The Whispering Depths
Briar’s Hollow hid quietly in a valley surrounded by dense forest and containing the slow-flowing Serpent River. Briar's Hollow ran on the Serpent River because its people centered their daily life around it. The river gave both food and joy to everyone.
At nightfall the river took on a different quality when mist lifted off its surface. It became something else—something watching.
The community members discussed the unsolved loss of people quietly. The fishing boats returned without their owners who disappeared while working. The vessels kept drifting alone. The animals would not drink water from certain parts of the river. People heard faint voices emerge from the water to speak unnoticed below the waterline.
No one got away from looking at the river creature to explain its nature.
1. The Vanishing of Eli Carter
On the night of his disappearance Eli Carter turned 17 years old. He showed dangerous behavior throughout his youth and did not respect fears held by adults.
He told his buddies at night while feeling tipsy that what others claimed about the river never worried him. “Ghosts and monsters? Come on. Deep water makes up the entire river and contains swimming fish.
On that night he launched his boat into the river with his old rowboat until it floated away into the fog bank. As his friends watched he sank into the fog with his torchlight undulating before fading.
They never saw him again.
During sunrise the police discovered his boat floating near the shore. Sharp claws left distinct marks in the wood surface when they grabbed the boat edges. There was no sign of Eli. No footprints. No blood.
The river maintained its natural movement through the night because it claimed him unnoticed.
2. The Stories of Old Man Harrow
Old Man Harrow spent seventy-eight years in Briar’s Hollow area yet promised details about the Serpent River mystery.
He told others repeatedly that the underwater creature senses through methods other than seeing. “It knows when you’re near. It knows when you’re afraid.”
Every night he spent his time by the docks carving wood using tough weathered hands while watching the deepness of the waters.
“I seen it, once. He spoke about the legend to Thomas Reed one evening while the journalist questioned him about the story. “Big as a house. Black as the night. These arms reach further than arms on a man. They extend so long the monster could use them like ropes to destroy ships.
Thomas scoffed. Since it exists no one has found it yet. He wonders where the entity should have been found instead.
The toothless smile came from Old Man Harrow in reply. “Because it don’t just kill. It keeps ‘em. Down in the deep.”
Thomas composed the article while mocking the senior person. One evening he vanished on his way back from home after dark. His hat washed ashore at the seaside and stood as the sole evidence.
After the incident people lost interest in questioning Old Man Harrow.
3. Maggie’s Discovery
Maggie did not share the normal reactions of other people. She avoided water without panic and viewed supernatural tales as unimportant. But she was curious. She accepted that most interest in new things exposes people to danger.
The river's scenery became her drawing subject and she examined its features through observation. She studied the water actions and watched how fish reacted to their environment. During dusk when the mysterious wind began, she saw all the fish vanish from the water. The birds fell silent. Even the wind seemed to stop.
She paddled into the night with a small boat and brought a notebook plus working light. To observe she turned off her boat lamp while floating in the river's center.
Then she heard it.
A whisper. A low voice reached her through a soft breeze near her skin's back.
Despite the lack of any breeze water underneath her started to wave.
She lowered her flashlight beam to observe the lower level.
And she saw it.
A shape beneath the water, impossibly large. A shape moves calmly while altering its position. The noise from the deep water flooded her mind and burrowed deep into her skeleton. It wasn’t just noise.
It was a voice.
Come down. Come see.
Her breath stopped when she understood what this figure was not your typical monster. It was something else. Something old. Something intelligent.
Something waiting.
4. The River’s Hunger
The creature did not chase Maggie as she stumbled back to the beach. The thing didn’t follow. It didn’t need to. It knew she would return.
She became fixated on studying the creature during the following weeks. She reviewed historical town documents to find past references about the river monster. From the beginning settlers reported they avoided the water because it created a 'deep-fever' that took anyone venturing too far. Town residents set up their community far enough to give sustenance to the creature yet not become its meal.
Every night Maggie returned to the shore of the river to watch and listen to its surface. The whispering had changed. After that the voice transformed from a simple appeal into a meaningful dialogue. It was a conversation.
It wanted her.
5. The Final Descent
One night, the town awoke to the sound of a single scream, high and thin, echoing from the docks.
When they arrived at the river neither Maggie nor her boat was present.
Her only remaining possession was her notebook which lay open on the last page she penned at the end of that evening.
It’s not a monster.
It’s something else.
Something waiting.
Something waking up.
People in town could not locate her remains. Like many victims she disappeared into the river where it had claimed previous victims especially Eli and Thomas.
People report hearing an whispers emerge from the water at night when the mist covers the area and everything else is silent.
Calling them.
Tags:
Monsters