The Creature You Don't Know, Part 1

It’s a normal day in the transition from summer to fall, later September, early October. The sun is shining and despite a cold start to the day and the steadily shorter days characterized by darker mornings and earlier sunsets, midday is warm enough to necessitate air conditioning.

Tina wakes up at the usual time – 6AM, next to her boyfriend. It’s early enough that instead of getting up, she just snuggles in with him. The next alarm goes off, 6:15AM, ignore. Then, 6:30AM, and up to eat breakfast – red bean paste twist and plain yogurt – and back to bed for just a few minutes of cuddling. He gets up to shower and quickly leave for work, just in time for the meeting. Instead of getting up to shower, she falls asleep, and ends up taking a work from home day – grocery, laundry, and Zoom meetings. Since she’s a student, studying late into the night is more the normal routine than not.

Sleeping in is rare, but her body doesn’t allow her to wake up. The prior night’s workout and all day studying and work had taken it’s toll, alongside the back to back days similar to that one. The life of a graduate student was not glamourous – days and nights blending together, working at 2 or 4AM when she couldn’t sleep, and calls into the lab at all hours.

The anxiety Tina experienced kept her in bed, and later made her far more productive on her life tasks than school – grocery shopping and laundry were done while the sun was still strong. As she turned to her schoolwork, she thought to herself – “it’s Friday night, why don’t I have some fun.”

As she got ready for a night out, she reveled in the lifted weight she felt from her shoulders, knowing it’d be short lived. She headed out towards the lake they had all decided to gather at. Fire, and BBQ. It was up to her to build the fire. As the sun set, she felt a chill along her spine and legs. It made her stomach uneasy.

As she built the fire, she stayed where it was warm, and people started gathering. Seltzers and beer and food were going. Through the night she talked to people and kept her favorite – Truly strawberry lemonade. She ate a nice juicy burger. Her boyfriend handed her a flannel and brought a blanket out.

Soon it was too dark to see. As people trickled away, she wondered if the fire was too dim. The pit in her stomach grew despite her boyfriend staying close and keeping her warm. Then it came, the first spear out of the woods, knocking a person into the water. The blood grew, despite being too dark to see.

Someone screamed. Then arrows flew, and everyone scattered, running for their cars. Some of the tires weren’t pierced and rubber screeched against the pavement as people drove away. Tina felt warm fluid against her side. She lifted her hand to her nose and smelled iron. Blood. Her boyfriend was hit. She grabbed the ice buckets that chilled their alcohol and piled him with ice.

She needed shelter. She turned to the water, knowing it’d be cold. But between the dark and the depth, she knew their aim would be poor. Taking a deep breath, she plunged in, and wanting to scream from the cold, she sunk into the bottom, waiting for the world to calm.

Each time she emerged for air, she felt her stomach clench. She was worried, and felt someone watching her. She looked up at the moon, wondering how long it had been, how many had gotten away, how many were still alive, and how many were dead. Her fifth time down, something started dragging her in. She fought it, suppressing her scream to preserve her air. It was pulling.

Eventually she broke the surface, and gasped, feeling it still pulling. She clawed her way to the beach, and found her way to her boyfriend’s cold body. She turned and saw the creature after her. She hid under her boyfriend’s body, hoping it’d pass. Watched the creature drag bodies around into the water. Eventually, it’d get her too. As the sun rose, the creature stayed in the water longer between each body. It stopped coming out. She felt the warmth of the sun through midday fill her with strength, and she climbed out.

It was a blood bath, covering the grass. If she hadn’t lived it, she wouldn’t believe it. She heard cars – people who had survived the night, emergency buses, and police. Someone wrapped her in a blanket. It was surreal.