Anomaly

The atmosphere was engulfed in a morbid and absolute silence. Both my gaze and that of the reaction team soldiers turned toward the water surrounding us on all sides. Somehow, after catching a glimpse of what was hiding beneath our feet, the way we looked at that flood completely changed. It was no longer just a flood—it was something much, much worse.

For someone with thalassophobia, that sight must have been a true nightmare. I mean, now we had concrete proof that a colossal being was right below us. Anyway, staying there was a terrible idea—we’d just seen that thing devour an entire building as if it were made of paper. Even if the vehicle was sturdy enough to withstand the monster's attack, I doubted it would matter if we were all simply swallowed up.

"What the hell was that we just saw? Did that thing just devour people from the top of a twenty-story building?" one of the guards behind me said, his voice laden with disbelief and horror.

"Is this for real? What the hell is going on here? How could something that size hide beneath the city? The water shouldn’t be more than a few meters deep!" another guard remarked, his unease evident in his voice.

I fully agreed with them, though it was somewhat ironic to seek logic in a situation that, by nature, was already completely illogical. Anomalies, after all, were known for defying any sense of rationality.

"We need to get out of here! If that thing comes back, we’ll be completely screwed and totally outmatched in this place" another guard concluded, drawing immediate agreement from everyone.

Oh... I really hadn't realized the building was that tall. I mean, to me, it just looked... tall? Anyway, while the guards were discussing the appearance of the monster behind me, my gaze returned to the water.

I had no idea where that giant fish-like anomaly had gone. Even if I tried to use my eyes to spot it, I’d probably be hindered by the water itself, which was also an anomalous phenomenon.

In the next instant, something beneath us caught my attention. The water, which had been calm before, started to bubble subtly, almost imperceptible to the naked eye. But to me, it was unmistakable. Small ripples grew, and soon the bubbles intensified, rising to the surface as if something was stirring deep below.

A cold shiver ran down my spine, and a suffocating discomfort settled in my chest—not just a bad feeling, but an instinctive certainty that something was terribly wrong. It was the same feeling as a dense silence before a scream, the weight of something lurking, ready to emerge.

As I was distracted by the bubbling water, a voice came through the device Emily had placed in my ear: "I’m getting readings below you. I don’t know exactly what it is, but it seems huge. You need to get the reaction team out of there, now!"

I didn’t know if Emily actually expected me to understand her words or not. To be honest, I’d never fully shown that I understood human language—at most, I’d always made it clear that I could grasp emotions in general. However, one thing I was sure of: she knew I would understand her tone of voice, which made the danger we were in clear.

In the next moment, when the water began to bubble much more intensely than before, I reacted instinctively. A dense black mist began to emanate from my body, transforming into tendrils that coiled around the bodies of the reaction team members, pinning them down with unrelenting force.

"What the hell are those things? Are we being attacked?" one of the guards asked, noticing the tendril approaching.

"What the hell are those things?" another guard said, pointing his weapon at the tendril with a look of pure astonishment.

Honestly, I wished I could explain the situation to them, but right then, it was clearly time to act, not talk. The water was bubbling with a much greater intensity than before, and I didn’t have time to waste on explanations.

Besides, I doubted I’d be able to make myself understood, as the most I could do were gestures. Still, it wasn’t like I was out of options—I still had ways to deal with the situation.

(Danger!) I whispered mentally, focusing my intent on conveying this message to the reaction team leader.

Although I wasn’t looking directly at him, I could clearly perceive his eyes momentarily widening, as he fixed his serious gaze on me. His eyes then shifted to the tendrils extending from me to the other members, before returning to meet my gaze. The next instant, he let out a sigh and raised his hands, immediately catching the attention of the others.

He slowly pointed his finger at me, causing all eyes to turn in my direction. Then, his gaze shifted back to the tendrils, and, finally, they lowered their weapons. Although they were still on high alert, it was clear they were considerably less tense than before.

I didn’t waste time. The tendrils wrapped around each of the members, and in the next instant, I started running across the vehicle. When I reached the edge, I jumped, aiming for a tall building ahead. My feet were enveloped in a black slime, which propelled me into the air with an unexpected force. I blinked, surprised by the intensity of the boost, not expecting something so powerful.

Anyway, when I looked down, what I saw quickly made me conclude that my choice was the right one. A massive mouth, wide open, with rows of teeth so sharp and endless that they seemed to stretch into the abyss of its stomach, dominated my view.

The monster was colossal, its body lost in shadows that seemed endless, as if the darkness itself swallowed it. The air was heavy, saturated with an unbearable stench that seemed to emanate from every inch of that being. The last glimpse I had of the anomaly was its eyes—huge, cold, and completely white, as if made of thick mist, fixed on me, watching, waiting.

And then, as if my existence meant nothing, the monster retreated into the depths... Or maybe, whatever that thing was, it simply disappeared into the vastness, and I wondered if there was, in fact, any "bottom".

Additionally, I took advantage of that brief moment of inactivity to take a closer look at the anomaly. As soon as my eyes began to glow with vibrant rainbow colors, something shifted within me, as if a new sense had awakened. My field of vision expanded, revealing details that had previously gone unnoticed.

When I focused my eyes on the anomaly, I noticed something bizarre: two weak points glowing in the intense colors of the rainbow, pulsing as if they were open wounds. They were located near its neck, more precisely in the gills, which twisted with grotesque agony.

The sight was repulsive, as if the anomaly was desperately struggling for some kind of air, each movement producing a muffled and agonizing sound, like it was on the brink of bursting with pain.

Anyway, my thoughts were abruptly interrupted when my body started to fall. Well, that’s kind of obvious, if you think about it: everything that rises, eventually has to come down, especially when there’s nothing holding it in the air. But there was a small problem with this equation — I hadn’t figured out how to land.

While I was trying to think about how to land, the darkness around me focused on my body, turning into a dark cloak. As it emitted a dense and deep energy, I began floating toward a nearby building. As soon as my feet touched the ground, the cloak dissolved, slowly returning inside me.

The same happened with the tentacles that had detached from the men: they started to retract, retreating into the darkness that had enveloped me before disappearing completely, as if everything was returning to its original place.

"Are we alive?" one of the members asked, their voice full of disbelief.

“I’m really surprised by the size of that thing, but honestly, I think I’m even more surprised that, while I was about to be eaten by an anomaly, I was also saved by another" said one of the members, looking at me and making everyone else do the same.

I just stared at them, blinking while tilting my head slightly to the side, overwhelmed by confusion. It was then that I noticed the leader approaching, coming from my side.

His gaze was filled with a mix of doubt and questioning. As he got closer, his voice was low, almost a whisper, echoing in the silence: "You... just now..."

I turned my eyes to him and blinked briefly, keeping my gaze fixed. His eyes stayed on mine for a few seconds, until he shook his head from side to side: "Forget it" he said, with a sigh: "It must’ve just been the stress of the situation making me hear things"

Well, I figured he was referring to the voice he’d heard in his mind. Anyway, it’s not like I could explain that clearly, at least not now. All I can do for now are small sounds like this. However, I’m sure that, soon, I’ll be able to speak more freely... or at least, that’s what I hope.

Seconds later, while the leader seemed to be talking to Emily through the communicator, I remained silent, staring at the water below us. The surface, initially calm, now looked distorted, as if something was moving underneath, waiting for the right moment to reveal itself.

Honestly, I couldn’t fully grasp what was happening. The phenomenon of an endless rain was bizarre enough, but what I was witnessing was something much darker. The chaos of the endless drops falling on the city seemed insignificant compared to the darker reality unfolding there.

Something much bigger, something completely beyond our understanding, was moving through the streets. The feeling of helplessness was overwhelming. It wasn’t just the rain that threatened the city’s balance, but the presence of that abyssal creature, whose form I could barely visualize.

I only felt the weight of its existence, like a growing pressure in the air, as if the space around us was about to collapse. The mere thought of such a creature walking freely through all of that... Now that, that was truly terrifying.

Besides, it was impossible to ignore the fact that the clouds were progressively getting darker as time went on, and the wind was intensifying every minute. Of course, the wind wasn’t strong enough to lift us off the ground or anything like that, but I couldn’t deny that the discomfort was becoming increasingly evident.

Sure, the wind, in some way, would still be something controllable, even if it picked up. But if that thing swallowed us, we’d probably be completely screwed. I doubt I’d get seriously hurt; after all, I don’t feel pain, and my sense of fear or danger has completely disappeared. But, unfortunately, I can’t say the same for the people with me.

"Alright, guys, our goal remains the same: we need to get to the city center, where the readings are weird, to investigate. It’s likely that once we’re there, we can fix this whole situation" the leader said, pulling me out of my distraction.

Although we were still a few blocks away, we could already see the destination ahead: the park in the city center. Strangely, it was the only place that wasn’t flooded. Somehow, it seemed like the closer we got to the center, the less water there was, though that didn’t make much sense. But, reflecting on it, I realized it would be illogical to expect logic from an anomalous phenomenon.

... I'm not sure why, but to say that, considering that there is an organization dedicated to studying these illogical phenomena, ends up making everything a little disconcerting.