"Terror at the Beach" by Danny Garvin

Terror at The Beach

by Danny Garvin

John and Samantha had been a couple since grade school. All through high school, they were rarely apart. After graduation, it was no surprise that they announced that they were going to get married. John and Samantha's families were both well off, so the wedding was very opulent. Their parents spared no expense.

The parents had gone in together surprising the couple with a huge wedding present. It was a 2 week beach vacation in Auckland New Zealand for their honeymoon.

The couple was ecstatic that it was one of the places they had always talked about wanting to visit. This would be the first place on their long bucket list of places to check off. The parents had gone all out the flight was first class and the hotel was 5-star. 2 days later the couple departed Dallas Fort Worth International Airport for the 16-hour flight to Auckland.

Upon arriving a car was waiting for them at the airport to take them to the hotel. The Piha Beachstay was a 5-star hotel right on the beach. The couple arrived at what could be compared to a royal welcome. The honeymoon suite was breathtaking. The food was excellent. And the weather couldn't have been better.

The newlyweds spent hours on the beach as the staff catered to their every need. During the evenings they would take romantic walks on the beach when no one was around. Seldom did they run into other people during their evening strolls.

On the 4th day 2 other young couples arrived that happened to be honeymooners as well. That night John and Samantha had decided to stay in and watch T.V. falling asleep early.

The next morning when they awoke and went down for breakfast there was a different air about the place. They could feel a tension in the air. Something had happened overnight. Several police officers were questioning the staff and guests. One of the newly arrived couples had gone for a walk on the beach Last night and never returned.

A search of the beach found what looked to be their footprints in the sand that had suddenly stopped about a hundred meters from the hotel and what looked like drag marks leading into the ocean. The authorities were stumped, they had no idea what could have dragged the young couple Into the sea like that.

The beach was closed for the next 3 days while the police did their investigation. Meanwhile, the hotel sped up its plans to install webcams along the beach. Suspecting that the event was an isolated incident the beach was reopened and activities returned to normal.

John and Samantha were nearing the end of their stay and decided to take one last moonlight stroll along the beach before they left. It was a beautiful night the sky was clear and they could see millions of stars overhead.

After they had gone about 150 meters from the hotel John spotted something on the beach that looked like an old tire. Being the curious type of person John walked up to the object and gave it a swift kick. But instead of being hard like an old tire, his foot sunk into the object 3 or 4 inches like something soft and alive. Then like a tightly coiled spring, the object unfurled and wrapped around his legs. Then it started dragging him towards the water.

Samantha in horror began to scream as she grabbed John and began trying to pull him back to no avail the creature was way too strong. As she struggled to save her husband she was unaware of a second creature emerging from the sea and approaching her. Before she knew it the second creature had seized her by the legs and began pulling her into the serf as well. It only took less than a minute for the couple to be carried away into the abyss.

Several hours later the hotel staff realized the couple was missing. It wasn't long Before a group of officers were huddled around the computer monitor watching the horrific scene unfold.

"What the hell was that?" one officer said.

"A Kraggu?" another replied.

"A what?"

"Last year the U.S. military had to deal with them near Hawaii."

"Long thought to be a myth, it's a creature similar to an octopus only they live their lives anchored to the sea floor. The creepy part is they can detach their tentacles and one each has a brain and one eye. The tentacles go hunt and bring food back to the main body. Once back they're able to reattach to the main body."

"How do you kill them?"

"You have to kill the main body and all of the tentacles if not a tentacle can grow a new body. Last year the U.S. Navy destroyed a large nest of them about a hundred miles north of Hawaii. One of the tentacles must have gotten away and started a new colony"

"So how do we deal with this?"

"We don't, we need to call the military"

With the help of the U.S. military the the New Zealand Defense Force pursued the creatures and destroyed the new nest, but not before a dozen more people were attacked and dragged to their deaths.