In the night, clouds had risen from the sea - a dark, seething front that extinguished the full moon's pale glow and pelted the earth with a torrent of frozen rain. A gusty, ice-cold wind blew the rain sideways across the water's surface, ensuring the residents of this strip of coastline forgot it was high summer. That the nights should be warm. The lake was like a black hole, swallowing all available light. Somewhere, not far from the boat, something dark and massive was starting to circle the small boat...