Dark water rushed into his mouth but the thick tentacle didn’t seem interested in holding him Gabe squirmed free Still the water was full of thick thrashing tentacles Gabe couldn’t see them in the dark He was swatted back and forth as he struggled to reach the boat Gabe He turned toward the sound of his brother’s voice Grab the pole
As Gabe splashed toward Ben’s voice something bumped his head He reached up to push it away thinking it was another tentacle Instead he felt the pole He grabbed it and Ben pulled him toward the boat He saw another pole with a hook on it poking at the tentacles Finally Ben hauled him over the side of the boat Are you all right Ben bellowed 7
Gabe coughed and nodded Thanks I guess this proves there really is a giant octopus in Lake Thunderbird Tyler said And I got it on camera I don’t know about that Sean said He held the hooked pole he’d used to drive off the tentacles He pried something off the sharp tip of the hook I’m pretty sure it’s man-made Why would someone make a giant killer octopus Tyler asked Good question Ben said Along with who I’m going to find out You know the rule said Gabe No one goes in the water alone Ben nodded Let’s go As Gabe jumped into the water he wished Tyler would stop calling it a killer octopus That was his last calm thought before the tentacles started thrashing again 8
chapter 2 EVIDENCE As the van bumped along the pitted back road Gabe leaned over to look at the image on Sean’s computer tablet It showed a rather lumpy gray lizard man with big feet and hands That doesn’t look very real Tyler’s head popped over the seat in front of them and he pointed It’s real enough for me Like we found out in Oklahoma fake monsters leave bruises too Gabe couldn’t argue after the battering he and Ben had gotten when they swam down to the octopus machine and followed the cables running it back to another boat The fake octopus people were in jail Their efforts to drive people away from the lake were over Sean looked 9
