Board Thread:Short Stories/@comment-26108027-20181004153536

I was part of an underwater search-and-rescue team as a diver. We were cleaning up a pile-up that had slid off of the bridge and into the river. It was messy work, but I had learned to keep my eyes off of the victims' faces by now. Four months of experience helped, really, but... Nothing could prepare me for this.

It was getting dark by the time it happened. I was pulling bodies out of a crumpled car, talking with my  teammates to keep my head clear. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw another diver open a minivan and start pulling bodies out without getting it cleared first.

"Hey, wait--" I paused as the diver slowly turned.

"What's wrong?" My team captain said over the radio. I didn't respond. I was oddly... frozen.

The diver's mask was dark, the glass fogged over. There were no oxygen tubes connected to his helmet, no bubbles escaping with his exhales. My eyes widened as he slowly turned back to the minivan and finished pulling the family out. He tucked the mother and father under his arm and loosely held the child by his wrist. He walked off along the riverbed, leaving behind no footprints. There was no sign that he had been there, aside from the open van door and missing bodies.

As soon as he faded into the darkness, I could control myself again. My head was buzzing and I couldn't stop shaking.

"What's wrong?" My captain repeated over the radio. I could see headlamps now, shining at me like 20 comforting fireflies.

"Nothing. Just.. thought I saw something." I said finally.

I later told my captain when we were on the surface, but he laughed it off and thought that I was joking around. One of the older members of my team stopped me as I was leaving for the day.

"You're sure you saw it?"

I nodded. A look of terror crossed his face for a moment.

"You saw a Keeper of the Deep."

"A what?"

"A Keeper of the Deep. A diver who has died underwater and takes the living out of envy. Once you go down... You don't come up."

I haven't gone to that bridge since that day. Even if I have to drive over it, I catch myself holding my breath and staring at the water, expecting to see that black mask staring up at me once more...  