From the Sea

The day was August 5th, 1989, the rain pounded onto the beach like gunfire and the lightning arced across the sky in magnificent blue colors. I sat in my tent on the cliff edge, listening to the boom of thunder while holding in my hands a pair of binoculars. It had been like this for the past six days, and I had been camped out here all the while. I was not the kind of person that would go chasing tornadoes or anything as dangerous, so please refrain from assuming such things. No, I preferred to camp near coastal regions with lots of thunder, lightning and rain and simply observe Mother Nature’s destructive force. This night however would be the last night I ever go storm watching, or anywhere near the sea for that matter, and not for any of the conventional reasons such as loss of interest or an inability to do so. What occurred that night on the beach below that cliff edge is something I will never forget, it is something that will haunt my thoughts and torment my nights of sleep until the day I die.

I had decided to stay up later than usual and observe some more of the wondrous power that nature was. I took the binoculars away from my face for a moment and rubbed my eyes for they often got quite dry when I spent extended amounts of time staring into them. As soon as I had finished, a bright flash lit up the night sky. And in that brief but bright flash, I saw something on the beach. Something that caught my eye, making me forget about the lightning and thunder for a second. In that brief flash I saw people moving around on the beach. At first I thought it was my mind playing tricks for this is not uncommon, especially considering my location, the time of day and the fact that I was all alone. But as soon as that thought crossed my mind another flash lit up the sky and I saw more people moving around on the beach in the pelting rain. Why in god’s name would anyone be moving around out here at this hour and with this kind of weather? I naturally thought to myself. Curious, (as I’m sure anyone would be given the situation) I brought the binoculars back to my eyes and focused in on the beach where I saw movement, determined to prove my eyesight right or wrong.

My binoculars remained fixed there on the beach, eagerly waiting for another flash of light, still not fully convinced at what I had seen. I was just about to give up and shift my gaze from the beach when the flash finally came, lighting up the beach in its entirety. The flash was only for a couple seconds, but I managed to see the people again, and in more detail this time thanks to the binoculars. There must have been around five of them and they all seemed to be cloaked in black robes or something extremely similar at least. They all seemed to have hoods thrown over their heads (From the robes I presume). Two of the cloaked figures appeared to be walking toward the ocean itself, each of them carrying a post of some kind that looked to be around the same height as they were. The other three figures seemed to be walking towards an area of the beach that I could not see from my vantage point. The light from the flash left as soon as it had come, leaving me staring at total darkness. How odd. I said to myself, completely intrigued by what I had just seen. At this point, I had completely forgotten about watching the lightning and listening to the rain, all of my attention and thoughts were being directed at the beach as I tried my very best to determine why these people were here and what they were doing. But in truth, I would never have been able to imagine the events that would occur on that night.

My binoculars were still focused on the beach, waiting for the next flash to come when I saw dim orange shapes bouncing around the beach. I observed the orange lights for a short while before the flash came again. The first thing that I noticed was that all the figures were carrying the orange lights. I quickly made the connection between the bouncing orange lights and what the cloaked figures were carrying, realizing that they must be torches. But not before seeing something quite… Ominous. Two of the figures were dragging a sixth uncloaked person through the wet sand towards the coast. I quickly determined that it must have been a woman judging by the clothing she was wearing, and then I noticed something thrown over her head; it almost resembled a burlap sack of some sort. That was all I managed to see before the light left once again, leaving only the dim orange lights of the torches moving around on the beach. This was when the thought of calling for help struck me. What if the person was in danger? What if he or she needs my help? I thought to myself, but quickly realized that no one would dare to come here in this kind of weather and at night. No one would arrive until morning at the earliest. So that idea was out the window.

Almost immediately after that brief thought, another flash of lightning lit up the beach, allowing me to see clearly once again. The woman sat on her knees between two posts that appeared to have been stabbed into the sand of the beach, very near the ocean itself. It was hard to see from where I was, but it seemed as though the waves were actually getting larger. Two of the figures seemed to be tying each of her wrists to a separate post while the other three stood quite a long distance away, merely watching the other two and holding their torches. The scene disappeared as the black of night once again returned to shroud the beach in darkness with only the dim torches visible from my tent. What in god’s name is going on? I thought to myself yet again, even more confused and scared than I was before the previous flash.

I thought about making my way down the small cliff in which my tent sat upon and helping the woman. I wanted to help her, I truly did. Yet, I knew that it would be basically impossible for me to navigate my way to the beach in this weather. And even if I did, how could I ever hope to overpower all five of those figures by myself? Maybe I was seeing this all wrong. Maybe this wasn’t as foreboding as it seemed, maybe this was something entirely different than what it seemed to be. I thought to myself as I sat in my cold, dark tent. But I knew somewhere in the back of my mind that this was not the case. Regardless of whether the situation was as it seemed or not, I was alone. And there was nothing I could do but observe and hope that this would end okay.

My binoculars remained focused on the beach, ready for the next flash. I hoped against hope that what it revealed would be far less sinister than what had been revealed before, but I somehow knew, even before the flash, that it would not be. Suddenly, the flash came. Light flooded the beach and what I saw was very similar to what I had seen before; the woman’s arms hung above her head and she sat on her knees with her head down. I quickly noticed that her wrists were tied to the top of the posts judging by the position she was sitting in and the way her arms were outstretched. All five of the cloaked figures stood some distance away from the woman, holding their torches. They all just seemed to be motionless… they were just… staring at her. The light vanished, and I was staring into darkness once again. Then… then I began to feel something strange. A… A rumbling ran through my body. It did not come from my body; no it seemed to be coming directly from the earth itself. I took my binoculars away from my face as I tried to determine the source, completely forgetting about the beach for a moment. The rumbling became a shaking as it became stronger. At first, I assumed that it was an earthquake. But… But then the flash came again, and what I saw made me realize that this was no earthquake.

The flash came suddenly, and seemed brighter than the other flashes. As soon as the light flooded the beach, I saw it, even without my binoculars. Its size made it nearly impossible not to see when that flash came. Initially, I was confused by what I was looking at. But it barely took me a second to realize what it was. A large, humanoid figure stood upright in the ocean water. The flash only came for a few seconds so I could only make out so many details on the figure. But what I did manage to see in that short time was that its arms ended in a mass of tentacles and… and that it appeared to be reaching down towards the shore, where the woman was. Its body was glimmering as if it were soaking wet, and its skin… Its skin seemed to be bleeding a black liquid from various pours in its body. As the light left the shore, a loud roar sounded from the beach. The roar seemed to shake the earth itself and I could feel it as it vibrated through my own organs.

Awestruck, I sat staring at the shore, unable to comprehend or process what I had just seen. I wanted to tell myself that it was just a figment of my imagination, all of it, that I had just imagined this whole thing, or maybe that I was having some crazy nightmare. Yet I knew that this was not the case… I knew that what I had just seen happen was real and that this was not something I could wish away or make excuses for. This WAS real. As I fell deeper and deeper into my thoughts of what I had just seen, another flash came. The beach was completely empty except for one thing; a broken post partially sticking in the sand.

Sleep never found me that night. There was too much fear and horror to even hope for the slightest second of sleep. I wanted to just pack up and leave that night and forget this entire ordeal had ever occurred. But… I could not. It was too dangerous. Not to mention how fearful I was to even step outside of my tent. Because as frail as that tent was compared to that beast, I still felt some sort of security inside of it. Like a false sense of safety. The morning came slowly, and it wasn’t until daylight flooded the entire area that I felt safe enough to step outside of my tent. I left the coast as soon as I could and have never been within two hundred feet of an ocean since. I kept telling myself it was a nightmare, that none of it was real. But I knew in the back of my mind all the while that what happened to me was real. I have carried the horror of what I’ve seen with me ever since that horrible night. I never told a soul, not even my wife. But I can feel my memory slipping in my old age. And as much as I would like to merely forget what happened to me, I know that there must be some record of what happened that night, which is why I convey this story to you, whoever you are. Whether you believe what I have said to be true or not, please just don’t forget what I have told you. Be wary of the ocean; be wary of the thing that came from the sea.

---

Credit: Zyon J. (a.k.a. Zyon Johnson) (Email • Creepypasta Wiki • Facebook • Wattpad)

This story was submitted to Creepypasta.com by a fellow reader. To submit your own creepypasta tale for consideration and publication to this site, visit our submissions page today.