“Candle”
“What is it?” asked Grinjack. The candlelight cast long, weird shadows across his pock-marked face. He was still standing several feet back, his hand always inches away from the knife at his side.
Sherry smiled. She liked having the upperhand on Grinjack. Which wasn’t especially hard. He wasn’t especially bright. “It’s some kind of sea creature, I reckon.”
The creature in question looked like a scallop shell except it was covered in golden hairs. Also, it was the size of a small boat.
“So what?” Grinjack said. “Let’s get going. There’s a lot more valuable shite around here than some seashell.”
“Don’t you know anything?” Sherry circled the creature, smacking her lips. “These kinds of things often have pearls inside them. And the bigger the shell…”
“The bigger the pearl. Fine Sherry.” He pulled the knife from its sheath.
They both knelt down to get a better look. The shell seemed to be shaking slightly, and a smell like dried blood and salt water wafted into their nostrils.
“You ever shuck an oyster?”
Grinjack shook his head. “Can’t be too tough.” He shoved the knife under the edge of the shell and attempted to lift it up. “Come on. Open up for Daddy..”
“Gross.” Sherry said.
Grinjack shot her a look. “Hey. Do something useful and find something to help me pry it open.”
“Yeah, fine.” Sherry stood up. “Just keep at it.” He gave her a mock salute. She shook her head and headed outside.
“Where did I see it?” she asked herself. Her eyes scanned the nearby buildings. It was dark, but she was able to make out the long pole of a shovel a few houses down.
“Gotcha.” She walked over to the shovel and tried to pull it towards her. It was stuck, jammed behind a wooden crate. She shoved the box out of the way and freed the shovel.
“ARAGH!!!” The sound had come from the warehouse she’d left Grinjack. She ran back, shovel ready to swing at the first guard she came across.
She charged into the warehouse. There was no sign of anybody. The flickering light only revealed the same shell in the center of the room. And next to it, Grinjack’s knife.
“That son of a bitch!” Sherry punched the nearest wall. She should have known he’d flake on her. He probably saw someone walking and decided to take the money and run. Now she was left with nothing except a damned shovel.
She drove the shovel into the slight gap in the shell. She threw her whole body into it over and over again. She would not go home empty-handed. Not again.
After several dozen attempts, she finally stopped. She was panting, and her sweat was beginning to pool around the small of her back. “Fine.” She spat on the ground. “Damn Grinjack. And damn this town. And damn this bloody, useless shell.”
She started to walk out of the warehouse when she heard a loud snap behind her. She turned. The shovel had snapped clear in two. And the shell had opened. Just a little bit.
She clapped her hands together. She must have loosened the damn thing after all. She could see something gleaming in the candlelight. Maybe she’d make out all right after all.
She walked closer and bent down. She’d have to finish prying it with her hands. Still, the hard part was done. She reached a hand towards the creature. Then stopped herself.
The shell continued to open. So slowly, Sherry imagined she was hallucinating. But no, it was opening on its own. She leaned forward.
A blast of foul-smelling brown liquid shot out at her. It got into her eyes, and she yelped. There was salt in it, whatever it was, and she desperately tried to clear her vision. She could still see something glistening in the candlelight. She was stealing that pearl whether the damn seashell liked it or not.
Still wiping the gunk away with one hand, she reached the other towards the gleam. It was solid and smooth. And big, probably as big as her fist. She was going to make a killing.
But why was it sharp?
She screamed as the shell slammed shut around her arm. The thing she had been touching was a tooth, as sharp as any shark, and it drove into her flesh. She tried to push the shell back open, frantically digging at its edges. Through her blurred vision, she saw as the shell opened up again. She tried to pull her arm away, but the tooth was curved and had sunk right into the bone.
Then she noticed more objects shining white in the flickering flames of the candles. Dozens of sharp, curved teeth.
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