Ness whacked the boat harder this round. She wanted the culprit’s attention. The fool leaned over one more time, and Ness lunged.
Ness struck hard, and it rocked violently, and he fell into the water. She grabbed him and dragged him down as Disease attacked. Her Sin drank extensively from the man as she raced along the loch bottom, keeping him with her.
After thirty seconds, she rose above the water and swam into a small bay, prey still clutched. Disease drank deeply. She felt how satiated it was already.
Damn, the guy must have been riddled with infectious intentions. As Disease ate, she considered how the Sins fed. They were basically cannibals. The Sins were attracted to their own kind. Abuse to abuse, Bloodlust to bloodlust, etcetera. This man knew the risks of dumping contaminated waste into the loch but cared little.
If he spread disease and illness, it wasn’t his problem as far as he was concerned. And Disease loved people of that sort. Sins could feed in one of three ways. They could pull the life force from the victim’s body, they could go mouth-to-mouth, or they could physically bite into a vein and drink from that. The Loch Ness Monster didn’t like the taste of blood, and so she allowed Disease to feed the first two methods.
The man collapsed into a heap, and Ness knew he was dead. Disease had settled inside her, calm and full and happy. She’d leave the body here, but the boat needed to be found so his crimes would be exposed.
As she slipped back into the water, a yacht approached with a stunned observer on board. Oh well, what was another Loch Ness Monster sighting?
Mitch
He stared, astonished, as what could only be the Loch Ness Monster rotated its head and blinked. Yeah, blinked. Then, dismissing him as irrelevant, it dived and paddled away before disappearing when it hit deep water. Holy crap, he couldn’t believe what he’d just seen. Mitch had the yacht’s forward lights on, and a plan formed. Mitch eyed the wake of the creature and turned the yacht to follow. If it rose again, he’d film it. But damn, it could move fast.
To his surprise, he saw the trail head toward a boat that rocked violently from side to side.
A female cried out, surprising him.
Mitch squinted, trying to see what was happening in the dark. He hit the floodlights, and moments later, a woman hauled herself out of the water and onto the boat. Had the monster knocked her in?
She looked disgruntled as he approached, and then she dived overboard again.
Mitch flinched as the boat exploded. Pieces flew everywhere. Several struck Diarmad’s yacht, which would no doubt piss him off. A ball of fire rose high in the sky, and a loud whistle pierced the silence of the night.
“Shit!” Mitch exclaimed as he crouched until the debris finished falling. He jumped up, racing to the side of the yacht, scanning the water, searching for the woman. Despite the floodlights and the flames, he couldn’t see any sign of her. Frantically, Mitch kept looking and then spotted her lying ona piece of boat. He stopped the engine and raced towards the stern, yanking off his clothes.
Mitch paused, kicked his boots off, and dived in. He swam strongly over to the woman, moved her hair aside, and checked for a pulse. Finding one, he turned her over, put her into the recovery position, and began swimming toward the yacht. Annoyingly, Mitch struggled to get her out of the water and ended up dragging her up the steps.
He rushed down to the cabin, grabbed a blanket and a first-aid kit, and hurried back. The woman still lay unconscious on the deck, and Mitch once again checked her for a pulse. Sighing in relief at finding one, he examined her for obvious injuries.
Mitch discovered a nasty look cut on her leg, one on her arm, and she had a head wound. Deftly, he wrapped bandages around them before yanking his phone and dialling Diar.
“That had better not be my yacht that exploded on the loch!” Diar stated as he answered.
“No, some boat went up. I’ve got an injured woman here. She was on board when it blew up,” Mitch replied.
“Lucky you, pulling a mermaid out of the water,” Diar teased.
“She’s unconscious, man. Mind what you say. I need help. I can perform basic first aid, but she needs more than that,” Mitch retorted.
“The RNLI lifeboat crew have rolled out, start bringing her back to shore.”
“Diarmad, I can’t leave her. Honestly, I’m scared she’ll stop breathing.”
“Shit, she’s that bad?”
“Yeah.”
“Okay, I’ll update them; they’ll head for you. Stay with your mermaid,” Diar teased and cut the line.
Mitch checked her pulse again and sighed. It was steady. Unsure what to do, he sat with her, holding her hand, andbabbled away. He told her anything that came to mind; he loved dogs and wanted some; he hated cats, as they were evil creatures, in his opinion.
“Damn, I bet you’re a cat lover,” he complained.
“Actually, I love dogs and tortoises,” the woman muttered.
