Water Child

After this morning's incident, Phoebe just wanted to cancel all her plans and stay at home. She didn't want to become one of the victims she saw on the television. A short story on weird fiction.

It was about eight in the morning when Phoebe, feeling weirdly full, heard the breaking news report, “Unidentified Man Found Dead at Lake Forpoino.” Phoebe gasped because the lake was only about a five-minute walk from her place. She loved walking to that lake when she was a kid, and even until today, with Michael. She got even more terrified when she had heard that the victim was found in more than one piece. The victim was mauled, torn apart, and some parts of the victim were nothing but bones left.

 

“Are you still down for later?” Phoebe’s friends texted, as she was finishing up her lunch. Phoebe was so immersed with the news about the guy who was killed that she almost forgot about her plans with her friends, and her date with Michael later. She rushed to get ready and met up with her friends in the coffee shop in the city.

 

“So, it’s going to be your seventh date with him now right?” Phoebe’s friend, Andrea asked as they were having coffee. Phoebe did not really like to talk about her dating life that much as she found that something that’s too private but her friends would always find a way to pester her just enough to get her to talk. “So tonight might finally be the night you guys, you know, huh,” Michelle said with a kind of smug look on her face just as Phoebe was finishing up her story. Just as soon as Michelle interrupted, Phoebe’s face turned red �" she didn’t want to admit it, but she thought so too.

 

Phoebe left her friends early so that she had enough time to get ready for her date with Michael. They originally agreed to meet by the lake for dinner but given the news report earlier that morning, they talked about having dinner at Phoebe’s place instead. The two met at around five, cooked a magnificent dinner, watched a movie, drank, talked to each other, danced, and then went to bed. They had an amazing time.

 

Next thing Phoebe knew, she was under water swimming deeper and deeper. She also found herself able to breathe down there. She was swimming towards a big dark figure in the distance. She did not know what or who the big dark figure was, but she kept swimming towards it, and as she did, it got even bigger. Phoebe started to get scared and tried swimming away, but it seemed like whatever she did, she could not get away. She was being sucked into the darkness. Phoebe continued to try and swim away until the dark figure finally spoke. “Stop struggling, my children.” The figure was so large that when it spoke, Phoebe did not see any movement. As the figure spoke, Phoebe gave up trying to swim away from the figure; instead, she tried to swim around it.

 

“The sacrifice was not enough,” the figure spoke again as Phoebe continued to swim around it. “I need more souls tonight. You will provide,” it continued. Phoebe kept swimming around the figure until the darkness parted right in front of her eyes. Bigger than the size of her whole body, she saw nothing but yellow and a dark circle in the middle �" it was the figure’s eye. “Enough!” it shouted and Phoebe found herself paralyzed underwater. “I have had enough of this. You will offer me a sacrifice and you will offer it to me now.” The eye of the figure zeroed in on Phoebe’s, the two looked eye to eye, and it continued, “go now, my children.”

 

She found herself awake in bed, sweaty and breathing heavily. Michael was still sleeping soundly beside her. It was still dark out, and when she checked the clock it was only three in the morning. She woke Michael up, and asked if he wanted to go for some late night swimming in the lake. He was easily convinced and the two went on their way, “you look really stunning for someone who just woke up,” Michael said. She just snickered continued to pull him towards the lake. The two undressed and jumped in the lake. They were swimming very close to each other and Michael could not stop staring into her eyes. “They look, different,” he continued, “have they always been yellow or something?” At that moment, Michael felt something grip on to his legs and pull him down.

 

Her legs were different, she grew an extra pair, and they were longer than usual. The bones seemed to have morphed underwater as they wrapped around Michael. Her torso stretched and, although it didn’t seem like it, she was almost twice the height of Michael. Her fingers stretched out and the nails sharpened, they were all black now. The most notable feature though was her face �" or lack of a face that is. It was a mystery how she could see, smell, or hear, because she had no eyes, nose, or ears. Her head shape was still normal, but the only feature there was one giant mouth.

 

She continued to hold Michael underwater, even while he was struggling and fighting for breathe. When he stopped squirming, her legs tightened its grip and broke a couple of bones, as it did she muttered, “The sacrifice is complete, Father Vodnici.” As she was swimming back to shore with the lifeless body, she hears a deep eerie voice coming from her head, “well done, children. Do as you wish with the body. I’ll keep in touch.” Last time she ate was last night. So when she got to shore, she opened her mouth, which was so big that her head tilted back when she fully opened her mouth, and began feasting on Michael’s body.

 

Phoebe woke up the next morning, feeling weirdly full again, and saw Michael was gone. She was devastated and thought he had just left late in the night. She texted her friends about him just leaving and they comforted her and said they’d be there for her during lunch. While she was preparing herself some breakfast, she couldn’t help but think how much of a jerk it was for Michael to have just disappeared, she really thought they could have had something. The sound of the news reporter broke her train of thought.

 

“Another man has been found dead again here at Lake Forpoino! He is still unidentifiable as whatever attacked him certainly did some work. It’s certainly a gruesome site over here, Amanda. Back to you!”

 

“Thank you for the report, Paul! This is the second tragic attack in two days, I advice all residents nearby to take extra care at all times. THIS JUST IN! We’ve received exclusive reports that this is an international phenomenon! There have been the same exact cases reported in all over the country and in different countries. More on the topic later, this is Amanda from News 41.”

Reviews

[matrixmark]

Great opening hook of a paragraph and what followed did not disappoint. When Phoebe was swimming I did feel the presence of the Dark figure. When the Dark figure spoke, he/she said few words but, the dialogue which you used was pretty cool - not too much or too little. Also it keeps the reader interested into what will the dark figure do next. The way in which the figure spoke was Freddy Krueger characteresque.

Hope you do produce more to this mystery piece, its an intresting set up and I for one am intrigued as to where it goes next.

Mark.