The Demon of Gray Cove
When Cadwyn had anchored their boat in the little cove, the plan had been to spend the night as a storm passed and be on their way in the morning. They had been there all of an hour when the battery died, and Buck’s hackles began to rise.
The dog’s low growl was like a bass rumble that ran under the sound of the pounding rain. Basheba rested a hand on Buck.
“Is it you-know-who?” She looked to Cadwyn. Her husband shook his head.
“No. This is something else,” he replied.
Being on the sea, it was not out of left field for her to guess the Kraken had decided to make trouble for them. The demon was bound to her husband, and she had no doubt it was keeping close tabs.
A feeling was in the air, something hard to put a finger on in any specific terms. But the dog sensed it as much as Basheba and Cadwyn did. Something inhuman was nearby. The air smelled of salt, rain, and demon.
She went onto the deck, the rain plastering her blonde hair to her face as the wind tugged at it. Buck stood at her side, unfazed by the downpour, while Cadwyn remained below.
The lightning in the night sky flashed blue and purple. The waves rocked the boat in a steady rhythm. She supposed they should have gone ashore, but it was too late now. If they had, maybe they never would have discovered whatever was waiting for them in the dark.
She saw nothing. There were bluffs around the cove, and the land beyond was black and unknown in the night. If something was watching, it was hidden. It was biding its time.
“Are you staying out there all night?” Cadwyn called up to her from the cabin.
“Just looking,” she said.
“Look from inside. If something wants to kill us, it can come in and dry off first.”
She looked down at the dog. Buck growled again and stared into the night.
Her eyes followed his to the top of a nearby bluff. The lightning flashed again and revealed a figure there, a woman with long hair, but only for an instant. There and gone.
Basheba returned to the cabin of the boat. Buck came as well, shaking vigorously and spraying the inside while Cadwyn winced and waited until he was finished before fetching a towel.
“See anything?” He dried the dog and then the floor and walls around him.
“A woman on the cliffs. But just for a minute.”
“She left?”
“She vanished.” Basheba snapped her fingers. “Like that.”
“That’s unexpected,” he said. “Not the worst thing I’ve seen a demon do, though.”
“The night’s still young. She could try to disembowel us before morning.”
“You sure know how to make the most of things,” her husband replied.
***
