The Legend Of The Man-Killer

“You’ve heard the stories, right? About that shark that kills men. There is always rumour of a beautiful woman sighted just before their demise. And they usually end up being mauled by a shark.”

“Those are just stories, Helena. Tales told to frighten children and keep them away from the sea. You know how they all like to try and swim out to Death Peak. It’s been like that for many years.”

“But you don’t find it the least bit curious that it’s always a young man dying? Never a child or a woman?”

Death Peak was a large jutting rock atop a small strip of sand, about a mile out off the water’s edge. It was called so after the many pirates that had been taken there to suffer the hangman’s noose and were never brought back. Their bodies were generally left to be stripped clean by animals, and the bones would often be washed away out to sea. Children found the tales of old pirates being killed there so fascinating they often dared each other to try and make it to the old strip of land to see if they could find the pirate bones or treasures or spot a ghost. The added threat of the Man-Killer made the adventure all the more thrilling.

For years, children and young teens had swam the mile, if they were capable and generally swam in peace. No sharks were ever sighted. No strange beautiful women were ever seen lurking around.

Men often found the little strip of land a good place to either row or swim to in order to relax and drink the day away, watching the sun set, or taking the woman of their choice out to Death Peak in order to impress and often have their way with the willing lady.

Everyone had their own use for the little strip of land. Everyone had their reasons for wanting to travel there and spend time there.

Anna found it a strange and unappealing place. There was always an air of foreboding around it for her and even though she never believed the tale of the man-killer, she couldn’t help but be a little wary of that area. She had never been there and had no desire to go out there.

She found a reason to stay away from the water, even finding good excuses to say no to her friends whenever they asked her if she wanted to go with them to the little island. She would generally sit and listen to the elders in the bar on the beachfront, paying attention to their tales of old and talk of legends and spirits. She liked their stories, liked learning about possible histories and fantastic adventures of pirates from the past. She especially liked whenever Zeke was in the bar. Zeke was a younger man, new to the island and had a way with storytelling that left her wanting to hear more.

Zeke couldn’t help but notice how beautiful the young woman was and often tried his best to tell her his favourite stories, hoping he would one day work up the courage to speak to her about things other than stories.

Anna said her goodbyes to Helena and walked out of the bar. Her shift had been over an hour ago but she had stayed to listen and talk with Helena. She was one of her favourites in the bar. Zeke had not turned up today and she was wondering why. He always seemed to love coming in on a Saturday. She put her bag on her shoulder and walked out of the bar, waving goodbye to the patrons and deciding a stroll along the beach before she went home would be the ideal thing.

She took off her trainers and socks and let her feet trail through the water, enjoying the feel of the cool water against her hot feet, tired from a long shift. It wasn’t often she went near the water, but when she did she really enjoyed it in the shallow water. She knew people thought her strange for not wanting to be near the water. They did live on an island, after all. Her blouse fluttered gently with the light breeze and her hair blew out of her face as she looked out towards the sea, enjoying the gentleness of the dark sky against the water, the moon bright in the sky and a few stars twinkling boldly.

She rounded a bend and saw the old dock that pointed towards Death Peak. In the distance, she could make out the form of someone standing there, talking to someone else. She squinted. She couldn’t make out who it was in the distance. It looked like Zeke, but she couldn’t be too sure. She continued walking, the forms looking animated as they hugged. A couple; she should have known. Many proposals had been done on that dock, at sunset. Many break-ups had also happened there, showing it was a place where things tended to begin and end on the island. The couple dived into water together, arms still around each other. Hopefully not skinny-dipping. The last thing she wanted to see was two people doing the nasty in the water. At least they weren’t breaking up.

She walked past the dock, lost in thought about Helena’s tale and made it home, her only thought of taking a cool shower and getting to bed. She fell asleep that night, her dreams filled with sharks, with Zeke, with Helena’s wrinkled face telling her to be careful.

She awoke the next morning with a feeling of unease. She couldn’t remember her dreams but had woken up with a horrible feeling in the pit of her stomach. She disliked those days where anxiety and overthinking took hold of her, and this seemed like it was about to become one of those days.

A little after midday, Anna walked into the bar and was greeted by upset faces and hurried whispers. She looked around at everyone, wondering what on earth was going on. News tended to travel fast on the island, mainly because the bar had become an unintentional gossip station. After placing her bag in a small safe behind the bar, she stood up straight to see Helena walking over to her, wringing her hands and shuffling as quickly as she could.

“Oh dear, have you heard the news?”

Anna was nonplussed. “No, Helena, what’s going on?”

Helena leaned into the bar, putting her face close to Anna’s. “It’s Zeke. He was found washed up on the beach by the dock this morning.”

Anna’s face drained of colour, suddenly feeling sick. “What happened Helena?”

Helena was about to speak when the local law enforcement officer, Trevor walked in, his face serious, jaw set. He walked over to the small stage where performers would usually be and turned to face the small crowd. “Everybody is to stay away from the beach by the dock for the next couple of days. We’ll be carrying out an investigation as to why Mr Adams was one the beach and how this happened. So far it looks to be a shark attack. We urge caution and to keep the younger ones away from the water until the offending animal is sighted.”

Anna felt a small tear run down her cheek. A shark attack? Was that Zeke she had seen last night? If it was, where was the woman? They obviously were a couple and she had to be found and told. She waited until Trevor had stepped off the small stage and walked towards the bar. She automatically poured him a lemonade and pushed the glass towards him. He gratefully accepted it and looked hard at Anna.

“Are you okay, Anna? I know you were pretty close with Zeke.”

Anna shook her head. “I wasn’t that close to him, Trevor. But he was a good friend. It’s just such a shock to hear. But I could have sworn I saw him on the dock last night when I finished my shift, with someone else.”

Trevor’s head perked up at the mention of the sighting. “What time was this?”

He whipped out a small notepad and pencil while Anna spoke. “It was around two in the morning. You know I normally finish around one. Helena and I got talking for a bit then I left and then I’m sure it was him. I couldn’t make him out too clearly but he was with a woman and they looked pretty intimate. They even dived into the water together.”

“Well, this is news to us. Zeke was never associated with any women on the island. Everyone here knows he had a thing for you, you just never saw it.”

Anna blushed, hearing Trevor say it so bluntly was a little embarrassing and also very surprising. She liked Zeke, but had never thought of him as anything more than a friend. She certainly never thought he was interested in her. He had never said anything. Her eyebrow raised as she replied to Trevor.

“If he liked me, Trevor, then why was he with someone else last night? That doesn’t make sense.”

Now it was Trevor’s turn to look a little embarrassed. “Well, Anna, some men are like that. They tend not to be open about how they feel and instead just hide away from it. That normally includes dating other women.”

Anna was only 20 but not well-versed when it came to men, although she had seen their behaviour first-hand whenever they came into the bar with women. She just nodded silently and wiped the counter. “Are you going to look for this woman that he was with? They both went for a swim together. What if she’s still out there somewhere?”

Trevor downed his lemonade, standing abruptly. “Right as usual, Anna. I’ll alert the others and see who else hasn’t been seen this morning. We’ll find out who he was with and if she is still okay. You take care of yourself. Remember, away from the water, okay?”

Anna nodded sadly and continued wiping down the bar, getting things ready for the day, knowing it would be busy because of the news about Zeke.

The day passed and people had come into the bar, spoke about Zeke and exchanged theories. Anna was tired when she had locked up and decided to walk along the beach past the dock again, a strange feeling coursing through her.

It was about half one in the morning, Anna’s eyes landed on the dock as she was passing by and was stunned to see a young woman sitting on the end of the dock, her feet dangling in the water. It looked like she was crying, her long dark hair being lightly pushed by the wind as she sobbed into her hands.

Anna felt a little sorry for her and then was struck by a thought. What if she was the woman from last night? Her feet started taking her along the dock before she had even formulated a plan or confirmation that she would even go there. She made it to the crying woman, stopping behind her and squatting down to touch her gently on the shoulder.

“Are you okay?”

The sobs stopped instantly, hands lowering. The girl’s body stopped quivering and she sat stone still, before turning around slowly. Her eyes were as dark as her hair, but bright with the light of life. There were streaks of tears running down her cheeks. Her rosy lips had a slight pout, as though she was visibly showing how sad she was. Anna couldn’t help but think this girl was one of the prettiest she had met. But she had never seen her on the island before.

“Are you new here? Do you need any help?”

The girl’s face contorted slightly. The eyes looked more dead. She stood up and turned quickly diving into the water. The girl hadn’t surfaced...