Say Cheese!

The diver flashed his camera at the strange creature, capturing an image of her waving a bony, clawed hand at him. Her blue hair floated out behind her like a flag gusting on a rather windy day.

Jeremy had been entranced by the woman the moment he heard her. She was singing a soft melody, from her place in the water. He’d been studying the wildlife around the island, and found that this specific area seemed rather different to the rest of the waters.

There weren’t many fish in this area of the sea. The ones that still lived there were sparse and timid. They seemed far more conscious of other beings than others Jeremy had researched.

The mermaid perched herself between two rocks. Smiling at Jeremy, she summoned him. She looked like a queen, sat atop a throne of stone and seaweed. The music she created was beautiful: wordless sounds that ebbed through his body, luring him closer. He felt effortlessly calm in her presence, so he felt no danger in lifting his camera and snapping a picture of the heavenly woman.

The light behind her bounced off the water, bending the rays, casting the being in an ethereal glow. She looked wondrously terrifying.

The smile that glowed when he first came upon her disappeared the moment the flash went off. Teeth emerged from her gums, sharp as needles and whiter than fine china. A screech forced its way through her throat, vibrating the water around them. The few animals that dared to swim near took off, a trail of bubbles behind them in their hurry.

She flew into a rage. Her face changed. Or, really, Jeremy saw her truly, freed from the control of her song. The sky seemed to suddenly darken, casting horrid shadows across the pair.

Within seconds, she’d ripped the camera from the poor man’s hands and plunged her knife-life nails through his chest.

She couldn’t see his face, covered by the scuba mask, though she could feel his pain and his panic. He could see her, clear as day, though after a moment his eyes started streaming from agony, and began to close.

The monster twisted her fingers further into his chest, pushing him further down under the ocean. Blood feathered out around her greying skin, bright and warm in contrast.

He lost consciousness not long after. His body tried to fight for him, but soon Jeremy was nothing more than a dead weight.

Smiling widely, she dragged him towards the ocean floor. The camera, still safely in its waterproof covering, lay forgotten. It wouldn't be used again.

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The image of the mer-creature was reviewed by thousands of people within the first hour.

Jeremy Lap’s friends were the first to see it. He'd set up his smart camera to automatically send the photos he took to their chat, from the moment it was taken below the waves. Many of them were too afraid of the ocean to partake in his hobbies with him, so he shared it the best way he could.

The image frightened them, and rightfully so. Without a Siren's song to deceive them, the group saw the creature for what she truly was.

After no response from Jeremy, they sent the photograph to the authorities, as well as a plea for help to find their missing friend.

They were laughed at, at first. Told not to joke about people going missing, that it was serious business, and they had no right to try and meddle.

So, they posted it online, every site they could access. Facebook. Reddit. Instagram. Pinterest. Anywhere that they might find someone with answers.

News outlets soon picked up the story. Interviews, messages of hope, messages of myths bled out into the media.

Allegedly, others in that area had been going missing for a long time. Every few weeks, another person didn’t return home to their family, to their friends, to their lives.

Always around the beach, the sea, the rocks. Never a body found, never so much as a ring or a shoe was ever recovered. Stories has come about over the years about monsters under the sea, drawing people down towards the depths and destroying them from the inside out.

Finally having proof of their existance, something could finally be done. The beast could be found, and stopped. They hoped.

Though in truth, it would be many more tragedies later that the monster would finally be caught. Trapped by its own abilities, dragged onto land to suffer the same fate of those it had killed. Suffocating.

It was a slow and painful process. When it was over, and the body destroyed, it was discovered that the woman had a family, and a large one at that.

And they'd come for their sister.