Troubled Waters

December 18th, 2011

The moonlight shone onto the waters of the Jaws Ride, a famous water ride at The Universal Studios Theme Park. The water rippled slightly and the branches from the nearby trees softly swayed in the cool breeze. Across from the waters was a shack, which contained one of the security rooms. From there, security guards watched from cameras to keep an eye on the ride and the area around. Inside of that room, two guards watched from the cameras; Darren Wilkinson and Phillip Taylor.

Phillip slowly scanned the screens, taking a sip from his coffee. He was a British immigrant who had flown to America in search of his American dream. His friend Darren was also an immigrant with the same nationality as his. As Phillip put down his coffee mug, he glanced up at the window and slowly looked around the area. He remembered watching the boat go by, passengers on board and seeing the look of excitement and terror on their faces when the huge dorsal fin rose from the waters. Phillip smiled, took another sip from his coffee and was about to say something to Darren, when, out of the corner of his eye, he saw something. He looked up and stared back at the area in front of him. For a moment, he could have sworn he saw something. Inside of the shadows, he could have sworn for a brief moment he saw two figures, slowly walking along the wooden walkways next to the buildings. He began to look closer, leaning towards the window.

“Hey Phil, you feeling alright?”

Phillip quickly turned around to see Darren, leaning towards him with a confused look in his eyes. Phillip chuckled and quickly replied:

Yeah, everything is all good. I just thought that I saw something… Probably just my eyes playing tricks on me.”

Darren nodded and went back to work, observing the screens. Phillip spun around on his office chair and got back to work. Resting his arm on the desk in front of him, he checked the time. 3:32AM. Only four hours to go until he could return to his home and get some well needed sleep. Then, coming from the boathouse, the two men heard a very loud splash and a bang. They immediately turned around and looked towards the boathouse. Phillip quickly looked down at the screens and immediately turned to the boathouse camera. Multiple cardboard boxes had fallen into the waters. Phillip turned to Darren and explained his theory on what happened:

“Those boxes must have been pushed in. They are attached to wires with connect to the ceiling. Either someone accidentally activated the rides systems or someone’s in there. What do you think Darren?”

Darren nodded:

“Yeah. Listen, I’m gonna go look around in the boathouse. Keep an eye on the cameras and keep your radio communicator on. See you in a little while…”

Darren got up, pulled out his flash-light and exited the shack. Phillip pulled out his radio communicator and placed it upon the desk. He started to flick through the cameras, quietly talking to himself.

“Boat dock? Nothing. Anything behind it? No. Barge area? Noth-”

Phillip paused. His eyes began to focus and widen. There, sitting on the barge was a black hooded man. His legs dangled over the water. Phillip slowly reached for the communicator, not taking his eyes off the screen for one second. His fingers touched the plastic device and he pulled the communicator towards him. As he did so, from the boy’s side, the huge animatronic shark leapt out of the water and bobbed on the water, its jaws hanging wide open. Phillip slowly pressed the button and spoke into the microphone:

“Hey Darren. There’s some guy sitting on the barge. The shark has been activated somehow. You might want to check him out.”

He placed the communicator down on the desk and waited for Darren to respond. As Phillip looked back to the screen, he noticed that the man had knelt down and had begun to pet the shark which still bobbed up and down on the water. The man slowly stood up straight and turned to look down at the waters. Phillip then heard the sound of Darren’s voice through his communicator:

“Hey Phil, I’m just arriving at the boathouse. There isn’t any signs of anyone entering the boathouse from the outside. I’ll try to check out that guy in a little while. Meanwhile, call the police and keep an eye on him.”

Phillip looked back to the screen. To his surprise and confusion, the man who once stood on the barge had disappeared along with the shark. As he looked closer, he noticed that the water was rippling softly.He thought to himself:

“What the hells going on? I need to ring the police!”

Phillip stood up and walked over to the phone. As soon as he picked it up, a blaring screech filled the room, making him throw the object at a nearby wall, causing it to shatter against the wall. The black pieces of plastic and the multi-coloured wires lay on the floor, scattered everywhere. Phillip, getting more and more worried, pulled out his phone and attempted to turn it on. To his dismay, the phone was out of charge.

Then a terrible thought entered Phillip’s mind. The black hooded man might have reached Darren and attacked him. Phillip quickly returned to the desk and changed the screen to the next camera view. The view changed to outside of the boathouse. Phillip remembered this area being where   the riders had “escaped” the shark and were fleeing the boathouse. As soon as the screen’s image changed, a burning curiosity brewed inside of Phillip. Standing on top on the wooden  walkways near the buildings, with his back facing the camera was a white hooded man. The man was holding a long black wire, torn in some areas. Slowly, the man turned around to face the camera. his head hung low. He began to tear away at the wire, strips of metal and miniature wires being revealed from within. Phillip then realised that must have been the phone wire. Frustrated, he slammed his hands on the desk and cursed:

“Goddamn! Better call Darren!”

He reached for the communicator and pulled it towards him. As he did so, the white hooded boy quickly turned and dove off the walkway, out of the camera’s line of sight. Phillip pushed the button and spoke:

“Darren, we have a problem. The phone wire has been cut and my phone’s out of charge. What’s worse is that another man, has torn the phone line. They might come for you, keep an eye out! This is an attack!”

Nearly a second after Phillip had spoke, Darren replied:

“Phil, I’m still at the boathouse, I can’t see anybody here. Listen, I’m going to call the cops on my… Hey, who the hell are-”

The connection cut off, leaving nothing but silence. Phillips eyes widened in fear. He called out nervously:

“Darren? Darren, can you hear me?! Darren!?”

There was nothing but silence for a few seconds. Eventually, Phillip dropped his communicator in disbelief. Eventually, Phillip plucked up the courage to change to the internal boathouse camera. As soon as he looked at the screen, his heart sank.

The two men he had seen from earlier were both there, standing on the walkway, staring down at a lifeless body, floating in the water amongst the cardboard boxes. Phillip recognised the body instantaneously. A single tear fell from his eye and dripped onto the wooden desk. He had lost Darren. Suddenly, the animatronic shark rose out of the water and rushed towards Darren’s body, dragging it away with his huge teeth. Phillip then stood up. He was determined to avenge Darren. Taking his flashl-ight and giving it a few swings, he left the shack and began to walk straight towards the boathouse.

The pitch black darkness of the night was slightly lit up by Phillip’s flash-light as he walked. Each footstep he took lead him close to extreme danger. Eventually after walking for a minute or two, Phillip faced the emergency exit of the boathouse. He then took a deep breath, looked around him, and entered the boathouse.

As he walked down the corridor, Phillip gave himself some words of encouragement:

“Alright Phillip, you can do this. They probably caught Darren off guard. You are older than them. You can beat them. Darren’s not going unavenged. You’ve got this…”

Finally, Phillip stood at the door which lead to the inside of the boathouse. Rooted to the spot, Phillip clenched his flashlight tightly and stared at the door, shaking. His stomach continuously flipped over and over again. Shuddering, Phillip took one last heavy breath, charged at the door and kicked the door wide open. As soon as he entered, he immediately turned to his right and instantly saw the two men, the black hooded man behind the white hooded man. Phillip tried to remain calm and look confident, but on the inside, he was terrified. As Phillip examined the boys further, he noticed how young they were as adults, nearly around the ages of 18 and 19. Then, something horrifying happened.

In a red flash, the boys then revealed their true identities to Phillip. Their gem like red eyes fixated upon Phillip and their twisted jagged red mouths turned into a crooked smile. Phillip staggered back, gasping in utter shock. Phillip then yelled at them:

“What in God’s name are you?!”

The black hooded boy slowly walked forwards, only stopping when he was lined up next to his companion. He then spoke:

“Pardon our unexpected entrance. My name is Callum and He’s my brother, Michael. In case you didn’t know, we’re killers, with a little bit more power than the average human being. Anything you want to say Michael?”

The white hooded boy nodded, and spoke:

“Come fight us Phil. See if you avenge your friend…