There, in the depths of my unconscious mind, I wandered through the void - toward the room with the red light. This was not the first time I had ended up here. I could not fathom the space around me, it was just a void, endless. Sound ceased to cross my ears, although I thought there should have been sound? I felt a presence emitting from this place, everything about it was wrong. It defied the laws of reality itself. In this odd realm, my vision remained, I could look and see, but I didn't have a body. Everything was dark, endless obsidian encompassed my field of view. That was except for the crimson-red room in front of me. I was far away from it, from my point of view it was just a speck of a dot in the distance. But identifiable it was nonetheless. The sight was eerie, out of the ordinary. It evoked a sense of fear within me.
Then, I started to move. It was as though I was affixed to a camera, that of which would have been comparable to a steady cam. I had no body to move with, just the suspension of vision where my head would have been. I slowly moved closer to the red room. Then, I heard screaming. It was low, not identifiable. As I slowly inched closer, it became more audible. It was a woman screaming. My movement came to a halt. The screaming got louder. Eventually, it reached a fever pitch. The screams were that of pure anguish, the harsh noise echoed throughout the incomprehensible void around me. Then, the screaming reached an all-time high, and I felt the texture of reality wash back over me as I exited this unbearable realm?
Kyle
I had awoken to the rather soothing beams of a radiant sun emanating through the car window as my sister and I made our way to the small town of Huntsville, a northern town nestled snugly into a lumbar region of the state. Sweat lined the lining of my V-neck shirt, it reminded me of many feelings, the most unpleasant of which was waking up drenched in sweat after school naps. The sun was warm, but the clouds in the distance had taken on a dull grey, rain to smother the nice weather was on the horizon.
"Finally, you're awake," said Laura, who was sitting next to me in the driver's seat.
"There's nothing but slow gross Country on the radio. I'd rather listen to you, and that's saying something." She said. I sat up, having been slouched in an awkward sleeping position. My odd dream slowly came back to me, although I didn't know it at the time.
"What's wrong with Country?" I said as I stretched my arms, releasing the tension built up from sleep.
"Are you serious?" she said as she tried to find a better station. I watched as she flicked through the radio, only to be met with static from all of the Pop or Hip-Hop stations. I found her frustration rather comedic. Laura grunted, displeased.
"This is a total hick region!" She exclaimed.
Mom would have liked it. The thought had trialed off just as soon as it came.
"Mom would have liked it," I said. The mood immediately dampened. It was only fitting that the rain had finally begun to fall. To ease the tension, I tried to look around. There was dense forest on either side of the road, I had never felt more secluded in my life, having come from the city and all.
"Yeah. Yeah, she would have," Laura said as she took her eyes off of the road for a split second to look at me. "But I don't see why you would have to bring it up, just after... You know?"
I did know. Mom had passed away some weeks back. Making matters worse, our father wasn't a part of our lives. Our mom, Linda Reed, was our rock. She kept the family together. She was a hard worker, and she worked especially hard on me and my sister.
Be there for your sister, it's a scary world out there. That was her departing message to me. It was a request that I had never truly forgotten.
"You're right. I don't know why I brought it up. Sorry." I said. I turned away from my sister and looked back out towards the forest. My knowledge of the town of Huntsville had been limited. I didn't know much about it, save for the fact that it was nestled snugly into a lumber community and that it was the last big stop before we reached our father, who we were going to visit. My sister harboured a certain degree of hate for our father, this had been understandable enough considering that he had just up and left when the two of us were young. Despite this, I wondered if she truly loathed him, or if she just held her heart on her shoulder.
Regardless, I felt like I needed to change the subject.
"How's school been going?" I asked. My sister, a college student, had been doing really well in her first term at the college of our hometown. She was studying criminology, a true passion brought on by a love for true crime. That was up until the unfortunate turn of fate with our mother.
"Please. What did I say about talking to me about school? I always feel like an idiot" She explained.
"Why?" I asked.
"Because you're like, super smart. I've never understood it. You don't have to study for tests at all and you still get super high marks. As for me, I study my ass off and still pull in garbage."
"Seventies are still considered the state standard," I said. "It's not that bad for college, you're still passing."
"Yeah, speak for yourself," she said with an air of sass. I scrunched my lips and threw my feet up on the dashboard.
"Hey!" She snapped her fingers. "Down!"
I sighed as I followed her instruction. "Fine," I said with my own lapse of sass.
A brief moment passed. Smirks lined our faces.
"What would I do without you?" I said as I laughed, considering the circumstances.
"Oh shut up! Don't do that sentimental crap with me," she said. Laura Reed had a big heart, bigger than most. She just didn't show it that often.
After a car ride that had felt like it lasted forever, we arrived at the town entrance. I had never been much into the surrounding area around me, not concerned over how 'beautiful' a particular landmark might have been, (that was usually Laura's thing) but I had to admit, I really liked the look of this town. It felt old to the century, cabins were nestled into the thicket of the woods around it. The high power lines were wood, they had been slightly molded, but that had only added to the aesthetic. I took a closer look at one of the powerlines as Laura drove slowly through the town, getting used to the surroundings. There were three posters hung up on the pole.
Catherine Bennet - Nineteen - Missing.
Sarah Hicks - Twenty-Three - Missing.
Cassandra Olivera - Twenty-Four - Missing.
"That's not creepy at all," Said Laura. She had stopped the car to idle in front of the posters. I couldn't blame her. All of the missing girls had looked like her, for all I knew, they could have been long-lost relatives. The thought had brought a semblance of humor considering the disturbing sight.
As I looked at the missing persons posters further, a sharp pain had crossed my head. Instinctively I pushed it away so as to not worry my sister, god forbid. I started to have the essence of a memory return, that of which had been completely out of the realm of what I would describe as normal.
A room, that of which was illuminated with a red light. Why did that seem so familiar? So close?
"Shit," I said. I pressed my palm tightly against my pained head. My sister took immediate notice.
"What the fuck is that! Are you okay?"
"Just a migraine, I don't know - " I heard a horn blaring from behind us. Loud abrasive - concerningly audible - yells emanated from the car at our rear. It was a rusty pickup, I would have assumed no less from the driver of such a vehicle.
Laura flipped off the driver behind us and drove on.
What the hell was that? I thought in a controlled state of panic. Laura pulled into a parking lot. Breaking out of my mental zone, I looked up. We were stationed in the parking lot of a motel.
"What the hell was that!" Laura said. "That seriously freaked me out?"
I had no idea what that was. Though the thought persisted, that of the oddly illuminated room?
"I don't know. It's probably just low blood sugar. Let's get something to eat; I'm starving," I said dismissively. I felt bad for trying to ward off my sister's concerns, it pained me as I knew she was genuinely worried. She always was when it came to my well-being.
"Ok, it better be," she said. "Let's go check into a room first. We've already been driving for hours and it's getting late."
Laura
My brother and I entered the small front reception office of the motel. There, plastered on the walls we couldn't help but notice the missing posters of the three girls. Being a girl myself, I couldn't help but be disturbed. They looked identical to me, I could have easily fit right in beside them. A bell from the front desk chimed, and my attention was brought there.
"That kinda scared me," I said.
"Loser," Kyle said. He stuffed his hands in his pockets nonchalantly as we waited for the receptionist.
An old man emerged from the back room of the building, a creaking door alerted us to his arrival.
"Haven't seen you two around. You're not from here, are you?" he said. "We don't get many visitors, but that's probably for the best, considering the happenings around here lately."
I put two-and-two together, how could I not? Though we weren't here to invest our time into the individuals or the lore of this town, I seized the opportunity to follow up on my curiosity.
"You're talking about those missing girls, right?" I asked. I noticed that my brother took a common interest in my inquiry.
"That's right. I wouldn't want to bore a foreigner, it's bad for business. But nonetheless, it's one hell of a disturbing topic," the man ran his tongue over his lips.
"Huntsville is a quiet town, it's part of the reason why I moved up here in the first place. I've lived here for a decade straight, and nothing like this has ever happened. It's shaken this town to its core!" the receptionist explained.
"Are all the girls local?" Kyle asked. "Do you think someone is responsible for the disappearances?" Kyle, my brother, had always been something of a detective. His questions were endless when it came to any disturbance, major or minor.
"Huntsville is a tight-knit community. I can't think of anyone off the top of my head who would want to do such a thing. I hate to think of the danger those three could be in. It makes me sick to my stomach."
As it does me, I thought.
"Anyway, best not bore you," the man retreated a foot behind him and snatched a key from off of the wall. It was labeled 104. "I suppose you would like a room?" he asked.
"We would love one!" I said. I laid the money he demanded out on the counter and took the key. We exited the receptionist's office, the missing girl posters were still on my mind.
"Hey Laura," Kyle said, he was nudging my shoulder. "Take a look at that over there." He pointed to a diner across the street.
"Yeah, you're paying," I teased.
"Fine." He scoffed in defeat.
We made our way across the street. Upon entering the diner we were met with a pleasant atmosphere, seemingly exclusive to small mountain towns such as these. We checked in at the front. A woman led us to our seats with the promise of being served within a short amount of time. As we waited for our waitress to arrive, there was brief communication about our life, about our father. And of course, the recent discovery of the town's dark secret. Then, within a short amount of time as promised, the waitress arrived.
"Welcome to Huntsville! I haven't seen you two around. How can I help you today?" the waitress said with a pleasant tone of voice.
That was the second time we were recognized as foreigners. I thought. "Pancakes, both of us. Just a double stack would be fine, thanks," I said. The waitress began to jot our order down on her notepad, her hand moved swiftly across the paper with an experienced sense of finesse. As she finished up her report, she shot a glance at me. It was one of concern.
"Are you? Planning on staying long?" The waitress asked.
I couldn't help but think that the concern I noticed on her was in relation to the disappearances. A part of me felt sick, I had just then realized the true weight of the darkness that this small unsuspecting town was facing.
"No. Just staying the night," I said. "We are actually on our way to meet our father. He lives a couple of hours away from here." I added, feeling the need to vent slightly. The waitress looked over to my brother.
"This is your brother then?" the waitress asked. Kyle held up his hand awkwardly in a greeting gesture. I rolled my eyes.
"Nice to meet you. Kyle." Said my brother.
"Amanda," the waitress said. "It's nice to meet you."
After a moment, Amanda tapped her hip, I assumed it meant: get going girl, it's getting awkward. "Alright y'all, I'll go let the busboy know. Look after your sister Kyle," said Amanda as she went off to the kitchen.
"Dude, she was totally into you!" I said under my breath. Kyle straightened up and leaned in.
"Um, what gave you that impression?" Kyle asked.
"I could just tell man. I would tell you to get her number but there's no point."
"I don't think so."
"That's the attitude that's going to keep you single little brother," I said as I crossed my leg under the table and sat back. There was a brief moment of silence until Kyle broke it.
"Laura, she told me to look after you?" Kyle said. I took this into consideration. This had seemingly been a normal thing to say to someone concerning a family member or loved one. I wondered why Kyle would have thought of it as odd considering the tone in which he spoke. Before I could ask, Kyle followed up. "I don't have a good feeling about this place. I - " my brother broke off, he looked noticeably fatigued. That was when blood started to drip from his nose, it was followed by a steady stream. He grunted, and put a hand on his forehead and an elbow on the table.
"Holy shit," I muttered. "Are you? Here!" I said as I handed him a napkin to clean the steadily rushing bile off of his face. He took it, wiped his upper lip and brought his head up to look at me. I watched as his concerned look went to one of concealment, in an attempt to ward off any concern. I looked around the diner, wary to know if anyone had been disturbed by the commotion.
"I'm fine. Just give me a second?" Kyle said as his trembling hands held the napkin to his nose. "I never should have skipped breakfast, huh?" he said with a forced laugh. As ease settled back in, and the commotion was all but converted back to peace, the waitress came with our food.
"Is everything alright over here?" she asked, concerned.
"Everything is fine, my brother just had a little nosebleed," I said.
"That's odd, Huntsville's air is some of the freshest in the region," the waitress (Amanda) said as an obvious joke to try to alleviate some of the unease of the situation. I forced a laugh and we were served our food. I couldn't get my mind off of what had happened. Nose bleeds, by all means, had been typical occurrences. But it was the sudden sense of fatigue in my brother that was the most off-putting. Mentally, I pushed it aside. We continued on as normal until later on that night?
I often had dreams, those of which consisted of my early childhood. I was older than my brother, and I have always been somewhat protective. My brother Kyle didn't have it easy when we were both younger. I always took the domestic liberty of defending him from local adolescent bullies from our neighbourhood. I sat awake considering this as I stared outside of the motel window. Me and my brother (who was fast asleep) were on the first floor. Though it wasn't the second, the view was pleasant enough. I had a strange feeling that night, tears threatened my eyes. A sadness loomed over my heart for a reason I could not place.
I needed fresh air.
I got up and approached the door. Making sure to be quiet, I held a steady pace as I tip-toed to snatch my shoes from under the room's table. I put on my shoes and slowly creaked the door open, keeping an eye on my brother to make sure I hadn't woke him. I stood outside, enjoying the mountain town's air. The weather was fair, a warm breeze carried itself past me in short bursts. I stretched and took in more air. I had been tossing and turning for the entire night, a part of me felt like I wasn't going to be able to go to sleep for a while.
I thought it best to bide my time somehow. The town was nice and scenic, so I felt the urge to explore it further. Me and Kyle were going to be gone come dawn, why not get the most out of this beautiful town?
I started off down the parking lot of the motel. I made my way across the street, taking in the beauty of the surrounding town. I felt like I had the place all to myself, there was not a single soul in sight. It was admittedly eerie, the town was dimly illuminated by dull streetlights that emanated a harsh amber. I walked a block over from the motel and stopped by a clearing from the buildings. I could see the mountains overhead, it was a beautiful sight indeed.
Then the soothing wind stopped, and silence ensued.
I was snapped out of my zone as I noticed this. I looked around, plastered on one of the streetlights were the posters of the missing three? Unease began to set in. I looked down the long street from where I was standing, and to my disturbance, there were headlights moving slowly toward me. I looked up at a nearby building, there was a camera flashing a red light.
As signaled by a blinker, the white van's headlights turned onto the street I was on. It moved slowly, from where I was standing the driver behind the windshield was merely a shadow.
I started to move. As I did so, I realized how far I had actually gone from the motel. The road back was long, too long. The thought in it of itself was suffocating. The van followed closely behind me.
Then fear set in.
The pictures of the missing girls came to my mind, it was all I could fathom to think about at that moment. I picked up my pace to a speed walk. Then as I realized the white van picked up its pace, I broke into a jog. As I did so, my car keys bounced out of my purse and onto the curb. I had no time to collect them, less I ran the chance of being caught. I made my way around a corner, finding myself near the middle of town. I ducked into an alleyway connecting two stores as I hid from the van.
I watched the van drive by as I held my breath.
I had waited until I couldn't hear the van in the silent night anymore. It was gone. I exited the suffocating alleyway and made my way back to the motel. Upon my arrival to safety, I made my way up the parking lot. That was when I saw it. The van? It was parked. I thought it had left, but it was parked in the parking lot of the motel. Before utter defeat and fear could register, I heard the fast rush of tapping footsteps behind me. The hostile noise stopped just as soon as I felt a cloth furiously slip behind my nose. My pounding heart ceased as my struggle came to an end. Until I began to fade into unconsciousness.
I felt the crust on my eyes break as they opened. I was met with the sight of infinite red, it encompassed my entire field of view. As my eyes adjusted, I came to my senses. I was in a room vastly illuminated with a red light.
"Help!" I muttered slowly, the effects of whatever drugs were lingering beneath my nose had still been wearing off. I started to thrash around. That's when I realized I was chained to one of the walls of the room. "Jesus Christ?" I muttered. "Help!" I wailed, I could hear the fear in my voice. Awful.
A Shuuush came from the corner of the room. My attention was brought to it. From the dimly lit corner came the shape of a man. His skin was wrinkled. He wore no shirt, exposing a brawlic but slim figure. A series of harsh-looking scars lined the man's obliques. As my eyes adjusted further I could see what he was wearing on his head. A full rubber shark mask, that of a great white. It had the darkest eyes. He held an axe, red with a silver serrated blade and a black grip.
He talked slowly, eerily. "Please, don't scream. No one can hear you when you're in my waters?"
Despite his instruction, it came. My screams echoed throughout the airless room.
Kyle
The images flashed in one unwavering sequence. It was a nightmare collage of places and concepts I didn't entirely understand.
Trees - a wooded area.
An industrial ice chest labeled: I.C.E.
The red room. It was in the void. The red room, the dark room, the room from which the screams came. It seemed that this night, there were new screams. They were unbearably familiar.
I awoke in a harsh jolt. I was drenched in sweat, sunbeams were emanating from the cracked blinds of the room. I sat up, rubbed the sleep out of my eyes, and looked to my left. My sister's bed was empty. I got out of bed and scoped the room. The bathroom door was open, and the light was off. I went back to the central room of the unit, where I noticed her shoes were gone. I made myself look somewhat presentable as I dressed and put on my shoes. I exited the unit and went to the receptionist's office. I entered the small lobby and dinged the bell, not knowing if the receptionist would be awake at a time like this.
She never does this? Where could she be? I thought. I looked at the missing person posters. I ceased to think of the implications. Then, the receptionist came out.
"How can I help you son?" He asked.
"Have you seen my sister?" I tried to hide the concern from my voice. I considered the fact that a missing woman wasn't an odd occurrence in this town. I didn't want anyone to think that one of the foreigners who arrived just a day prior had already gone missing. I hoped that wasn't the case.
"That sister of yours huh? Sorry, I haven't seen her around - " but before he could finish I was already out of the door.
Her car is still parked here?
I stuffed my hands in the pockets of my jeans and puffed out my anxiety in a gasp, though it persisted regardless. I made my way back to the diner where I and my sister shared an afternoon lunch the day prior. I stormed up to the front and demanded to speak to Amanda with controlled urgency. I didn't know how long I could have kept up my composure. Amanda came from around the corner of the front desk. I forced a smile.
"Hi," I said.
"Kyle? It's a surprise to see you here. I thought you and your sister were heading out first thing?" said Amanda.
"That's just the thing. I can't find her anywhere," I watched as the life from Amanda's face drained. She knew the implications of this situation just as well as I had.
"When's the last time you've seen her?" she asked.
"Uh, last night before I fell asleep," I said. "I'm sorry, I think I'm just overreacting. I'm going to look elsewhere." I said as I began for the exit.
"Kyle! I'll ask around!" She exclaimed.
"Thank you, Amanda," I said as I exited the diner.
I scoured the small town for what felt like hours. Cars passed and the sky above turned a dull grey, it reflected the mood perfectly. I reached a far corner in Huntsville, there was a brief clearing that faced the mountains. I stopped and zoned out for a second. Then I continued my search. As I sped walked down the sidewalk I came to a sudden halt. There were keys nestled against the side of a wall bordering an alleyway.
Laura's keys! I thought. I didn't know what that meant, or how it could have related to Laura's disappearance, but it was a step in the right direction. I bent down and picked them up. Examining my surroundings, I noticed a camera on a nearby building. The idea came to me, as did hope.
That camera might have caught Laura. I thought. It was as though a campfire had lit in my belly, hope had been one hell of a stimulant, I just prayed it didn't turn out to be the false kind. I sped walked across the street and into the appliance store. There, I found an employee, a floor worker keeping track of inventory.
"I need to speak to the owner," I demanded.
"Sir, if you need anything, I can help you - "
"Just get me the fucking owner of the store!" I said, nearly shouting. The worker
cleared his throat and went off to get the owner. I waited until the owner eventually arrived. He was older, balding. He wore a dress shirt and Khakis with a black tie.
"Is there a reason as to why you're harassing my workers?" the man asked.
"I'm sorry sir, I just need to look at your security cameras. Specifically, the one facing the street."
"I can't let a civilian access security footage. There are privacy laws and - "
"I think something bad might have happened to my sister. There might have been a possible crime committed on that footage." I explained.
"You don't say?" the man said. "What time were you thinking?"
"Night. Maybe between the hours of nine to midnight. I don't know?" The owner of the store stood there, he had a pondering hand on his hip.
"Alright, I'll go check. Just stay put," the man went off. I stood there for what felt like an eternity. Just as I had begun to tap my foot impatiently, the owner came back.
"There was a girl, walking alone and - " the owner stuttered. "It appeared as if she was being followed by a van?" He finished. I turned around to walk out of the store. The man stopped me. "Would you like me to contact the authorities, our town has a history - "
"I know?" The thought trailed off. "Would you?" I asked.
"Not a problem," The owner said solemnly as I exited the store. I made my way back to the motel, juggling the keys between my hands as a means to alleviate stress.
I got back to the motel room and sat on my bed. I threw the car keys to the side and put my hands to my face. I slouched my back, and tears began to form at the corners of my eyes. I couldn't lose my sister, she was all I had in the world. Without her and without Mom, I would be entirely lost. I felt sick, my mind was going miles at a time. Endless possibilities were racing through my head.
I got up and went to the corner of the room. I turned the light off and went back to the bed. I've always had a strange sense, something unnatural that had guided my instinct for my entire life. I closed my eyes, it was something I would do during tests. The answers would always - just - seem to come to me. I didn't understand this strange oddity. But it helped me regardless, perhaps it could have helped me now.
It came to me.
The woods.
The ice chest: I.C.E.
The room with the red light.
A harsh scream sounded in my mind, I felt my nose. Blood lined my bottom lip. I could never be able to explain such an odd gift? I probably never would.
I got up and turned the light on. I exited the unit and made my way to my sister's car. I put the key in the ignition and drove off, towards the wooded region close to Huntsville.
I drove for the next couple of hours, until sundown. There were a lot of hunting cabins in the surrounding area of Huntsville, but none of them had the motifs I was looking for. I persisted long enough to stumble across a rather nice-looking lodge. This had not been a cabin, though despite this it managed to pique my interest. I parked my sister's car on the side of the dust and gravel road. I made my way into the woods, darkness began to cloak the world in darkness as I moved further. There was nothing but the sound of cicadas and the ringing of my ears. Leaves and sticks crunched under my feet as I moved closer to the looming lodge.
When I approached the base I made my way around the house, trying to scope out a familiar motif.
There it was, the ice chest. I went to it cautiously. I put my hand on the handle and pulled. After seeing what I saw, I immediately stifled vomit as it arose in my throat. I was met with the macabre sight of limbs. Legs and arms covered in dried bile. Through the cracks in my fingers, they were identifiable as female body parts. I retrieved my phone from my pocket and held it up. I snapped a picture, irrefutable evidence that the authorities would have no choice but to take seriously. I took my findings and rushed back to my car. I stopped when I noticed a white van pulling up in front of the lodge.
The tree that I was standing behind blocked the field of view of the man getting out of the vehicle. From what I could see, he was older. Patchy white hair made up his head. He opened the back doors to the van and retrieved a large black bag. He had also taken out a mask, that of a shark. He put it on.
Could you have my sister? The answer was more than likely yes. I felt a strange sense of fear and isolation. Whatever this was, I wasn't supposed to be seeing it. He retrieved a large axe from the back of his vehicle. The cicadas persisted, creating the only source of sound within the deep woods.
I pulled up my phone and snapped a picture, then retreated to the car. I entered Laura's vehicle and immediately locked the doors. I opened up my phone to look at the images. I passively looked at the photo of the limbs. When I closely examined the photo of the man wearing the shark mask, my heart sank into my stomach.
He was looking at the camera.
He was looking at me.
I took a second to peek out of the car windows into the dark forest. He could have been anywhere? Uneasily I put the car into drive. I sped out of the area. I held onto the hope that wherever my sister was - no harm had befell her.
Laura
The room's red light had become nearly unbearable, but it was no worse than the situation I was in. The cellar door came open with a thud. The man with the shark mask came down bearing two items in hand. I had stopped trying to scream, hoping at that point my death would come quickly. He was carrying what looked like a large scrapbook in one hand, and a log in the other. His axe was nestled in between his forearm and rib cage. He tossed the scrapbook on a nearby table. He looked at me.
"Read that, I find you'll come to learn a lot about me," He said in his slow, eerie way of speaking. He put the log down standing up. I watched as he raised the axe high above his head. He slammed it down with force. The axe came down and split the log in two, shards of splinters flew everywhere. The hit was that of raw power, I could tell he used that axe for a living, and not just to chop wood. The thought shot a sickness to my stomach.
"Let that be a lesson," The Shark said. "I want you to read the - "
"How the fuck am I supposed to read it if I'm chained to a wall?!" I snapped.
"Silence," he demanded, calm. He walked over to me and retrieved a key from the pocket of his black cargo pants. He undid my lock, I heard it come open with a click.
I could probably tackle him. I'll get out of here if I'm lucky. I knew that wouldn't work. He had done this before on three separate occasions, the other three had probably tried to do the same thing?
He stepped back, facing me, axe in hand. "In an hour, the cellar door will come open. Then you will be free to leave. In the meantime, will you please read that book?" The
Shark pointed to the scrapbook.
I nodded my head in agreement.
"You will find that I am? Becoming. I am prone to a great transformation, that of which no other human can come to rival. I am a god in my red waters. After all, I was birthed from them. You'll come to find out soon enough. When the time comes, you might want to leave before I get hungry." The Shark explained. Axe in hand he exited the cellar. I heard the lock click as he shut the cellar doors. The clock for one hour promptly started.
I got up, the joints in my legs popped as I did so. The room's light was harsh, unbearably so. It felt like my eyes were irreversibly strained. I pressed on regardless. I approached the table and picked up the scrapbook, it was labeled: Family Memories in big block letters, something that a child would use by design. I flipped through the pages. A happy-looking kid with small baby teeth smiling ear to ear in every picture, accompanied by his family. There was nothing notable so I continued to flip. Then, I came upon a section that deviated in tone from the rest of the book. Family portraits became newspaper clippings, and the shadow of tragedy began to dawn on me.
Sixty years prior, the date was marked in the nineteen fifties, a young boy went on a ride with his family on his father's vessel. The boat had ended up cap-seizing due to harsh weather conditions and waves while out at sea, leaving the family stranded in the Pacific's waters.
I continued to read as the articles went from the story to direct reports.
Breaking news! A grizzly discovery leaves a family devastated in ruin: A young boy was left in a sea of red water, surrounded by the dismembered body parts of his mother and father. It is suspected that the cause of such unfathomable horror came from the species of shark, known as the Great White. The fishermen who found the boy believed that when the family had become frantic, they began to thrash around, attracting the bloodthirsty creatures. Unfortunately, all but one was spared. The boy was left an orphan.
I took my eyes off of the rustic newspaper to look at a posted clipping of a young woman. I could only assume it was the boy's mother. She looked just like me and the rest of the missing girls.
After what felt like hours of gathering my thoughts and planning my escape, I knew the hour had been up when I heard the lock click. I was free, but as for my safety, I wasn't so sure. I couldn't stop racking my brain around the article. They were killed because they were panicking, that's what attracted the sharks. He was leaving me hints, clever clues that would aid me in the sick game that he had conducted. When I eventually ran through the door, I would stir up the water, and that's when he would strike.
You might wanna leave before I get hungry. His words rang in my head like death rattles. He would kill me if I stayed here regardless. I weighed my options on a morbid scale as I considered the possibilities. It looked bleak, an exit from this unbearable situation seemed unattainable. I put a hand on my forehead and closed my eyes. I wanted to see my brother again, desperately, more than anything. Even just for one last time, he didn't deserve to be left alone. I built up what little courage there was to mentally scavenge, picked up the scrapbook, and exited the cellar.
It took my eyes a while to adjust, and fresh air had never seemed so alien to me. In the time that it took for my eyes to get used to a sight that wasn't photographic red, I hadn't heard any rushing footsteps. A good sign indeed. I studied my surroundings, woods on either side from where I stood, the darkness of the night was only disturbed by the moon's subtle illumination. I looked to my right, nestled snugly into an alcove of the lodge was an ice chest. Curiosity got the better of me, I opened it and immediately gasped.
Trophies! I thought. The limbs of past victims acted as a constant reminder, a dark reflection of the past.
If I had to escape at any time - if I had any chance - it would've been then. I threw the scrapbook high into the air in the opposite direction from me. It landed with a thud, and I took off in the other direction.
I ran as fast as I could through the dense trees, only sparing the seconds necessary to look back and see if my diversion had worked. What I saw gave me both adrenaline and a feeling of illness that was partly debilitating. The Shark had gone to inspect the scrapbook - which bought me some time - but he had noticed me. He chased after me, axe in hand. A whimper escaped me at the realization of this. At that moment I had truly known what it felt like to be prey, that thought both equally sickened and disturbed me. As I ran I felt and heard everything. The cicadas, the blood rushing in my ears, my heartbeat - the crackle of leaves and branches beneath me. And of course, the gaining footsteps of The Shark behind me?
Then I saw a light, high illumination brought on by a flashlight that screamed: Safety!
I screamed a cry for help and the searchlight directed itself to me. My breath picked up as I was overstimulated with hope, though as it turned out, the hope I felt turned out to be a debilitating con. Getting ahead of myself in a feeling of being safe at last, I tripped. Half debris on the ground and half stupidity.
"Shit," I muttered as I started to crawl in an attempt to get up. The crashing footsteps of my oppressor reached me and I turned around on my back.
Illuminated by the searchlight, I saw The Shark - in full sprint - raise the axe above his head. In a split second, I saw a past vision of him bringing it down on the log from before, I closed my eyes. As The Shark brought the axe down onto the log in my vision of anticipation, a deafening gunshot rang out. My eyes snapped open. I was met with the sight of police officers running past me to inspect the body on the ground. I got up on my elbows and looked at the body. The man in the shark mask had a bullet hole in his chest.
"Laura?" A voice came from behind me.
I got up and turned around, there I was met with the sight of my brother. "Oh my god," I said as tears left my eyes. "I thought I was never going to see you again." I said in a tonal mixture of both laughing and crying.
My brother and I ran up to each other and embraced. It felt as though time had come to a halt. The scattered chatter of police, the rustling of the winds, and the faint echo of a promise made to me by my mom: Always be there for your bother, it's a scary world out there.