The Creature of Black Water Lake (5 page)

“It’s going to kill him.” Rita pointed at the screen. The creature had the corner of the cage locked in its giant teeth and was shaking it mercilessly. The softer metal on the roof was tearing loose.

Larry flew against the side bars and crashed to the floor.

“He’s not getting up, Ryan. I think he’s hurt.… Ryan? What are you doing?”

Ryan already had the spare tank of air strapped on again. He picked up the speargun. “Keep trying to get the cage up.”

Rita nodded dully and moved to the crank. Ryan slipped over the side of the boat into the black turbid water.

He stayed in the shadows and cautiously headed for the light from the video camera. The monster was so intent on Larry that it didn’t notice him.

When the monster circled for another
charge, Ryan swam to the top of the cage and let himself in. Larry was slumped in the corner holding his ribs, but he managed to give Ryan a thumbs-up sign.

The camera light was still strapped to Larry’s wrist. Ryan took it off and scanned the surrounding water. There was no sign of the monster.

Still moving cautiously, Ryan moved outside to inspect the cable. It had twisted inside the pulley on the top of the cage. He braced against the metal bars and yanked with all his strength. The rigid cable snapped into position.

Rita had been watching the whole thing on the monitor and immediately started hauling them up. At the surface Ryan jumped from the top of the cage into the boat and helped Rita crank it the rest of the way up.

Inside the dented cage, Larry was standing, still holding his ribs.

“Hang on.” Ryan reached for the bars to pull him in. “We’ll have you out in just a second.”

The cage was tottering on the edge of the
boat when the angry monster surfaced. Ryan couldn’t believe his eyes. The thing looked different out of the water, like a space creature—it was huge and ugly, and it jumped and smacked the top of the water with its tail, then plunged back down.

The boat lurched as the creature came up hard beneath it. Ryan lost his balance and fell, hitting his head on the sharp corner of the metal cage. He tumbled, half-conscious, back into the murky water.

“The speargun, Rita!” Larry called weakly. “Hurry.”

Ryan felt dizzy and light-headed. Something slammed past him, flipping him over. He breathed in a mouthful of water and choked, and his eyes flew open.

A few yards in front of him was the face of the monster. Its jaws were opened wide—showing a slimy white throat and rows and rows of jagged teeth.

The creature moved in for the kill. Ryan was going to die. A second, maybe two, and he would be torn to pieces. The mouth was there, open, on him.

Suddenly the monster jerked sideways. The
head was so close to Ryan he felt the brush of its coarse skin. A stream of dark liquid squirted from the creature’s side. It writhed in pain and quickly disappeared beneath the surface.

“Are you okay?” Rita helped Ryan climb into the boat.

Ryan nodded and collapsed onto the deck. “Man … I thought … I thought I was a goner.”

Larry shrugged out of his gear and crouched beside Ryan. “That was as close as I ever want to come. It took me a minute to locate you and when I did, I saw the creature, too. It was closing in. When I shot it I must have hurt it because it veered off and ran for cover in one of the caves.”

Ryan tried to catch his breath. “What happens now?”

“One thing’s for certain,” Larry said, leaning back. “We can’t go into the caves after it, especially now that it’s wounded. I guess the best thing to do is take what we have on videotape to the experts and let them decide what to do.”

Ryan sat up. “Are you sure that’s what you want? I’m okay. We can try again …”

Larry shook his head. “No. It would be suicide. Thanks to you and Rita, the world will be able to see what the creature looks like. I think you’ve done enough.” He looked at Rita. “Take us home, Skipper.”

Rita started the motor and slowly piloted the boat across the water. Ryan stared over the back of the boat at the dark water, looking for some sign of the creature, but there was nothing. Not a ripple.

The Ancient One knew by instinct that it was dying. Something incredibly sharp had pierced the side of its neck and it was fast losing blood
.

It couldn’t remember how long this lake had been its home but knew it would miss the lake. A faint picture came into its brain, an almost genetic memory of other creatures somewhere, like it, in other dark caves. And then the picture was gone
.

The Ancient One moved as far back in the cave as possible. The lids of its eyes closed, opened, closed, and did not open again
.

MYTHICAL MONSTERS

You’ve probably heard of Bigfoot and the Loch Ness Monster. These are creatures that people claim to have seen but whose existence has never been proved. The study of these mysterious creatures is called cryptozoology, which literally means the study of hidden animals. Cryptozoology is not a recognized branch of the science of zoology. It is a controversial field. Cryptozoologists use legends and stories of sightings to try to establish the existence of these strange creatures.

Bigfoot is probably the most famous mythic monster. Also called Sasquatch, it is thought to be a huge, hair-covered biped. A biped is an animal that walks on two feet—like a human. Some think Bigfoot descended from the extinct Gigantopithecus, the largest ape that ever lived. Bigfoot sightings occur frequently in the American Northwest.
But so far, no evidence has been presented that proves that this giant creature exists.

The Loch Ness Monster, also known as Nessie, is supposedly a large, long-necked aquatic creature named for its lake home, Scotland’s Loch Ness. Some scientists have speculated that Nessie might actually be a Baltic sturgeon, a reptilian-looking primitive fish with a snout and spines.

Sea monsters, such as giant sea serpents, eels, and squid, have fascinated people for centuries. Giant squid have been hauled up from the sea in fishermen’s nets but no scientist has ever observed one alive in its natural habitat. The giant squid is believed to be the largest animal in the world, growing to sixty or seventy feet long with eyes the size of dinner plates.

There are many other types of creatures—giant and mysterious cats, birds, and reptiles, for example—that cryptozoologists have investigated. Some cryptozoologists even believe that some creatures thought to be extinct may still walk the earth. Could there still be dinosaurs alive today? Is Bigfoot just a hoax? We may never know for sure.

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The Legend of Red Horse Cavern

Will Little Bear Tucker and his friend Sarah Thompson have heard the eerie Apache legend many times. Will’s grandfather especially loves to tell them about Red Horse—an Indian brave who betrayed his people, was beheaded, and now haunts the Sacramento Mountain range, searching for his head. To Will and Sarah it’s just a story—until they decide to explore a newfound mountain cave, a cave filled with dangerous treasures.

Deep underground, Will and Sarah uncover an old chest stuffed with a million dollars. But now armed bandits are after them. When they find a gold Apache statue hidden in a skull, it seems Red Horse is hunting them too. Then they lose their way, and each step they take in the damp, dark cavern could be their last.

Rodomonte’s Revenge

Friends Brett Wilder and Tom Houston are video game whizzes. So when a new virtual reality arcade called Rodomonte’s Revenge opens near their home, they make sure they’re its first customers. The game is awesome. There are flaming fire rivers to jump, beastly buzz-bugs to fight, and ugly tunnel spiders to escape. If they’re good enough they’ll face
Rodomonte, an evil giant waiting to do battle within his hidden castle.

But soon after they play the game, strange things start happening to Brett and Tom. The computer is taking over their minds. Now everything that happens in the game is happening in real life. A buzz-bug could gnaw off their ears. Rodomonte could smash them to bits. Brett and Tom have no choice but to play Rodomonte’s Revenge again. This time they’ll be playing for their lives.

Escape from Fire Mountain

“… please, anybody … fire … need help.”

That’s the urgent cry thirteen-year-old Nikki Roberts hears over the CB radio the weekend she’s left alone in her family’s hunting lodge. The message also says that the sender is trapped near a bend in the river. Nikki knows it’s dangerous, but she has to try to help. She paddles her canoe downriver, coming closer to the thick black smoke of the forest fire with each stroke. When she reaches the bend, Nikki climbs onshore. There, covered with soot and huddled on a rock ledge, sit two small children.

Nikki struggles to get the children to safety. Flames roar around them. Trees splinter to the ground. But as Nikki tries to escape the fire, she doesn’t know that two poachers are also hot on her trail. They fear that she and the children have seen too much of their illegal operation—and they’ll do anything to keep the kids from making it back to the lodge alive.