DAWN

MAY, 2011

“We’re finally here” Jacob Foster announced to his family – which consisted of his wife Maria and their two 16-year old kids Michael and Shelly – as they pulled up to the Cabin.

“Finally, my legs were killing me” Shelly announced as she stepped out and began stretching.

“I can breathe!” Michael said and began inhaling deeply.

“Enjoy your freedom while it lasts, because we only got the cabin for the weekend” Jacob said gleefully.

“Well if you are done stretching, let us move in. I need to get started on dinner right away” Maria said, and the family began hauling their luggage to the cabin.

Jacob and Maria Foster both had the weekend off, so they decided to travel to Dawn and spend the weekend in the forest. The main plan was to go fishing, biking, and hiking and spend the weekend just enjoying nature. Once they had moved in and unpacked, it was time for dinner.

“I was expecting something out of a horror movie, but this cabin is nice” Shelly said

“Same. I mean it is in the forest near the ocean. That is a recipe for horror” Michael added

“How did you hear about this?” Maria asked Jacob

“A mate of mine recommended it. Said he spent the weekend hiking. Apparently the forest is lovely” Jacob replied

“So what’s the plan for tomorrow?” Michael asked

“How does fishing sound?”

“Fishing sounds good” Shelly replied

“Yeah I can do fishing” Michael agreed

“How about you, honey?”

“Oh no thank you. The ocean terrifies me” Maria said

“It’s a lake” Michael jokingly said

“Well unless I’ve seen the bottom of it and can confirm there is nothing there, I am staying on land” Maria retorted

“Okay, so tomorrow us 3 will go fishing bright and early” Jacob said as he finished up.

The next morning, Jacob, Michael and Sally got dressed and headed out to the lake. The lake was ginormous, and they couldn’t even see the other side. The 3 got the boat into the water and drove into the ocean before stopping in the middle. The boat was a standard propulsion-engine boat and was big enough to seat 5 people, so they had a lot of leg room. Once the boat was settled, the 3 put the bait on their fishing rods and threw their lines into the ocean.

“So Michael, excited for the game next week?” Jacob asked, trying to break the silence.

“Yeah I am! We’ve been doing the football drills nonstop and the coach is working us extra hard” Michael said, secretly relieved to be relaxing for a weekend instead of training

“You’re going to crush them” Shelly said in support

“Thanks” Michael replied

Suddenly, Michael’s hook caught something, but his unpreparedness allowed his rod to fly off his hand and into the water.

“Damn it” Michael said as he reached over and picked it up from the water just before it sunk below his reach.

“Remember what I said? Always be prepared” Jacob laughed

“It must be a really big fish, it felt like a human was tugging my rod” Michael said, both confused and surprised at what had yanked his rod as he dried his hand.

“Maybe Dawn has some type of mega fish we don’t know about” Shelly joked

“I wouldn’t be surprised” Michael replied.

As time went on, they had yet to catch a single fish and didn’t notice that the fog had suddenly began seeping in.

“It’s been 2 hours and nothing” Michael said, slightly annoyed

“Yeah, aside from that mega fish nothing has happened” Shelly added, her disappointment in her voice

“I guess this spot might be a fluke” Jacob said, also defeated. “Want to head back and maybe get a quick hike in before we go back to the cabin?”

“Yeah” Both Michael and Shelly replied.

As Jacob started the engine up, they all heard a splash.

“What was that?” Jacob asked, looking around

“I heard it too” Shelly said

“Must be the mega fish, coming for us” Michael joked

“Well it gets to live to see another day” Jacob said as he tended to the engine again.

Jacob pulled and the engine sputtered. He tried to do it again, but another splash came, this time louder. Jacob stopped and looked around, before going back and pulling the engine cord again. This time something hit the boat.

“Woah! What was that?” Shelly asked, now scared

“I don’t know, but I am not sticking around to find out” Jacob replied and began pulling the engine cord

“Uh guys, what is that?” Michael asked and pointed to a creature in the fog.

The creature looked like a fish, except it had the shape of a human head. When all 3 turned to look at it, it went underneath.

“Dad?” Shelly turned to look a Jacob

“I don’t know sweetie” Jacob said, now scared.

As Michael put his hands on the edge of the boat to try and lean in, he quickly noticed that same creature underneath and pulled his head back in time before the creature could swipe him.

“Woah!” Michael said as he fell into the boat.

“What is that?” Shelly asked, now on the defense

“Damn it” Jacob said as he tried again with the engine, but another sputter came out.

The boat was rocked again as a creature hit it; this time much harder.

“Fuck it” Jacob said and picked up a paddle, planning on rowing back to shore.

“Michael, get the paddle and-“ Jacob was suddenly cut off as the creature jumped up and impaled Jacob’s arm with it’s fin. As Jacob screamed in pain, they all got a good look at the creature. It had the form of a human, but its skin was a dark green shade, with scales all over. It had fins on its head and elbows. Its eyes were hollowed out and it had no mouth. The creature was covered in vines and moss. Jacob instinctively punched the creature and its grip let go and fell into the water, making a splash.

“Dad, are you alright” Sally asked as she tended to his wounds.

“I’m fine, Michael try and get the engine working” Jacob commanded, and Michael got to pulling.

“Sally, get away from the edge” Jacob said and Sally moved to the center of the boat. Jacob picked up a paddle and held it firmly. A few more splashes were heard before another creature jumped onto the boat. Jacob quickly slapped it with the paddle before it could hoist itself up and the creature fell back into the water. The engine suddenly came to life and Michael pulled the trigger and off the boat went. As the trio sailed, they felt more and more bumps, each one with ferocity. To their fear they suddenly heard wood being ripped and Shelly spotted a creature hanging onto the boat. She picked up a paddle and pried it off. Unfortunately, the engine began stuttering, before coming to a halt.

“Oh no no no” Michael said, now scared. He looked over and noticed several claw marks on the engine, with a large one tearing into the engine and an oil leak.

“Those things, destroyed the engine!” Michael announced, now terrified.

“Michael take this” Jacob said and handed the paddle to Michael. Jacob pulled out a pocket knife and the 3 turned back-to-back as they waited. Eventually the water became still and silence became deafening.

“Daddy? What are those things?!” Shelly screamed, not realizing how scared she was”

“I don’t know!” Jacob replied. “I don’t know” Jacob repeated, now terrified as they were trapped.

As the three waited, a creature jumped into the boat, this time all the way and sat perched on the edge. The boat slightly rocked as Michael attempted to push the creature off with the paddle, except the creature swiped the paddle, cutting it in half. As Michael stood dumbfounded, Jacob went and kicked the creature, catching it off guard as it fell into the ocean. From behind, another creature jumped and stabbed Michael in both shoulders with its claws, before attempting to drag him down. Jacob instinctively grabbed Michael’s hands and tried to keep him from being dragged. As Shelly was about to help Michael, another creature jumped onto the boat, this time standing inside it. Shelly turned and tackled the creature over the boat.

“Ahhhh!” Michael screamed in pain, as Jacob tried pulling him up.

“Hold on son-“ Jacob tried comforting his son, but soon another pair of claws came through Michael’s abdomen. Jacob was forced to let go as the weight became too heavy and with his shoulder injury making him weaker. Michael fell into the water with a heavy splash.

“Michael!” Jacob screamed in shock. Shelly went over to Jacob to comfort him, but she was stopped when another creature hopped onto the boat. As Shelly ran to tackle it, the creature dug its feet into the boat and Shelly ran into it, but didn’t move it. It wasn’t till now did Shelly realize how big this thing was. It was easily over 6 feet and very muscular. As Shelly took a step back, the creature stabbed Shelly in her shoulder, causing her to scream in pain.

“Ahhhhhh!” Shelly’s scream pierced the silence. Jacob quickly recomposed himself but before he can rush to Sally’s aid, another creature jumped up and stabbed him in the back, before attempted to pull him in. Jacob took his pocket knife and stabbed the creature in the face repeatedly, causing it to release its grip on him. Shelly unfortunately was stabbed again, this time through the chin and her screams stopped. The creature then picked her up and threw her overboard, making a deafening splash as she hit the water.

“NO!” Jacob screamed and rushed the creature, with his knife going for the heart. The creature shrieked when the knife made an impact, sounding like a human scream underwater. The creature pushed Jacob backwards, before jumping back into the water. Jacob quickly got back up and kept his knife close to him, before moving to the center and turning around, making sure no creature got behind him. Jacob was suddenly aware of every sound being made. The peaceful silence was now terrifying as he knew it meant the creatures were waiting. As Jacob began panicking, 5 creatures jumped from the water at once. Jacob tried stabbing one, but its skin hardened and the knife just slid off. The creature slashed Jacobs stomach, causing him to stumble backwards to the front of the boat. The 5 creatures stood still, staring at Jacob, waiting for him to make the next move. Jacob stood at the edge, locked in an intense staring competition with these creatures. Suddenly a sixth creature jumped and stabbed both of Jacob’s knees from behind, causing him to buckle down. The other 5 creatures then ran and sunk their claws into his chest. The momentum and weight of all creatures was enough to push Jacob overboard.

“Arghhhggg” Jacob’s scream turned into muffled garbled as water quickly entered his lungs. The 6 creatures dragging him continued stabbing and after a grueling minute, Jacob stopped screaming, struggling, and moving. The creatures then began tearing the boat, causing enough damage and holes that it began sinking.

Maria woke up around 12:00 and was surprised to see that no one was back in the cabin. She walked down to the lake and noticed the boat was not back, so she assumed that they were still out. At around 5 they had not returned so she called the Ranger. They sent a crew out but they found nothing. A Search Party was formed and after a week, they were not able to find any evidence of what happened to her family. Maria had to return home, forever saddened that she never knew what happened to her family.

2 Weeks after the Foster Incident, the lake was closed off due to similar reports of disappearing people. “Yeah, do you think it’s time?” A man in a black suit said on his phone, standing behind the metal fencing closing off the shore. “Yes, people are beginning to ask questions and if the public knew what was in those waters, it would be hell” the man on the other end replied, sounding angry. “Affirmative, send in the S.E.C.T.” The agent replied, before hanging up.