This happened three years ago on our anniversary. My wife and I were celebrating 12 years of marriage. We both decided to take the day off from work and go for a drive to the beach. It was a bit of a drive, about two hours down the long interstate. The drive is amazing! We’re having fantastic conversations and enjoying all the sights on the way. We’re closing in on our destination with just a small stretch of windy roads. We’re rolling down the windows, feeling the rush of chilly air caressing our soft skin. When we arrived, there was only a few hours left of daylight. We didn’t mind, we kind of liked the idea of walking along the beach at night to gaze at the stars and listen to the ocean, peacefully without the typical sounds that comes with visiting the beach.

We started with having dinner at a nice waterfront seafood restaurant. Once we finished, we decided it was time to head toward the beach. We walked to our car which was parked in the lot next to the beach entrance. My wife grabbed her long flowy white sweater and our plaid blanket, while I grabbed the small cooler. We headed towards the beach and went through a very old wooden gate that looked a century old. While walking towards the water marveling at the sight of the sun setting, it’s like “A sunset is the sun’s fiery kiss to the night.” (Woods) We stopped and chose a nice spot about twenty yards away from where the waves were crashing against the shore, about sixty yards from the wooden fence leading back to our car. We unfolded the blanket and sat down on top. After a few minutes of talking and drinks, we laid down. We were truly amazed by all the stars in the sky. It was a gorgeous sight. Roughly twenty minutes later I felt a presence, I was still watching the stars but I felt there was someone watching us. A shiver ran down my spine. The beauty of the night now felt eerie, quiet and now abandoned. I sat up and noticed my wife had fallen asleep. I turned and looked around the beach and saw nothing. Then I turned back facing the ocean, at that moment my heart stopped.

Something was emerging from the ocean, immediately following the wave break. It was a man walking toward us in silence, holding a knife. I was scared s@#$less! He didn’t speak when he noticed that I had seen him. He stood very close to us with a giant smile on his face. A creepy smile, similar to the Joker. I was in shock, my heart pumping with adrenaline, sitting frozen in fear. I glanced at my wife again who was completely asleep. At that moment, I could feel the impending danger. I looked up and the man reacted with uncontrollable anger all over his face. I shook my wife awake and said at the same time, “What the hell are you doing, you must have the wrong people?” In a scared, but firm voice.  My wife regained her focus seeing the man standing in the water, she struggled with a rising panic. At that moment he smiled again, it made me shiver and my wife gasped with fear when she finally noticed the knife. He didn’t respond to me and instead he clutched his knife, taking a single step towards us. My wife gasped again, I forced myself to do something. I stood up and said, “What do you want? You can have our phones, our keys, anything!” The man looked completely insane, which was absolutely terrifying. Once again, no reply! He’s soaking wet wearing a tattered black suit that’s ripped and frayed. His long stringy brown hair dripping wet with strings of seaweed weaved in. After 15 seconds of unnerving silences, he ran up to us very quickly and my wife screamed. I almost had a heart attack. He stopped before he stepped foot onto our blanket and once again his smile turned into a crazy angry glare. I shouted, “you can have everything, just please, don’t hurt us!” My voice was crackling, I was petrified. He finally spoke, he said in a normal sane voice, “I told the captain it wasn’t safe” then he turned and started walking away from us. Relief hit me like a ton of bricks. I kneeled down and hugged my wife. As he’s walking away, he stopped and turned towards us. This time he didn’t look at us, instead looked into the distance, pointing at the ocean with a terrifying scream. We looked at the ocean, to only see a storm far off in the distance. As we looked back at the man, he had vanished. My wife started tearing up and I said, “let’s get the hell out of here, the storm is coming in!”

We very quickly grabbed our things and started walking in the direction of where our car was parked. After walking around the restaurant we ate at, we saw people laughing and talking outside. They had no idea what we just experienced. “How could they not see what just happened?” my wife said. We approached our car; we got inside and drove away. We were silent on the way back home trying to shake off the fear that overcame us. My wife just hung her head staring out the window. I decided to turn on the radio, perhaps some music might calm our nerves. As our breathing begins to slow to a normal cadence the song stops abruptly. “Breaking news bulletin: Ship Lost at Sea. Found, No Survivors. Crew had been found with multiple stab wounds all had been accounted for except for one passenger.” My wife and I looked at each other, our hearts beginning to race once again. What used to be our favorite spot has now been embedded in our minds with terror and fear. We haven’t visited since.

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