The launch party for the research centre is in full swing when I see something out of the window. Perched atop a cliff, the massive panoramic windows face the cold crash of the sea and its waters darkened by night. Rain batters the windows.
I see a man hovering above the waters, his clothes soaked and his face slack, dangling as if some invisible rope is tied around his neck. But he is very much alive, I can see it in the eyes that stare back with desperate longing at the centre. Then he is whipped upwards, then pulled down into the roiling waters.
I blink. Turn to my companion. His face is paled, his mouth parted. After a moment of stunned silence, I ask him if he saw that too and he gives a slight nod, not taking his eyes from the window. I look around, but no one else has seen what we have. They continue to drink their champagne, eat their canopies, and tell their anecdotes.
When I turn back she is there. Risen from the water on a scaled tail below that starts at her hips, her bare upper body stock still in the thrashing rain. Her black hair rises behind her, floating as if she were submerged below the waves around her. Her head - her eyes - are level with us. Which means she is at least three times the height of a man.
Suspended in the air behind her, his throat wrapped in her hair, is the man.
She opens her mouth impossibly wide, like a snake. Something in me, some instinct or barely remembered knowledge, compels me to cover my ears and turn away from the glass. I begin to run as the scream starts.
In my blurred vision I see the other members of the party staring at the window. Then running. Not away from the creature beyond the pane, but towards her. I briefly glimpse and I see one of them closer. Her eyes are wide, watering, and there is a feverish smile on her face.
I stumble to the ground and curl up, squeezing my eyes shut and pressing my hands harder to my ears. I can barely hear myself screaming over the inhuman wail.
There is an almighty crack, a blast of cold wind. I open my eyes and turn in time to see the massive window give way under the weight of a hundred people eager to get to the sea and the creature waiting within. The shattered glass glitters as it falls and the bodies tumble into darkness.
Paddy Dobson
1st September 2022