Chapter Text
Rumors had been spreading recently.
That if you come to the beach at night, step your right foot towards the ocean at 3:27 AM, and hum a slow song, the monster that lives nearby will free itself from the water and come after you.
The blonde lifeguard rubbed the back of his neck, his fingers warming from the heat of his own skin. If it was possible, people wanted to believe that some extremely unrealistic thing could be real. Maybe it was a story that mothers had started spreading around to make their children listen to them. Maybe it was just some boy making fun of a scared girl. Those were his first thoughts when someone first told him the rumor.
Waves were brushing at his feet, dancing at his toes, rushing away once they’d finished their performance. He brought his wrist in front of his face, reading the time on his watch. 3:24. Still a bit of time left.
On a bright, sunny day, he’d been watching over the beach. Not really paying attention. Watching out for the normal trouble. Staring at the water, expanding far in front of him. And then he saw something peculiar.
Teal. An unnaturally bright shade of teal, dashing through the water. He blinked. Rubbed his eyes. His first thought was that damn rumor, which he felt stupid for, but he found himself actually thinking it over. Did the rumor mention anything about teal? Where did it originate? Had anyone seen this? Did they know something? Then he shook his head. Maybe it’s some fast swimmer wearing bright teal.
But days passed, and he saw that teal over and over again. Hair. Scales. And even a bit of pale skin. And he watched every single person that came in, checking if anyone just liked wearing that color. No… there was nobody who went into the water like that. And his eyes were focusing on the waves again. There. It glinted in the sun, again, again! Every time he saw just a flicker of it, just the tiniest of hints, everything would suddenly go silent. And then he realized it wasn’t that the world was going silent, it was his ears drowning out everything but his own pounding heartbeat.
He pulled out his watch again. 3:26AM. Nearly showtime. He stepped away from the water, and his wet feet let the dry sand stick to his soles. Footprints left in the sand, left, right, left, right. The stars, like diamonds pressed into dark velvet, sparkling up above, smiling, offering their warmth. The moon shining her silvery light down, the only illumination.
His wristwatch started beeping. It was time. And he wasn’t sure what exactly to do. Would just starting to hum and making one step with his right foot be enough? It sounded too simple for something so magical. Maybe he’d be able to see what this teal thing was, darting around, teasing him day after day. But it couldn’t be something so… simple.
He started humming Clair de Lune. He thought it was fitting for a moonlit night like this one. But he couldn’t bring himself to move. Frozen in place, a shaky voice humming a beautiful melody. He wasn’t a singer, and the melody escaping his mouth wasn’t perfect. But even then, he was caught up in the softness and beauty of the scene. The moon softly reflecting off the water, accompanying a dazzling night sky he never got to see. The melody of his singing, the harmony of the waves… He shifted his position just to get a bit more comfortable, his feet lifting up and creating new footprints in the sand. It was unintentional, but his right foot ended up in front of his left.
And then there was a sound effect. A drum? It removed him from his trance. It had come from the ocean…