how much they looked like humans.

His mother had drawn them to look like monsters with dark devil-like eyes, distorted faces, claws, fangs, and anger. The Thalassic Mortal Mandy had impaled had beautiful dark skin, long black hair, and a human face of a woman in her late twenties. Though the Mortal did have sharp teeth, they were not protruding out of her mouth like in his mother's drawings.

Wez reached for a switch, and the light brightened and shone all around the boat for at least five metres.

Rowan's heart wanted to burst. His eyes darted to each face staring back at them from the water. The boat was surrounded.

Rowan could only see from their mid nose and upwards. Each Thalassic Mortal had brightly coloured eyes that reflected the light like a cat. He could see the scales from their tails shimmering beneath the water.

"No sudden movements," Mandy whispered. She had already replaced her spear, though it was clear she hadn't expected more than a few of the sea mortals to show. Almost ten surrounded the boat. Mandy and her team were not the only ones out hunting tonight.

Rowan's hand slowly moved towards the bag full of more spears. He didn't want to use them, but he had to protect himself.

"Wez, call for backup, and push the button," Mandy whispered, not daring to blink. Her heart crashed against her ribs. Her main priority was her son. She would fight until the end if it meant that Rowan could live another day.

Not even the wind made a single sound as the boat gently rocked back and forth. Rowan kept reaching for the spear until his hand felt the end of the raw wood. As slowly as he could, without taking his eyes of the heads in the water, he pulled the spear from the bag.

Rowan didn't realise he was holding his breath until the bag started tipping and the spears fell to the hard boat floor, making a noise that wouldn't usually sound so loud. Bo spun around because the sound startled him, and a Thalassic being jumped for him before Rowan even had time to release his breath.