Brad Harmer-Barnes - North Sea Hunters

Great .

Lightning dissipated in the sky.

The shark disappeared.

For the first time in his life, Eric Harper began to hyperventilate. He immediately performed an ab crunch, bringing his knees as close as he could to his chest. He wanted to ball up, make himself disappear, but he needed to grasp what remained of the hull, too. He shut his eyes tight as water dripped down his brow. He blew away the moisture in spastic breaths.

“Mother,” he said weakly.

Huh, he thought. Another first.

When he opened his eyes and blinked away the rain, a shark fin sliced the electric water, then disappeared.

A swell gently carried him higher, until he could see Mount Kraken rising above the Falcon Islands. For a brief moment, the mountain tip resembled a shark fin, then disappeared in the gloom.

The swell brought him back down into the maw, and he clung to the hull piece, knees drawn up as far into his body as he could. Of course, this made him weaker, as did the storm. He had a feeling that was going to be the theme of tonight. Weak, weak, going, getting… weaker.

Or maybe not.

Below him, a nudge, then nothing at all.

“Just a fish,” he thought. “A goofy halibut up at the surface.” Eric Harper looked up at the sky and laughed. “Bring it on,” he said between spits of water. “Bring it the fuck on.”

Below him, a swell of water pushed against his legs. The jagged hull piece bobbed higher in the water along with it. Lightning divided the horizon, illuminating the water beneath him.

He so wished it hadn’t.

The great white surged vertically below, it’s mouth wide open, the scarred gums connected to rows and rows of prehistoric looking teeth.

Eric let go of his pathetic life raft and reached for his ankles, pulling them tight to his ass so only his knees pointed down. But the great white was too fast and caught him right at his knees, popping them like firecrackers wrapped in paper towels.

He screamed.

The jaws opened wider, and Eric was sucked further into the shark’s mouth. Now only his torso and arms were clear. He pummeled its eyes with his fists, but soon gave up as his spine began to crack, forcing complete non-function of his motor skills.

As the shark prepared to dive, a shadow loomed beneath it, a shadow that dwarfed its own. A much larger set of jaws opened, taking in the great white entirely, and Eric along with it.

Then there was nothing but the storm.