Spawn Of The Deep

by Michael Bray

  “See?” he said, chewing more peanuts. “I could have stuck a knife up through your ribcage right there. Punctured your heart. I’d have been away and through the crowd before you hit the ground. Believe me, he doesn’t want you dead.”

  “Well, I’m sure as hell he doesn’t just want to catch up like old friends. Because of me his boat was impounded. Two of his men were sent to prison, not to mention the investigations he had to deflect. Do you think I’m stupid enough to go there and face him after that?”

  The peanut-eating Italian shrugged. “Well, that’s up to you. In my experience, not going to face him usually means a worse outcome. I suppose we’ll see.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “What I mean is you have until tomorrow to show your face there. If not, I’ll be back, and believe me, you don’t want to be seeing me again.”

  “Why not?” Greg asked.

  “Because next time our meeting won’t be as civil.”

  “That sounds like a threat.”

  “Oh it is,” the Italian said, sliding off his seat and sending another faint aroma of cheap aftershave Greg’s way. “You should consider it as one. Go see Victor. Trust me, the other way will end badly. Maybe I’ll see you around, pal.”

  The Italian walked away, leaving Greg to his drink. He stared at the empty whisky glass, toying with ordering another, but he didn’t feel much like drinking anymore. His heart felt as if it were beating in his throat rather than his rib cage and his stomach was in knots. As much as he liked to think it was just a case of idle threats, he knew full well that the Italian was right. He couldn’t avoid Victor. His reach was too long, his network of contacts too deep to evade. The longer he left it, he knew the worse it would be. For as much as he had nothing to live for, he wasn’t overly keen on experiencing a slow, painful death. He decided, for better or worse, he would go to Victor Mallone and see what it was that he wanted.

  CHAPTER FIVE

  THE THRILL SEEKER

  10 miles off the coast of Kona Hawaii

  South Pacific Ocean

  Matthew Ellis-Vaughn stood on deck, draining his fourth beer of the day. It was a little after eleven in the morning and he already had a decent beer buzz going. The fifty six year old was bare-chested, his overweight body tanned from three weeks of Hawaiian sunshine. He squinted at the sky which was a beautiful pastel blue and contrasted magnificently with the ocean. Running a hand through his silver hair, he took a deep breath and thought about starting on another beer. It was paradise.

  “Beautiful day again, Matty boy.”

  Vaughn turned to his friend, Chris, accepting the cold beer he handed over. “It sure as shit is, pal. I bet you ain’t seen weather like this before.”

  Chris shrugged, adjusting his designer glasses and enjoying the breeze on his face as the boat cut through the pristine ocean.

  Like Vaughn, Christopher Shelby worked as a partner at their law firm, VSP, which stood for Vaughn, Shelby & Price. The latter of which hadn’t been able to join them due to ill health, leaving Vaughn and Shelby to reap the rewards of the trip which they were writing off as a business expense anyway.

  Ten years Vaughn’s junior, Shelby was in good shape for his age. His body hadn’t yet begun to sag or bloat, and his hair was still its natural colour. Both rich men, they had long since forgotten how the poorer half lived, and because of it had become both obnoxious and rude.

  The vessel they had hired, The Thrill Seeker, was a thirty-five-foot fishing boat run out of Kona. With a pale blue hull and white upper decks, the boat had been chartered by VSP for the day, and the two company partners were hopeful of catching some marlin, the bigger the better.

  The boat’s captain, a dark-skinned, black-haired man called Moki glanced at the pair from the drivers console on the upper deck and allowed himself a wry smile. He had seen their type before, businessmen with big wallets and little dicks, determined to do whatever they could to prove themselves as men. In this instance, it was to see which of them could catch the bigger fish, no doubt something that would be the source of much laughter when they both returned, tanned and just as arrogant, to New York, or Chicago, or wherever the hell they came from. He squinted up at the sun, which stared back at him. It was going to be a long day.

  II

  Drawn to the area by the network of caves and volcanic rock formations on the seabed which were perfect for ambushing their prey, the three creatures sliced through the temperate waters, the larger and most dominant of them in the lead, its siblings at its rear. They had been following the vibrations given off by the Thrill Seeker for the last two hours, but couldn’t lure it in to follow them. Confused by their potential prey’s insistence on keeping close to the surface, the three creatures had taken turns in cautiously approaching, coming within feet of the hull of the boat as it sliced obliviously through the ocean. To the creatures, the size of the vessel was consistent with many of the whales they considered their primary food source, which was enough to keep them interested in pursuing the peculiar signal further. Keeping their distance, they continued to follow.

  III

  On deck, Vaughn and Shelby continued to drink and enjoy the Hawaiian sun, oblivious to the danger which lurked beneath the surface.

  “Hey Chris, why don’t we see if we can catch us something big to put on the office wall?” Vaughn slurred, the heat and alcohol making for a potent combination.

  “Why the hell not? That’s why we came here,” Shelby replied. He staggered towards the covered deck and banged a fist on the roof. “Hey, boatman, stop here. We want to catch some fish.”

  “This isn’t a good place to catch fish. The water here is too deep. Better off in the shallows,” Moki said, yelling to be heard over the thrum of the engine.

  “Nah, this will do fine. Stop here,” Vaughn slurred, almost losing his balance and falling overboard.

  “This isn’t the best place to—”

  “Stop the damn boat here. We’re paying for this trip, aren’t we?”

  Moki slowed the boat, bringing it to a stop and letting the ebb and flow of the ocean carry it. He turned to his two customers, wishing he could call them assholes and throw them overboard. Instead he watched them, eyes dark and neutral.

  “Alright,” Vaughn said, grabbing at one of the fishing rods hung over the back of the boat on his second attempt. “Let’s see if we can catch something shall we? Maybe something I can hang on my office wall.”

  He looked over his shoulder at Shelby, who was on his way back with more beer.

  “Gimme that bait box,” Vaughn slurred, stifling a stale burp.

  Moki watched in resigned fascination as the two men struggled to bait their lines. He knew these waters well enough to know that they didn’t have a hope of catching anything. Not only was the water was too deep, the bait was the wrong type to catch the kind of fish that was big enough to be worth hanging on a wall. He checked his watch, wondering if he should make another attempt to talk sense into the pair, then, realizing they were unlikely to have any interest in anything he had to say, decided to leave well enough alone. After all, it was their own money they were wasting. If they wanted to waste their time in the sun, it was up to them. He had already been paid, and was happy to watch them struggle if they were so determined not to follow his advice. He watched as they somehow cast their lines into the ocean without getting them tangled, then settled in for the long wait to come until they realized nothing was going to bite.

  IV

  The three creatures circled close to the sea floor, agitated by the lack of motion from their potential prey. This was behavior they were unfamiliar with, and saw the sudden cessation in motion as a challenge. The larger of the creatures began to drift towards the surface, prepared to meet this new potential threat head on.

  V

  Vaughn squinted, sure he had seen something flash past the boat beyond the glare of the sun on the water. He lifted his Armani sunglasses, propping them on his head. “You see that, Chris?”
>
  “You got a fish?” his friend slurred.

  “No, I might have seen somethin’ though.”

  “What?”

  “Whale maybe, or a shark.”

  “How good would that look hanging on the boardroom wall?” Shelby said, giving Vaughn a goofy grin.

  “Screw the boardroom, that son of a bitch would be going in my office at home.”

  He turned towards Moki. “Hey boatman, you get many sharks around here?”

  Moki set down his phone, giving the pair his attention. “Around here we call them Mano. To answer your question, we have around forty different species in these waters.”

  “Any that might be a green or brown?” Vaughn asked, squinting, forgetting his three hundred dollar sunglasses were perched on his head.

  “Why? You think you see something out there?”

  “Maybe.”

  Moki shrugged. “It’s possible. Like I said, the water here is deep. Maybe you saw a tiger or Galapagos Shark.”

  “They dangerous?” Shelby piped up.

  “I wouldn’t put my feet in the water,” Moki said, fighting away the urge to grin and enjoying watching them squirm.

  “Can we catch one?” Shelby blurted, glancing at Vaughn.

  To Moki’s surprise, Vaughn answered for him.

  “No, it was too big, Chris. Bigger than the boat.”

  “I think you’re mistaken,” Moki said. “This boat is almost forty feet. Tiger sharks grow to maybe, fourteen tops.”

  “I know what I saw,” Vaughn snapped.

  “Maybe you saw wrong, Haole,” Moki replied, looking out over the ocean. “I know these waters, and I can promise you, there ain’t nothin’ that big out there.”

  “Look, I don’t think—”

  The hull of the boat exploded out of the water, hit from below by the creature. Vaughn and Shelby were tossed overboard, Moki thrown from his seat and into the driver’s console, the wind knocked out of him. He thought he had hit a hidden reef or an uncharted rock outcrop, then remembered that the boat wasn’t in gear or moving. Whatever it was had hit them. He clambered to his feet, clutching his ribs and trying to figure out what was going on. The boat began to move, pushed sideways through the ocean by the larger of the creatures, its mottled green-brown body visible from Moki’s elevated position in the crystal clear waters. He could see well enough that it was no shark, and as Vaughn had rightly claimed, it was much bigger than the boat.

  Even though he had spent almost all of his life on the water in some form or another, he had never seen anything like the creature below him. Its body was almost like that of a squid, its head wide and thick, tapering down to a fluke with smaller fins running alongside it. Two dorsal flippers, much like that of a whale propelled the creature forward, behind which, an array of tentacles, some as thick as tree roots bobbed in the water. It was some kind of abomination of nature, an amalgamation of whale and squid. As Moki watched, two more of its kind arrived, and began circling below the stranded passengers as the boat was pushed further away from them, isolating them from safety.

  VI

  The first thought that came to Vaughn was how cold the water was despite the heat of the day. He kicked to stay afloat, confused as to what was happening. He glanced towards the boat, confused to see it moving away from him. At first, he thought the Hawaiian was sailing away from them, and then he realized that not only was it moving sideways, it was being pushed.He felt something move beneath him, a current tugging at his feet. Initially, he thought it was the wake of the boat’s movement, then he remembered what he thought he had seen streaking under the surface just before they were tossed overboard. He turned towards Shelby, intending to ask him what the hell had happened, but his friend was already swimming, arms pushing through the water as he tried to get away from whatever had spooked him. Fascinated, Vaughn watched, curious as to what was going to happen. Whatever he had felt tugging at his feet as it passed now moved under him again, this time towards Shelby. He treaded water, watching in morbid fascination. He saw the streak of colour pass under him, and keep going. Vaughn glanced towards his friend, knowing what was to come. Knowing he was about to see a man die. A hump came out of the water, a slick, ridged back which obstructed his view of his friend. Vaughn watched as it retreated back beneath the waves.

  His friend was gone.

  There had been no scream. No blood spewing into the water like in the movies. Just gone. Silence. Remembering a documentary he had seen on sharks, he stopped kicking, knowing that they were attracted to irregular splashes, often mistaking a swimming human for a fish in distress. He hovered there, keeping his motion to a minimum; he started to shiver, more from shock than cold. He could feel the current made by whatever lurked beneath him pulling him gently away from the flow of the ocean, then subsiding, as if he was being toyed with. He kept as still as possible, trying to recall what to do, trying to recall the documentary whilst ignoring the clips it had shown of surfers with huge bites taken out of their legs, or skin flayed away from bone.

  However, this was no shark. This was a different predator altogether, and this time when it came and took him, unlike his friend, there was blood.

  VII

  Moki saw it all from his vantage point. He wasn’t sure what they were, but he saw it take the two men, and knew that he would be next. Adrenaline and fear spurred him into action, and he fired up the engines, driving at full speed, heading to the shallows where he prayed he would be safe from whatever demons existed in the waters. His father used to tell him stories as a boy, stories of immense beasts which lived in the depths of the ocean. Never had he believed it to be true. At least, not until now. The creatures gave chase, keeping pace with the boat until the waters became too shallow for them to continue their pursuit. Even then, Moki didn’t slow until he was close to the dock. By then, he was babbling, talking to the locals about demons from the deep and telling them to call the police. He fell to his knees on the dock and looked out over the crystal blue waters. There was death out there.

  CHAPTER SIX

  6721WANDEMERE ROAD

  Malibu, California

  “Nice place,” Rainwater said, looking out of the window at the blue line of Pacific Ocean visible from the two story house.

  “Thanks,” Jade said, offering Rainwater and Mackay a drink.

  “You rich, lassie?” Ross asked as she handed him his drink.

  “I wish. This was my sister’s place. She left it to me.”

  Rainwater turned away from the gorgeous view, and turned his attention to the table, which was covered with newspaper cuttings and research notes. “So, how much do you know about this Decker guy?”

  “It’s pretty much all here on the table. Millionaire by the time he was thirty, now estimated to be worth between three and four billion dollars.”

  Ross whistled through his teeth. “That’s a lot o’ money for one man.”

  “Yeah, well however much he has he’s spending it like crazy. For the last couple of years he’s been pouring millions into some undisclosed project. Here, take a look at this.” She handed Rainwater a folder filled with scanned documents.

  “These are receipts. Where did you get them?”

  “Never mind that, look at what they’re for.”

  Rainwater skimmed through the papers, then looked back at Jade. “I don’t know what I’m supposed to be seeing here.”

  She took the folder from him and spread out the papers on the table. “Look at this. Construction materials, specifically underwater construction materials. This company here specializes in underwater construction. There are invoices from them to Decker for over three hundred million dollars.”

  Rainwater looked at the documents, then back at Jade. “Where the hell did you get all this stuff?”

  “Friend of a friend. Probably best you don’t know any more than that. The point is he’s up to something that he doesn’t want people to know about.”

  “What does this have to do with these creatures?�
� Ross asked, sitting at the table.

  “Apparently, there was meeting in Dubai between Decker and a whole bunch of people. Rich people. I don’t know the specifics but from the information I have it’s something to do with these creatures. The word is he has some.”

  “What do you mean he has some? These aren’t goldfish. You can’t just go out and catch them,” Rainwater snapped.

  “Look, I can only tell you what I’ve heard. My suspicion is he’s looking to sell to the highest bidder.”

  “Are you some sort of secret agent, lass?” Ross asked.

  Jade laughed. “No, I’m not a spy. I’m a journalist, or at least, that’s what I do as hobby. Freelance for the most part. This has my interest though. Sharing my sister’s name helps, which I’m not afraid to use to put pressure on contacts when I need something.”

  “She was a good person,” Rainwater said quietly.

  “She was a bitch towards the end,” Jade replied, frowning and joining the two of them at the table. “We used to get along great until the fame went to her head. We barely spoke during the last year of her life. I ask myself sometimes if I regret it, you know, not making contact with her, and then I remember what she did. Some of the things she said.”

  “She was a good person.” Rainwater said, trying not to draw too much on the memories he had long since buried. “She just… didn’t cope with the pressure of everything that happened too well. The only way she could handle it was to push people away and be by herself.” He looked from Jade to Ross, both of them so similar to their respective siblings that he felt as if he was somehow sharing the table with the dead.