Inky Deep

The ocean was my home for me. The briny deep was what interested me most, and It was always my dream to explore all of it. Yes, of course, as a diver you hear stories of viscious, immense creatures no one could prove. Like prehistoric monster-sharks, or gargantuan squid with tentacles as large as city buildings.

No, that did not discourage me a bit.

It was eerie, however; the fact that each time I turned, land was in the vast distance. Miles of water fading to an inky blackness was beneath my feet, and I was alone with just my brother, the captain.

I had just come up from a dive. I swam through swarms of pelagic fish, fish who swam neither at the bottom nor the surface. In my travels, I met a humpback whale and her young calf, and I met a shark, deterred by my suit and oxygen tank.

As I recorded my odyssey in my journal, the boat began to rock. Odd, the water was as still as glass just a minute ago. It would pass, I convinced myself. I began to grow rather supicious when the waves got larger and the rocking became more intense.

I stood and put my journal on the seat. I paced to the starboard side and peeked over the side to see nothing but a deep blue. I sat back down as the water calmed, only for it to rise back up with an intensity that brought water into the boat.

"Mark?" I asked as I stumbled toward the captain's quarters. No reply. I called his name again, a bit louder, and got no response in return. My skin grew warm and I turned the knob slowly, opening the door to the normal quarters with a still helm and no captain. I scuttled back. "Mark!" I called as loud as I could.

We had one set of gear-he couldn't have dived. He wouldn't have swam. He knows of sharks. So where was he? I paced to the port side and once again peered over. A pink, slimy tentacle inched up the side of the boat, growing thicker as it creeped up the hull. A second one joined it to the left, then the right. It's head-sized cups were lined in rotating teeth as sharp as blades and as large as my hand. Shadows crawled and surrounded me, slime and brine dripping onto my skin. A suction cup grasped my back, the teeth sinking into my flesh and releasing hot, stinging liquid into my tissue. I attempted to scream, but nothing moved. Paralyzer venom. I could only watch through fading vision, the gargantuan squid I've heard so much about. And I could still only watch as I neared it's beak, and heard a crack as my bones broke under It's strength.

Then, nothing.