Well, I'm sorry it took so long to get the second part posted. My moving decision and everything else going on had me pretty busy for awhile.
But, it's finally here! Enjoy!
Murky Depths Part Two
Rated: PG
“Oh man, not another hospital,” MacGyver groaned when he regained consciousness. He barely had to open his eyes to know where he was. The antiseptic smell and the echoes of announcements for nurses and doctors over the intercom revealed his location pretty quickly.
“I think he’s going to be all right,” Douglas said, laughing.
“You really scared me there for a second, Mac,” Jack said.
MacGyver opened his eyes fully and sat up slowly, waves of dizziness overwhelming him.
“Whoa, take it easy there, buddy,” Jack said, propping some pillows up behind MacGyver so he could lean against them comfortably.
MacGyver looked at Jack and Douglas. “What happened?” He asked. His head throbbed with excruciating, sharp stabs of pain. He gently touched where the pain originated from and felt a bandage on his forehead.
“You got quite a nasty knock to head,” Douglas said.
Jack looked down at the floor, feeling guilty. “It was my fault, Mac,” he said. “I was checking out some of the equipment we were using to look for the monster when I…accidentally hit you on the head with it. I’m sorry.”
MacGyver smiled. “It’s okay, Jack,” he said.
Jack raised an eyebrow. “Did I hear you right, MacGyver? Did that bump on the head change your personality or something? I thought you’d be furious with me.”
“Give me a moment to recover, and then maybe I will be,” MacGyver said, giving Jack a teasing wink.
Jack smiled with relief. “Well, I’m just glad you’re okay, buddy,” he said, patting MacGyver on the leg.
“You were knocked unconscious into the water,” Douglas said. “You would have drowned had not something…rather extraordinary occurred.”
“What?”
Jack looked nervously at Douglas. He knew MacGyver would probably never believe what they saw.
“Something…propelled you out of the lake,” Douglas said.
“What was it?”
“We don’t know, but I think it was the monster,” Jack said.
“We saw several humps from the creature after it dumped you back onto our boat and before it disappeared beneath the surface.”
MacGyver was about to restate his suspicions and doubts when he remembered feeling a sensation of something pushing him in the water. It was the last thing he felt before complete blackness overtook him.
Jack noticed the serious frown on MacGyver’s face. He could tell his friend was thinking. “What is it, MacGyver?” He asked.
“Just before I blacked out, I…felt something, in the water. Some presence. I felt it push against me,” MacGyver said.
Jack’s eyes widened in excitement and he looked at Douglas. “He saw it, too!” He said.
“Well Jack, I didn’t exactly ‘see’ it…”
“Still, something was there, and you knew it! Ah, Mac, this is amazing! We’re going to be rich after all!”
“I wouldn’t get your hopes up too quickly, Jack,” Douglas said. “We still have to return to the lake to conduct more research.”
“Sure, sure, I’m all for research,” Jack said. He glanced at MacGyver. “What did the doc say about Mac, here? Is he free and clear to get out of here?”
Douglas looked at MacGyver. “The doctor said you almost drowned, and you might have a concussion. He’ll probably advocate more rest, but I don’t think you’ll be in here much longer.”
“Well, that’s a relief,” MacGyver said, grinning. “To tell you the truth, I’m a little anxious to get back out to the lake myself. I want to know what that thing was.”
“Yes! I knew you’d come around!” Jack said.
“Yeah, well this time, try to watch where you’re swinging things, okay?” MacGyver said.
***
Despite the doctor’s entreaties for him to rest, MacGyver couldn’t sleep the night he returned to the hotel where he and Jack were staying. Something about his experience in the water kept him awake. He wanted to know what it was that pushed him out of the water, and what it was that Jack and Douglas had seen. Could it have been the Loch Ness Monster? Or, was it just another sighting that would lead to nothing? Many accounts of the monster included seeing humps appear on the surface of the lake, just as Jack and Douglas had seen, but many of those were proved to be hoaxes. Still, something pushed him out of the water and saved his life, and it seemed more like a possibility that something existed beneath the lake’s deep, dark surface than not. Perhaps it wasn’t a Plesiosaur or some mythical creature, but a species of whale instead. There were many possibilities, and MacGyver decided to explore the lake early in the morning before any of the tourists showed up so he could catch a second glimpse of the mysterious loch.
In the dim morning light of early dawn, light fog shrouded the area surrounding the lake and a brisk, cool breeze was in the air. The scenery around the lake was much different during this time of day, absent of boats and people. There was a calm, mystical atmosphere about the place, which provided MacGyver plenty of time to walk around the lake and think, searching for any evidence of something unusual. He took his binoculars and a camera with him, feeling slightly like a fool, but he was genuinely curious. He didn’t know what he expected to find, but maybe a part of him felt like all the other hopeful tourists and locals, waiting to see something break the surface.
As he walked near the shore, he stepped on something that he nearly missed noticing if he hadn’t looked down at the right time. It was a piece of wiring of some kind. MacGyver picked it up and studied it, wondering what it was doing by the shore of the lake. He recognized it as wiring that was usually used with electronic devices, and not simple ones, either. It looked like it was used with sophisticated pieces of technology. He spun it slowly between his long fingers, trying to figure out what it was doing by the lake. Maybe it belonged to one of the many research teams that came to the lake looking for Nessie with advanced equipment, much like what Douglas had and what Jack had smacked into his head. Maybe Douglas had dropped it when they had been out on the lake the day before.
He heard a splashing sound in the lake behind him. Forgetting the wire for a moment, he looked up, trying to find the direction of the splash. He looked through his binoculars and saw nothing at first, but he remained focused on the lake. When the next splash happened, he saw what looked like a tail disappearing beneath the water. Focusing the binoculars, he saw a dark, massive shape moving quickly, slightly below the surface. It was getting closer, approaching where he stood on the shore. MacGyver licked his lips, unsure of what to do. What was this creature coming towards him? Could it have been the same thing that pushed him out of the water? He stood still and waited, even though a part of him wondered if he should get out of the way. The splashing sounds increased, and humps appeared, breaking through the water, splitting it in half as they moved, like the prow of a ship.
MacGyver moved as close as he could to the shoreline, getting his sneakers wet. He crouched down and looked in the water, waiting for the creature to come to him. As much as his mind protested with him, telling him to use better sense and get away from there, he really wanted to see this thing. If he could get a close look at it, maybe even get a picture of it, then he would have something to share with Jack and Douglas. He wasn’t sure why he was doing this. Maybe Jack’s enthusiasm had once again sucked him in. Or, maybe his strong curiosity had once again won over his better judgment.
The creature was only a few feet away from him now, and it was getting closer. He paused and waited, touching the water with his fingertips, anticipation making him shudder with excitement. He could see more of the creature, its shape becoming more defined. It was long and had a humped back. He could even see what looked like fins protruding from the sides of the animal’s large body. It looked like a Plesiosaur, proving the most common theory about the identity of the monster. MacGyver wanted to touch it, reaching out in the water, but the shape suddenly vanished deep beneath the water. Disappointed and perplexed, MacGyver stood and waited for a few more minutes to see if the creature would return. Once again, silence settled in the area, and the lake’s surface was calm again, almost as if nothing had happened.
When it seemed like the creature wouldn’t return, MacGyver turned away from the lake and began to walk away. He stopped when he heard another splash. Before he could turn to see what it was, he felt something grab his legs and yank him to the ground. He cried out in surprise as he was dragged along the ground. Something was pulling him toward the lake. He struggled and fought to free himself from whatever was gripping his legs, but he couldn’t stop it. He grabbed for trees and shrubs, hoping to stop this thing from pulling him into the water, but he kept coming up with handfuls of dirt. The momentum and the strength of the thing pulling him was too fast for him to stop it. Frantically, he twisted and turned his body, trying to see what it was that was pulling him closer and closer to the water, but he couldn’t see anything. Soon, he felt himself being dragged into the water. His struggles increased as he tried to keep his head above water, gasping and choking. He didn’t know how far out in the lake he was being dragged, and he knew he was about to drown yet again taking this ill-fated and sudden water skiing trip.
The dragging stopped, and whatever had latched onto his legs was suddenly gone. MacGyver found himself a few feet from the shore, bobbing in the water. He looked around, trying to find any signs of what had been holding him, but he didn’t see anything. Once again, he was alone, treading water. He remained there for a few minutes, trying to recover, and then he began to swim back to the shore. When he reached it and pulled himself out of the water, he shivered, sitting on the ground. He was soaked, cold, and confused. What had just happened? His camera was waterlogged, as were his binoculars. The force of the dragging had torn into his shirt, and he noticed a few scrapes in his skin through the holes. There was no sign of anything in the lake anymore, and the wire that he was inspecting was now gone, probably lost in the water. He got up and ran, heading back to the hotel. Jack had to hear about this.
To be continued…
"If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer."
--Henry David Thoreau
brains+brawn+beauty+personality=MacGyver
Good luck with the moving by the way 
