The murky depths of the ocean reveal nothing but curiosity hidden within them. Their craft was safe, they were told, under any depth in the ocean. Yet with every creak of the hull they felt more and more nervous. The abyss was not as calming as they had hoped. They were far too deep for the sun to shine. Science has never seen anything this deep, is it even possible? Maybe microbes, but surely nothing large could survive at this pressure, it'd surely be crushed. Right?
Their uncertain thoughts halted when they saw something move. They could've sworn a shadow had just swam past. No, it must be their mind playing tricks on them. Nothing could survive at these depths. The pressure would surely crush anything large for them to see. Thousands of pounds of pressure cause the metal walls around them to creak as they descend further. They're only a few hundred meters from the bottom. The deepest point on the planet.
They look out the window curiously, the lights from their submarine shining into the murky emptiness of the bottom of the ocean. As the ocean floor begins to come into their view, something begins to cast a shadow in the light. What's that on the rocky floor? As the submarine settles only centimeters from the bottom, they begin to touch the controls. The walls creak as they attempt to move forward. They aren't sure if the pressure will let them move, but they can't think about that. They can't think of the possibility that they won't make it to the surface. The shadow grows larger, too large. It must be a rock.
Of course it isn't a rock. It's a skull. A gigantic skull of some creature. They can't tell what it is from this distance, but something that size is surely a whale. It could've sunk here after death. But how did the pressure not crush the skeleton? Something moves in the light, causing them to jolt harshly. The skull shifts, as if bumped, while the shadow seems to move above their view. Something big definitely just moved.
They scramble to check the cameras, turning away from the window to check every angle around the sub. Nothing reveals itself to them. No movement, no visual. Just the cold emptiness of the bottom of the ocean. They take a shaky breath as they check every camera they can. It feels like hours before they slump in their seat, staring at an empty screen. Must've been their imagination. Surely nothing could survive down here. They turn back towards the window, and they're met with a menacing set of twelve giant bioluminescent eyes. They scream as they jolt away from the window. The submarine doesn't offer much room to move, and nowhere to hide. The eyes blink, one by one. No less than eight watch them at any given time. They feel the sides of the submarine vibrate as the creature lets out a noise. They cover their ears as the sound becomes deafening. Much louder than any whale they've ever heard.
The creature begins to circle the sub, or maybe it always was, but now they can actually see it. They shakily turn back towards the camera screens, trying to see the size of this creature. It's much more colorful than they thought. The eyes may be blue, but the side of the creature shows bioluminescent streaks of every color imaginable. It seems like the creature can turn the luminescence on and off at will, as each color pulses on and off in a slow, steady pattern.
They blink, and the creature is gone. They don't see it on the cameras anymore. How did someone so large just disappear. And why did their head hurt? They look through the window again, and take a shaky breath as they watch the giant skull move again. The skull, they realize, is much larger than the creature. It has to be. They can see eye sockets in the same pattern, and the skull is almost twice as large. How big do these creatures get? The shiver down their spine begs them to return to the surface, but they can't leave such a discovery undocumented! They try to move their sub closer, only to be stopped by another shadow. A faster shadow.
In an instant something latches onto the window. Something with a large mouth, and terrifying sharp teeth. An eel-like monstrosity the size of a train stares them down. It beats its head against the submarine violently, quickly. Each movement is erratic, panicked. Then the water turns a bioluminescent green. That must be the creature's blood. Something else dragged it away. They can see a trail of green cloud the water. They should surface now.
They try to maneuver the submarine to the surface. This discovery is worthless if they die. The fear of dying before they make it brings them to tears, but they can't break down yet. As the submarine moves upwards, they see something swim past. Not a shadow, no they could see the color this time. A swarm of some sort. Large, shark-sized fish begin to swim past at incredible speed. The fact that these are the smallest creatures they've seen so far scares them. They begin to cry quietly as they make their way up. One of the members of the swarm swims close enough for them to see its face, if only for a moment. Those teeth, another carnivore, must be. It looked like a creature of nightmares. Jagged teeth grow so long it can hardly close its mouth. And they don't want to know what caused those scars.
They feel like they upset something, seeing all of this activity. Their curiosity might just get them killed. They gasp as they hear a thud against the sub. A loud thud, did one of those schooling fish run into them? But the swarm had passed by. They turn to the camera to see those eyes. Those menacing eyes staring right at them. They wince as the creature gets closer, revealing a giant mouth, filled with razor sharp teeth. It's eyes pulsate in a pattern as they watch in terror. Then they blink, and the creature is gone, once again. They rub their aching head before looking out the window.
Sunlight? It should've been hours before they saw sunlight again. They call on their radio, asking for help as tears roll down their cheeks. They ask for confirmation that their partners on the surface can hear them. No response. They're sick of the isolation. It's been hours, this is ridiculous. After a slow journey, they finally begin to see the surface of the water, and the boat they were researching on. As they surface they immediately open the top hatch to let in some fresh air. They peek their head out at the nearby boat. It's a fairly large boat, so they can't see the deck, but they should've seen them surface. They maneuver their submarine right beside the boat carefully. No way they're getting in the water after what they've seen, even if it's irrational.
As they climb on deck they're met with a coppery, rotten smell. Is anyone here? The boat seems abandoned. They frown as they make their way to the bridge quickly, ready to shout at anyone there. But nobody's in the bridge. It's shockingly empty, besides that coppery, rotten scent. They take another shaky breath and make their way below deck. Whoever's pulling this prank is in for trouble. But they freeze when they see blood in the hallway. A lot of blood. Like someone was torn open with claws, or teeth. They quickly make their way through the halls, now looking for something to defend themselves with. A knife, anything. The halls become more and more covered in blood, and the smell of blood begins to permeate the air. Their panic begins to rise as they rush towards their cabin. Something meets them inside. Something inhuman. They freeze as they see the humanoid figure standing over a disemboweled corpse. The corpse hardly looks human anymore from the damage, but the blood gives it away.
The humanoid stands, unmoving, not breathing, watching them. Then, its body begins to glow. The same bioluminescent pattern as the giant below. Their eyes widen as their jaw hangs open in shock. Then they blink, and they find themselves eviscerated, gasping for air. The life slowly fades from their eyes, tears rolling down their cheeks. The last thing they see are the beautiful colors.
