Officer John Harvey wondered what he had done to get stitched up with this call.

"So, you don't believe the boy do you?" His partner, Officer Jenny Burr said as they drove along Queens Boulevard in their cruiser.

"No."

"What, not any of the story?"

"None of it."

Harvey thought for a moment about the exact words Sergeant Baker had said to him back at the precinct: "Get over to the pool, check it out and when you find nothing report back to me so we can close this pile of shit and deal with some real police work."

"I believe him," she announced.

Harvey looked at her with a little disdain and said, "I don't believe you just said that, you're madder than the boy. Pool monsters, people being eaten in New York swimming pools at two in the afternoon; you're in the wrong job pal, go work with Mulder and Scully."

"Well something happened, you can't fake fear like that."

"Yes you can. I used to pull stunts like that when I was his age to get out of going to school. The boy skipped swimming lessons and got caught, simple as, and now he's made up some story about a fake member of staff, who took him to some other pool, getting eaten by a pool monster."

Burr screwed the top on her bottle, chucked it on the back seat and said, "Look, John; I know there's no such thing as monsters, but something has happened to this boy. I think he was abducted by this man and was taken to another pool and something bad happened there. Maybe this is just his way of dealing with it; maybe this Elliott, who took him there, is the monster."



They arrived at the street where the boy said the incident had happened. Harvey parked the cruiser outside a school and they both got out. They saw a janitor picking up litter outside the gates and they went over to him.

"Hey, mister, you know any pools around here?" Harvey asked.

"Only paddling pools."

"That's not what we are looking for. What about in the school?"

"There is, but it's not in use."

"Why's that?" Burr asked.

"Because you guys shut it down after those two kids got killed."

"Yeah, I remember something about that Harvey said. What happened again?"

"There was a malfunction at one of the grates under the water. Two kids got sucked in against the wall, poor little guys drowned and no one even noticed."

"Does it still have water in it?"

"There's a bit of moisture in the south corner, but you'll have to wait for the algae to finish before you get in."

Burr laughed and Harvey signalled that they were leaving. They were just about to get back into the car when they noticed an old, rundown, ten floored, pile of garbage apartment block at the end of the street.

They approached the building and peered through dirty, broken windows. The inside was worse than the outside. Debris and junk littered a once grand hallway. Everything was broken and dirty. Grubby sleeping bags and rude graffiti on the walls alluded to previous occupants- who too must have abandoned this place.

Harvey knocked on the door. The sound boomed, but nothing stirred, not even a rat. They split up, Harvey walking east around the building and Burr taking the opposite. As he walked around he looked, where he could, through the dirty windows.

A few minutes later he reached the back of the property and saw a set of steps which led down to the basement. He treaded carefully. Algae covered the cement, making it slippery. At the bottom there was a wooden door. The wood was old, buckled and stained. Harvey reached out and touched it. It felt spongy. To the left was a small window. He bent down and peered through. Inside was the same as the hall: wrecked, filthy and damp.

He was just about to leave when he saw movement inside.

"Police open up."

The shape inside didn't move. Harvey peered through the gloom. He could just make out the outline of a man. His heart beat a little faster and he drew his gun.

"Police, I said open up, so do it now mister."


The shape didn't move. Burr appeared at his side.

"What's going on John?"

"There's someone in there, quick, run around to the front in case he legs it that way."

Burr took off on her heels and disappeared from view.

"I'm not going to tell you again, mister. Open up or I'll send the dogs in."

After a few seconds the shape shuffled towards the door. The lock snapped back and the door slowly opened. He gripped the handle of his Glock. The door opened and he found himself looking at a fat middle aged man in a boiler suit.

"Can I help you officer?"

"Who are you?"

"Beaks, I'm the caretaker. Is there a problem?"

"Why didn't you open the door?"

"I thought you were squatters. I've had problems with them recently."

Harvey radioed for Burr to come back to him, holstered his gun and stepped inside. The place was filthy, looked like it hadn't been used for years and smelt terrible. The place was damp- no more than that: moist. Droplets of liquid dropped from the roof and pooled in places. The smell of stale water filled his nostrils and the moisture made his skin and clothes feel clammy.

"What is this place?" Harvey asked.

"The Roosevelt Apartments."

"People live here?"

"Not for thirty years."

"So why does the building need a caretaker?"

"I'm looking after the place for the owners until they decide what to do with it."

"Has anyone else been here recently?"

"Not that I'm aware of. There were some squatters a few months ago, but I got rid of them."

Was this the building the boy had been taken to? Harvey thought.

"Does the building have a pool?"

"It does, out back. Would you like to see it?"

"Yes, but wait until my partner gets here."


Burr arrived a short while after and Beaks motioned for them to follow. They exited the room into a long corridor which was warmer than the room they had been in. As they walked it got hotter and more humid. For Harvey, the moisture was becoming unbearable. He took off his coat and loosened his tie. Burr too looked like she was suffering and she matched her colleague's actions.

"Warm isn't it?" Beaks said.

"Yeah, why is that," Burr answered wiping her brow with her sleeve.

"The heating is broke; I've been trying to fix it."

"Why all the dampness?"

"It's condensation. Warm air colliding with cold walls causes the water vapour to turn into liquid."

"How can you stand it?"

"I'm used to it. We're almost there, the pools just through that door."

Beaks led them through the door. Harvey was amazed. When Beaks said that the building had a pool, he imagined a small, private complex, shallow of water in which old ladies with swimming caps would do the backstroke. This pool could rival anything at the Olympics. It was huge. Three diving boards stood tall and proud at one end and a twisty water slide, which had broken, dipped its end beneath the water. Sun-loungers were spread out along the poolside and the far wall had the remains of a bar. Two cocktail glasses, stained with green residue stood on the bar as if waiting for some couple to hold them. The same green colour stained the white pool tiles, but none of this was as surprising as the pool was. The sunken pit was filled with water which had a kind of light greenish tint to it. It looked syrupy and made a sloshing sound as it collided with a set of slimy stairs.

"Impressive isn't it?" Beaks said.

"What is this place?" Burr asked.

"These apartments were once the place to live- exclusive doesn't come close.

They were occupied by city boys and young elites. The parties they must have had in here."

"Has anyone been in here recently?"

"My answer's the same as before, officer."

"Look this is going to sound weird." Burr said. "A little boy was abducted today. He said he was brought to a pool in this area and that something happened in the pool. This is the only pool we've found in the location he said."

"I've been here all day. No one's been here."

"Mind if I take a look around?" Harvey asked.

"No, go on."

Harvey left Burr with Beaks and took a stroll around the pool, stopping periodically. What he was looking for he didn't know, but he did know that he needed to get away from Beaks though. God, the guy stunk. He smelt like he'd been living in a puddle for years and looked like it too. He looked like he'd been in the bath too long. His skin looked wrinkly, oily. There were weird welts on the inside of his arm. They ran from the tips of fingers up, over his palms and up his arms where they disappeared underneath his boiler suit. His skin looked like it didn't fit his body and it wobbled as he walked. Even his teeth were strange, they were colored a disgusting shade of yellow and looked like they were fused together, as if years of neglect had allowed tartar to build up, forming one big disgusting mustard colored tooth.

Harvey reached the diving boards. They were worn and stained with algae and fungus. If the boy or the abductor had used them, there'd be no chance of any forensics. He turned and peered down into the water. It looked misty, like tons of salt had been added and hadn't dissolved yet. He was just about to leave when a small mark at the side of the pool caught his eye. Instantly, he knew what it was: he'd seen it before. The blood was wet. That didn't mean it was fresh. In this humidity that counted for nothing.

He looked over at Beaks. He didn't match the description that the boy had given. He was too old, too big, but something wasn't right: he knew that.

"Is everything alright, officer?"

"Yes, fine."

"Are you going to be long? I've still got to fix this damn boiler."


Harvey signalled to Burr. She walked over to him and he pointed his toe at the stain.

"Blood?"

"Maybe, we need to take swabs."

Beaks approached Harvey and said, hey, officer, you mind if I open a window in here? I need to let some of this hot air out, helps with the condensation."

"No go on, but don't leave, I need to talk to you some more."

"Sure, I'm just going to open that window over there," he said pointing at one of the walls, "I need to use the slide stairs, but it's getting more dangerous these days what with my ever expanding waste line. I need to cut back on what I eat."

Beaks shuffled away and Harvey started making notes in his pocket book. Burr walked over to the pool and peered in. She couldn't see the bottom, so she picked up a discarded piece of wood, stabbed the water with it and scraped it along the bottom. Some of the sediment cleared and she saw something on the tiles. She peered down into the water but the particles settled and the object was obscured once again.

"Hey, there's something on the bottom," she shouted to Harvey.

"What is it?"

"Don't know; help me find something to fish it out with."

The officers searched the room each turning over rubble and debris, looking for something- anything- which they could use to fish the object out. They were disrupted by a surge in the water. They peered in to the pool but the sediment had stirred up, obscuring their vision of whatever caused it. Harvey looked over at Burr; she had drawn her gun, as had he.

"Beaks, was that you?"

There was no answer.

"Beaks," Harvey shouted again.

They peered into the water. There was a dark shape- like a walrus wearing a skirt of snakes- swimming about. It zipped and turned and looped the loop.

"What the hell is that?" Burr shouted.

"I don't know. Beaks, if that's you screwing around in there, I'm going to be really angry."

Burr saw Harvey get down on one knee at the edge of the pool. He leant forward. She knew what he was going to do.

"Don't do it, John," she shouted.

Harvey leant down until his face was inches above the water, bet he needed to get lower. His nose touched the surface. The water felt hot, like it had not long been poured from a kettle. He took a deep breath and placed his face under the water. Immediately his eyes and lips started to sting. He could hear a weird noise, like something was gulping in water and then spitting it out. Below him, the shape dart by and then there was pain like he had never felt before. Something had smacked him square on the face and he fell backwards. Burr fired at the water, the sound booming in the room. After a few seconds all he could hear was a clicking sound as Burr out of shock, or fear, continued to pump the trigger.

Harvey tried to shout out that he was alright but no words came out and he realised that he wasn't alright. He felt weak, light headed and his face felt sticky. He touched his face and his fingers touched nothing but pulp.

Burr screaming ran over to him.

"Your face," she cried.

Burr took Harvey's gun from the holster. She pointed it at the water and fired off a shot, then another and then another and then she screamed. A long slimy object erupted from the water and wrapped around her wrist. A second one burst forward, wrapped around her leg and pulled her to the floor. She felt herself being pulled towards the water; she fought it, but the thing was too strong. The creature broke the surface. Her eyes, unable to close due to the horror, stared at the monster as it drew her towards it. She saw, to her absolute horror, the twisted shape of a human torso. The arms and legs were long and thin- more tentacle- than limb and she could see a distorted human face. From where the man's mouth should be she saw not teeth, but a huge snapping yellow beak. It clicked and snapped, the noise driving her deeper into madness. She closed her eyes and waited for death.

Just prior to unconsciousness taking her she heard a bang. Harvey, his senses back, shot the creature. It roared. Harvey fired again and again, the roars becoming louder and louder as each bullet hit. It thrashed Burr against the pool wall and submerged beneath the dirty water with Burr hanging like a limp flower.

Harvey continued firing. When the gun was empty he fell to the ground in tears. He crawled over to the edge. Just before he reached the water there was a loud scraping sound and then the sound of rushing water. A whirlpool, a screaming vortex of anger formed in the centre of the pool. An unholy scream filled the room and Harvey, yelling in pain, covered his ears. When the noise stopped the water was gone, as was the creature. Burr wasn't. She lay on the floor, her clothes in tatters, her blood mixing with the sediment.

Harvey dragged himself towards her and rolled off the edge. The fall hurt, but he dragged himself along the floor through foul smelling green sludgy matter. Hard, sharp, broken objects poked at his slime covered skin. After a desperate crawl he reached Burr. Her flesh looked like it had been cut with a thousand knives. She was alive, but only just. He dragged her twitching body towards his and sat with his back against the wall with his arms wrapped around her in a protective embrace. He looked at floor and the bones. Now he knew what happened to the squatters. Their radios were busted by the water, but it was okay he thought as a surreal calm came over him, they'll find us they always do.


*****


The building superintendent extended his hand and said, "You've got the job."

"Great, thank you."

"The building's due to be pulled down in six months, we just need you to look after it until then. Keep the undesirables out if you know what I mean."

"I do. And the pool?"

"Not in use. There's water in it, but it's been in there for a while without being cleaned. I'd keep out if I were you."

"I'll try to resist," the man said smiling.