Whisper of the Sea

Chapter Five

Each step brought another curse as Brian worked his way up the hill. He'd never been a fan of hiking, and it didn't help his disposition at finding out the parking lot was a mile below the hill's summit. Still, that didn't mean he was going to pass up the opportunity to strengthen his story. Despite all the extra trivialities he had to deal with until then, this was the one story that seemed to write itself. All he had to do was not screw it up while adding some flair.

For the first time, he felt pleased with himself as he reached the top and saw four benches scattered along the hundred foot surface. Chuckling, he headed toward on sitting close to the edge near the water, but paused after going a dozen feet.

"You're got to be kidding me!" The railing and stairs leading from the other side of the hill from where he'd parked glowed in the afternoon sun, teasing him.

Fighting against the urge to curse a blue streak, he stomped over to the bench and fell more than dropped into the seat. "This better be some awe-inspiring shit." The wind from the ocean blew his words back into his face, but he ignored it as he studied the water below him. There were a few people swimming, which, given the time of year, left him unable to figure out if they were brave or stupid. He was leaning toward the latter when he saw something.

Leaning forward and resting his elbows on his knees, he squinted into the water below. The sunlight reflecting off the water wasn't much of a disturbance as the shape was off to the side of the glinting water; closer to him than the beach.

Like Fred had said, it looked like a squid or octopus, but much larger. Brian also hesitantly admitted it wasn't coral. He didn't know what it was.

The large mass was black and was the size of a whale when he compared it to the people swimming a short distance away from it. While its back half disappeared in the deeper water, long, black snake-like tentacles stretched out toward the beach. The tentacles swayed slightly with the water, leaving Brian unsure if they actually moved or were shadows being distorted by the light.

That's it, he reasoned. They're shadows. Nothing more. Despite telling himself that, he couldn't shake off the cold fingers of fear that moved up and down his back.

Each tentacle moved closer to the beach and the few swimmers, then back out. Then toward the dock, then back to the beach. Each time, Brian thought they looked like a living extension. He held his breath waiting for one to snatch a swimmer, and when that didn't happen, he waited to see them reach out and pull the dock or lifeguard hut into the water. Only when none of those had occurred did he relax. Then the shape shifted and the tentacles turned toward him.

He closed his eyes and shook his head.

It didn't move. It's my imagination.

When he opened his eyes, his breath froze in his chest as the shadowy shape was gone. How... Where did it go?

His eyes moved side to side trying to find where the shadows had gone. After a few seconds, he stood and approached the edge of the hill. Had a metal guardrail not stopped him, he would've walked right over the edge.

The feel of the cool metal through his jeans pulled his thoughts from finding the shadows. Looking down, he rested a hand on the top of the metal. The urge to climb over and continue his search came over him.

It made sense. He was looking for the shadows, and the only way to do that was to climb over and keep walking until...

A chill ran up the center of his back and jerked him out of his trance. His eyes widened and he let out a low, high-pitched whine as he stared at the drop less than two feet in front of him, but nothing compared to the sight of his left leg halfway over the guardrail and sitting on top.