Rise of the Ancient Killer

By Elon Martin

A massive shark, which is supposed to be extinct for thousands of years, terrorizes the shores of the seaside town of Harradon. At first, no one believes the old lobsterman who first spotted it. But as time goes on, the evidence of a massive killer fish becomes a reality, and the locals try everything in their power to destroy it. Eventually, a young fisherman, a scientist, and an old sailor embark on a quest to catch the huge shark alive. But when they finally spot it, the question jumps from whether they can catch it to whether or not they will return to shore alive.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Page Publishing, Inc.
• Release date: Dec 22, 2020
• ISBN: 9781662405624

Book preview

Chapter

1

Joe sat inside a tiny seaside restaurant looking out a large window at the sea. As his eyes wandered out over the six-foot-high breakers, he wondered if he’d dare venture out on the sea. But though he needed the money, he knew that to fish today would be suicide.

He yawned in anxiety. The fishing had been none too good as of late, and the young fisherman was not sure how much longer he could make it on the small amount he had saved over his last years of fishing. The fishing off the shores of South Carolina had been excellent, and the meager fare he had gotten at the market had been easily enough. But as of late, the fishing had been so bad that occasionally he had returned his small shark-and-tuna fishing boat with nothing to show for his hard day of fishing on the open sea.

Suddenly, his musings were cut short as the door swung open and closed again with a slam. Turning to see the cause of the interruption, he stared at what met his eyes. A wild-eyed lobsterman, soaked to the skin, stood dripping in the doorway.

A shark! he bellowed, panting as if he’d been running fast. A huge shark is out there tearing apart what’s left of my lobster boat!

You’re crazy! Sharks don’t get that big, the restaurant owner retorted.

I saw ’em with my own two eyes! the lobsterman replied. And I’m tellin’ you, he’s as big as a whale!

How come he didn’t eat you if he ate your boat? inquired Bob, the restaurant owner, thinking that the old lobsterman must have gone loony.

My boat was only a couple hundred feet from shore when the massive shark attacked, the old lobsterman called Mac explained. And when those huge jaws burst out of the water and started to eat my boat, I dropped everything and jumped over the side of the boat and swam as fast as I could to shore. When I reached the shore, I looked back, and the shark was still tearing my boat apart and never knew that I had been aboard!

That’s the biggest whopper I’ve heard you say yet, the chortling restaurant owner said as the disgruntled old lobsterman exited out the door into the driving rain.

The story of Mac’s huge shark spread fast in the small seaside town of Harradon, and most people who heard it laughed about it and agreed that the seawater must have finally found its way to the old man’s head. But Joe knew the old man, and he did not dismiss the story as a tall tale like so many others who did not know the old hermit as well as Joe did. Mac was a quiet, withdrawn man, and his only good friend was Joe, the amateur fisherman, as many people called him. Of course, Joe thought that because of Mac experiencing a surprise attack, the old man might have thought the big shark was far bigger than it actually was and told people who questioned him about it that the shark was probably twenty feet long. Joe thought that the old lobsterman’s shark was a great white of unbelievable size and hoped to kill the big fish for the money it would bring him at the market.

Thus, the young fisherman went out on the sea every day in hopes of killing the giant shark and proving to the people that his old friend Mac was not as loony as they thought he was. But as hard as he tried to spot the giant shark, he didn’t see fin or scale of it, and soon he dismissed the idea of catching it. It wasn’t that he didn’t catch other fish, however, and he made much more money than he had in weeks. Just when the fishing had about returned to normal, it diminished to almost zero. The young fisherman decided that something was causing the unusual behavior, and he intended to find out what it was.

That very night, Joe searched out old Mac’s cabin. He decided that he would go to the person who had discovered the massive shark in the first place. As he neared the old man’s cabin, he had second thoughts about what he was about to do. What if the old man didn’t want any company? Mac had gotten a lot of ridicule since that day in the restaurant when he had declared that he’d encountered a shark of impossible proportions. However, Joe gathered his courage and knocked on the cabin’s tidy little door. Almost immediately the door opened, and Mac stood grinning in the doorway.

Why, good evening, Joe, Mac said. Do come inside.

As Joe entered the cabin, a neatly arranged room met his eyes. On the walls, big shark jaws hung, and many a trophy fish was displayed beside them. Then the old fisherman motioned Joe to take a seat on an overstuffed armchair and took a seat on the opposite side of the room.

You came to inquire about the shark, didn’t you? the old lobsterman asked.

Well, something fishy has been going on as of late, Joe replied. The fishing’s real good for a while, then bam, and all of a sudden, there’s not a fish to be found. Then the next day, it’s right back, good as it’s ever been. Can you explain that?

That’s him all right, Mac said, his eyes lighting up. Wherever a predator shark goes, the fish flee as fast as they can out of the shark’s way. Those that don’t become the shark’s next meal. Chances are, that shark was within hollerin’ distance from your boat.

How come you know so much about sharks? Joe inquired. I thought you were a lobsterman.

Mac chuckled. I wasn’t always a lobsterman. See those jaws hanging on the wall? Well, I used to be a shark fisherman. Say, if you don’t mind, I could tell you how I became a shark hunter and why I am no longer.

Sure, go ahead. I’ve got plenty of time to listen to an old-timer’s life story.

Very well, Mac said as his eyes got a faraway look in them. "My birth name was Matthew, and it wasn’t until years later that people started to call me Mac. You see, as a young lad, I grew up on these very shores helping my dad fish. Then one day, a large fishing outfit came to this stretch of the Carolina shore, and they were looking for a hired deckhand to cook for them. After much convincing, my parents relented to my taking up the job, and I applied and got it. I was stationed on the biggest schooner in the entire fleet of five big fishing ships. I cooked