Z2012SITEBTHESHARKMAN



__**The Sharkman**__

__ **Tom** __ The lamp in the old shop flickered over a small wooden table, illuminating the small, chipped letter tiles. “Your turn Tommy boy” a middle-aged man with graying hair grumbled to a skinny youth.

“I know dad I am just thinking” Tom replied as he anxiously looked from the board to the tiles that lay in front of him. Then his eyes lit up with excitement as he quickly put his tiles on the board. “Look Dad!” he exclaimed, “T-R-U-C-K, just like the one we built today!”

The machinist chuckled, “Aye boy, well done....wellllll done.” The man stood up and dusted off his oil stained jumpsuit. “Its getting late, boy. ‘Bout time to turn off the lights and get ready for tomorrow, its a big day.”

“Dad, I don’t want to go to the gathering tomorrow” Tom declared.

The machinist’s tone intensified, “Tom, this is our new religion, our new faith. The Cult of Poseidon is going to purge the world of its impurities, we will be with your mother again.”

Tom’s face lit up a little “Elder Marbrax promised right?”

“Yes, he did.” The machinist replied. “Poseidon is generous, and like Marbrax said, he does not forget those who pay him fealty.”

Tom smiled and climbed up the homemade ladder that led to his top bunk. “Good Night Dad,” he said with a yawn.

The lamp flickered out as the bunk bead groaned with the weight of Tom’s father. “Good Night Tommy boy.”

__ **Marbrax** __ The water silos towered over Elder Marbrax as he approached the others, his dark blue robe dancing with the wind. He smiled as he saw that the crate had been delivered from the temple, it sat in front of the first huge whitewashed water silo that lead an army of the giant cylinders that stood in the empty lot. The cultists gathered around him as he ran his hand along the curved edge of the great silo.

“What do you think Marbrax...will it serve?” a tall, thin cultist asked in a weasel like voice.

“Yes doctor, I think it will do.” Marbrax replied. “How soon can the creature be engineered?”

The skinny man stepped forward, “Well we are still working on finding a suitable human specimen, but we are beginning to narrow down the required characteristics.”

Marbrax looked up at the huge water silo, “well be quick about it doctor, the creature needs to ready before the Ritual, otherwise, we are doomed.” Marbrax walked over to the crates that stood in front of the silo. “Begin to unload the Relics, we must begin preparations now, the time is coming my brothers, soon we shall begin.” Marbrax smiled as the shark’s tooth was pulled out of the crate. “//Soon,”// Marbrax thought, “//Poseidon will be free//.”

__ **Tom** __ Tom awoke the the smell of bacon. The pan steamed with the long strips of sizzling meat.

“Your favorite, Tom” said the machinist in his gravely voice. “For being so grown-up about going to the Gathering today.”

Tom smiled as he climbed down off of his bunk and grabbed a few pieces of bacon. A thick mist had settled over the navy base and hid the sun from Tom’s view as he walked outside. A sudden gust of wind bit at Tom, causing him to drop his last piece of bacon. Tom frowned as he went back inside for another piece.

“Best put on your jacket Tom,” the machinist said as Tom finished the last strip of bacon. “The cold is coming.”

The fog surrounded the old chapel like a blanket, the chipped paint and rotting foundation of the ancient building were only just concealed as Tom approached from the road. The cultists had already begun to march into the church as Tom blended into the herd of followers with his father.

The cultists and higher ranked members always entered the temple first, Tom’s father had explained. “The Elders must commune with Poseidon before the meeting begins to make sure that the Great One’s wishes are executed to the letter,” the machinist had grumbled.

Finally a cultist signaled for the rest of the followers to enter the church. The age of the chapel was clear as Tom passed through the threshold. The rotted floorboards creaked under his feet as his father guided him to one of the hundreds of chairs that were spread out in rows across the old church. Fear began to creep into Tom as he surveyed the room. Fish heads and other alien aquatic creatures were stuffed into glass jars that sat atop the driftwood tables that circled the room, but it was the skeleton that frightened Tom the most. The empty eye sockets leered at him from the end of the long tips of the strange creature’s head.

The machinist followed his gaze to the center of the room where the great skeleton lay. “It’s a hammer head, boy. The biggest one that ever lived. It was a reincarnation of Poseidon himself...beautiful, isn’t it.”

“It’s scary dad.” Tom replied in a weak voice. Tears started to well up “I want to go dad. I can’t do this.”

“You can and you will” the machinist replied in a tone that broke no argument. “Silence now. Elder Marbrax is about to speak.”

Tom gazed at the tall gaunt man that stood in the front of the room now, his dark blue robe seemed to glimmer in the dim light of the chapel. The man began to raise his hands into the air and the room rose simultaneously. Then, when Tom didn’t think his hands could get any higher, he began to chant in a strange language unknown to Tom. Then the rest of the room started up the slow, guttural words; “Grul-un bwal ee daekun shewa” The words spread throughout the hall, becoming one ominous voice. “Grul-un bwal ee daekun shewa” They began to get louder and louder, until the chant had reached it’s crecendo. “GRUL-UN BWAL EE DAEKUN SHEWA,” the sound rang through the hall and struck through Tom’s courage. He began to cry and looked to his dad to help, but the machinist was absorbed in the song, his gruff voice blending into the chant that shook the rafters of the ancient temple. Then, just when Tom did not think he could take it anymore, the man in the front of the room dropped his hands and the chant stopped.

The man stepped forward, his blue robes shimmering. “My brothers, be seated” he said in a commanding tone. “I have communed with the Lord of the Ocean and his will now resonates within me.”

Tom tried to look away, tried to close his eyes, but he was frozen, stuck in a trance that glued his attention to the man in the front of the temple.

The man started forward, towards the great skeleton in the center of the room. “The time has come for us to act. For too long the Cult of Poseidon has been ignored...for too long the Cult of Poseidon has lurked in the shadows...my brothers, our time in the darkness has come to an end. I have spoken to Poseidon, the Lord of the Ocean, and he has told me of his coming. And when Poseidon reigns supreme, the world as we know it will be changed. Mountains will be submerged, valleys will be flooded, and the Ocean will spread Poseidon’s will throughout the world, hailing a new subterranean era!”

Tom could not believe his ears. He looked around the room to see if someone would speak out, if someone would just say something, anything, and bring everyone back to sanity. But the room was quiet, everyone was transfixed as the man in the dark blue robes caressed the rectangular skull of the great hammer head.

“The Event is upon us.” he said as his gaze swept across the room. “And we all have our part to play” he muttered as his eyes slowly stopped, staring right at the machinist.

__ **Grendle** __ The dim light in the tiny office space blurred Grendle’s vision as he frantically tried to copy down Marbrax’s words. Marbrax had given this particular message a priority over all others, and Grendle couldn't afford to mess this one up.

“This task falls upon you,” Marbrax said in his harsh tone. Grendle’s hand flew across the lined notebook paper as he tried to transcribe Marbrax’s words. //Only you have the skill to construct the skeleton of the creature,// Grendle hastily scribbled down. “It is your duty, you must heed the call of Poseidon, the Deep One. Marbrax said. “And if you should fail, then eternal punishment awaits.” The Elder finished with a long sigh. “The importance of this message can not be exaggerated Grendle, you must do your duty as well,” Marbrax said as he glared at the young mail runner.

“Aye, sir,” Grendle said quickly as he leapt up from his chair. “I’ll go right now.”

“Get out of my sight!” Marbrax yelled; and Grendle was out he door. Grendle’s long, dark brown hair flew in the wind as he raced towards the machine shop. Grendle never really liked delivering news like this, but with the coming of the Event Marbrax was more busy than ever, and Grendle was not about to cross him. Grendle was still unsure about his new faith and abandoning his old one, and his grandmother. Grendle constantly thought about her, the prayers they would say together, worshiping Jesus and his Father. “//That is behind me now.//” Grendle constantly told himself. But despite Grendle’s newfound faith in Poseidon, Marbrax seemed a little extreme at times, “//he can’t be serious about the Event, can he,//” Grendle thought to himself as he charged down the road. “//Well either way, the machinist is going to have his hands full with this one.//” Grendle frowned as reached his destination to find a small boy throwing a foot ball to the middle-aged man in an oil stained jumpsuit. “//This will be hard on the kid.//”

__ **Tom** __ Tom wrote his goodbye letter next to the abandoned scrabble game. He knew his father should never have taken the assignment. Tom looked sadly at the mad scribbles his father had drawn on the wall. The sharks scarred Tom, they were a dull reminder of the horrors the Cult of Poseidon worshipped. His dad had sketched them on the wall before he began working on his assignment, his “duty,” as he liked to call it.

“This will be my final project Tom, my crowning achievement. Once I am done Marbrax will bring your mother back to me.”

Tom frowned as he remembered how happy his father had been when he had said that, before he had begun. The job seemed simple enough at first, create a metal skeleton modeled after a shark. But it was only when his father began to understand the true meaning of the project that he started to loose his mind. What the real meaning of the project was never got through to Tom, the machinist had stopped talking to him. The sharks were drawn up shortly after, a manifestation of the machinist’s slipping mind. Whatever it was though, Tom knew it had to be important, his father had been working almost non-stop since the message was delivered by the brown-haired mail runner. Tom finished his letter and weighed it down to the table with a small rock. As a final goodbye Tom glued his name to the rock with the forgotten scrabble tiles, then he slipped out of the door and into the night.

The cold seemed to cut through Tom’s courage, leaving him a lost, shivering wreck; but one thing was for certain, he could not go inside the building. It stood just 20 feet in front of him, its grey walls looming up just enough to cut of the light from the moon, leaving Tom in the shadows.The small tree swayed in the wind, as Tom huddled against its trunk, the cold wind ripping at his jacket.

“Tomorrow” said Tom, “I have to go back tomorrow, but first I need to get away from the cold...have to get away from the cold...”

Tom looked up to the foreboding building, its stained windows seemed to invite him inside. Tom got up and took a step forward.

__ **Marbrax** __ Marbrax was furious. Rage welled up inside of him as he struck down the paper thin man.

“When the world is flooded and the great Poseidon is king mankind must have a way to live on; this was your task!” Marbrax screamed. “The parts must be perfect, each piece of the puzzle must fit without flaw and now you tell me that a piece doesn't fit?”

The doctor lay, curled up on the ground and whimpered in his weasel voice, “the skeleton the machinist made is small, he subjects simply are not scaled properly to the model I designed.”

Marbrax leered down the doctor, “you better find a way around this problem, I don’t care what you have to do, force the pieces in, just make it work!”

__ **Tom** __ The moonlight shone through the broken windows of the forgotten hallway, faintly illuminating the cracks in the wall and the lichen that filled them. There was an unnatural silence to the corridor, a complete absence of sound that seemed to dominate the place. Yet, the silence sang a symphony in Tom’s mind. A howling, vibrating, empty, symphony that ate up Tom’s strength ten times worse than the cold winds outside. The shriek shattered the world around Tom; it rang in the air and rattled the windows. Tom crept forward over cracked tiles and overgrown weeds towards the light at the end of the tunnel. Another shriek broke away from a large rusted door, reverberating around the emptiness. Shadows shifted across the grimy glass panel of the door and muted voices could be heard across the threshold.

“Another one gone” one voice said.

“They need to be smaller...we need something smaller” a stern voice replied.

Tom reached for the handle.

__ **Grendle** __ The morning sun glinted off the huge water silo that towered over Grendle as he sadly watched the aquatic aberration slip into its murky depths.

“//The Cult of Poseidon had gone too far this time...he was just a boy.// ” Grendle thought as he glared at the cultists who had begun to sketch something on the concrete in front of the silo where they had put their new pet. “//Marbrax was going to do it, he was going to kill everyone to appease his water god. I didn’t sign up for this...I can’t be a part of this Apocalypse, I CAN’T!”// The blood started to pump through Grendle’s veins as the wind started to pick up.

Grendle remembered the words of his old grandmother who had passed away three years ago “Never lose your faith in God, Grendle, never.” “I let her down, I let her memory die when I joined the Cult,” Grendle muttered as a tear ran down his cheek. “But nothing has happened yet.” Grendle said hopefully. He looked up towards the giant silo, “I can still set things right.”

__ **Marbrax** __ Everything was ready. Years and years of planning were about to pay off.

“//My dream is becoming a reality,”// Marbrax thought as the cultists finished etching an image of Poseidon onto the concrete lot in front of the water silos. Marbrax stepped forward and placed the shark’s tooth Relic into the center of Poseidon’s eye. Then the chanting began, in the forgotten, guttural language of the sea. The cultists began softly, but as a deep blue hue began to fill in the eyes of Poseidon the murmurs grew louder, reaching a crescendo. The ominous blue around Poseidon’s eyes began to thicken and spill out onto the face of the ancient god. The chanting blocked out all other sound as the water in the marsh began to churn and bubble, rising above its natural levels and pouring out onto the abandoned lot. Water was everywhere, it gushed out from the marsh and was spreading out across the whole lot. The image of Poseidon was completely submerged, the water around the etching glowed with the eyrie blue light that had thickened over Poseidon’s whole body. Marbrax’s eyes were glued to the blue light that was now radiating from the water God like a beacon. Then the chanting stopped and gave way to a scream that ripped apart the night. “NOOOOOO!!!” Marbrax yelled as the mail runner charged towards the center of the cultists. But, Marbrax was too slow and Grendle reached Poseidon’s eye first.

“This ends now Marbrax!” he shouted as his foot came crashing down on the tooth.

__**Tom**__ Tom woke up to darkness, inside and out. All he could remember was pain, nothing else. Tom glanced down to where his legs should have been, but they were not there. Instead he saw the sleek, pointed tip of a fin. He tried to reach down to grab the thing, but his arms were hidden behind two more pointed fins. Tom tried to scream, but only bubbles emerged from his mouth, which wouldn’t close all of the way because of the sharp, jagged teeth that now protruded from his gums. Slowly Tom’s eyes began to adjust to the darkness, he could barely make out a curved wall stretching towards a dome roof. Then a burst of blinding light shone through a crack in the dome.

“Come on Tom!” a voice shouted. “I’m breaking you out!”

Tom swam up towards the light, as fast as his new body could carry him. A look of horror broke out of the brown-haired man’s face when Tom a came into view. “I know you!” Tom wanted to shout. “You’re the mailman!” but all that escaped were more bubbles. The man reached down for Tom and grabbed him around is slippery waist and heaved. Tom soared through the air and time slowed down. He could see a picture of a large man, etched on the ground and a few men lying around it, motionless. Then Tom glanced forward into the marsh where he was about to land. The water welcomed Tom with a great splash and a frenzy of bubbles, then it settled as Tom swam away.