Floaters Read online

  Bree shouts, “It is alive! I think you better take it back to where it came from. That isn't no Floater.”

  “What the shite could have happened to it?

  “I don't know Catherine, but you need to get rid of it now.”

  “I agree, this isn't what I had first seen. It's evolved somehow and to think that I touched it gives me the creeps.”

  “You touched it? Asked Bree with incredulous.

  “Well, I had to pick it up. Went into the water and all just to get it.”

  “Now that goes to show you should leave the Crocodile Dundee macho up to me,” Bree told her laughing.

  “Not funny Bree. Look, it's moving.”

  “Quick, pass me that pot over there.”

  Catherine and Bree use a spatula and scoop the mushy mess up into the pot. While Bree cleaned up the counter, Catherine looked in her bag. There wasn't any mushy stuff in it and it didn't look as if anything moist had even been in it.

  “My bag has no evidence there was anything wet in there. That's weird.”

  The pot began to move as well and both girls jumped and let out a little shriek. Watching the pot, it did it again, but with more robust. The girls to make a decision to run from the kitchen without looking behind them.

  They were both scared, not knowing what they were dealing with.

  “What the hell did you bring home, Catherine?” Bree shouts at her.

  “I don't know. I thought it was one of those Floaters. It looked just like on the video, but now I am not so sure.”

  “Let's go back to the kitchen before mam gets home. We cannot have her freaking out because we used her pot."

  They walked towards the pot, scared by what they might find. Two pairs of eyes opened wide with amazement as they peered inside. There it was, a brilliant shiny Floater at the bottom of the pot.

  “Oh my God Catherine, it is a Floater! What are you going to do with it?”

  “I am not sure I even want it now Bree. That thing frightened us and we need to know what it is before we touch it again. Like what made it look like a complete mess just a few minutes ago.”

  “Maybe because you suffocated it in your bag. It needed air or something.”

  “If that's true, then it is alive and could be dangerous because we just don't know what it is. It's as if it recuperated once it came out of the bag.”

  “If this thing is dangerous, then why hasn't anyone else had the experience we have just had?”

  “That's it. We will put it back in my bag, leave it in there for the exact amount of time it was in there before. Then take it out to see what happens. We will film the whole experiment then upload it to YouTube. Just like those boys did, only ours will have more footage and enlighten people to what may happen to them.”

  “Brilliant! I say we even go back to the lake, place it in the water and retrace your steps exactly!”

  “Agreed!”

  They picked up the pot and jumped back into the car and were off to the lake with camera in hand.

  “Come on, quick set it up. I want to be out of here quick,” Bree shouts out to Catherine. She was waist deep in the water and waiting for Catherine. They had arrived at the lake ten minutes earlier. Catherine was going to do the filming while Bree went into the water to retrieve the Floater. She had placed the pot on the water's edge and then waded in.

  “I am coming now Bree, but this camera is low on battery so we have to be quick.”

  “Tip the pot over and shimmy the Floater in the water. It's cold in here and I am starting to shiver.”

  Catherine was able to get the Floater in the water without touching it. Getting the camera ready, she told Bree with a laugh, “Ok, I am ready, Do your thing girl. Action!”

  Bree moved over to the Floater as Catherine filmed her. Poking it with her finger, it just bobbed about in the water. She was too frightened to pick it up.

  “Hurry up Bree, just pick it up and bring it out the water real quick. I am filming now.”

  Bree tried to pick it up, but it was too slippery. She didn't like the feel of it at all but she knew she just had to get it. Without further hesitation, she wrapped her hand around it and turned to run out the water. Ignoring the trembling feeling, she gripped it tighter in her grasp.

  Swimming fast and out of breath, she finally reached the edge of the bank. Water dripping down her face, she shouted, “I got it! I got it!” with accomplished excitement in her voice. Looking at Catherine for her approval, she realized she wasn't going to get it. Catherine had instead, a horror look on her face.

  Rushing up to her sister, she inquired, “What's wrong Catherine?”

  Catherine could only stand there in shocked silence and pointed to her sister's arm. Bree Looked down at her arm and screamed in disgust. Falling to the ground on her knees, she tried to drop the Floater. It somehow had attached itself to her arm and wouldn't fall off. Picking up a stick, she tried to pry it off. Screaming at Catherine to help her get it off.

  Catherine dropped the camera and ran to her sister. Taking off her t-shirt and wrapping it around her hand, she tried hard to pull it off her sister. It was no longer a brilliant shine squircle but a mash of gray blob instead. It felt like putty through the T-shirt. The harder they pushed or pulled, the more determined it seemed to grip on.

  Bree could see her fingertips turning blue and this made her scream louder. People started to show up in the area and gaped at her. Not one person came forward to offer help to the girls.

  “Catherine,” Bree said between tears and desperation. “Let's get to a hospital.

  “I think help can come to us quicker than I am taking you to the hospital. I am going to call the ambulance.”

  As she called for help, a young man came forward and asked if he could help them. Bree didn't hesitate is accepting his offer of help.

  “Yes, can you help me get this thing off my arm?” she asked him.

  He walked over to Bree and looked at her arm, “What is it?”

  “I don't know. I thought it was one of those Floaters everyone is talking about. I fished it out of the water.”

  “Ok, let's get you to sit down somewhere. I have a knife in my car. We will get that thing off your arm in no time.”

  Bree sat on a tree stump with the knowledge that someone is going to help her. The young man came running back up to her with his knife. Dropping on his knees, he pushed the instrument between the Floater and her skin. He was successful in creating a separation a third of the way down. He then noticed something had penetrated her skin. She screamed out in pain when he tried to pull it out.

  “What the hell?” Was all he could say. He tried again and this time he was able to pull a long tentacle out of her hand. Bree's piercing screams caused him to let it go. All the people could do is stand there and watch in shocked silence. The quietness except for Bree's sniffles is broken by the shrill of an ambulance siren. The gooey substance was growing up her arm with rapid speed. The rescue team looked at her arm and immediately put her in the ambulance.

  “Now what do we have here?” the male EMT asked her.

  “It was a nice shiny square thing floating in the water and I picked it up. I only had it in my hand for two minutes when it started to go gooey.”

  “Like a jellyfish maybe?” he asked her.

  “No. It was a shiny box. Hard to the touch, but cool.”

  “Are you telling me it was hard but turned like this when you picked it up?”

  “That's exactly what I am telling you. Now can you help get if off!”

  “Until we know what we are dealing with, I don't know how to treat it.”

  “Well, treat it as if it was a jellyfish. I want it off!”

  The EMT decided to call it in as he could see it was draining the life out of her arm. It now reached up to her elbow. His instructions were to attach a tourniquet on her arm just under the pit to stop the flow of poison.

  “Do you have any difficulty breathing?”

  “No! I just want
the frigging thing off my arm!” she squealed in pain.

  “I can see it's painful. We will have to place your arm in hot water. As hot as you can tolerate it. This will help with the pain. We are going to treat it as if it is a weever fish.”

  “Weever fish, what the hell? Listen, I do not know what a weever fish is, but please do something for this pain and GET IT OFF me!”

  “Ok, we have to get you to the hospital so we can take an X-ray. Sometimes weever fish have tiny tentacles and they dig itself into the muscle. We cannot treat this until we know what we are dealing with.” He turned to the driver and said, “Let's go!”

  Catherine collected the camera which she had dropped on the ground. She had thanked the young man for his attempt to help. Catherine jumped in her car and followed the ambulance down the road. She had guilt for bringing the damn thing home in the first place. 'Whatever will I tell mam', she thinks to herself.

  Bree was sitting in an emergency room cubicle when Catherine walked in to see her. She had to give all Bree's information to the receptionist before they even allowed her in the room. When she walked into the room, she could see that Bree was having work done to her. Yet, she was incoherent and mumbling things that Catherine couldn't understand.

  Looking about the room, she noticed all the surgical equipment. The doctors had used them to try and get the thing off her arm.

  “Are you a family member?” a young doctor asked her.

  “I am her sister. I was with her when this happened. Who are you?”

  “I am a resident doctor here at the hospital. Dr. Rayne Waters is my name. Can you tell us exactly what happened?”

  “Well, doctor, we were at the lake and noticed something floating in the water. Bree went in the water to get it. She grabbed it and came out. By the time she got out the water, it had changed into this ..this..thing, whatever it is.”

  “It was a box you say?”

  “Yes, it was shining and had a weird shape. From a distance, one might even mistake it for a jewellery box. We thought it was one of those things that everyone is talking about. A Floater they are calling it.”

  “I think I have heard about that. Listen, I will need more information. I have sedated her and given pain medication. But that's all I can do for now, not knowing what this thing is. I might have to cut off her arm as its growing fast.”

  “I have called our mam and she is on her way.”

  “Good, for I do not know how to control this thing. Time is of the essence seeing the rate this thing is growing.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Take a look yourself. It is growing an eight of an inch every minute.”

  Catherine took a peep under the sheet. She could the Floater had wrapped itself from the hand all the way to her upper arm muscle.

  “Then that means it is travelling up one inch every eight minutes. In 1 hour it would have consumed her by seven inches!”

  “Unless we find out what it is, and learn how to stop it! There is nothing else I could do for her. It's not something I have ever seen before.”

  “Doctor, what exactly do you need right now?”

  “I need permission to cut off her arm.”

  “Oh my God! Are you serious?” Catherine asked, astonished by the doctor's remote feelings in delivering her message.

  “I am afraid so. I just don't know what else to do.”

  “Hold on just one minute, let me check on mom and see how far away she is. If she is too far, will you accept my permission to do whatever you need to do?”

  “Time is of the utmost importance here. You only have a few minutes and that thing will be on her neck.”

  Catherine went out into the hall and the Dr. was on her heels. With shaking hands, she called her mom vowing to herself not to mention The Floater.

  “Mam, hurry please, they need permission to treat Bree! Unless you say it's ok for me to sign the form.” She told her with the phone on speaker.

  “Catherine, I am half way there about 30 minutes away. Tell the Dr. to do what she has to in helping Bree.”

  Dr. Waters took the phone and identified herself to their mom. “Listen, something has attached itself to your daughter's arm. And its growing with rapid speed. We don't know what it is and we cannot get it off. It appears to have some kind of tentacles embedded in her bone and muscle tissue. We cannot inject it with antispasmodic or any muscle relaxation as the needle bends when we try. The only option I have at this point is to cut off her arm.”

  Catherine heard her mom gasp and just imagined the horror on her face. The guilt she is feeling right now is unimaginable. She just has to make this right. It's all her fault.

  “Doctor, do what you have to if it will save my daughter's life. Catherine can sign the permission you seek. I am on my way.”

  The doctors and nurses rushed about in preparation of an amputation. Dr. Waters shouted out her instructions to the surgical staff. Catherine walked up to her sister and looked down on her. With tears streaming down her face, all she could say was 'I am so sorry I got you in this mess. I love you sis, and see you when you come out of the operation room.'

  Catherine was sitting in the waiting room when her mother rushed in. They both hugged each other tight, as her mam filled her with questions.

  “Mam, we was at the lake and we saw something in the water and Bree went to get it.”

  “There's something you are not telling me, I can see it in your eyes.”

  “Ok mam,” She said sighing. “I had found this thing earlier and I went into the water and got it. Then I took it home and showed it to Bree. She was so excited when she seen it because there is a buzz going around about things floating in the water.”

  “A buzz”

  “Yes, we figured it was this thing everyone is calling a Floater. Two little boys found one in America and videotaped it and uploaded it on YouTube. The video went viral so we figured we'd do the same thing. We put it in one of your cooking pots and took it back to the lake and dropped it in.”

  “What on earth did you plan?”

  “Our plan was to reconstruct my movements when I first found it. Bree went in the lake and I videotaped her as she picked it up. But when she came out of the water, this thing is on her hand and now it's up on her arm. The doctors cannot seem to be able to remove it. That's it. That's the whole story.”

  “I have not seen the video, but I have heard about the boys finding this thing. Plus, it was on the news. Seems it's more dangerous than people think.”

  “I know mam, I feel so bad as it was I who found it and told Bree about it.”

  “Not to fret my dear, it will be ok.”

  “I just couldn't live with myself if anything happens to Bree. If only I had left it alone.” she had said with remorse.

  “Listen, don't beat yourself up about it. All we can do now is pray she comes out of this ok. Anyone would have done the same thing. It's called impulse which human nature controls that.”

  Catherine and her mam was anxious in the waiting room for news. It was about thirty minutes later when Dr. Waters approached them.

  “We have X-rayed the arm and I am afraid I have some bad news.”

  “Oh no!, What is it, Doctor?”

  “We cannot remove the arm. I am afraid I have had to call the CDC.”

  “Sounds like good news to me. Please explain and what exactly is the CDC?”

  “Centre for Disease Control. We've obligated to call and report to them when there is something unexplainable. Diseases most, but especially if unknown, and I don't know what this is.”

  “What will happen to Bree?”

  “I am afraid, all I could do for her is make her comfortable until CDC gets here. I must tell you, though, it appears your daughter is not the only one. People are starting to come in now with the same thing attached to them. This seems to be a widespread occurrence.”

  “You mean mean all over Ireland?” Catherine asked with shock.

  “No, I mean worldwide! Reports are
coming in from all over, but seems the United States most.”

  “Oh my God! Poor Bree! What can we do for her?”

  “All you can do for her right now is sit beside her and wait. We need that specialist to make the decision. You may go to her now and sit beside her, but please, whatever you do, don't touch her arm!”

  Catherine could see Bree was in so much pain. Her natural colour skin has sunken to something so lifeless it scared Catherine to look at her. Catherine closed her eyes and sucked in a deep breath, in hope this nightmare would just go away. All she can do was stroke Bree's golden tresses. It barely seems enough, but what else could she do to help her.

  Her eyes drop to the bedsheets, but mostly they are fixed on the Floater now visible over half her body. Bree opens her eyes and sees Catherine standing over her. Her face in a soft stare, she mouth the words 'I Love You'.

  Catherine burst out into tears. “I am so sorry Bree. Please can you forgive me?”

  Bree gave her a wink, but Catherine knew she was in severe pain. It was written on her face, the intensity of the pain was more than any human body could bare. It broke her heart to see her sister hurting this way.

  “I will go get some coffee.” she told her with profound sadness. With that, she walked out the room, mainly because she couldn't bare seeing her sister like that.

  It was about ten minutes later when the specialist arrived. They walked into Bree's cubicle to give her the news, but her bed was empty. Inquiring at the desk, they asked if they had moved her to another location.

  “No, she should still be in her bed.” they were informed.

  “The bed is empty!” Mrs. Horan told the nurses in a sharp voice.

  “Empty, but that cannot be. I was just in there.”

  They all rushed back to the room and sure enough, Bree was gone. The staff called out for her on the intercom and asked security to be on the look out for her.

  “I know,” Mrs. Horan said. “Let's check her room for her clothes.”

  As they looked around the room, they could see her clothes were still there. Where could she have possibly gone. Her mother was frantic, especially with that god awful thing on her arm. It was Catherine who tapped the doctor on her shoulder and pointed towards the bed. Dr. Waters looked towards the bed and seen the lump on the bed under the sheets.