Where moon meets dawn

The shark gasped for breath as the gills disappeared on both sides of its neck, it was almost like it’s own biology was confused and had decided that gills were cuts that ought to be healed. The shark swam vertically up to the surface as quickly as it could, it’s tail beating the water below it in a burst of bubbles.

Above the surface of the sea the moon dissipated into the blueness of the morning sky, while the scalp of the expanding sun rose from the horizon. It was a tranquil time of day, about to be interrupted by an unexpected intruder from the deep. The shark gasped as it ripped through the veil separating sea from air, it’s powerful tail graced the air, continuing to flap itself thinking it was still swimming. The tail receded into the dark mass of its shadow as it was silhouetted against the rising sun. As the creature reached the pinnacle height of it’s upwards dive, it seemed to lose control for a second. From it’s shadowy shape, it looked almost as if the sea creature had human limbs flailing about helplessly from its sides, resembling someone being sprung off one of those bouncing pillows. The shark-like figure adjusted itself, forming into a professional dive as it darted back down.

Tides rolled in layered over crisscrossing ripples of oceanic foam, gently stroking the grains of sand, ushering sediment from the beach back & forth. A hand reached out of the ocean, sifting sand between its fingertips from the churning tide. The rough grey fingers dug into the wet sand of the beach, creating claw marks as it dragged itself forwards out of the water. The figure stood up, still silhouetted by the rising sun, just as a pointy fin upon its back shrunk inwards to merge with it’s spine. The sun brightened in the sky revealing the figure to be a normal looking man in swimming trunks that looked a tad too big for him. He made his way across sand dunes which still held the coldness of the night and made his way up a set of creaky wooden steps. The bottom few were undercoated in coral & mussel shells that disconnected under his weight as he walked up them. At the top of these he entered into the wooden shack where a tribal mask was pinned over the doorway in efforts to keep away evil spirits.

He closed the door behind him gently and walked over to his bed. In it there was lump under the sheets, also known as his girlfriend, Cecilia. He peeled up the thin bed sheet carefully and flinched at the sight of her angry horizontal face staring up at him. “Zach, where have you been?” she said in a failing aggressive tone. “Just for an early swim… please don’t stress about it.” Said Zach. “After you went out for a super long walk last night? Do you not.. like...sleep?” She said, in a slightly worried, frustrated manner. “Not lately, um... well…to tell you the truth...I um..” His fingers curled tighter onto the crinkles of the bed sheet that slacked in his grip. “I have this... problem that keeps me up.” Rubbing the back of his neck nervously, avoiding her intense beautiful gaze. Cecilia gestured at the large crescent shaped scar which curved around the side of his torso. “Does it have anything to do with that?” Cecilia asked, glancing at the semi - circular dotted line of scar tissue that pulled his ab muscles round to the side in a slanted fashion, giving the illusion he was always leaning his body slightly to the side. Every time someone asked Zach how he got the scar deformity he made up a different story; but it was undeniably evident that it was the bite mark of a shark.

“Please don’t worry about me Cecilia. You know getting bitten by a…”

“.. Shark is less likely than; winning the lottery or getting struck by lightning” she finished Zach’s sentence. “I do listen to you. I just wish when you spend all that time out there by yourself you’d think of asking me to join you. It makes me feel unwanted.” She turned over, yanking the bed sheets out of Zach’s grasp. He opened his mouth to say something, to let her know how he felt about her, that he just wanted her to be safe, that he was afraid of her leaving him, when she found out what the lasting effects that the scar had inflicted upon him.

Zach’s thoughts churned like the forthcoming and withdrawing waves of the sea as he slumped his head against his pillow and delved into his dreams. The recurring nightmare began, the one he’d had so many times, sometimes he could control it so that he wouldn’t fear it. But sometimes he lacked the mental strength to, so the traumatic memory played out in the dream just as it had occurred in real life.

Zach laid stomach side down on his surfboard, paddling into calm waters. Cecilia was by his side as well as a few other friends. The moon appeared abnormally large in the night sky, illuminating the beach, shading the sand in blue light. The fleet of surfers formed an arrow formation as they headed towards the large moon that sat on the horizon. Zach checked his smart watch which kept track of the moon’s orientation in the sky in correlation with the strength of the tide. A state of the art, brand spanking new surfing application he had recently installed onto the device. The surfers reached a point far away enough from the beach where the sea had begun to get more choppy. They all turned themselves round and prepared to catch the approaching wave. They began by paddling towards the shore so when the wave came behind them they’d match some of it's momentum. The moonlight became shrouded in darkness as the wave piled itself up, gaining height as it got nearer. They all looked over their shoulders as the menacing wave towered over them, blocking out the moon entirely. The surfers all stood up on their boards as the base of the wave caught the heels of their boards and began to lift them up. The surfer’s all adjusted themselves in their standing positions and danced their boards in front of the wave by zigzagging in front of it, thriving off the kinetic energy that the wave offered them. Above & behind them the tip of the wave began to cascade over, working like a domino effect, moving from one side across to the other. The curvature of the wave increased creating a barrel around them.

In the oceanic archway that surrounded them, the surfer’s formed a single file line and crouched low into their boards. Their united focus laid on the hopeful succession of getting out to the other side. Zach tried his best to keep his gaze straight ahead, but a flicker of movement from within the wave itself flickered in his peripheral vision. He refused to turn his head or his gaze properly because wherever his gaze wandered, his board would soon follow, and he didn’t fancy falling in. He kept his eyes straight ahead, it was too dark to barely see much of anything, probably just the shadows of the twisting water playing tricks. But then something knocked him off his board. The last thing he saw before he hit the pitch black water were several rows of spiked teeth.

Zach woke up in a hot sweat, breathing heavily. He noticed the vacancy of a lump next to him, Cecilia had already headed out to teach paddle boarding lessons without him. He checked his watch, it was already 6 pm, he’d missed almost a whole day of teaching. “Goddammit” he said out loud as he quickly slipped into a fresh pair of swimming trunks.

Zach ran down the steps from the seaside shack. In a hectic hurry his foot caught in the gap between two steps, sending him free-falling, he landed at the bottom of the dangerous staircase. Zach's head was a fuzzy mess, both on the outside and the inside. Sensations of pins & needles filled his ears, and his eyelids strained themselves open, attempting to sense the pain so he could remain awake. He refused to be dragged back into his dreams, but despite his best efforts, his eyelids faltered and the nightmare resumed.

He was awoken by an almighty ache, which seemed to be the only thing he could perceive as he sank into the darkening depths. He ran his hand down his chest and felt the outlined crevices of a bite mark that had pulled his abdomen into a lopsided shape. He moved his hand away from the wound, choosing to worry about it later, despite his body screaming for it’s attention. He moved his hand along his forearm to feel for the smartwatch which was thankfully still there. He pinched either side of it and a bright light emanated from the edges of the watch. Clouds of bubbles reflected the light in front of him, nut they all seemed to be floating down. Realising he was upside down, Zach flipped over and shot up into the direction of the bubbles he breathed. Above him he began to see the shimmering moon, shining through the surface. He reached up, his wristwatch lighting the way. The moment was ruined as he was immediately sucked into the spiralling formation of another giant wave. He pinched his nose as the power of the ocean convulsed him out of control into twisting turning waters. He held his smart watch up to read his oxygen levels on the small screen. Even though the sea salt stung his eyes and the bite mark stung like hell, for some reason he wasn’t out of breath, his oxygen readings told him he was at 100% lung capacity. He knew there was no point struggling against the might of the wave, so he let it carry him to shore. It wasn’t until about a whole minute later it finally crashed down onto the soft sand and Zach wheezed for breath, despite the fact his smartwatch read that he was at full lung capacity.

Gasping for air, Zach reached out into the sand in front of him, digging his fingers into it to pull himself away from the water. But something tugged on his foot. He turned around to see what it was, and tried to scream for help but his voice made a faltering croak. His vocals had failed him from having his breath held for too long. He silently screamed in a state of constant throat tension as no sound came out, and he was dragged backwards into the waves by a abnormally large, webbed hand that gripped his ankle. Zach's fingers created long lines of claw marks in the sand as his voice returned temporarily, only for the scream to cut off as soon as it began as he was taken into the oncoming wave.

Zach awoke with Cecilia holding an ice pack against his head with one hand, while she stroked his hair with the other. His head rested on Cecilia's lap in the spot where he had landed, down at the base of the steps, leading down from their home. The nightmare that had entailed the events leading up to him becoming a were-shark had ended. The rain pelted down and the tides rolled over the sand towards the couple. Cecilia helped Zach to his feet & supported him up the stairs to their cabin. Just as they made it up the last few steps Zach looked up into the sky as the moon emerged from it's clouded cocoon, appearing full. His eyes turned black with the night as he started to transform. It seems that the nightmare he awoke from hadn't ended... it had only just begun.