"He's wearin' a dive suit. He could still be alive."

"No' likely." Alban ran ahead of him, blocking him as he reached a castle drive overrun by weeds. "Finley, wait!"

True paused.

"I didnae stop ye when ye went after him in Invermoriston. But this is different. I cannae stand by an' allow ye tae violate yer blood oath."

"It's ower, Pop. Angus wis right. This creature's got tae be dealt wi', an' Zack cannae dae it alone. Now ye either help me or get oot o' my way, but ye willnae be stoppin' me. No' today."

True pushed past his father and walked around to the side of the baroque dwelling. Rust-stained concrete walls were overwhelmed by a growth of vines, concealing an open, first floor passage.

True pushed the foliage aside and climbed through.

It may be doubted whether sudden and considerable deviations of structure are ever permanently propagated in a state of nature. Monstrosities sometimes occur which resemble normal structures in widely different animals. If monstrous forms of nature are capable of reproduction (which is not always the case), as they occur rarely and singly, their preservation would depend on unusually favorable circumstances. They would, also, during the first and succeeding generations cross with the ordinary form, and thus their abnormal character would almost inevitably be lost.

—CHARLES DARWIN, THE ORIGIN OF SPECIES, 1859

If we had believed the Loch Ness monster did not exist, we would have certainly said it loud and clear. Instead, the totality of the evidence, the eyewitnesses and the sonar led me to say, after thirty days on the Loch, that there is definitely something here that has to be resolved.

—KIRK WOLFINGER, PRODUCER 1998 NOVA EXPEDITION AT LOCH NESS

Chapter 34

Loch Ness Aquifer

The cold water shocked me awake. I could feel it seeping into my Newt Suit, soaking through my clothing.

I opened my eyes.

I was horizontal, suspended on my left side, my mechanical arms pinned awkwardly behind me. My head throbbed, my mind still in a fog, yet it seemed as if I was moving… pushing left then right, left then right, traveling very fast through the darkness.

It was a bizarre sensation.

Only then did I realize I was in the monster's mouth!

The creature must've have taken me as I dropped into the crevice, snatching me sideways to avoid my lights.

A wave of fear shot through my body like electricity. I struggled to move then quickly stopped as I felt the creature compensate by clenching its mammoth jaws tighter upon my already breached dive suit.

If it wanted to, the Guivre could crush me in seconds.

I whispered into my headpiece, "True? True!"

No response.