“I still think you require the coastguard in this situation.”
“You don’t understand.”
“Calm down, and tell me again what the problem is.”
“Okay, there are two teenagers trapped in the cliffs.” She took a breath, couldn’t think straight. “They’re not really trapped… well they are—”
Before Erin had a chance to say anything else, Bruce grabbed the phone from her. “It’s my son, goddamn it, and he’s trapped by these monsters in the sea. Hello, of course I’m not joking. Do you think I’d joke about something…hello. Hello.” He shook his head and closed his eyes. “She cut me off.”
Erin took her phone back, “You should have left it to me.”
“Can someone please tell me what’s going on,” Duncan said.
Erin pointed towards the village. “First I think we’d better get as far away from here as we can.”
Bruce shook his head. “I can’t leave my son down there.”
“Where’s Jen?” Sara piped up.
Erin felt like screaming. “Bruce, you’ve just seen what’s down there. The tide’s at its highest, so your son’s safe for now where he is. So’s Jen. But we’re not.”
Bruce looked pensive. “You’re sure he’ll be safe?”
“If the creature hasn’t gotten him yet, then it’s unlikely it will get him now. The rocks were too steep, and by the looks of it, the creature wasn’t able to climb very well. Now come on, we’ve got to get out of here and get help.”
“We’ll pick up my car on the way. It’ll be faster,” Bruce said.
Without waiting to argue anymore, Erin started jogging back towards the village. After a moment, she heard the others following behind, and she breathed a sigh of relief. She didn’t want to be on her own.
Erin burst through the doors of the bar. Graham looked up and scrutinized her with his one good eye. The next minute, Bruce, Duncan and Sara piled in behind her.
“Pour me… a stiff… brandy,” Duncan said, wheezing for breath as he leaned against the bar, head down.
“You look like you’ve seen a ghost,” Graham said to Erin. “Duncan, what’s going on?”
Erin wiped sweat from her brow. “Not a ghost, a monster.”
Graham scowled. “Duncan, what’s this all about?”
Duncan looked up, his cheeks inflamed. He took the brandy and downed it in one. “I don’t know. I really don’t.”
Erin looked back at Bruce. He seemed hardly winded by the exertion prior to driving into the village. Behind him, Sara collapsed in a chair by the door. There was no one else in the bar, which she found disconcerting. More people would have calmed her fears, providing security in numbers.
“We need to get help,” Bruce said. “It’s a waste of time calling the police again.”
“Police!” Graham said. “Can someone please tell me what’s happened?”
“It’s my son—”
“And Jen,” Sara said.
“They’re trapped in the rocks by this… this creature.” Bruce held his hands up to ward off any questions. “I don’t know what it is.”
“I told you, it’s an Anoplogaster cornuta,” Erin said.
Duncan turned and scowled. “A what?”
“Anoplogaster cornuta. Otherwise known as Fangtooth. It’s a deep sea creature.”
“That’s not like any deep sea creature I’ve ever seen,” Bruce said.
Erin nodded. “They normally grow to the size of your hand, but something’s made that one mutate.”
“And what could do that?”
Erin shrugged. “There could be any number of reasons. Natural mutation, overfishing, chemicals being dumped into the ocean.”
Bruce shook his head. “So why haven’t they been spotted before?”
“I can’t say exactly, but as they’re a deep sea fish they could have gone unnoticed for years. We know more about space than we do about what’s in the ocean. New species are being discovered all the time.”
“So why have they come ashore now?” Duncan asked.
Erin looked at everyone in the room in turn. “I don’t know. There always has to be a first time.”
“Do you think it’s an isolated incident?” Bruce asked.
Erin pursed her lips. “I highly doubt it. But one thing’s for certain—”
Bruce swallowed.
“—we’re no longer at the top of the food chain.”
Chapter 27
Jen’s bottom lip trembled and she shivered. “Where’ve they gone?” she whispered.
She was trying hard not to cry, but Jack could see that she was on the verge of breaking down. A monster had chased her, and she had discovered that her grandmother was a nutcase, so was it any wonder?
Jack noticed Lillian had scuttled away when his dad turned up. He wondered where she had gone; wondered where the monster had gone too. He hadn’t seen it since it scurried into the rocks after his dad. He hoped his old man was all right.
He sat at the edge of the recess. Open to the elements, it was cold and sea spray kept soaking them whenever a wave rolled in, but it was a difficult climb, which kept the creature out.
Jen slouched in the rear of the recess, and Jack shuffled back and snuggled up next to her, trying to keep each other warm. The moon was bright enough to enable him to see down to the water, and he kept his eyes alert for any sign of the creature.
“They’re going to leave us here, aren’t they,” Jen said.
Jack turned and shook his head. “Of course they’re not. But you saw that thing, they had to get away.”
Jen sniffled and wiped her eyes with the back of her hands. “We’re going to die, and it’s all my gran’s fault. What was she thinking? I know she’s a little batty at times, but this…”
Jack squeezed Jen’s shoulder. “It’s going to be okay, trust me.”
Jen looked at him with big, moist eyes, and without even thinking what he was doing, Jack kissed her quickly on the lips. A jumble of thoughts ran through his head as he turned away, and he could feel his cheeks burning. What a dumb ass stupid thing to do. Why did he have to go and do that?
He felt Jen’s hand touch his cheek, and he flinched, thought perhaps she was going to slap him or swear or something, so he wasn’t prepared when she turned his head towards hers and kissed him back. The kiss didn’t last long, but it was long enough to send a delicious shiver down his spine.
When their lips parted, there was an embarrassing silence, then Jack took Jen’s hand in his and squeezed.
“I’m sure someone will come for us soon,” he said.
Jen nodded and pursed her lips. “They’d better. I don’t think my hair can take much more of this.” She ran her hand through her sodden locks and smiled.
Jack grinned back.
Then he settled against the wall with his arm around her shoulder, offering the comfort of his embrace.
After a moment, a noise caught his attention, and he turned and stared across the expanse of water to see a boat approaching, its bow slicing through the waves like a cleaver leaving a foaming trail in its wake. Bright lights played across the surface of the water.
“Jen, look,” he said, “someone’s come to rescue us.”
Jen sat up and a look of hope spread across her face. She smiled at Jack. “You were right.”
“I always am.”
She punched his arm playfully.
The boat drew closer, and Jack could see someone standing on deck. It took him a moment to realise that it was Rocky–and that the figure at the wheel was Zander.
“Oh shit,” he said.
Jen frowned. “What is it?”
“Zander and Rocky.”
“I don’t care who it is as long as they’re here to rescue us.”
Jack wasn’t so sure that that was what they were here for. He had a sinking feeling, as though his heart had taken an express elevator down to his stomach.