Scylla

It was a cold and foggy morning in Maine, the mist hanging low and thick, obscuring everything within several feet from sight. It was the aftermath of a raging thunderstorm and the ominous gray clouds in the sky wanted to hang around for a little while.

The little girl hurried down the beaten muddy path, her thick rain boots making rhythmic squishing sounds as she hurried down to the dock in the lake where her grandfather was. He decided that since the rain stirred up the waters in the lake, the fish would be restless and it was a perfect opportunity to catch something to eat for supper. The old man saw his granddaughter running towards him and he advised her to stay put, he would be back pretty soon. He never took her fishing, which upset her. She wasn't "old enough" yet.

She watched him grumpily as he untied his boat and threw in the fishing gear, holding onto his pole. He saluted to her and she did likewise before he climbed in and turned on the propeller, bringing the roaring motor to life and slowly inching him forward, eventually gaining speed as he got farther from the dock. The little girl watched him for a long time and was about to turn to head up back to her house until she saw that the boat lurched forward a bit and then stopped completely. The tiny figure of her grandfather was barely visible in the fog but as long as she squinted she could somehow make out what he was doing. He got up, clearly confused as to how the boat stopped so suddenly when the propeller was still working just fine. She stood on her tip-toes and craned her neck to see a little better. If it wasn't for this fog...

All of a sudden, something- another person, it looked like- burst through the water in a giant splash, grabbing hold of the side of the boat and quickly climbing inside. The girl gasped as her grandfather struggled with the person as he, or she, fought him. It didn't seem human to her... she saw claws. The non-human apparatus savagely beat and strangled the old man, eventually pinning him down to the floor of the boat. She saw the boat rocking and the unmistakeable crimson color of blood spraying up and dotting the boat and her own blood went cold. She turned tail and booked it, sprinting as fast as her legs could carry her all the way home. Once she burst through the door, she frantically babbled to her parents about her grandpa, and the boat, and blood, and... Well, her parents didn't need to know more. They didn't understand what their daughter was trying to say but judging from the heaviness of her breath and the redness of her cheeks, something was clearly very, very wrong.

The father quickly ran out to the lakeside with his wife and daughter close behind him. They all tried to squint to see past the fog and saw the boat floating meagerly in the middle of the gray lake, some blood dripping from its side and clearly empty. They ran back and called the state police, telling them there's been an "accident" in the lake near their home.

A few hours later, the little fishing boat was pulled in by a coast guard one and the remains of the now-dead grandfather were assessed. Needles to say, it was an absolute bloody mess in there. There were tons of bloody handprints smeared around in the sides and a pool of it on the seats and floor, a clear sign of struggle. Some bones and other parts of the human body were strewn around as if they were ripped off... or bitten off. The body itself was nowhere to be found. Perhaps he was pulled into the water after being mauled to death? The news shocked the family of three nonetheless.

Only the parents saw the gore in the boat, the girl was instructed to stay in the house with the other "nice policemen." She waited anxiously, staring at her coloring book with a crayon in her hand but not coloring at all. She remembered the scene that unfolded before her that morning in the lake. It wasn't something she was going to forget in a long, long time. Eventually, she put down the crayon and excused herself, saying she was going to go get something to drink. Instead, she went to the hallway past the kitchen and opened the back door silently, stepping out into the wet and cold air. She could see the blinking lights of the police cars and the sounds of many people talking outside to each other and into walkie-talkies. The neighbors heard the commotion and were amongst the police in huddled groups. The girl stood hidden from sight behind a bush, taking in the scene before her. It was so unreal... like a nightmare she needed to wake up from...

Something told her to look over her right shoulder all of a sudden, the hairs on her neck rising. She did, catching sight of a dark silhouette standing tall amongst the cluster of trees next to her house. Its red and yellow eyes glowed menacingly and it was clearly clad in skimpy, shredded clothing, its claws hanging and twitching by its sides. She watched in awe as the creature smiled at her, baring its razor-sharp teeth at her and giving a sharp growl before it hunched over and scurried away, disappearing into the wilderness.