Leo reached for his water bottle, but stopped mid-motion. A sudden, deep chill cut through the humid afternoon air. The bright sunlight reflecting off the water vanished, replaced by an abrupt, sweeping darkness. He blinked, looking up at the sky, expecting a rogue storm cloud to cover the sun. The sky above was perfectly clear.
Then he looked down. The water directly beneath his boat had turned from a clear blue to an impenetrable, ink-black shadow. A massive, dark shape was expanding outward, swallowing him in darkness. His heart hammered against his ribs. Was a whale rising from the deep?
A rhythmic, low vibration rattled his teeth before he actually heard it. It wasn’t coming from the deep below. It was a massive, mechanical growl echoing from directly behind his shoulder. Leo spun around, his breath catching instantly in his throat. A towering wall of rusted, black steel was looming over his boat, blotting out the horizon.