The Fog of Hurston Bay

Down by the bay

Where the children play

Something lurks in the water

Down in the blue

He watches you

Beware of the beast of the depths

In the small town of Hurston Bay, fog was a bad omen. Not because it meant that the boats wouldn’t go out, not because it was just creepy looking, but because bad things always happened when the fog came. Children would vanish, animals would be found dead, and merchandise would just up and disappear.

Hurston Bay began to build a name for itself around its ‘supernatural’ activity, but it didn’t become tourist sight. This was probably because of one of the most famous incidents that happened there-- to a tourist.

How the story goes is that one night, the fog came in. The locals knew to get inside and to lock themselves inside their houses to avoid something bad happening to them, tourist Molly Akrent didn’t. Of course she had heard the stories about the town and the fog and how they were supposedly related, but she didn’t believe them. So, she stayed out late in the only place that left its doors open that night-- Groskam’s Tavern. From the account of the bartender there, she left at around 10:50 to head back to her room at the Bed and Breakfast. The bartender, Mr. Daniel Groskam, said that Miss Akrent was in fine spirits when she went back to her room and that he closed up soon after she left.

There were no screams that night, no eerie footsteps walking past the homes, and no cries of animals being slaughtered, so the villagers had thought that maybe, that night was one without incident. They were very wrong. At 12:47 pm the next day, Molly Akrent was found dead in her room. Her throat was slashed and she was hanging from the ceiling by her arm.

Police were soon called in to investigate her death. The whole first day there was dedicated to questioning the people of the town to see if they knew, heard, or saw any of this going on. The maid of the bed and breakfast, Suzanna Kurst, let police know that she thought she had heard something going into the bed and breakfast that night, but she was too shaken up to give details. She agreed to meet police the next day to give her account of what she had heard and seen.

Everyone in the village went to bed a little uneasily that night, knowing that for the first time in 26 years, someone had been killed inside an establishment. The fog rolled in once again, and everyone and everything, once again, was silent.

Morning came and Suzanna Kurst was found, with her throat slashed, dangling from the ceiling of her home. The police were outraged and frantic knowing that their only source of information was found dead in her home. People were questioned again but the police found no new information about Molly or Suzanna’s death.

The killings went on for another 4 days and 6 people were killed in total, All were found with their throat slashed, hanging from the ceiling by their arm Besides the tourist and the maid, a bookkeeper, a reporter, a cook, and a 6 year old boy were killed, in that order. No new leads were ever found, but the fog was always present on the days they were killed. The case went cold because of lack of information and the town became infamous for the killings.

The day of the funerals of all of the deceased, the people of the town gathered in the square. Old Lady Agatha had called the meeting. She could always be found on her front porch, in her rocking chair, watching the people of the town as the day passed. She rarely ever spoke, but when she did, the townspeople listened.

“You know what the killings mean,” she rasped out. “It looks like we need to change the rhyme to accommodate the new ones that have been born. It will go like this:

Down by the bay

Where the children play

The beings lurk in the water

From the blue

They watch you

Beware of the beasts of the depths.”

“The new rhyme will be learned and remembered. We do not want to offend the beasts and have unnecessary death.” Her eyes scanned the crowd as she said this. With her next word came a pointed look at the children. “Follow the rules and stay where it’s safe. The beasts have no mercy and they aren’t leaving anytime soon. Remember, we made the deal and we will comply to its conditions.”