Shark Lover (28 page)

His
tone made Cathy worry more. This was the first time she had ever heard him
sound afraid. “Yes, I am. I’m ready.” She sat down on the side of the bed by
her nightstand. Even though she said she was ready, she didn’t feel ready at
all. Her heart already felt broken, after the news, she figured it would be
destroyed.

“First
off, I just want to say that the evidence that you and your sister found really
influenced the case. Without that evidence, I don’t think we would have been
able to pull together the case this quickly.” He stated professionally.

Cathy
silently nodded her head, just wishing he could go on and tell her the news
already. She didn’t want to know, but she felt impatient to know as well.

“Now
for the news,” He continued. “We took the surfboard back to the crime lab. We
investigated the scratches on the board. At first we thought there was some
signs of criminal activity. From the board, we could tell that there had been a
struggle. We just didn’t know what had happened yet. Now this is where the case
gets tricky. On the bottom of the board, we found bite marks. It appeared to
have been from an animal. After some research and scientific study, we have
most likely concluded the case. This is one of the hardest parts of my job, I
will tell you that much. I dread having to tell the family and friends, but it
is part of the duty that I have as an officer.”

“Oh
no! What happened?” Cathy cried out interrupting in shock.

“Unfortunately,
we believe that Marc was attacked by a shark while surfing. We have significant
evidence that proves so. He has been missing for three full days now. We
believe that he woke up in the morning, headed to the university to get some
work done and then decided to go to Stinson Beach for an afternoon surf
session. Nobody has seen him since.” Officer Sanchez explained in a calm voice.

“I
mean are you sure that it all really happened? How do you know he was attacked
by a shark? Have you recovered a body? There could still be hope for him to be
found alive.” Cathy frantically stated as she started to have a panic attack.
She couldn’t believe that any of this was happening.

“Once
again Ms. Montanan, I am really sorry to be the one who has to tell you this.
But we believe that Mr. Porter is deceased from a shark attack. After
interviewing a few families who were vacationing there, they stated that the
last time they saw him was three days ago. He went to the beach and never
returned off of it. We also interviewed some of the surfers who surf Stinson
Beach daily. They claimed the same thing. We even have one witness who believes
that he might have possibly witnessed the attack three days ago. He has stated
that there was a struggle in the water near him, but he didn’t see the entire
attack. After the attack, he has told us that there was an enormous amount of
blood in the water.”

“This
is so horrible, thanks for letting me know. Have you told his mother yet? She’s
going to be devastated.” Cathy started to cry feeling her heart break for
Marc’s mother. She had already lost her husband to a shark attack and now her
son. Cathy also had a hard time believing that she would never be able to see
or be with Marc again. Just the thought alone made her want to crawl into bed
for the rest of her life and cry her eyes out.

“Yes,
I have told her. She isn’t doing too well. I sent over another officer to comfort
her tonight,” He said as he paused. “Are you doing alright Ms. Montanan? I can
send over an officer to your house as well. I know how hard this must be for
you. I just want to make sure you are doing okay and you will make it through
the night.”

“Thanks
for your concern Officer, but my sister is here. I think I should be alright.
Well as alright as I can be I suppose. This is the worse news that I have
received in my life.” She said through sobs. “I can’t believe this is
happening!”

“I’m
so sorry for your loss. Remember I am only a phone call away, if you need
anything feel free to reach out to me. My offer still stands, if you don’t want
to be alone tonight. I’m glad your sister is there with you. If you have any
more questions or concerns, feel free to get in touch. I’ll let you have some
time to grieve. I will call you again soon to fill you in on more information
on the case and to check up on you. Try to rest and have a good night.”

Cathy
couldn’t even reply, she pressed the end call button and started crying as
loudly as she could. She couldn’t control her crying and sobbing. This was the
worst thing that had ever happened to her. She couldn’t even begin to fathom
the pain that his mother was going through. Standing up, she peered out the
window. It was pitch black outside and she felt so helpless and alone. She
didn’t know what to do. Sitting back down on the bed, she cried more. She
didn’t know she could cry this long and hard.

“Cathy
is everything okay? I heard you screaming and crying. What’s wrong?” Carly
asked as she peeked in the door to her sister’s room.

She
didn’t answer and just shook her head. She looked out towards the window as
tears continued to roll down her cheeks.

“Something
happened with Marc didn’t it? Was that Officer Sanchez that called? I am so
sorry Cathy. I can’t even imagine what you are going through right now.” She
came over and sat next to Cathy on her bed and hugged her tight.

“Oh
Carly! He’s dead. A shark attacked him while he was surfing. He’s never coming
back. I can’t believe it. He’s never coming back!”

“I
am so sorry Cathy,” Carly said understandably as she ran her hands through her
sister’s curly blond hair. She wanted to make her feel better, she just didn’t
know what to do. She felt so helpless. She decided to ask about the details
later or call Officer Sanchez later on and ask him what happened. Her sister
wasn’t in the right frame of mind to talk about it and she wanted to protect
her. “He’s in a better place now, Cathy. Just think of it that way. He died doing
something that he loved. He regained his strength and became fearless again.
You put that spirit back in him. Trust me, he died a happy man.”

“It
doesn’t sound so bad when you put it that way, but how am I going to live my
entire life without him? He was the love of my life. I don’t think I will ever
find someone like him again, it took so long to find him. I just miss him
Carly. I know we hadn’t even known each other that long, but I really miss him.
And I feel horrible for his mom. Imagine what it must be like to lose both your
husband and your son.”

“I
know it’s going to be really hard on you. These next few months are going to be
the worst. You’re going to miss him each and every day, but just remember that
I am here for you. I’ll even move in here with you if you want or you can come
and live back at home. Mom will help you too. We’re here for you. Don’t ever
forget that. I feel bad for his mom too. Maybe you should call her. I’m sure
she would like to hear from you in this time of need. It would help both of
you.”

“Thanks
Carly. You’re the best. I think I will move back home for a while. My lease is
up this month anyways. It would be nice to have the comfort of you and Mom. I
don’t think I can go through this all alone. I mean you saw how badly I took it
when Dad left. I can’t handle stuff like this very well. I need your help,” She
said as she took a tissue from the box laying on her nightstand. “I’ll think
about it. I don’t know if I should call his mom right now. I just don’t feel
like it’s the right time. I’m sure she’s grieving. That poor woman.”

“I’ll
help you move your stuff back in this weekend. I’m staying here until then
though. I’m not leaving you alone. Do you want me to sleep in here tonight?”
Carly asked. “I think anytime would be the right time. I’m sure she would
appreciate you reaching out to her. It’s hard to go through stuff like this
alone.”

“Yeah,
I want you to stay here tonight. It’s awful going through this. I wouldn’t wish
this upon my worst enemy. I just can’t believe he’s gone. I just saw him last
week, now he’s not even breathing anymore. Isn’t that weird to think? That one
day life is just here and the next day it’s just gone.” Cathy sobbed once more
into her pillow case as she laid her head down.

“I
think you should just try to relax. Let’s try to sleep for a while. I know it’s
going to be hard to sleep, but I think you should at least try. If we stay
awake, we are just going to make the situation worse. Tomorrow is a new day,
we’ll get it figured out. Don’t worry. They still don’t even have a body, so
there’s no actual proof that he truly is gone.” Carly stated as she laid her
head on the pillow next to Cathy’s. She was exhausted, having been up since six
in the morning. Her lack of sleep was finally taking a toll on her. She worried
about her sister, but she wanted her to fall asleep and stop worrying about
things.

“You’re
right. He still could be alive maybe. They don’t have a body. That’s what I
keep telling myself to feel better. Grieving is just too hard right now. I want
to sleep now too. If I sleep maybe my mind will stop throwing all of these
thoughts at me. I just want peace. Thanks for everything, Carly. You’re the
best sister a girl could have.”

“No
problem, sleep tight. Remember if you need anything you can wake me up. I’m
right here.”

Cathy
closed her eyes and tried to sleep. She kept picturing Marc in her mind. She
wanted the image to go away, but no matter what she did she couldn’t stop
thinking about him. Opening her eyes, she looked out towards the window in her
room. Through the blinds, she couldn’t even see any light. That led her to
believe that it was probably past midnight now. Trying to sleep again, she
closed her eyes. When they shut she left the world into a deep, restless sleep.

“Marc!
Don’t go in the water! Please don’t go in the water!” She screamed across the
beach to her brown, curly haired love. “It’s dangerous! Don’t go in!”

She
had just arrived to the beach, it had taken her some time to get here. Too
long. She had been in the middle of a lab project that she hadn’t wanted to
quit. After getting a call from Tony, she left the lab as fast as she could.
Tony had told her that Marc was going for a surf. He was going to Stinson
Beach. He wanted to regain his love for surfing. Tony had sounded worried and
now she was too. It wasn’t the right time to surf on the beach. Even Cathy, who
wasn’t a surfer knew that.

“Marc!
Stop! Don’t go any further!” She called out running closer towards him. He was
too far away to hear her cries. He had already gotten on his board and had
started paddling out to the deep ocean. All she could do was watch in horror.
She knew what was coming next. She didn’t want to watch. “Marc!” She feverishly
called again knowing that he still couldn’t hear her. She couldn’t give up now.
Maybe there was still a chance he would turn around and come back to the shore.

She
had reached the end of the beach. All that was left was water. If she went any
further she would be in the danger zone herself. Giving herself a moment to
think, she decided that it was safer to wait here. If she went in, she might
not come back out alive. Beaches like this had a strong under tow, she wouldn’t
be able to survive that by hand and foot. Looking around her, she saw a surfer
who was sitting by the shore. Maybe he would lend her his board so she could go
in and follow Marc.

Walking
over to him, she suddenly stopped in her tracks. She was too late once again.
She looked back into the ocean and heard a piercing scream of pain. The gray
fin was over his body. The struggle had begun. “No! No! This can’t be
happening! Not while I am here! I have to stop this!” She yelled as she gave up
the fight for the board and ran into the ocean. The water was cold. She didn’t
know how the surfers managed getting in the water at these temperatures.
Feeling her body freezing over, she couldn’t move. She felt stuck in place.
Stuck in time. Watching a horrible fate unravel right in front of her.

“Ahhhhhhhhhhhh!”
He screamed as the shark attacked his stomach. He punched and kicked as hard as
he could, but he couldn’t move. He was stuck inside a shark’s jaws.

“Marc!
Hold on, I am coming!” Cathy started paddling again, trying to get back out
into the sea where Marc was. It killed her inside to hear him screaming like
that. He sounded like he was in the worst pain of his entire life. She didn’t
want it to end like this. She didn’t want to watch him die right before her
eyes.

“Ahhhhhhhhhhhh!”
He screamed again, but this time it wasn’t as loud. He was losing the fight. He
was losing air. His body went completely limp and his cries went silent. His
body was lifeless as it sunk beneath the dark sea as the shark still chased him
underwater.

“Nooooooo!”
Cathy screamed with vengeance. Marc was gone and she was still in the water
with his killer. She had to fight for justice for Marc, but she didn’t have the
right tools right now. She wanted to know who did this, what creature it was.
Loving animals had always been her nature, but this shark had killed the love
of her life. Something had to be done.

She
looked underwater, trying to search for the creature. It had to be a shark. She
had seen the fin from miles away. A human wouldn’t have been eaten by a whale
or a dolphin. Creatures like that were not interested in a human as a snack.
She didn’t think sharks were either. Marc did look like a seal in his wetsuit
and it was October. Meaning it was sharktober. The time when sharks were so
hungry, they turned into senseless killers.