"Is that any fucking better?"
My mind races, trying to dredge up every tiny piece of knowledge I’ve ever heard about killer whales. I don’t think the whales usually go after people – don't they like seals or something? Fuck, I hope I don't look like a seal. I do know that this is a predator circling us right now and with all the other fucked up shit that’s been happening, I don't think I like our odds on this thing behaving normally.
Just then, I see the whale surface, its giant head pointing right toward us and I could swear it's looking at me. After what feels like the longest stare off of my life, it blows a mist of air out of its blowhole and bobs in place.
“Are you food?”
I jerk back and almost fall off the filing cabinet that I’m crouched on when those words ring out in my head, followed by a chirp and squeal. I didn't hear the words, they were just in my head. WHAT…THE…FUCK?
Before I can think about how absurd this is, I yell out, “NO! Not food!”
Julian is yelling my name but I can’t take my eyes off of the beast in front of me that I swear just talked to me in my head. The whale swishes its tail, and it's close enough now that it sends waves throughout the room.
“Want to play? Swim?”
I almost choke at those words sounding in my mind and thrash my head from side to side. Is this really happening right now? Is a fucking killer whale really talking to me? The only logical explanation here is that I’m still drunk and high from yesterday so I decide to just roll with it.
“No, we’re stuck. We need to get to land,” I tell it like this is an actual conversation here.
“Help? Pod help land walker?”
I scrub the water from my face and then shrug - because what else am I going to do?
“Sure! Can you help us get to land?”
Another blast of air gets blown out from its blowhole and chirps ring in my mind as it spins around and starts swimming away. I crouch down even lower and wrap my shaking arms around my chilled body and then I start to laugh. Not a funny laugh. More like a deranged laugh that has Jules yelling my name over and over again. When I finally turn my head to look his way, he’s already jumped back into the water and is wading in my direction.
“Come on! It’s gone. We need to get deeper into the building before it decides to come back.”
I laugh again, causing Jules to move faster toward me. “Nah, we should stay here. My new whale friend is going to get his pod to come help us get back to land.”
He shoves the desk closest to my file cabinet further away and reaches for my arm with a look of wariness.
“Reid, what the hell are you talking about? Come on, we need to move.”
I let him pull me back down into the water as I try to explain. “Pretty sure I’m still wasted because that fucking whale just had a conversation with me in my mind.”
Julian pulls me through the water, deeper into the office without replying to that crazy statement. “Seriously, in myfucking head, Jules. It asked if we were food and then if we wanted to play. It said it was going to get its pod to help us. What the hell is happening right now, man?”
He sends a concerned look at me but keeps pulling me with him toward a bank of elevators. I assume he is looking for stairwell access.
“You’re fine, Reid. You’re just tired and cold and we’ve had some major shocks in the last few hours. We’ll be fine once we get out of the water.”
Julian’s grip doesn’t let go until we’re through the stairwell door and up a few steps. I grab onto the handrail to steady myself and it feels like my legs are barely holding me up. My heart’s trying to break through my ribs, but the fear doesn’t come with it. Not the usual kind. This is different. I feel weirdly calm now, like everything buzzing in my frantic brain has gone quiet.
I look back through the door at the water still swirling between desk legs and filing cabinets, toward the window. The whale is gone, or hiding, or maybe never real at all. But I still feel the echo. That voice. That chirping question. "Are you food?"
My skin hums like I’m a tuning fork struck against something massive.
“Okay, we need to climb these stairs and go up to higher ground. No more flooded floors. You good?”
No. Not even close.
“I think it talked to me,” I say quietly.
He looks at me like I’ve cracked. “Reid…”
“In my head. Not words exactly. Kinda like feelings shaped like words. It asked if I was food. Then it wanted to play. Then said it was gonna get its pod to help us.”
