Atrocitas Aqua Horrors of the Deep (Anthiology)

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actually doing something. Boyd and I have been on each other s nerves and the tension was hell... but
today everything was almost perfect!
Almost.
We went to the beach first thing. Boyd was wading out as far as he could without losing his footing. I
was laughing and following him out. It felt like we were miles from shore. Despite the fact that this
place is packed with Spring Break-ers, the stretch of beach behind our hotel was actually pretty
secluded.
The waves washed in around us, pushing us up and swooshing down around us.
"Linda!" He kept calling. "C mon baby." I kept coming. All thoughts of our quiet night together were
forgotten. We d had a bit of an argument on some stupid theory of his yet another stupid theory, and
I d made it a point to be very quiet and still, and sleep with my back to him in the hotel room. The
distance between us had seemed like miles, but I wouldn t give in. I m tired of the stupid arguments.
All his damned thaumaturgical studies which I have no idea what use they ll be to him in real life
anyway.
But today it was almost okay. Until he screamed.
His head was bobbing in the water about twenty yards away when a waves swelled behind him and I
saw the black water like a cloud of oil just beneath the surface. It didn t make any sense what I was
seeing, because I know that oil floats, so it must have been the shadow of something.
Just as I reached Boyd, the black shadow passed beneath him. He bobbed down in the water as if to
touch bottom and push himself back up.
"Ahhh!" He yelled and thrashed suddenly. "Ahhhhh!"
I had just about reached him. When he screamed, my heart froze and instantly I thought Shark, a
shark s got him! but he didn t go under.
His hand reached out and grasped my wrist. I was reluctant to go closer.
I pulled away from him. I used my legs to kick and my free hand to propel
myself in a back float. Boyd still had my wrist. He was dragging behind me.
His face was a mixture of terror and pain. He looked behind him, down into the water. The shadow
had passed, but still I wouldn t put my feet down to push us closer to shore until I could clearly see the
sand through the water beneath us.
"Hey," Bryce called. "What s the matter?" He and Shella were sunbathing on the beach, sucking down
Pina Coladas with umbrellas in them and rubbing suntan oil on each other.
"Everything okay?" Shella called.
I made it to the shallows and Boyd limped to the beach, one foot in the air, and then spun and flopped
down, instantly lifting his foot up onto one knee to inspect it.
I gasped.
"Uhhh," Boyd said. He blinked a few times and I could tell he was light headed. I gasped and clasped
my hand over my mouth. Bryce and Shella joined us.
"Oh my God!" Shella said.
"Jeez," Bryce said, kneeling next to him.
A black thorn about three inches long was imbedded deep in the arch of Boyd s foot. It leaked a lot of
blood.
Boyd moaned weakly and reached for the thorn. It was a bit strange looking, with smaller spikes all
around its base like some kind of evil anemone. He yanked it out and gave a little yell, pitching it back
into the water. "Ugh!" He had this disgusted look on his face that I would have laughed at if there
hadn t been such a hole in his foot. "It moved!" He said.
"Come on," Bryce said. "Let s get a towel on that."
All three of us helped him up but he swished us away with his hand, like he did to me in the library
back at Miskatonic sometimes. It reminded me of how annoyed I had been with him for the past
couple of days. I wondered if maybe the dark gods of the sea had seen fit to repay him for being so
shitty to me.
Instantly I felt guilty. I feel guilty now writing about it. Boyd and I love one another, but it s a
laborious kind of love. We have to work at it, and yet we re lost when we re alone. It s more than sex,
which is more than I can say for my previous tryst with Aaron. I just don t how to define it. We ve
been going out for almost a year now, and it seems like we re married. Sometimes we love each other
deeply, other times, it s a chore to be near each other.
Maybe it s co-dependency.
Hah!
Anyway, our day at the beach came to an abrupt end. Mark one off the Spring Break calendar. We had
some drinks in the bar of the hotel, but then Boyd said he was felt like hell, so he headed off to bed
early. When I got back here to the room, he was asleep.
Ah well, I wasn t up for it anyway.
More soon.
***
March 17, 2002
Well, I woke up to Boyd puking in the toilet this morning. Not the first time. Thing is he didn t have
nearly enough to drink last night, so I was concerned. I went in to ask if he was okay, and he just
snapped at me to get out.
To hell with him anyway, I thought. Foot or no foot, he didn t have a right to treat me that way. This
is Spring Break for Christ s sake, and I m gonna have fun.
***
Boyd stayed in all day while Shella, Bryce and I went shopping down at the Panama City Mall. I
stopped in when we got back to see how Boyd was and he was asleep naked atop the covers. His foot
was wrapped up in a huge towel and looked silly he acts like he got the damn thing cut off or
something.
I let him sleep.
We all went down for a swim in the hotel pool and to tan for a while. (Damn my New England
complexion anyway! I swear when I go back, I m gonna have some color on these white legs!)
After our swim we decided to head out to some of the local bars on the Front Beach strip and Thomas [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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