Fangtooth

Chapter 28

Jen squealed. Without even thinking, Jack grabbed her by the shoulder and pulled her out of the way so that all that lay between him and the creature was empty deck.

The creature bounded along on its stubby legs, its claw-tipped hands raking the air.

Jack knew he had to act quickly, so he crouched down and grabbed the nearest thing at hand, a small red buoy attached to a piece of rope. Standing up straight, he swung it around his head and released it at the creature. But he was no David, and this was no Goliath, and having misjudged the length of rope to let out, the buoy sailed past the creature. Jack cursed under his breath, but the buoy continued in a semi arc until the rope hit the creature’s body, wrapping around the creature’s torso, and entangling the beast in the rope.

A grin cracked Jack’s face as the entangled creature stumbled and fell to the deck.

But his joy was short-lived as the monster severed the rope with its sharp claws. The buoy rolled away and clattered into the side of the boat, next to where Rocky lay motionless. The creature pushed itself back to its feet, opened its mouth and produced a deep-throated roar.

The sound sent a shiver down Jack’s spine. He stood rooted to the spot, trembling. Was this nightmare never going to end?

Movement behind the creature caught Jack’s eye, and he stared wide-eyed as Zander appeared, carrying a shotgun.

“This is my boat, and I didn’t invite you on board,” Zander growled through gritted teeth. The creature turned, but before it could respond, Zander opened fire, a flower of flame bursting from the barrel. Lead shot pierced the creature’s abdomen, and it let out a high-pitched squeal that filled the air. It raked its claws in the air, and its feet skittered across the deck as it staggered back, tumbling over the side and into the water.

A door burst open beneath the wheelhouse and a giant ginger-haired man wearing blue overalls covered in oil rushed out onto the deck. “What’s all the shooting about?” he shouted.

Zander turned towards the man. “Brad, you’d better take a look for yourself.” He pointed towards the side of the boat.

Brad strode across, braced his hands on the rail and stared down. “Jesus H. Christ.”

Jack followed and looked down at the sea, shocked to see the water bubble as a score of creatures attacked the fallen creature. Bloodstained froth floated on the surface, giving some indication of the ghastly feasting taking place.

“That’s the freakiest shit I’ve ever seen,” Brad said. “What the hell are they?”

Sickened, Jack turned to see Jen staggering towards him. He shook his head and ushered her away. “Believe me, you don’t want to look,” he said as he led her to the steps to the wheelhouse, where he sat her down.

He heard gunfire and looked back to see Zander standing with his feet planted, firing indiscriminately into the water. When Zander turned, his expression was resolute.

“I’ve seen hundreds of things dredged up from the depths in my time, but what the blazes was that?” he bellowed.

Jack swallowed to clear his throat. “God knows,” he said, “but we should get out of here.”

“It’s the Devil’s work,” Brad said, making the sign of a cross across his broad chest.

Zander stood with the gun resting against his shoulder, seemingly oblivious to the movement of the boat. He glared at Jack. “And since when did you become skipper?”

Despite Zander’s threatening presence, Jack didn’t waver. “Didn’t you see what those things just did? Jesus Christ, we can’t stay here. There are hundreds of them in the water. We’ve got to warn people.”

“Yes,” Jen said, “we’ve got to get the hell out of here.”

Zander narrowed his eyes. “I’ve never run from anything in my life.”

“They have a point, Skipper,” Brad said.

“We can’t stay here,” Jen squealed.

“Listen, just drop us off, then you can do anything you like,” Jack said.

After a moment, Zander nodded. “Okay, but I think you’d better help him.” He pointed at Rocky who sat rubbing his head, then made his way towards the wheelhouse with Brad shadowing him.

Zander opened up the throttle, turned the wheel and set a course for the harbour. He watched the kids on deck as they helped Rocky to his feet. He had to give it to that lad, Jack, he had balls standing up to him like that.

In the glare of the spotlights above the wheelhouse, he saw movement in the water, the residual splash of things diving below the surface to hide in the depths.

“Whatever the hell they are, there’s loads of them,” Brad said.

Zander nodded. Like he had said to the kid, he had seen many strange things brought up in the nets from the deep, things with names just as horrific, such as black dragonfish, humpback black devil and hammerjaw, but these, whatever they were, they were like nothing he had seen before.

The vessel travelled along at an average speed of fifteen knots, the quickest Zander dared push it. He followed the coast, spotting the odd house light in the distance on the shore and the cliffs above, the people in their homes unaware of the threat lurking in the waters near their property.

The door to the wheelhouse banged open and Jen staggered in, followed by Rocky and Jack.

“Take a seat, but just make sure you don’t get in my way,” Zander said. “And whatever you do, don’t fucking touch anything!”

Although he felt sure of himself, Zander wasn’t stupid. He knew this state of affairs was bigger than he could handle on his own. As he grabbed the microphone to radio in the situation, he could tell this was going to be a long night.