Jim dug a foot into the dirt and started hauling back on the rope, pulling his wife back to shore with all of his strength.
Beth powered up to the light, her right hand punching through the surface into the air. After one frantic look to identify the direction of the shore and Jim, she kicked into a rough freestyle, feet churning the water as adrenaline fuelled muscles leant every ounce of strength. Her knees bashed into rock as the depth lessened, and she stumbled to her feet.
Beth went to take a step forward, then something grabbed hold of a leg and jerked her backward. She looked down in open-mouthed terror to see the creature had caught up. Black, bony fingers clamped about her ankle like a vice. Talons at the point of each digit punctured her skin, sinking deep as she screamed in agony.
The rope tugged viciously from behind as Jim tried to pull her to shore, the single loop sliding up under her armpits as her husband fought the beast in a brutal tug of war, with her body the prize. She couldn’t breathe, the rope a ring of fire about her torso as it snapped ribs with each savage jerk. Beth stared helplessly as the top half of the creature emerged above the water line. It had a lamprey-like mouth, circular rows of needle sharp teeth protruding as a pointed tongue flicked out to taste the air. Above the vicious maw, four green eyes with elliptical pupils blinked independent of each other. It wrenched backwards against her husband as it stood, cord like muscles standing proud on its arms and chest. A serpent tail swept the water behind, adding strength. The rope went slack, the creature must have ripped it from Jim’s hands.
With irrepressible strength, it drew Beth into an embrace, two nose slits above the mouth flaring as it leant down to her neck and sniffed. A low wail of fear and revulsion escaped Beth’s mouth, her bladder releasing a warm flood down her leg. The head lifted, reptilian eyes locking onto her gaze. Suddenly two flaps of skin sprang out to either side of the beast’s head and neck like a cobra and it emitted a high-pitched scream, then dived forward to latch onto the side of her face.
Beth wailed in terror as razor-sharp teeth tore into her cheek, ripping through the tissue in an instant. She fought against the beast but was helpless, her arms pinned to either side. Dimly, she registered her husband’s futile screams echoing her own. Claw tipped fingers forced her mouth wide, and its protruding jaws forced past her teeth to clamp about her tongue, ripping it out with one savage bite. Blood spurted in her mouth as the beast gagged down its prize, pouring down the back of her throat to fill her stomach and flood her lungs as she convulsively sucked in a breath. Her stomach rebelled and she vomited, crimson erupting in a gout from her mouth to coat her chest and the skin of her killer.
Jim watched the unfolding scene in stunned horror. Blood seeped from his palms where the rope had torn a sheet of skin away as the creature wrenched it from his grasp. Beth’s eyes bulged in agony as the creature ripped into the flesh at the angle of her neck and shoulder. Jim brushed his hand against his belt, checking for the basic knife he always carried while caving.
His wife shuddered within the beast’s grip, mouth pleading silently as her eyes stared into space. Jim charged into the water, blade in hand, any thoughts of his own safety erased by the need to help his wife. At the noise of his approach, the monster lifted its head, mouth disengaging from her neck with a wet sucking noise. A fresh glut of blood spurted from the unplugged wound and Beth’s features went slack. Releasing its hold on her, she slipped beneath the surface, dead.
New prey was at hand.
Jim stalled as the creature transferred its focus to him, saliva drying in his mouth as his balls clenched upward. The creature cut through the water, head and neck held clear of the surface, green eyes locked onto his. The thick tail swept back and forth in an arc, powering it forward with immense strength. Jim held the knife in front, his hand shaking.
As it drew near, he slashed downward, aiming for the neck. It slipped to the side of his clumsy attack and buried a mouthful of teeth into his wrist, severing the flexor tendons. Jim screamed in pain and terror as the knife dropped into the water, released by slack, useless fingers. He tried to pull away, escape back to the shore, but it had already coiled its tail about his legs like a band of steel. The mouth detached from his wrist, leaving his radial artery to rhythmically spatter blood onto the surface of the water.
The lights on shore illuminated the creature as it rose in front of Jim’s face, neck tissue flared out again as it began a mesmerizing sway. It struck with blinding speed, needle-like teeth plucking out his right eye in one deft move. He screamed as his eyeball was shredded and consumed, the pain a white-hot barb driven straight to his brain. Bony hands grasped either side of his face, using the newly created cavity as gripping point as it began to feed in earnest. A claw-tipped thumb drove deeper into his empty socket as Jim thrashed in agony, punching through the thin bone at the rear of the cavity, and into his brain.
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