Total pages in book: 155
Estimated words: 142916 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 715(@200wpm)___ 572(@250wpm)___ 476(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 142916 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 715(@200wpm)___ 572(@250wpm)___ 476(@300wpm)
Raik glanced toward the door where Imka had gone. He lowered his booming voice. “A month ago. Almost. Maybe just under. I was fishing when the thing came up out of the water and struck at my arm.” He pointed to the center of his forearm where two teeth marks, much like a snake bite, were present. There was bruising around the marks, as well as a violent shade of red and purple. The skin looked mottled.
“Why didn’t you tell someone?”
“Imka fears for me when I go out. Many of us fishermen are lost at sea. We talk too much about sea monsters. We try to make it seem like folklore, myths, just nonsense from our past, but all of us who live on the sea know they are very real.” He lowered his voice even more, casting another quick glance at the door leading to the kitchen. “She wanted me to stop going out when we started to have problems a few months ago. She asked me several times, but the sea is what I know. What I love. I provide for her, although she has her business and the gardens people come to see. I’m the provider.” He said the last with great pride.
Silke loved that he was so insistent on taking care of his family, but there was that one tiny bit of information. She wanted me to stop going out when we started to have problems a few months ago. “You started having problems? What kinds of problems, Raik?”
I know you’re close, Tora. Give me a minute. If you come to the door, he’ll stop talking. She could sense Tora on the porch, and she wanted Raik to continue sharing with her. He clearly didn’t want to talk in front of his family. She doubted he would continue if Tora was present.
Give me the go-ahead when you’re ready for me.
“When we would take the boats out, the sea would turn rough, even when it should have been calm. The waters around and under us would grow dark with the shadows of monsters. That went on for several weeks and then something large smashed into Lucas Herrema’s hull. That really started the attacks. We dismissed the first time as an accident, but several times my boat and Finn’s were both rammed. We knew those attacks were deliberate. I began taking the young Dykstra boy as my lookout. He’s nineteen and expressed interest in the sea.”
Silke knew Jesse Dykstra. He was younger than she was by only a few years. She wondered if Raik referred to her as a young girl. Jesse’s parents, Mila and Nelis, ran the local hardware shop. Jesse helped them, but he’d always wanted to go to sea.
“Finn has his son, Jelte, and Lucas has his boy, Sem. We were using them to protect the boats with spears, harpoons and guns. It helped for a couple of weeks and then this happened.” He held up his arm. “Sea monster came up from under the boat and sank its teeth into my arm. Jesse grabbed me and stabbed at the monster’s neck with a spear. It broke away from me and disappeared. I treated the wound right away, but after a couple of days, it started to get red and swollen, even my hand.”
Knock now, Tora. Silke was beginning to feel a sense of urgency. When the knock came and Raik stiffened, she hastily assured him with a cheery smile. “That will be Tora with all the things we’ll need to knock out this infection.”
Chapter
4
Thunder boomed loudly. Dark clouds veined with lightning rolled across the night sky. The way the clouds looked as they rolled and boiled continuously seemed to be an ominous warning to the five men emerging from their sleep. Each had gone to earth apart from the others, as was their way.
Benedek awoke ravenous. Desperate for blood. The need consumed him. Whispers of temptation rebounded in his head. He found himself bursting into the turbulent sky even though he was aware the storm had been manufactured.
Benedek, Mataias cautioned. There are eyes in the clouds.
I am aware. My need for blood is all-consuming. I must find a town or city and indulge. He didn’t feel as if he had a choice. Need roared through his veins. He felt as if he hadn’t fed in centuries. It seemed as though feeding was all he could think about.
I, too, awoke starving, Nicu admitted. I saw the storm was not natural, and it didn’t matter to me. I cannot think of anything but feeding.
That sent a huge red flag to Benedek. It was insane that he felt so hungry and that the impulse to find sustenance was so overwhelming that it was more compulsion than instinct.
I also woke starved, Lojos said. I must feed immediately. He had also taken to the sky.