It was the darkest night there had been in years. The streets, the houses, and a small community pool were all silent. Well, almost. Two teenagers, one girl and one boy, both dressed in bathing suits, made their way down the sidewalk. They stopped at the pool. "Are you sure we should do this?" the girl asked, looking around nervously. "Yes," the boy said. "No one is going to catch us. Now come on." He began to climb the tall, metal, black fence surrounding the pool. Once he was on the other side, he looked back at the girl. "You coming or not?" the girl shook her head. "No. You've gotten us into enough trouble, Jack. If you want to stay here and get arrested, be my guest." She turned on her heel and walked away. The boy was about to call after her, to change her mind, but it was no use. He shrugged. More fun for me, he thought.
He turned away from the fence and started towards the pool. It was a good size, very long and deep. It was empty except for a single inflatable ring, the kind little kids use to keep afloat. Hot, and tired of waiting, the boy stepped into the water, feeling the cool hardness of the pool's bottom beneath his feet. Then, he dived under water, doing a graceful stroke to the other side. He surfaced and looked back, and somehow the end he'd left seemed farther away. The boy went under again, about to swim back, but something stopped him. The pool seemed-different. He came up, trying to figure out what was wrong. But it was obvious. The pool lights were on. Feeling slightly nervous, he scanned the area, seeing if someone-anyone had turned on those lights. Maybe the girl had changed her mind and come back, trying to play a joke on him. "H-hello?" There was no answer. The nervous feeling turned into a low thrum of terror as he dived under and began to swim. Faster, faster, faster. He had to get there. Then his hand touched something. He jumped, pulling his head out of the water to see what he'd touched. The pool ring. He climbed on top of it and began to paddle, just so he wouldn't have to put his face under the water anymore. That's when he saw the shadow.
At first he thought his eyes were playing tricks on him when something dark and silent moved underneath him. Then he saw it again, closer and more real this time. He looked down, but he couldn't see the bottom. All he could see was darkness. Adrenaline began to pump through his body, but the other side didn't seem to be getting any closer. In fact, it seemed farther away. It was if an invisible wind was pushing him back. He felt something underneath him again, not a shadow, but movement. A humongous shark fin surfaced momentarily, then vanished. The boy stopped swimming, overcome by panic, searching for that hellish fin. Did he imagine it? Then something grey bumped him up and out of the water, and the last thing he saw was thousands of sharp white teeth. He didn't even have time to scream. The shark's jaw clamped around the body with a sickening crunch, blood and pieces of flesh pouring into the water, giving it a red, devilish glow. The body still hanging from its mouth, the shark slipped under the water and disappeared. When it did, the pool lights clicked off. All was silent. And the night seemed darker than before.