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AAAND GOOD MORNING EVERYBODY! I'm John Byres, your host and welcome back to On the water and into the deep. The podcast that gives you the latest interesting news from out on and in the waters as well as the place that talks and speculates true and mythic stories from the deep!
Now I'm sure some of you have already heard about a tragic and rather frightening yet mysterious sounding divers incident that happened in s h kk kk about a week ago. For those of you who haven't well, that's what we’ll be talking and debating about today, since they just released to the public some new and rather bizarre insight, word of mouth from the lone survivor herself. Now the survivor Tya Akins has been in a hospital psych ward since the incident and has refused to talk about what happened up until just yesterday. The story she told however is ..uh a little unbelievable which is where the speculation comes in.
Before we get into that though I want to make it clear that I in no way mean anything offensive to the poor young lady who survived this horrible incident and the families of the missing people. These are true events that happened and people are still missing and suspected to be deceased through fowl play. My sympathies go out to the families and the young lady who survived.
Ahm, alright so about a week ago a group of 5 young adult humans, two girls Tya and Shay. And three boys Dan, Tyler, and Jeff. Had decided to go out to do some deep sea, night diving far out around the s h kk kk area, hoping to see some squid. Now they were all experienced in deep sea diving and night diving and had done it plenty of times before. It was a new area unfamiliar to them though.
Well, that night none of them had returned from their dive. So the families who had become worried sick that the group had left in the middle night for a dive. Which again they were experienced and have done this a ton of times before and have always come back in the early dawn of the mornings, didn’t come back this time. They assumed the worst as they should have and called up the coast guard to have them check the area where their loved ones had said they'd be diving around.
So the guard sent out a couple guys and they discovered the group's boat silently floating out on the water. When they boarded they couldn't immediately find any sign of life and the boat was trashed. Things were broken and smashed. There were strange claw like marks found on the side of the boat and all over in the wheelhouse. Much more worrisome however was all the blood staining the deck and the still unidentified tar like substance found as well. It's speculated that a monster may have been the culprit because of these things.
Upon further inspection they found someone hiding in the boat's storage space. One of the missing people called in by a worried family member. Tya Akens. Ms. Akens had a deep bite wound on her arm and her behavior had been extremely paranoid. She was incredibly frightened and untrusting of the guards.
Tya didn't believe that her rescuers were real and had been adamant that they were going to harm her in some way. She had refused to leave the storage place. When asked where the others were she refused to answer, only crying, hyperventilating and babbling frightened gibberish to herself and them. She had been too hysterical at the time to think or speak normally. Eventually they had to physically remove her from the storage space. The entire time she screamed about the thing in the water and how they were going to throw her to it as a sacrifice for her sins.
So that's the story we've heard up until now. Very tragic and frightening. The rest of the group still hasn't been found. A monster has been thought to possibly be the perpetrator and even Ms. Akens has been speculated but nothing has been proven.
With Ms. Akens mental health and her refusal to speak, we were left with a mystery. But as I've said earlier just yesterday she has reached a point where she was able and willing to speak about it giving us her story. The story that has more than just me speculating if maybe she isn't as mentally healed as we thought just yet, but also with the evidence left on the boat it makes people wonder. Is there a nightmarish sea creature that had attacked the group that night out near s h kk kk?
Well, we'll get to that speculation after we talk about what Tya had to say. I'll start with reading this interview she had with the journalist.
When I had shown up to the interview with Ms. Akens she looked hollow and frightened. A poor traumatized girl laying in a hospital bed with stitches along her arm. When she spoke her story you could hear the pain in her voice and see the look of fear on her face as she remembered. The way she spoke however was with blood curdling guilt.
Here is what Tya Akens had to say.
Late into the diving session something horrifying happened. Something I will never be able to forget and will forever haunt me. I will never be able to be near water again without thinking of the nightmare and what I've done.
Whatever the thing was it came up from the ocean depths black waters….
…
It was a shame that they'd been in and out of the water diving for about an hour now and weren’t finding any squid. It's still been a lot of fun though. This area was new for them to explore and while it's more like an abyss with how dark and deep it is, if you swam around enough you could find rocky outcrops that had a lot of underwater caves going through it! Of course you had to be careful to not go too deep in them and get lost, never to find your way out.
A beep alerted her, making her look down at the blue glow of her watch. It was time to regroup and do a quick headcount to make sure everyone was good and not lost somewhere before going back to exploring for a little longer. Always a surreal feeling swimming in a void but one she grew to enjoy.
Shining her flashlight at Dan who had partnered with her to explore, they nod to each other before swimming towards a small bunch of heavy duty red glow sticks attached to a long ass rope hooked to the boat. The glow sticks gave no real visibility with how dim they were but you could see them just fine through the dark water, which is all they really needed. It was just a makeshift set up where they could all come to meet up.
She could already see Shay and Tyler there and immediately began to worry. Wasn't Jeff supposed to be with them? It's dangerous to split up on a night dive. Shay immediately starts signing once we arrive. “We can't find Jeff! He was literally right next to us and when we turned around he was just gone! We were hoping he somehow found his way to you guys!”
Tya felt immediate unease, but kept her calm. It's not good to get separated but like everyone else here Jeff is experienced. He may just have decided to check out a cave and is taking a little longer to get back. Not very comforting but it's better than assuming the absolute worst.
Dan takes charge and starts signing, “We got about 15 more minutes until we need to go up lets st-”
Tyler quickly places his hand over Dan's cutting him off and pointing at something off in the distance over our shoulders. We turn and find a light? Tya squints out at it in confusion before her eyes widen. It's Jeff’s yellow flashlight but Jeffs not there holding it. It’s by itself slowly sinking down into the dark depths. It felt like her spine just froze over. Where… where was Jeff?
Looking around she could see the unease settle over her friends' confused faces. Even so, turning to Tyler she was about to bring her hands up to ask if this was some really bad joke between the three of them, and Jeff was actually up on the boat right now. When suddenly Tyler was yanked away so hard and quickly it was like he had disappeared before her very eyes.
Tya’s breath stuttered behind her mask as she quickly tried to process what just happened. Something…something had just grabbed Tyler from behind and pulled him off into the dark waters. From her peripheral she could see Shay immediately start swimming for the surface.
Tya ignored Shay, her focus on the heart beat in her throat as her eyes began to dart around for Tyler and what took him. Dan is still by her side, seemingly trying to find their stolen friend as well.
Black darkness, so so dark. It's all she could see and suddenly it didn't feel familiar and enjoyable like it had before. It felt alien, cold, unwelcoming… dangerous. Her eyes were starting to hurt from all the staring into the abyss...Stare into the abyss and it will stare back... her eyes widened as her gaze finally found something out there. Something that was staring back…watching.
She swallowed, her limbs feeling rigged fear. It was nothing more than a single eerily glowing cyan diamond slit, and yet the way it adjusted itself as it slowly moved between her and Dan she knew it was an eye. An eye of a predator.
An odd feeling of self hate began to seep its way into her mind. She had let whatever it is take Tyler. She did nothing and still isn't even trying to go after hi-
Dan bumps her arm as he tries to swim backwards in alarm having found the eye himself. It jolts her from her thoughts. Adrenaline flooding her system, pumping and beating like it's trying to escape her veins. Dropping her flashlight in a panic, she quickly breaks contact with the cyan diamond and swims to follow after Shay who’s already breached the surface.
She Glanced behind her to see if Dan was following her and found him frantically trying to keep up.
Her stomach clenched and she felt wild icy panic. Behind Dan was a frighteningly large creature. It was unclear through the darkness but she could make out rough shapes of it through the terribly dim light of the red glow sticks below.
Tya screamed into her breathing mask startling Dan into whipping back in fight to see the thing. They're nearly blinded as a cyan bioluminescence lights up within the beast's body under their attention. A skeletal structure of some kind flashing before their eyes dangerously. The luminescents revealing thick tentacles and an elongated twisting body.
She couldn't quite make out the nightmare beast’s face but the glow of its predatory eye glinted off the fangs of its unnaturally white devilish grin. It struck forward as fast as a viper and bit into the side of Dan’s shoulder.
Tya could hear his muffled screaming through the waters sickeningly loud as she turned and frantically swam away as fast and hard as she could, leaving her friend behind as he screamed.
Breaching the surface she ripped off her mask choking for air through her panic, her limbs burning and aching as she forced herself to swim to the side of the boat where Shay quickly pulled her up. Tya coughed so hard from hyperventilating she started gagging. Tears and snot, leaking from her face as Shay rubbed her back trying to calm her down. It took Tya a moment to even realize Shay had been repeatedly asking her something. “Tya, where's Dan?!”
“Ahkk!” She choked out a sob unable to bring herself to say she had left him down there. When the sounds of splashing are heard she unbelievably realized she wouldn't have to as she pulled herself up to see Dan had breached the surface, coughing and gasping much like she had. Heavy relief fills her system and she has to push down a wave of new tears.
Scrambling up off the deck floor, Tya and Shay quickly go to Dan’s aid. He seemed to be struggling to keep his head above the water until Shay was able to reach out and pull him close enough to where they could both drag him on board.
Shay let out a gasp and Tya nearly started gagging when they were quick to discover Dan was missing a chunk out of the side of his shoulder, his arm hanging uselessly to his side as blood briskly began to trail its way down in thick rivets.
He was shaking heavily as he turned his wide angry eyes to Tya letting her see how intensely dilated his pupils were. “YOU FUCKING LEFT ME DOWN THERE!” He screamed at her with a terrified kind of anger. She felt ill. apologies on the tip of her tongue. She was just so scared, she didn't want to die down there… like she thought he had.
“YOU JUST SWAM AWAY! I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU WERE JUST GONNA LET ME DIE DO-” He suddenly became dead silent, standing stock still as he stared at Tya. His breath quickened as his shaking intensified.
Shay briefly gives Tya a concerned look before approaching Dan and reaching out for him. “D-Dan we need to bandage your arm.” Before she can even touch him he starts screaming bloody murder, smacking her hand away before rearing back and punching her in the face.
Shay lets out a screech as she tumbled back onto the deck floor holding her hand to her face. Tya flinched in shock unbelieving that Dan had really just done that. What the hell was wrong with him? She shook the thought as she hurriedly reached to help Shay as Dan ran off over to the boat’s storage frantically digging through it with his one working arm like his life depended on it.
Shay whimpered as blood dripped out from between her fingers from a busted lip and a bloody nose. “Tya what the fuck was that just now.” She whispered out as Tya helped her to her feet. Before Tya could even answer they looked over to see Dan had a knife. His dilated eyes wild as he looked back to them and pointed the blade in their direction.
The girls gasped, Tya’s grip tightening on Shay in fright. They both speak over each other but seem to ask the same question “Dan what the hell are you doing!?”
Dan stills. His breaths heavy and shuttering as a look of shock and confusion hits his face. Almost hesitantly he asks, "Tya, shay?" He lowers the knife mouth agape. "Wha I- I don't...you guys weren't.."
Suddenly he whips his head to the side and screams, tumbling back onto the ground, slashing his knife at the air. They watch in shock as he stabs at nothing screaming, "No no no! Stay away from me!"
Tya snaps out of her shock. "Dan what are you doing there's nothing there!"
He quickly glances back at her over his bloody shoulder, his eyes desperate as he begs them. "Help me please, please help me! Tya shay please I-I can't- it's going to kill me! I- I can't please don't let me die!"
Tya didn't know what to do. Dan was hysterical, swinging that knife everywhere at some invisible enemy that wasn't even there! How was she supposed to even approach?
Shay had apparently picked up the courage she was lacking as she held her hands up and very slowly approached. "Dan! Dan there is nothing there you need to calm down."
His wild eyes snapped to her before darting back to the nothing he was swinging at. His body going stiff as his mouth fell open. "There-there's nothing... no no there was- where?" He looked around himself seemingly trying to find it .
Shay got a little closer making Tya nervous. "Dan, you need to put the knife down."
His gaze snaps to her and he scrambles away, falling briefly and screeching in pain when he tries to use a near dead arm to quickly get back up. After forcing his way back to his feet he points the knife at her. "You -you stay over there. I I-I can't trust you. You're trying to hurt me. You're both planning to kill me. I know you are." He walks backwards like that until he makes it into the boat's wheelhouse. He quickly shuts himself in and locks it with a click.
Shay runs up to the door and immediately tries to talk sense into him.
Tya takes in a shaky breath. She hadn't gotten a moment to even comprehend everything that just happened. Jeff and Tyler ..they were gone. That thing in the water took them. Dan, it almost took him too. She'd left Dan to die down there as she swam to safety. Tears pricked at her eyes again. He didn't die though but now he's heavily injured and apparently delusional.
What happened down there? Her eyes glanced out into the dark at the even darker ocean. "What was that th-'' Her breath hitches when her eyes catch glowing cyan.
The creature's barely visible black skull breached as its eye reflects off the water's surface. ...It was watching them. Her heart skips as its gaze meets with hers, it grins widely at her before sinking back under silently. What the fuck kinda nightmare fule was this thing!
Breath becoming short she quickly makes her way over to Shay who was still talking to Dan through the door. Placing a hand on her shoulder she whispers in a frantic tone. "We need to get back to land now and we need to get help!"
She nods "o-"
"Hey! Hey, what are you two whispering to each other out there?" Dan's voice coming out fast and accusing.
Tya licks her lips nervously. Shit, shit, shit, they needed to get out of here! Maybe she could still try to reason with him? "Let's just go Dan okay? Let's go home and fix your shoulder."
It's silent for a moment. "Your..your gonna hurt me. I know you want me d-dead. T-that's why you guys suggested this trip wasn't it? I know it is!" He didn't sound sure about his own words and that was her only solace.
She grits her teeth and tries to keep a calm gentle voice. "No ones going to hurt you Dan. You're already hurt and we need to get you some help. We need to bandage your shoulder, you're losing too much blood."
They can hear his heavy breathing through the door. "...I- I know I just- I'm scared. I'm getting dizzy and-" He takes a few more deep breaths. "They won't stop looking at me. I don't know what it is and and your faces earlier I didn't know- that wasn't you... how can I know that you're you? Are you even you?! I don't know what's going on! I went to grab the radio but it wasn't the radio... I burnt my hand."
Both Tya and Shay look at each other in concern and confusion. There was nothing he could've burnt himself on in there or anywhere on the boat. He was still talking nonsense but he apparently still tried to call for help and was at least seemingly trying to talk to them now.
Licking her lips nervously eyeing the dark waters as Shay spoke softly to Dan. "I don't know what's going on either Dan but I'm just as scared and want to go home. Jeff and Tyler are gone and you seem to be seeing things but they're not really there. They're not there okay? They aren't real, that's why they don't make sense. Can you please open the door, so we can bandage you and call for help? ...please?"
The boat shifts rather heavily to the side with some sudden waves that has Tya darting her head around in search of that thing in the water. She doesn't see anything though and it makes her more nervous.
She turns back to the door when she hears Dan move behind it. "Im.. seeing things? But no it's so.. real that can't be.. I- my hands not burnt.. it's gone ..but I felt it burn..."
Tya didn't like how slowly he was starting to talk. His words were nearly starting to slur. Her throat tightened as he continued.
"I...I'm gonna open the door. Don't..don't hurt me.. please. I love you guys, you're like my family so..please please don't." Tya felt guilty at his words as the lock finally clicks. He pushes the door open and Tya's gut twists at seeing how bloody he is, his eyes droopy as he leans heavily on the door frame struggling to stand straight. His hazy eyes flick up and widen his breath, shudders and body shakes. "Is- it's not. It's not real."
When his freighted gaze slowly keeps going further up it's then she realizes Dan wasn't looking at them, he was looking past them. Behind them. Unnerved they look behind them too. It was not some hallucination. The nightmare serpent was on the boat sitting half coiled directly behind them flicking a cyan forked tongue out at them. They both scream, Tya tumbling back as the beast launches forward into Dan.
The two slamming through the doorway. Dan's screams just as loud as the crashing and breaking of objects as the beast attacks him in the small confines of the wheel house. Both Shay and Tya scramble to the other side of the boat trying not to trip as the boat rocked heavily with the creature’s wild movements.
The two girls curl up behind some gear at the end of the boat. Tears in their eyes and hands over their mouths as Dan's bloody screams pierced and echoed through the night. As Shay quietly whispered, "Imsorry Imsorry Imsorry." Over and over again Tya's heart thumped wildly in her chest. She didn't know it could come out of the water!
There's a strange deep reverberating hiss heard at some point and the crashes and bangs get even louder. Then the sounds suddenly stop. Dan’s screaming stops. It was silent.
Shay whimpered as the boat shifted again. Tya carefully peaked around the gear to see the thing make its way out the door. She held her breath at the sight, it was the first time she'd seen it so clearly with it being under the boat lights. It really was a nightmare.
It had a thick black tail of a serpent and The thing's upper half, its..skeletal half was dripping. Not water from the ocean but a strange black substance. It almost looked like tar was dripping off its obsidian bones. Odd ink tendrils coiling and stretching from the back of its spine.
The thing growled as it slid its tail in front of it. A knife. The knife Dan had was plunged into its tail. The thing looked more annoyed than pained as it gripped the handle in its wicked sharp claws and pulled it out with a hiss. Dropping it to the side the creature's single slit eye scanned the boat.
Tya sunk further back, hand squeezing tightly over her mouth as it's strange glowing tongue flicked out tasting the air. A grin crept over its features as it looked in their direction.
Her eyes dart to Shay who seems to be paralyzed with fear. The boat creaked and shifted as the thing no longer bothered to be silent in its movements like when it had crept aboard. Shay curled in on herself as Tya's heart beating harder as it got closer.
There wasn't much room for two to be hiding here. It was gonna see them. As a steady panic filled Tya her gaze kept returning to Shay's frightened and crying form. ..if it saw her first... it may be distracted enough that she could slip away to a better spot to hide like the storage space or even make it into the wheel house. She felt sick at the thought but she could see its shadow and it was too close! She needs to distract it now!
Grabbing Shay's shoulder she whispers, "I'm sorry." And pushes her out into the open. Shay yelps but so does Tya as she realizes she just pushed Shay directly in front of the thing that had apparently already found them.
She'd basically just offered the creature her friend directly and now it had all been for nothing. It knew they were both there and its tail was now blocking the only way she'd be able to slip out from the spot.
She froze as Shay looked at her with frightened and betrayed eyes. A screech ripping from her throat as the thing grabbed her by the hair and held her in place as she struggled.
The beast stared down at Shay as she screamed and flailed before its eye shifted to Tya. The nightmare's dripping skull cocking to the side as it squinted at her. Its tongue flicked once more before it grinned at her. Coiling Shay into its tail tightly, her screams tuning to wheezing whines.
Tya tried to scramble back as the creature shifted closer to her but her back hit the side of the boat rail. It towered over her before snatching her wrist and pulling her closer. She yelped frightfully. Its damp grip cold and tight.
A deep warbling trill came from it as the thing glared at her. The hair on her body standing on end. Its jaws open and while glaring the entire time it slowly bit into her arm. She screamed in pain trying to pull her arm back only succeeding in making it hurt more. It lasted only for a moment before it unlatched, forked tongue flicking over its bloody fangs as it let go of her.
She fell back clutching her bleeding arm. The creature snickered and pet her hair before turning to the side of the boat and slipping into the water with Shay who was screaming and crying out to her. “Tya! P-please, help me! hel-”
…
The journalist then goes on to say that Ms. Akens had broken down into tears. Saying I had only survived because of my sins. I had let my friends die and sacrificed Shay to the nightmare of a creature. I seemed to have amused it.
Hoo, so there we have it. Now I know a lot of you are debating Ms. Aken’s innocence after hearing what she has to say, however that's not what we will be debating. I think she's been through enough and survivor's guilt is a thing so in respect for her we'll be leaving that topic to the police.. Or uh whoever covers that.
Nope today we’ll be debating the nightmare creature. It sounds like a pretty wild story and we'll be talking about it right after a quick break. All right everyone I'm John Byres, host of On the water and into the deep and I'll see you guys in about ten minutes after this break!
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