This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.
The original was posted on /r/nosleep by /u/Bitter_Decision_4960 on 2024-10-25 19:22:21+00:00.
I sat in the control room, staring blankly at the monitor. The sonar’s rhythmic pings filled the silence, but they felt hollow now, like the echo of something far more sinister. Emily and Dr. Miles sat beside me, neither saying a word. We had ascended hours ago, and the surface world should have brought a sense of safety. But I couldn't shake the feeling that we hadn’t left it behind. Not really.
“I’m telling you, there was something down there,” I said, breaking the silence.
Dr. Miles exhaled sharply, rubbing his temples. “We know. We all saw it.”
“We need to report this,” Emily chimed in, her voice hoarse from the strain of the dive. “This thing—it’s massive. And it’s watching us.”
We sent our report to the expedition sponsors. As the lead scientist, I’d be the one to communicate directly with them, explain everything. I’d done it countless times before—rattling off findings, charting data, and impressing people with cold hard facts. But this was different.
As I prepared the message, my thoughts drifted back to a time before this expedition—a time when my curiosity had been my only driving force. I had spent years studying marine life, seeking out the rarest, most elusive species, never imagining that one day I’d encounter something like this. Something I couldn’t quantify.
My career had been marked by success, driven by my obsession with the unknown. But that same obsession had cost me, too. I’d lost friends, relationships—people who couldn’t understand why I would spend months at sea, chasing shadows in the water. They’d call me reckless. Some even called me a fool.
But I’d never cared. Until now.
The call came back, as clinical and dispassionate as I’d feared. A voice crackled over the comms, thick with bureaucratic detachment. “We’ve received your report, Doctor. However, we urge you to proceed with the expedition. The funding for this mission is substantial, and we expect results.”
“Results?” I repeated, incredulous. “We’re talking about an unidentified creature, one that could pose a serious threat not just to us but to—”
“We appreciate your concerns, but you’re there for research, not speculation. The deep ocean is an unexplored frontier, Doctor. Find what you can, document it, and return. We trust your team to handle the risks.”
I glanced at Dr. Miles and Emily. They were listening in, waiting for the verdict. My heart sank as I muttered, “They want us to continue.”
Emily shook her head, frustration flickering across her face. “Are they insane? We barely made it back.”
“Money talks,” Dr. Miles said bitterly, folding his arms. “They don’t care about the risks. Just the data.”
I thought about pushing back, but what would be the point? The expedition was their investment. We were just tools, instruments to gather information they could use. And if that meant throwing us back into the depths with a creature we barely understood—so be it.
We descended again the next day. The unease sat heavy in the air. This time, none of us spoke as we prepared the submersible, our movements robotic and grim. There was no sense of wonder now, no excitement about the unknown. Only dread.
Emily initiated the descent, and the sub slipped beneath the waves, once again swallowed by the cold blackness of the deep ocean. The familiar hum of the engines was the only sound, and even that seemed muffled, as though the water itself was holding its breath.
“Sonar’s clear,” Emily muttered. “For now.”
We reached the depth where the whale skeleton had been discovered on the previous dive. But as we approached, something new came into view. Something that sent a shiver down my spine.
“Stop,” I whispered.
Emily slowed the sub’s descent, and there it was—floating in the abyss like a grotesque monument to death.
A massive fish, its body stiff and contorted in death’s grip, drifted lifeless before us. Its bony frame was unlike anything I’d ever seen—long, armored ridges along its back, rows of razor-sharp teeth protruding from its gaping maw. It was easily twice the size of a whale, and its eyes—though lifeless—seemed to stare at us, wide and glassy.
“What… what is that?” Emily stammered.
“I’ve never seen a fish that large,” Dr. Miles said, his voice tight. “Nothing documented even comes close.”
The creature had been torn apart. Huge chunks of its flesh were missing, revealing bone and sinew. Jagged wounds, like something had bitten clean through it. My mind raced, trying to make sense of the scene, but one thought screamed louder than the others.
Whatever did this was bigger. Much, much bigger.
“This is fresh,” I murmured, my breath fogging the glass of the viewport. “It just happened.”
We stared at the mangled corpse in stunned silence, the implications sinking in. This thing hadn’t died of natural causes. It had been hunted, attacked.
And we were in the territory of the hunter.
The sonar pinged again, a single faint blip on the screen. My heart skipped a beat. It was back.
“Do you think it’s… watching us?” Emily asked, her eyes wide with fear.
I didn’t answer, but I could feel it—feel something out there, lurking just beyond our reach, waiting.
We continued to descend, passing the carcass of the bony fish as it slowly drifted into the abyss. The tension in the sub was suffocating, every sound amplified by our growing fear.
Then, the lights flickered, casting eerie shadows inside the cabin. The sonar pinged again, and this time the blip was larger—closer. I peered into the void through the viewport, straining to see past the narrow beam of light.
And then, I saw it.
At first, it was just a shape—indistinct, blending with the darkness. But as we descended further, more of the creature came into view. It was massive, its body sleek and sinuous, undulating through the water with a grace that belied its size. The ridges along its back glinted faintly in the light, each one as tall as a man.
It was longer than the submersible, its form stretching into the blackness beyond what we could see. And it was watching us. I could feel its gaze, cold and unblinking, fixed on us like we were intruders in its domain.
“Oh my God,” Emily whispered, her hands trembling on the controls.
The creature didn’t move, didn’t make a sound. It simply hovered there, massive and terrifying, as though it were waiting. For what, I couldn’t say.
“It’s not attacking,” Dr. Miles said, his voice barely audible. “It’s… observing.”
I swallowed hard, my mouth dry. “We need to leave.”
“We can’t yet,” Emily replied, her voice shaking. “We have to document this.”
I understood the importance of what we were seeing—this was a discovery unlike anything the world had ever known. But the rational part of my brain was screaming at me to get out, to surface, to put as much distance between us and that thing as possible.
The creature shifted slightly, and for a moment, I saw its eyes—huge, black, and unfeeling. They reflected the lights of the sub like twin voids, as though they could swallow the entire ocean.
“We need to leave. Now,” I said, louder this time, panic rising in my chest.
Emily didn’t argue. She engaged the ascent, and slowly, the sub began to rise, leaving the creature behind. But I couldn’t shake the feeling that we were being followed.
And in the depths of my mind, a terrible thought began to form.
What if it’s not the only one?
The oppressive silence of the ocean weighed heavier than ever as we prepared for another descent. My heart pounded, a rhythm of dread that wouldn’t settle. The memory of that immense creature watching us lingered like a shadow, darkening my thoughts. Yet here we were, descending once more into its domain.
Emily checked the controls, her hands shaky. “Sonar’s clean,” she said, her voice hollow. “For now.”
Dr. Miles adjusted the data logs beside me, but I could tell his mind wasn’t on them. He was scanning the dark depths as though waiting for something to emerge. We all were.
“Let’s make this quick,” I said, my tone sharper than intended.
The submersible sank deeper, the cold blue light of the surface fading as we descended into the abyss once again. Each meter felt like a countdown, the atmosphere thickening with every second. The creature had made its presence clear last time—it wasn’t happy. We had intruded once too often, and now, with every dive, the tension grew more palpable.
“I don’t like this,” Emily whispered, though no one responded. We all felt it—the invisible threat lurking just out of sight, ready to strike.
The eerie hum of the ocean filled the sub, a reminder of the miles of water pressing down on us. The whale bones loomed again in the dim light, but this time, we didn’t stop to marvel. We all felt the growing unease, the sensation that something unseen was closing in around us.
And then the sonar blipped.
Just a single, small ping.
My stomach dropped. “It’s back,” I said.
The creature hadn’t shown itself yet, but I could feel it. The hairs on my arms stood on end, a primal instinct warning me that we weren’t alone.
The submersible rattled as the ocean currents shifted, or at least that’s what I tried to tell myself. Emily adjusted the thrusters, her fingers trembling on the controls. “It’s moving faster this time,” she muttered.
I leaned forward, eyes glued to the viewport, straining to catch ...
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