WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.200 --> 00:00:03.040 Story one. I never thought a dive in the dark 2 00:00:03.080 --> 00:00:06.200 waters off the coast of Maine would become the most 3 00:00:06.200 --> 00:00:09.960 bone chilling experience of my life. My name is Lena, 4 00:00:10.039 --> 00:00:12.720 and I've always been drawn to the murky depths, a 5 00:00:12.759 --> 00:00:16.519 passion that started in my hometown and grew into an obsession. 6 00:00:17.039 --> 00:00:19.480 It was early autumn, and I had arranged a dive 7 00:00:19.519 --> 00:00:23.000 with a small crew, including my longtime dive buddy Mark, 8 00:00:23.480 --> 00:00:26.480 who had grown up hearing tales of the eerie legends. 9 00:00:26.160 --> 00:00:27.519 Of our local waters. 10 00:00:28.000 --> 00:00:30.679 Little did I know that one fateful descent would leave 11 00:00:30.719 --> 00:00:34.600 me questioning everything. The day was overcast, the sky a 12 00:00:34.640 --> 00:00:38.079 heavy gray, mirroring my unsettled mood. As we prepared our 13 00:00:38.079 --> 00:00:40.679 gear on the creaking deck of an old research boat. 14 00:00:40.960 --> 00:00:44.479 You sure about this, Mark asked, his tone half joking 15 00:00:44.679 --> 00:00:48.840 but laced with genuine worry as he tightened his equipment. Absolutely, 16 00:00:48.880 --> 00:00:52.240 I replied, my voice steadier than I felt. We had 17 00:00:52.280 --> 00:00:56.200 done countless dives together, but there was something unusual about today. 18 00:00:56.799 --> 00:00:59.759 The water's surface was rippled by a brisk current, and 19 00:00:59.799 --> 00:01:02.840 the wind seemed to whisper secrets I wasn't ready to understand. 20 00:01:03.679 --> 00:01:06.879 Without delay, we plunged into the cold Atlantic, the water 21 00:01:07.040 --> 00:01:10.680 swallowing our shapes and numbing our limbs. We descended along 22 00:01:10.680 --> 00:01:14.959 a guideline, a routine we trusted implicitly in low visibility dives. 23 00:01:15.439 --> 00:01:18.560 But as we dropped below forty feet, a strange sensation 24 00:01:18.680 --> 00:01:22.920 gripped me, an unsettling feeling that the depths were watching us. 25 00:01:23.439 --> 00:01:26.599 You feel that, I murmured to Mark, who was scanning 26 00:01:26.640 --> 00:01:29.959 the darkness ahead. His only reply was a tight nod, 27 00:01:30.480 --> 00:01:33.920 his expression shadowed by a flicker of fear. At around 28 00:01:33.920 --> 00:01:37.959 fifty five feet, the familiarity of our group vanished. Mark 29 00:01:38.000 --> 00:01:41.599 and I exchanged uneasy glances, and the silence between us 30 00:01:41.599 --> 00:01:47.159 grew dense with unspoken questions, where is everyone. Mark's voice 31 00:01:47.200 --> 00:01:50.359 was a low whisper that barely carried through the oppressive water. 32 00:01:51.000 --> 00:01:53.599 We lingered at the bottom of the guideline, our pulse 33 00:01:53.760 --> 00:01:57.359 racing as seconds stretched into minutes. The usual chatter of 34 00:01:57.359 --> 00:02:00.159 our dive group was nowhere to be heard. Instead, the 35 00:02:00.200 --> 00:02:02.879 only sound was the relentless pulse of our own breathing 36 00:02:03.319 --> 00:02:06.799 and the distant echo of water against metal. Time became 37 00:02:06.840 --> 00:02:10.560 a torturous loop. I checked my depth gage and regulator, 38 00:02:10.960 --> 00:02:13.719 every instrument, affirming that nothing was wrong. With our gear, 39 00:02:14.400 --> 00:02:18.719 yet an overwhelming dread clawed at my insides. Lena, this 40 00:02:18.879 --> 00:02:22.039 isn't right, Mark finally said, his eyes darting to the 41 00:02:22.039 --> 00:02:25.439 faint outline of the guideline disappearing into the void. I 42 00:02:25.439 --> 00:02:29.439 could only agree silently. We needed to abort, but something 43 00:02:29.520 --> 00:02:33.759 compelled us to wait, a hope, misguided, perhaps, that our 44 00:02:33.800 --> 00:02:37.759 companions would surface any moment. Then it happened. A faint, 45 00:02:37.840 --> 00:02:40.919 muffled sound, as if someone was calling out from beyond 46 00:02:40.919 --> 00:02:45.319 the veil, reached our ears. Hello, I called, my voice, 47 00:02:45.360 --> 00:02:47.800 trembling as I tried to pierce the dense obscurity. 48 00:02:48.360 --> 00:02:49.240 There was no answer. 49 00:02:49.520 --> 00:02:52.000 Only the sound repeated in my mind, like an echo 50 00:02:52.080 --> 00:02:55.960 from another world. Did you hear that? Mark asked, his 51 00:02:56.080 --> 00:02:59.960 face contorting in confusion. I nodded, and our eyes met 52 00:03:00.039 --> 00:03:04.000 in a shared silent terror. After what seemed like an eternity, 53 00:03:04.360 --> 00:03:09.280 we ascended slowly, our movements mechanical and desperate. Breaking through 54 00:03:09.280 --> 00:03:12.520 the water's surface, we were met with a disquieting sight. 55 00:03:13.360 --> 00:03:17.479 The boy was adrift, and there, slumped against it was 56 00:03:17.560 --> 00:03:21.000 one lone figure from our team. His eyes were wide 57 00:03:21.000 --> 00:03:24.319 with disbelief as he stared blankly at the horizon where 58 00:03:24.360 --> 00:03:28.520 our boat should have been the boat. It's gone, he 59 00:03:28.560 --> 00:03:32.840 whispered in broken sentences, his voice cracking with panic. The 60 00:03:32.960 --> 00:03:36.199 shock of it all struck me hard. Only moments ago, 61 00:03:36.280 --> 00:03:38.879 I had believed in the safety of numbers, in the 62 00:03:38.879 --> 00:03:43.159 comfort of routine, now uncertainly loomed like a specter over everything. 63 00:03:43.840 --> 00:03:47.319 Within minutes, our minds raced through the possibilities. Had we 64 00:03:47.400 --> 00:03:51.039 been abandoned by a careless crew? Was this some twisted prank? 65 00:03:51.879 --> 00:03:54.639 Mark tried to calm us down, suggesting that maybe the 66 00:03:54.719 --> 00:03:57.439 boat had drifted away due to the swell, leaving us 67 00:03:57.479 --> 00:04:01.000 temporarily stranded, but his words did little to soothe the 68 00:04:01.120 --> 00:04:04.000 terror that gripped us. As we clung to the buoy. 69 00:04:04.400 --> 00:04:07.120 Each wave seemed to carry away a piece of our sanity, 70 00:04:07.759 --> 00:04:10.800 the cold water now mingling with an even colder dread. 71 00:04:11.400 --> 00:04:14.759 In those final moments of isolation, I found myself alone 72 00:04:14.800 --> 00:04:18.480 with my thoughts in the vast, indifferent ocean. Why are 73 00:04:18.519 --> 00:04:21.759 we here, I whispered aloud, unable to shake the feeling 74 00:04:21.879 --> 00:04:24.279 that something far more sinister than. 75 00:04:24.160 --> 00:04:25.399 A lost boat was at play. 76 00:04:26.199 --> 00:04:29.519 The water around us churned ominously, as if in response 77 00:04:29.560 --> 00:04:30.360 to my questioning. 78 00:04:31.040 --> 00:04:33.759 I could almost believe that the depths had decided. 79 00:04:33.279 --> 00:04:37.319 To reclaim us, pulling us into their eternal abyssal embrace. 80 00:04:38.160 --> 00:04:42.319 It was then that the unexplainable struck. A sudden, inexplicable 81 00:04:42.360 --> 00:04:45.319 current surged beneath us, tugging at the buoye as if 82 00:04:45.319 --> 00:04:48.519 guided by an unseen hand. Mark grabbed my arm with 83 00:04:48.560 --> 00:04:52.199 a desperate strength, his eyes wide with terror, Lean a 84 00:04:52.279 --> 00:04:56.759 hold on, he shouted, through gasps and frantic splashes. The 85 00:04:56.839 --> 00:04:59.680 buoy That small marker of hope in a vast sea 86 00:04:59.680 --> 00:05:03.399 of dark barakness began to drift rapidly. The lone figure 87 00:05:03.439 --> 00:05:06.279 at the boy faded into the growing distance, and we 88 00:05:06.279 --> 00:05:10.160 were left clinging to our rapidly vanishing lifeline. Panic had 89 00:05:10.160 --> 00:05:13.720 taken complete control. The cold was now a secondary concern 90 00:05:13.759 --> 00:05:16.720 to the terror of being lost in an endless, indifferent 91 00:05:16.759 --> 00:05:20.439 blue void. Every muscle tensed as we struggled against the 92 00:05:20.439 --> 00:05:23.800 pull of the current. Our frantic strokes almost synchronized in 93 00:05:23.839 --> 00:05:27.199 their desperation. It was as if the ocean itself had 94 00:05:27.199 --> 00:05:31.360 turned hostile, determined to erase all traces of human presence. 95 00:05:31.879 --> 00:05:34.800 I could hear Mark's panic breathing and the splashing of 96 00:05:34.839 --> 00:05:39.040 our limbs, Each sound magnified a thousandfold in the oppressive 97 00:05:39.079 --> 00:05:42.759 silence of our isolation. For what felt like an eternity, 98 00:05:43.120 --> 00:05:47.079 we battled the unseen force, our minds oscillating between a 99 00:05:47.120 --> 00:05:52.199 desperate survival instinct and an overwhelming, paralyzing fear. It was 100 00:05:52.279 --> 00:05:55.279 not a situation that could be solved by reason or logic, 101 00:05:55.959 --> 00:05:59.759 a primal horror that left little room for explanation. Each 102 00:06:00.360 --> 00:06:03.800 was a torment, every moment a battle against the inexplicable. 103 00:06:04.439 --> 00:06:07.439 In our struggle, the familiar rhythm of our hearts was 104 00:06:07.480 --> 00:06:10.600 replaced by a cacophony of rapid beats echoing in the 105 00:06:10.639 --> 00:06:14.040 hollow of our chests. In a final desperate surge, we 106 00:06:14.199 --> 00:06:17.160 managed to regain enough control to pull ourselves toward the 107 00:06:17.199 --> 00:06:20.720 disoriented figure who had now reappeared briefly near the boy. 108 00:06:21.319 --> 00:06:24.560 His gaunt face and wild, unseeing eyes spoke of an 109 00:06:24.600 --> 00:06:28.639 experience so profound that it had shattered any semblance of normalcy. 110 00:06:29.759 --> 00:06:35.000 Something's not right, he stammered, his voice barely audible over 111 00:06:35.040 --> 00:06:38.279 the pounding of our hearts. We exchanged one last look, 112 00:06:38.720 --> 00:06:43.120 a mixture of fear, regret, and an unspoken acknowledgment that 113 00:06:43.160 --> 00:06:46.839 we had witnessed something beyond our understanding. Then, as abruptly 114 00:06:46.879 --> 00:06:50.879 as it had all begun, the water stilled, The relentless 115 00:06:50.959 --> 00:06:54.319 tug of the current eased, leaving us suspended in a quiet, 116 00:06:54.480 --> 00:06:58.759 haunting calm. The boy drifted lazily on the surface, and 117 00:06:58.839 --> 00:07:01.360 the lone figure, as if if released from a nightmare, 118 00:07:01.839 --> 00:07:05.199 began to stir, his movements, robotic and devoid of the 119 00:07:05.319 --> 00:07:09.319 terror moments before. Without warning, the world above broke into 120 00:07:09.360 --> 00:07:12.680 a haze of light and color, as rescue boats materialized 121 00:07:12.720 --> 00:07:16.480 on the horizon, their engines thrumbing in the distance, relief 122 00:07:16.519 --> 00:07:19.959 and bewilderment ward within us, the surreal nature of the 123 00:07:20.000 --> 00:07:24.040 moments before still haunting. Every fiber of our being known 124 00:07:24.079 --> 00:07:27.360 in the unexplainable is razor thin, and sometimes it is 125 00:07:27.399 --> 00:07:29.720 best not to cross it at all. And with that 126 00:07:29.879 --> 00:07:33.160 final thought, the incident ended as abruptly as it began, 127 00:07:33.800 --> 00:07:37.720 leaving behind only a lingering terror, an eerie void, and 128 00:07:37.759 --> 00:07:40.959 the unmistakable knowledge that some parts of our world remain 129 00:07:41.040 --> 00:07:42.480 forever shrouded in darkness. 130 00:07:43.240 --> 00:07:44.720 Story two. I'm Nate. 131 00:07:45.759 --> 00:07:48.639 I live in Jupiter, Florida, and I've been diving since 132 00:07:48.639 --> 00:07:52.360 i was sixteen. I'm thirty two. Now what happened on 133 00:07:52.399 --> 00:07:54.519 That dive of last summer still makes me feel sick 134 00:07:54.560 --> 00:07:57.680 when I think about it. It was a solo morning 135 00:07:57.680 --> 00:08:00.439 off a wreck i'd been to dozens of times, the 136 00:08:00.480 --> 00:08:05.160 Coral Queen. It's a sunken casino boat about five miles offshore. 137 00:08:05.800 --> 00:08:09.879 Depth bottoms out around ninety feet. Visibilities usually decent if 138 00:08:09.920 --> 00:08:13.480 you go early and beat the tourist charters. That morning, 139 00:08:13.480 --> 00:08:17.040 the water was like glass. I remember feeling calm, like 140 00:08:17.120 --> 00:08:19.879 it would be a good dive. I dropped in just 141 00:08:20.000 --> 00:08:25.000 after sunrise. Everything was normal. I followed the line down, equalizing, 142 00:08:25.480 --> 00:08:28.439 breathing easy. The Queen came into view like a ghost 143 00:08:28.439 --> 00:08:32.200 out of the blue. Its frame looked peaceful, fish sliding 144 00:08:32.240 --> 00:08:35.320 through rusted windows. I clipped my torch to my BC, 145 00:08:35.639 --> 00:08:39.240 just in case. It's always darker inside the wreck. I 146 00:08:39.320 --> 00:08:41.519 planned to do a quick pass through the main lounge, 147 00:08:42.039 --> 00:08:45.320 check out the staircase, then loop back out. I wasn't 148 00:08:45.360 --> 00:08:48.399 trying to be a hero. I'd done this before. The 149 00:08:48.519 --> 00:08:51.759 entrance was tight but familiar. The lounge was full of 150 00:08:51.840 --> 00:08:56.039 silt and shadows. Fish scattered in my light as I passed. 151 00:08:56.480 --> 00:09:00.279 It was quiet still. I kept an eye on my 152 00:09:00.320 --> 00:09:04.440 pressure gage. Everything was smooth and then I saw the curtain. 153 00:09:04.879 --> 00:09:08.080 That's what stopped me. On the far wall, right above 154 00:09:08.120 --> 00:09:12.000 the old bar counter, there was this red velvet curtain. Heavy. 155 00:09:12.600 --> 00:09:15.759 It swayed slightly like there was a current inside. But 156 00:09:15.879 --> 00:09:19.759 there wasn't, not in the wreck, not like that. I 157 00:09:19.840 --> 00:09:22.879 knew immediately something was wrong, because that curtain shouldn't have 158 00:09:22.879 --> 00:09:25.759 been there. I'd never seen it before, and I'd been 159 00:09:25.799 --> 00:09:28.879 through that exact room a dozen times. The wreck had 160 00:09:28.919 --> 00:09:31.759 no fabric like that left. Most of it was stripped 161 00:09:31.799 --> 00:09:35.240 or rotted long ago. I hovered staring at it. My 162 00:09:35.320 --> 00:09:39.960 light flickered just once, and I swear to God, behind 163 00:09:40.000 --> 00:09:43.519 that curtain, I saw a movement. I'm not talking about fish. 164 00:09:44.240 --> 00:09:47.159 Something pulled the fabric back just an inch or two, 165 00:09:48.080 --> 00:09:51.360 just enough to see what looked like a hand, pale, 166 00:09:51.600 --> 00:09:56.960 wet human. I froze. I remember holding my breath out 167 00:09:56.960 --> 00:09:59.799 of instinct, even though that's the last thing you should 168 00:09:59.799 --> 00:10:02.759 do with a regulator in your mouth. I didn't blink, 169 00:10:03.159 --> 00:10:06.600 I didn't move. The hand didn't move either. It just 170 00:10:06.639 --> 00:10:10.679 stayed there, fingers slack, like it was resting or waiting. 171 00:10:11.440 --> 00:10:15.279 I blinked, and it was gone. The curtain settled, no current, 172 00:10:15.759 --> 00:10:19.279 no sign of anything. I thought, maybe I imagined it, 173 00:10:19.720 --> 00:10:22.600 Maybe I had nitrogen narcosis, though I was only at 174 00:10:22.639 --> 00:10:25.120 sixty five feet and it had never hit me before. 175 00:10:25.840 --> 00:10:28.759 Then my torch died. One second I had light, the 176 00:10:28.799 --> 00:10:32.799 next I didn't. Black. I flicked it, tapped it nothing. 177 00:10:33.679 --> 00:10:36.440 I reached from my backup, clipped it off my chest, 178 00:10:36.960 --> 00:10:39.799 clicked it on. It lit for maybe half a second 179 00:10:39.879 --> 00:10:43.679 before flickering out too. Now I don't scare easily underwater. 180 00:10:44.120 --> 00:10:48.120 I've been tangled, bumped by sharks, cotton currents. But this 181 00:10:48.279 --> 00:10:52.159 was different, This was wrong. I turned slow and careful, 182 00:10:52.480 --> 00:10:55.360 trying not to stir silt. I could barely make out 183 00:10:55.360 --> 00:10:57.720 the exit through the faint light filtering in from the 184 00:10:57.720 --> 00:11:01.200 rex open windows. I started heading for it, and then 185 00:11:01.240 --> 00:11:04.720 I heard it, clear as day, even through water and regulator. 186 00:11:05.440 --> 00:11:05.720 Nate. 187 00:11:06.399 --> 00:11:10.000 It came from behind the curtain. That same soft, wet 188 00:11:10.080 --> 00:11:15.519 voice repeated, Nate, you're here. I wanted to bolt, but 189 00:11:15.559 --> 00:11:18.480 my limbs wouldn't move. I felt like my body didn't 190 00:11:18.519 --> 00:11:23.320 belong to me. My hands trembled, my fins scraped rusted floor. 191 00:11:24.120 --> 00:11:28.000 Then something stepped out from behind the curtain, not swam stepped. 192 00:11:28.600 --> 00:11:32.080 It had legs. I couldn't see its face completely, just 193 00:11:32.120 --> 00:11:38.240 the outline. It looked human, but swollen, bloated skin like fish, belly, hair, 194 00:11:38.279 --> 00:11:41.320 floating in a dead way, like it wasn't really underwater. 195 00:11:41.879 --> 00:11:46.639 And its eyes, Jesus, they were wide open, like it 196 00:11:46.679 --> 00:11:51.080 had drowned mid panic, pupils fixed in milky. It raised 197 00:11:51.120 --> 00:11:55.360 one hand toward me, still not swimming, just walking like 198 00:11:55.440 --> 00:11:59.120 it was walking on dry land. Nate, it said again, 199 00:12:00.320 --> 00:12:04.919 this time, you shouldn't be here. I panicked, finally moved 200 00:12:05.399 --> 00:12:09.399 kicked backward. My tank clanged against a rusted beam, and 201 00:12:09.480 --> 00:12:14.440 I dropped down, scrambling, stirring silt. Couldn't see, couldn't tell 202 00:12:14.440 --> 00:12:17.399 where the thing was. Then a hand touched my shoulder, 203 00:12:18.000 --> 00:12:23.080 cold solid. I screamed into my rag, spun around. Nothing there, 204 00:12:23.720 --> 00:12:28.559 no hand, no curtain, just silt and shadows. I bolted. 205 00:12:28.799 --> 00:12:32.000 I don't remember how I got out. I honestly don't. 206 00:12:32.919 --> 00:12:35.480 Next thing I knew, I was outside the wreck, kicking 207 00:12:35.559 --> 00:12:38.799 up toward the light, my heart hammering in my ears. 208 00:12:39.159 --> 00:12:42.399 I did my safety stop at fifteen feet, shaking so 209 00:12:42.559 --> 00:12:45.840 bad I thought I'd pass out. I kept looking down, 210 00:12:46.320 --> 00:12:49.559 waiting for it to follow, for that voice, but it 211 00:12:49.639 --> 00:12:54.200 didn't I surfaced, hauled myself onto my boat, ripped off 212 00:12:54.240 --> 00:12:56.919 my gear, and puked over the side. I sat there 213 00:12:56.919 --> 00:12:59.720 in the sun, wet suits, soaked and sticking to me, 214 00:13:00.559 --> 00:13:03.879 just staring at the water. It looks so calm, like 215 00:13:04.000 --> 00:13:08.720 none of it had happened. Story three. I live in Kingston, Ontario, 216 00:13:09.200 --> 00:13:11.279 right near the edge of the Saint Lawrence River. 217 00:13:12.480 --> 00:13:13.200 Lawrence River. 218 00:13:13.720 --> 00:13:17.080 It's a small city, peaceful mostly, but if you dive, 219 00:13:17.200 --> 00:13:19.960 you know this place is different. Beneath the surface, the 220 00:13:20.080 --> 00:13:25.159 river holds onto things, not just wrecks, not just history things, 221 00:13:25.759 --> 00:13:29.120 and I think I touched one. This happened two summers ago, 222 00:13:29.639 --> 00:13:33.480 late August. The water's just warm enough to be bearable 223 00:13:33.480 --> 00:13:37.639 in a seven millimeter wetsuit, and the visibility surprisingly decent. 224 00:13:38.440 --> 00:13:41.720 I was diving the Wolf Islander two, a scuttled ferry 225 00:13:41.720 --> 00:13:44.200 that sits in about eighty feet of water. It's a 226 00:13:44.240 --> 00:13:49.240 popular wreck, straightforward, good for intermediate divers, but the current 227 00:13:49.320 --> 00:13:52.799 rips through there fast, especially because it's smack in the 228 00:13:52.799 --> 00:13:56.159 middle of a shipping channel. You get careless, you drift 229 00:13:56.279 --> 00:13:59.000 right into the path of a tanker. That day, I 230 00:13:59.039 --> 00:14:02.399 was diving with Mike, my regular buddy. We've done dozens 231 00:14:02.440 --> 00:14:07.919 of dives together, same gear configuration, same signals, same predive checks. 232 00:14:08.360 --> 00:14:11.360 We briefed like usual, clipped into the down line, and 233 00:14:11.440 --> 00:14:15.240 started the descent, no problems. The wreck came into view 234 00:14:15.240 --> 00:14:18.559 around forty feet, shadowy and silent, like it always is. 235 00:14:19.639 --> 00:14:22.799 We didn't penetrate, just to circuit around the upper deck, 236 00:14:23.240 --> 00:14:27.759 checking out the wheelhouse, poking around some door frames. Everything 237 00:14:27.840 --> 00:14:31.600 normal until it wasn't. We were heading back to the 238 00:14:31.639 --> 00:14:35.039 line around twenty five minutes into the dive. Mike was 239 00:14:35.080 --> 00:14:38.120 in front on my long hose seven feet so he 240 00:14:38.159 --> 00:14:40.559 could lead, and I'd keep a hand on his calf 241 00:14:40.639 --> 00:14:44.200 to stay in contact. The current was nasty, but manageable. 242 00:14:44.679 --> 00:14:47.000 He was breathing off my octo because just a few 243 00:14:47.000 --> 00:14:50.799 minutes earlier he'd signaled that his primary was empty. I 244 00:14:50.919 --> 00:14:55.279 checked his SPG myself bone dry. That alone should have 245 00:14:55.360 --> 00:14:57.799 rattled me more. He should have had at least a 246 00:14:57.840 --> 00:15:00.639 third of his tank left, but we'd have issues with 247 00:15:00.679 --> 00:15:04.200 a leaky SPG once before, so I shrugged it off. 248 00:15:04.600 --> 00:15:08.159 My tank was still good, plenty of gas. I thought 249 00:15:08.159 --> 00:15:11.080 we were fine. We were halfway to the ascent line 250 00:15:11.080 --> 00:15:12.759 when I let go of his leg to clear a 251 00:15:12.840 --> 00:15:17.120 jammed bolt snap on my waistder ring maybe three seconds max. 252 00:15:17.600 --> 00:15:20.279 When I looked up, he was gone. I whipped my 253 00:15:20.360 --> 00:15:23.279 head around, felt the current tugging at me harder now, 254 00:15:23.360 --> 00:15:25.919 like it had picked up in those few seconds. I 255 00:15:26.000 --> 00:15:30.639 spotted him downstream, maybe twenty feet off, flailing upside down, 256 00:15:31.080 --> 00:15:33.120 both fins above his head, like he was caught in 257 00:15:33.120 --> 00:15:37.679 a windstorm, and his regulator was gone. My heart bottomed out. 258 00:15:38.120 --> 00:15:40.200 He'd ripped it from his mouth when he got pulled. 259 00:15:41.000 --> 00:15:43.919 I watched him grab one of the midlines strung between 260 00:15:43.960 --> 00:15:47.039 the wreck and the ascent line. He held on barely, 261 00:15:47.279 --> 00:15:49.799 his body bending backwards, like the river was trying to 262 00:15:49.840 --> 00:15:53.279 break him in half. I kicked hard toward him, fighting 263 00:15:53.320 --> 00:15:56.519 the drag. My mask almost flooded from how fast I 264 00:15:56.600 --> 00:15:59.480 was breathing. I reeled in the long hose as I 265 00:15:59.519 --> 00:16:02.960 went seven feet of it, trailing like a lifeline. He 266 00:16:03.080 --> 00:16:06.200 was still upside down, mouth open, eyes wide as hell. 267 00:16:06.759 --> 00:16:10.120 I jammed the regulator between his teeth. He bit down hard. 268 00:16:10.639 --> 00:16:13.960 It hissed, but something was wrong. He shook his head, 269 00:16:14.240 --> 00:16:17.440 clawed at it. I realized it was upside down. He 270 00:16:17.480 --> 00:16:20.639 flipped it himself just in time, but in the process 271 00:16:20.720 --> 00:16:23.480 he lost his grip on the line, he flew backward. 272 00:16:23.960 --> 00:16:26.960 I caught his BCD by sheer luck, but that tore 273 00:16:27.000 --> 00:16:28.039 me off the midline too. 274 00:16:28.679 --> 00:16:30.240 We spun together, tumbling. 275 00:16:30.639 --> 00:16:32.840 I wrapped both legs around the line like a python, 276 00:16:33.200 --> 00:16:34.840 hooked my ankles anchored us. 277 00:16:35.360 --> 00:16:36.600 We hung there, him. 278 00:16:36.519 --> 00:16:40.279 Hyperventilating, me shaking so bad I couldn't check my own air. 279 00:16:40.879 --> 00:16:43.600 Then everything went wrong in a way I still can't explain. 280 00:16:44.200 --> 00:16:48.480 The water got dark, not low visibility dark, something else 281 00:16:49.039 --> 00:16:53.159 like it thickened. Everything beyond five feet turned pitch black, 282 00:16:53.639 --> 00:16:57.320 like we were sitting in ink. Mike noticed two. His 283 00:16:57.440 --> 00:17:01.039 head snapped around, then locked onto some passed my shoulder. 284 00:17:01.679 --> 00:17:05.440 His eyes they changed. I've never seen that look in 285 00:17:05.480 --> 00:17:08.720 a person before. It wasn't panic. It was like he 286 00:17:08.799 --> 00:17:11.799 wasn't seeing the river anymore. He was seeing something else. 287 00:17:12.440 --> 00:17:15.920 He tried to speak regulators, still in just a garbled moan. 288 00:17:16.880 --> 00:17:18.880 I turned. I swear on my life. 289 00:17:19.519 --> 00:17:23.000 Something was there, hanging, just at the edge of the dark, 290 00:17:23.519 --> 00:17:27.920 not swimming, not drifting, hanging. It looked like a diver, 291 00:17:28.079 --> 00:17:34.000 but wrong. No bubbles, no movement, just hovering, maybe fifteen 292 00:17:34.039 --> 00:17:39.200 feet away. The suit was old, not vintage, ancient canvas 293 00:17:39.240 --> 00:17:43.279 maybe like early nineteen hundreds hard hat gear, only there 294 00:17:43.319 --> 00:17:45.880 was no helmet, just avoid where the head should have been. 295 00:17:46.359 --> 00:17:50.240 It moved, not toward us, just a slight shift, like 296 00:17:50.319 --> 00:17:54.759 it was acknowledging us. My guts twisted, my chest started cramping. 297 00:17:55.240 --> 00:17:58.519 My arms were locked holding onto Mike in the rope, 298 00:17:58.640 --> 00:18:01.720 but I couldn't move anything else. Then the current died, 299 00:18:02.200 --> 00:18:06.680 not slowed, just stopped. The river was still. That thing 300 00:18:06.759 --> 00:18:11.119 started drifting forward. I don't remember unclipping my reel. I 301 00:18:11.160 --> 00:18:13.279 don't remember what I did with the rest of the hose. 302 00:18:13.880 --> 00:18:16.680 I just remember digging my gloves into the rope and 303 00:18:16.799 --> 00:18:20.000 kicking for the ascent line with everything I had. I 304 00:18:20.039 --> 00:18:23.200 pulled Mike with me. He wasn't kicking, he was just 305 00:18:23.279 --> 00:18:26.920 staring over my shoulder, paralyzed. We hit the line and 306 00:18:26.960 --> 00:18:30.480 didn't stop. Blew our safety stop came up too fast. 307 00:18:30.640 --> 00:18:33.440 I don't care. We surfaced just off the stern of 308 00:18:33.440 --> 00:18:36.359 the dive boat. I screamed before my regulator was even 309 00:18:36.359 --> 00:18:39.119 out of my mouth. The captain yanked us up, swearing 310 00:18:39.160 --> 00:18:42.279 at us the whole time, said we came up like torpedoes. 311 00:18:42.839 --> 00:18:45.920 Didn't care. We stripped gear on deck, Both of us 312 00:18:46.000 --> 00:18:49.920 puking over the rail. Mike didn't talk, not on the boat, 313 00:18:50.279 --> 00:18:53.160 not in the car, not for two days. When he 314 00:18:53.200 --> 00:18:55.480 finally did, all he said was it looked at me. 315 00:18:56.680 --> 00:18:59.480 That was it. I checked with other local divers. 316 00:19:00.079 --> 00:19:02.559 Nobody's lost a diver in a canvas suit down there, 317 00:19:03.039 --> 00:19:06.160 no local wreck matches that kind of gear. But one 318 00:19:06.200 --> 00:19:09.079 old timer at the shop said something weird. He told 319 00:19:09.119 --> 00:19:12.240 me there were rumors, stories passed down from the freighter 320 00:19:12.279 --> 00:19:16.079 cruise about something in the Saint Lawrence that wasn't a 321 00:19:16.079 --> 00:19:18.319 wreck or a fish story. 322 00:19:18.359 --> 00:19:19.440 Four. I'm Rick. 323 00:19:19.799 --> 00:19:23.079 I live in Newcastle, UK and about thirteen years ago 324 00:19:23.440 --> 00:19:25.920 I went to Australia to do my pad I Open 325 00:19:26.000 --> 00:19:29.440 Water certification. It was meant to be this big adventure 326 00:19:30.000 --> 00:19:33.359 sun reefs, clear water and a couple of pints with 327 00:19:33.400 --> 00:19:36.279 Aussie's at the end of it, you know, bucket list stuff. 328 00:19:36.559 --> 00:19:39.039 I wasn't new to swimming or the sea, but diving 329 00:19:39.119 --> 00:19:43.559 was different, more intimate. I guess you feel like you're 330 00:19:43.599 --> 00:19:46.640 inside the ocean's lungs. This happened on the second day 331 00:19:46.680 --> 00:19:50.359 of training. We were near the Witsundays. Water was stupidly 332 00:19:50.400 --> 00:19:54.599 clear and everything went smoothly at first, barracuda zipped past. 333 00:19:55.160 --> 00:19:58.319 Some clownfish peaked from a coral cluster, and a sting 334 00:19:58.440 --> 00:20:01.759 ray flapped its wings beneath us like a ghost. Everyone 335 00:20:01.880 --> 00:20:04.960 was loving it, all thumbs up in hand signals, but 336 00:20:05.000 --> 00:20:08.839 I was struggling to equalize. It started subtle, just a 337 00:20:08.920 --> 00:20:12.640 pressure in my right ear. I tried the usual pinched 338 00:20:12.640 --> 00:20:17.039 my nose blue, gently swallowed, got a small pop, but 339 00:20:17.079 --> 00:20:21.000 the pressure didn't go still. I figured I could muscle 340 00:20:21.039 --> 00:20:24.160 through it. Probably stupid, but I didn't want to be 341 00:20:24.240 --> 00:20:27.000 that guy who aborted the dive, not when I'd flown 342 00:20:27.079 --> 00:20:29.920 nine thousand miles for it. The rest of the dive 343 00:20:29.960 --> 00:20:33.880 went fine. We hit about twelve meters, floated through canyons 344 00:20:33.880 --> 00:20:37.920 of coral, came back up slowly. By the time I surfaced, 345 00:20:38.119 --> 00:20:40.960 the pressure was still there, only now it had turned 346 00:20:40.960 --> 00:20:42.640 into this sharp, itchy throb. 347 00:20:43.400 --> 00:20:45.160 I got back on the boat, sat. 348 00:20:44.920 --> 00:20:48.880 Down, pulled off my mask and said to the dive master, Hey, 349 00:20:49.000 --> 00:20:51.839 I think I've got something in my ear. He barely 350 00:20:51.880 --> 00:20:55.440 looked up. Just water trapped in there, mate, happens all 351 00:20:55.480 --> 00:20:59.319 the time. Doesn't feel like water, I said, feels like 352 00:20:59.359 --> 00:21:02.400 something's jammed in. Use a cotton bud. When you get 353 00:21:02.400 --> 00:21:05.960 back to the hotel, it'll sort itself. So I tried 354 00:21:06.000 --> 00:21:09.400 to leave it alone. Everyone else was drying off, laughing 355 00:21:09.400 --> 00:21:12.480 about a jellyfish someone nearly sat on. But the pain 356 00:21:12.519 --> 00:21:15.759 in my ear was getting worse, dull but deep, like 357 00:21:15.839 --> 00:21:18.920 something was moving behind the ear drum. I kept sticking 358 00:21:18.960 --> 00:21:22.519 my pinky in against my better judgment, and I could 359 00:21:22.559 --> 00:21:27.559 feel something not liquid, not air, something solid. It didn't 360 00:21:27.599 --> 00:21:30.240 hurt when I pressed in, it hurt when I pulled 361 00:21:30.240 --> 00:21:31.240 my finger back out. 362 00:21:31.720 --> 00:21:32.440 I tried again. 363 00:21:33.119 --> 00:21:36.319 This time I felt a resistance, a texture like wet 364 00:21:36.359 --> 00:21:40.240 paper or maybe cartilage. It shifted just slightly, and then 365 00:21:40.279 --> 00:21:43.960 something scraped. I jerked my hand away. There was blood 366 00:21:44.000 --> 00:21:47.279 under my nail. I told the dive master again. He 367 00:21:47.319 --> 00:21:51.839 looked annoyed. You've probably scratched yourself. Don't poke around in there. 368 00:21:52.720 --> 00:21:56.279 That night, the pain got worse. I couldn't sleep. It 369 00:21:56.319 --> 00:22:00.079 wasn't just the ache. It was this crawling sensation, like 370 00:22:00.160 --> 00:22:03.680 something was shifting just behind the drum, like something was alive. 371 00:22:04.480 --> 00:22:06.720 Next morning, I skipped the dive and went to a clinic, 372 00:22:07.440 --> 00:22:12.279 small places, bare walls, buzzing overhead lights. The GP checked 373 00:22:12.279 --> 00:22:14.920 my ear with the outoscope and instantly recoiled. 374 00:22:15.759 --> 00:22:16.960 What's that, I asked. 375 00:22:17.400 --> 00:22:20.119 He didn't answer it first, just told me to stay still, 376 00:22:20.480 --> 00:22:23.079 then went to grab tweezers. He put on gloves and 377 00:22:23.119 --> 00:22:27.160 leaned in again. I think there's a foreign object, he muttered. 378 00:22:27.640 --> 00:22:31.640 Might be a bit of coral, maybe some shell strange. 379 00:22:32.440 --> 00:22:35.559 The tweezers went in. I held my breath and then 380 00:22:35.599 --> 00:22:39.640 I screamed, not because of the pain, though it was bad, 381 00:22:40.400 --> 00:22:43.480 but because I felt it pull back whatever was in there. 382 00:22:43.920 --> 00:22:47.880 It retracted deeper into the canal on its own. The 383 00:22:47.920 --> 00:22:51.160 doctor jerked away, Okay, okay, we're not doing this here. 384 00:22:51.599 --> 00:22:54.480 I'm referring you to Karen's Base Hospital. You need an 385 00:22:54.519 --> 00:22:58.880 e NT specialist. I never made it to Karen's that night. 386 00:22:58.920 --> 00:23:01.480 I was back at the hostel, trying to keep calm, 387 00:23:01.839 --> 00:23:04.519 lying on my side with my bad ear up. The 388 00:23:04.559 --> 00:23:08.119 pressure kept building every few minutes. It felt like something 389 00:23:08.200 --> 00:23:12.720 was tapping from inside, not like a heartbeat, like fingernails. 390 00:23:13.079 --> 00:23:16.240 I sat up around two am, dizzy from the pressure, 391 00:23:16.759 --> 00:23:19.839 looked in the mirror, pulled back my ear, shined a 392 00:23:19.880 --> 00:23:23.000 torch into the canal. I saw a movement. It wasn't 393 00:23:23.000 --> 00:23:29.640 a reflection, it wasn't fluid. There were legs, thin pale legs, 394 00:23:30.359 --> 00:23:34.880 like an insect, but translucent, and something else, curved like 395 00:23:34.920 --> 00:23:38.160 a hook, pressed against the skin, just inside the entrance. 396 00:23:38.920 --> 00:23:40.880 I don't know what made me do it, but I 397 00:23:40.920 --> 00:23:44.359 grabbed the tweezers from my bag, sat on the bathroom floor, 398 00:23:44.920 --> 00:23:49.000 head tilted, hands shaking like hell. I slowly pushed the 399 00:23:49.000 --> 00:23:52.440 tweezers in, aiming for the shape I saw. When I 400 00:23:52.519 --> 00:23:56.039 touched it, it moved. It didn't retreat this time, it 401 00:23:56.200 --> 00:24:00.640