White Death
By: Winds 0f Change
Summary: Three years ago...seems like a long enough time for someone to get over a fear and for something to disappear forever. There is no reason that someone should fear something that's long gone right? What is there to fear when fear itself died away with the terror that rampaged three years ago...can't be scared right? Amity Island, the previous shark city has resurfaced another shark several years after the previous death. Another great white, and it's more dangerous than the one before. Calling these whites "Jaws", Martin Broady searches out the help of another shark chaser, Erika Peterson, who finds this shark very intriguing. She owns a shark resavore, and she has studied everything, except the great white. And this one intrigues her to the point that she can't resist a visit with the creature. She follows the similar suit of the late Quint, with a sly personality and witty sense of humor, Broady begins to regret his choice. What happens when they are attacked and Erika is separated from the others...and she runs into a familiar face. Erika realizes that she will have to partner up with this unlikely survivor and confront the beast that haunts them both.
Disclaimer: I don't own anyone but Erika Peterson! Done, finished! That's all!
Warnings: Violence--a lot
Other: ??? x OC (a surprise!! ooooo)
Authoresses Note:
Umm, well not much to say, Jaws happens to be the greatest horror movie I've ever seen! So I had to write a fic about it!
Just a little bit about Erika
Erika Peterson
DOB: June 30
Age: In this story, she's 30
Hair: Brown, long, usually pulled back into a messy loose ponytail
Eyes: Hazel, she has small thin-framed glasses, which she only wears when not working out in the field.
Skin: Very tan, light brown
Body: Slight curves, noticeably pretty (but not super model material), but she's very strong and muscled.
Other: Extremely smart, average looks, and a great personality.
Schooling: Straight A student, graduated with a Masters Degree, has Scientific Majors in Biology, Marine Biology mainly and Animal Science; she also completed college at 19. Her looks are made up for in her intelligence. Loves animals, and is intrigued with Sharks.
Chapter 1: Jaws
A man stood silently on the balcony of his house staring out at the endless blue horizon of the ocean surrounding the Amity Island. To most people who would have stood there and looked at that view as the sun was rising would say it was the most beautiful thing they had ever seen. The clear water seemed so smooth that you could walk on it until it rippled softly, after the waves were pushed up the beach then retreated quickly back into the ocean, where they gathered more white foam and pushed it up the shore giving it a unique, delicate lace-like pattern across the beach. The sand was white and clean like no pollution had touched it's surface, yes, the scene looked like it had been graced by the touch of God, perfect in it's own way. And most people would agree, but not Martin Broady, in fact, he'd call you crazy.
Chief Martin Broady, to be formal, was the chief of police for Amity Island, and had been for quite awhile. He had found this island more peaceful when he moved from New York. Amity had been a quite town, no shootings, no murders, they were peaceful and followed closely to the meaning of their island: Amity means "Friendship." A beautiful island where you were in total and complete safety right? Well, not so much, not when that incident happened, almost three years ago. That incident…where five people were killed in less than two weeks…five people, suffering the most terrible death that they could have ever suffered…those people were the ones whose lives fed the monster who turned the water red with a quick movement…quick…and excruciatingly painful. The white death…Jaws.
Jaws was a terror that had plagued Amity Island for nearly two weeks, the deadly shark had first killed a girl just off the shore of the beach, and left hardly any remains. Martin Broady had teamed up with a man from the Oceanographic Institute named Matt Hooper. The discovery they made was astonishing. The shark in the water was none other than a Great White, with a mouth nearly 2 feet wide and a tooth the size of a shot glass. After the death of a young boy and a middle-aged man, the mayor had finally signed an agreement to pay the shark fisherman, Quint to go kill it. Broady, Hooper and Quint went after the shark, which was found to be a 25 footer and around 3 tons in weight. A hard chase was on, including a shark that was fast and strong enough to take down three large air-filled barrels. The shark managed to catch Quint and drag him under the water. After nearly dying himself, and figuring both Quint and Hooper were dead, Broady was able to kill the shark by shooting an air tank it was about to swallow.
Broady and Hooper survived, and returned to the island. But no matter how much Broady reminded himself who killed the shark…he'd never return to the water. He watched his own children go in while his stomach tied itself in irreversible knots. Nothing, absolutely nothing could make him set foot in the ocean. His wife even had the guts to go boating, but what Martin Broady had been through was so terrifying he could never do even that, being near that water scared him for life, and he knew one day his fear would kill him.
As he stared over the horizon, he suddenly breathed in deeply, not realizing he had been holding his breath up to this moment. He had been doing that often; he'd go of into a daze and think about it…that moment back then…when he thought his life was over. He'd even forget to breath, he sighed, staring back out on the horizon again, smiling half-heartedly. The night was quiet, except for the calming (or, not so calming to Chief Broady) sound of the ocean waves. He sighed once again, trying to relax his senses…although it was nigh useless, considering what he'd see next.
He felt his heart clamp itself into his throat as he stared, could it be? A fin? His lungs felt like they had deflated completely and his mind began to whirl. The old fear, it was returning, the terrifying grotesque scenes of horror that had been caused. Cold, bloody flesh, hanging from its jaws after it devoured a helpless victim. He grabbed onto the railing of the balcony and stared harder into the distance, holding his breath.
…a boat.
It was only a speedboat driving along the water far out from the beach. He released all the air with a deep sigh of relief. The great white was not back, and it never would be, he himself had killed it and the type was too rare for these waters anyway. Sure, there were other types of sharks in these waters, but none of them were nearly as aggressive as that one had been. That caused him to reflect on some new, and very recent research he had read. Great Whites generally didn't attack humans, they actually seemed to dislike human taste…that made him wonder, why that shark had attacked this little island, why did it seem to take to humans more than anything else it could have eaten. It just didn't make sense, that the particular great white had been so prone to attack humans.
Forcing his mind off that subject, he turned on shaky legs and returned inside his house where to turn in. If he had stayed just a moment longer, he might have felt that rumble in the air from the explosion, if he had listened a little more carefully before he turned on the water to wash his face, he might've heard the terrible cries and screams, and maybe if he had looked out the window like he normally did before slipping into bed, he'd have seen the little speed boat get crushed and it's occupants dragged below the surface, and if…just if that had made him stare a little harder, he might've seen the ocean turn red.
…and not just from the last rays of the sun.
Dun dun dun dun………………………
--This small section was provided by Gina Ludlow thank you, thank you I know that I provide the comic relief in this story because you know how much I love BLOOD!!! Heh heh did I just say that? I love Emma's blonde hair it's soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo rad!!!
And now, back to our feature presentation!
Matt Hooper awoke early in the morning due to a loud train passing by outside…or was it the telephone ringing? He groaned as he made his way over to the phone, nearly tripping over the throw rug on the floor as he reached for the receiver. He put it to his ear and mumbled a feeble "Hello," as he sat down on the chair next to his desk.
He was brutally awoken from a voice yelling quite loudly in his ear. The voice was familiar enough that he was able to regain his composure enough to reply in between the breath of the panicked person on the other side.
"What is it? It's only 5:30, what is so important that you had to call now."
He continued to listen to the voice on the other side, and he suddenly realized the seriousness of the situation.
"I-I'll be there in as soon as I can get a boat." The voice continued to ramble quickly, "Yeah, yeah I've heard of 'em, what do you want with—Yes, I understand…alright. I'll call down there and see—yes, I'll come down right away…okay. Just…stay calm okay? We don't…know for sure." The other side of the receiver was silent, before they muttered something to him, "Alright, none of that, I'm just trying to lighten up the situation, okay, yes, goodbye."
Hooper had never moved so swiftly in his life, but he moved now as if his own life was at stake. Packing a few important belongings, he called in and scheduled a ticket for a 6:00 (am) boat heading out. Moving as quickly as he could throughout his large house, he finally made sure every door was locked before he fled into the garage, shut himself into his car, and quickly sped off into the dark streets. He made it onto the boat and stepped out of his car, finally breathing, only to be cut short as he looked out into the water. He sighed and turned away from the scene.
"All aboard, boat is scheduled to make its first landing at 9:30, first stop: Amity Island."
Broady paced by the docks, anxiously awaiting the hands of the ticking watch on his wrist to reach their destination of approximately 9:30. He was anxious and could hardly stand still for five seconds, his son Sean stood by his side, wondering what had gotten his father in such a worrisome state and could possibly have caused him to pace and wring his hands as he was doing now. His dad had been like this since he answered the phone that morning and rushed out the door, Sean at his heals.
The morning was cool and a few people awaited arrivals at the docs, but other than that, it was peaceful with only the waves making soft sounds against the beach.
Of course, like was mentioned, this didn't calm Martin Broady; it just made him more nervous and edgy.
Finally, five minutes after 9:30, the boat was pulled into the docs and was being unloaded. Not many came, only about a handful that consisted of 30 people, one of them being a young man from the oceanographic institute, and a long time friend of Broady, Matthew Hooper.
Broady hurried over to greet his good friend, but it was not a joyful greeting of laughter and hugs, it was a quick handshake followed by nervous voices.
Sean watched this scene with mild curiosity, but mainly, he wanted to return home and have breakfast. He had his internal clock and he knew it was 9:30 and he wanted food right now. But obviously, he was going to have to wait, and that bothered him. He wined slightly, wishing his dad would hurry it up.
Finally, Broady shooed his son to the truck and the three of them returned to the home of the Police Chief.
While Sean swallowed his eggs and orange juice quickly, Broady and Hooper talked quietly to one another at the end of the table. Ellen Broady picked up Sean's plate as he rushed upstairs and washed it off, trying to ignore the conversation between her husband and the family friend. She didn't want to hear about it right now, she had been frightened enough at the events that had occured three years ago...she didn't want to hear about it again.
While the men were talking Sean and Michael burst into the kitchen laughing and racing, they sprinted for the door when their fathers harsh yelp and jump from his seat stopped them.
"Where do you think you are going?"
"We're going swimming with the other kids." Michael said, matter of fact.
Martin looked horrified, but composed himself, "Ah, boys, I don't want you swimming today, how about you guys go play ball in the park or something okay?"
Michael's smile faded, "But daad!"
"Do it for daddy Michael, you too Sean, I don't want anyone swimming today!"
The boys both groaned and returned upstairs to change their clothes, Ellen turned around and tried to again concentrate on washing dishes.
Broady sighed, "Lets head out Hooper, we better get to the station and file these reports then...we'll head down to the beach."
He hugged his wife goodbye and then he and Hooper departed for the police station.
"I don't understand it anymore Broady, the first one was strange enough; its actions, its habits...they're all wrong. Amity's Great White's are not normal Martin! There's something strange about them and we need to find out what."
Broady nodded, he stared out over the open water, watching the patrol boats as they scanned the deeper waters. "I only hope that they got your message."
"I'm sure they did, and the institute will send someone out soon. I'm definitely not capable to handle this anymore, they'll have someone much more professional than me out here...hopefully they'll be able to fix this new mess...and continue to watch this weird shark population."
Broady nodded, but he wasn't really reassured. Quint was professional too...look what happened to him. Quint had been an excellent shark hunter that lived on their island, yet...somehow, he hadn't predicted that Jaws would have been so deadly and clever. Quint hunted the shark, the shark hunted him; in a way, that hadn't been Amity's battle, it had been a one on one battle between Quint and Jaws. Unfortunately, Quint had lost it, and Broady was inclined to destroy the islands problem once and for all. Which is why this new problem was so unexpected.
And he couldn't help but fear the gut feeling he had that things weren't going to get any better.
Strange how in a few weeks things can change so drastically, the town was on a full alert, beaches were closed, the fishermen were forced to find temporary jobs while they were unable to go out on the water. There weren't many volunteer shark watcher, but who could blame the people? They had already been through this before, and people died...and they were dying again. There wasn't much excitement for the next week, just a few tiger sharks roaming the waters, but nothing worth reckoning. Of course, this didn't calm anyone down, volunteers still watched the shores and nobody was at ease during this time. And things would have continued on this way, for quite awhile.
Finally, they came.
Well, not they, to be more precise she came.
And when she walked off the boat, and walked toward Martin and Matt; her brown hair was pulled back tightly into a clean, smooth pony-tail, her small framed glasses, sat boldly near the ridge of her nose and she had a smile on her face. Her khaki shorts, blue plaid blouse that was buttoned up until just above her small bust.
The two sides stared at each other until Matt Hooper finally had the will to ask.
"Can we help you?"
She cocked an eyebrow, and said "Actually, I'm here to help you."
Broady and Hooper looked at each other perplexed.
"Excuse me, but you say...help us?" Broady asked, visibly confused.
The girl grinned and held out her hand, "Name's Erika Peterson, graduate from USU, majoring in mainly Marine Biology and oceanography. So, where's this shark."
Broady nearly fainted, and Hooper stared at her, before both started laughing. Erika's face fell as she stared at the two, visibly confused by their actions. She waited patiently as the two calmed down.
"I'm sorry young lady but I think the jokes blown over now where is the one we sent for?" Hooper said.
Erika's face fell more, she looked rather angry, "I think if you look around, you'll realize that I am the only one here, sent by the institute that you called yourself Mr. Hooper, something about a Great White Shark bothering with Amity Island again, come immediately."
The two men stared at her, Erika sighed.
"Listen, the institute apparently didn't have anyone available, I am a high-ranking student in this field and well known in the institute, they sent me, deal with it, it's done. Get over yourselves and show me to the doc's where I believe my boats waiting."
Though Hooper had a comment he'd have much more liked to throw out, he was so surprised, all that came out was "Now?"
"Now what?" Erika said.
Broady asked, "You mean you want to start now? You just got here, don't you need help, getting ready or somethi–"
"For your information Chief Officer Broady, I, unlike yourselves, have thought and planned this out quite carefully. My boat is prepared, my bags are in it and all the tools I need are ready for immediate use. This shark wont wait Mr. Broady, so I will get going before it causes anymore trouble."
"But, don't you need help." Hooper asked, clearly intrigued at someone who could back talk him in a completely non-cruel, but a way that left him speechless, type of way.
"I do not need your help Mr. Hooper. But if you two are so intent on tagging along, don't get in my way unless I ask you to."
The two had nothing to do but oblige, in moments the boat was full and ready for cast away. Shortly before departure, Erika laid down the rules firmly for Broady and Hooper. They sat in front of her like two nervous school children, she had a way of using words that put her in immediate charge and leadership of a situation. They could tell she was sly and cunning, with a quick wit that could rival Quint and his snide comments.
And then, they were off. Erika's boat was actually quite old but non-the-less big enough and more durable than anything else in those doc's. Erika put Broady on steering duty and sent Hooper below to get her hooks, in the meantime she made herself quite useful by pulling out the bait, readying her lines, clearing off the deck of equipment she had changed her mind on and decided quite unnecessary. Rolling up her sleeves, she grabbed the spooning cup and began to stir up the bait, mixing it with the fresh blood it swam in. As Hooper arrived on deck he returned below and released whatever was in his stomach in a bucket which in turn he emptied out the window.
After washing off her hands, Erika started fixing up her wire fishing line and prepared it for use then laid it aside. Pulling up a sharp spear, she fixed it into a hole on her chair followed by the poll, a spooning cup filled with water and two pairs of gloves.
As was quite obvious, Erika had done this before, either that or she was playing the part rather well. Either way, Broady and Hooper were both quite afraid.
Over a quarter of a mile from the beach, as it was still a sliver in sight from their position, Erika ordered Martin to turn off the boats engine and sent the two of them to set up the bait and markers. Pulling out her poll, she took the hook and skewered a large fish to it then tossed it into the bait trail.
"Now, as I am sure you gentlemen know, we wait." She said.
"If I might ask Ms. Peterson–"
"By the heavens! Ms. Peterson sounds like my mother, call me Erika, I'm only 30, and quite unmarried thank you very much."
"Alright then," Martin said, "Erika, why are we starting so close to the beach?"
"Well that should be obvious, sharks feed in shallow water, most of them sleep in shallow water, for those that will spend enough time to sleep. With no swim bladder, they don't have the ability to float in suspension, they have to continue swimming or face sinking to the bottom." Erika bit into an apple, "Now I don't know about you Mr. Broady, but I personally would rather swim in shallow water than in deep unless situation requires wouldn't you?"
He nodded, even though it still didn't completely answer his question, at least not head on. But he ignored it and continued the bait line.
The day went by quite uneventful. At sunset, Erika had stopped the bait line when her bucket was a fourth empty, she then set her fishing rod in a pedestal by her chair and went to the front of the boat to catch some smaller fish she could cut up for more bait. At the back of the boat, Martin and Matt sat and played card games while they sipped their rather cold coffee.
It was silent and Hooper was about to lay down his full house when a loud and sudden reeling made both jump to their feet. Running outside the boats cabin, they saw that Erika was already their strapped up and holding the fishing rod tightly in her hands. She yelled for the two men to put on some gloves and shoved the rod at Hooper. To Broady she instructed to pull the line toward them and attempt to get the fish in sight, after which, she leapt up and grabbed her spear and poised readily over the water.
Broady watched this scene unfold and was reminded harshly of the time almost exactly like this, except for the previous shark hunter prefered his old hook instead of a spear. He nearly let go of the rope until he heard a loud shwoop as the spear left Erika's hand quite quickly and darted straight through the water. And then, Erika cut the line and whatever they had caught swam away as fast as it could.
For a moment, there was complete silence.
"What the hell are you thinking!"
"Mind your language Mr. Hooper or I will be forced to cut out your tongue and feed it to the beast."
For a moment, Hooper was silent, but then he continued in his rage.
"We had it on the line! You let it go! Why did you let it go!"
"Oh he'll be back Mr. Hooper, he's got quite a smart ache in his back with that spear I shot him in nearly three inches."
"Oh of course he'll be back, he'll be back as pissed as a bee and we'll all pay!"
"My point exactly, he'll be back more angry each time, and each time he'll look more and more like a porcupine and quite a bit weaker than a shark should be, just wait till I get them barrels on him, he'll be real mad. Of course, it just makes my life a darned lot easier to catch a slow and weak shark, now if you'll excuse me, I am in need of a rest, for we have a big and exciting day tomorrow, goodnight gentlemen."
Both of them stared at the cabin door, Hooper's chin to the floor. Broady looked at him, patted him on the back and said. "Night Hooper."
Authoresses Note:
Yes, I know I am neglecting my other stories, but they are on hold for awhile and you'll just have to live with it, I'm trying to finish the next chapter to Bittersweet so I'll get that up soon.
In the meantime, I hope you enjoyed this :D and if anyone can tell me where the Jaw's section is, it would be greatly appreciated!
Enjoy!
Copyrights
Erika Peterson © moi
Jaws © zem ppl's
