The Monastery

The monks took a vow of silence. They made sure the village did the same.

Mui and Ryan’s Greek adventure turns into a nightmare when she wakes to find him missing from the monks’ secret cave they’ve camped in.

As the hours tick by, Mui has to face the truth: Ryan’s been abducted, and it’s up to her to get him back.

The Monastery is a gripping thriller that won’t let you go.

The tip of the three-pronged pole spear cut through the water as I moved slowly a few feet above the rocky ocean floor. The warm water was crystal clear—perfect conditions for a dive. I’d already been under for a minute. I knew I could easily make it to three. I gave two strong kicks with my diving fins and then glided.

I steered myself toward a large rock with an overhang—exactly what I was looking for. I peered under the ledge as I slid the elastic band attached to the spear up the pole toward the tip, creating tension. Then I poked the tip of the spear about ten inches into the dark hole under the rock. A few seconds later, a tentacle appeared.

Slowly, methodically, the tentacle moved up the pole, wrapping around the shaft as it crept up. I had to move my hand back to avoid contact. Surprisingly, it reached farther up along the shaft. Again, I moved my hand back, but the tentacle continued to slither up the shaft. My spear was seven feet long and so far all I’d seen was the animal’s arm. 

I was diving in the waters off Nafplio, Greece. The octopus common in that area usually weren’t that big, but this one was closer in size to a giant Pacific octopus. They could grow upwards of sixteen feet and easily weigh a hundred pounds or more. I wasn’t anywhere near the Pacific Ocean.

The octopuses I usually caught were twelve to thirty-six inches from their head to the tip of their most extended arm. I could only see the arm, and it was already fifty inches.

I jabbed the spear into the hole. Another tentacle appeared and quickly wrapped around the shaft. At that point, I wondered if I should back off and leave the beast in peace. An octopus of that size would have a sizable beak, able to deliver a nasty gash.

I felt the pressure building in my lungs—no need to start a battle with a formidable opponent when I might not be able to finish it. I pulled back on the pole and shook it to prompt the octopus to release it. 

Instead, a third tentacle reached out from the hole and took hold of the shaft. 

I yanked harder on the spear. The animal yanked back.

Okay, I can come back for the spear later if you want it that bad. 

Just as I slid my hand back along the shaft, releasing all the tension in the elastic band, the beast shot out of the hole, all eight tentacles spread out.

Dropping the pole, I back-paddled and kicked to get away, but the octopus clamped down around my entire face and wrapped his arms around the back of my head. Through my mask, I saw the snapping white beak ready to deliver a bite. A second later, everything went black. It had inked me. 

Blindly flailing my arms, I did my best to swim to the surface, but the octopus’s weight hampered my movements. To make matters worse, the tentacles had coiled around my neck. I felt suction against my skin. 

I grabbed hold of the tentacles to try and untangle them from around me, but they were slimy and hard to grip. Also, the animal had partly pried my mask from my face, allowing seawater to rush inside.

I tugged and yanked at the arms while kicking my legs to reach the surface but nothing I did seemed to be working. If my mask slipped off, I’d have no way of preventing the octopus from biting my face. The bite itself wasn’t deadly, but not an awesome thing to happen while underwater.

My lungs started to burn. I needed to free myself from the octopus’s grasp. The surest way to kill an octopus was to flip its head inside out. I wasn’t in a position to do that. I reached down to my hip for my diving knife while I felt around for the bulbous head of the octopus to steady it. 

I jabbed the knife at the octopus’s head but it just slid off the side. Again and again I jabbed, trying to puncture the skin, but each time the blade slid off the creature. It felt like I was stabbing a wiggly Jell-O mold with a plastic knife. And because I couldn’t see anything, I had to be careful I didn’t stick my own hand or arm.

As my chest grew tighter, the seriousness of the situation set in. If I couldn’t get the octopus off my face, my only option was to make it to the surface so I wouldn’t drown. The animal’s weight, at least forty to fifty pounds, was beginning to tire my muscles. In bare feet, I would have been out of luck. But I hoped my diving fins would be enough to propel me upward before I ran out of air.

Positive my head was pointing toward the surface, I kicked my legs and paddled my arms in a breaststroke. The depth of the water was around twenty feet. I figured breaking the surface might even scare the octopus away.

Come on, Mui. You can do it. Ignore the mini-kraken stuck to your face and keep swimming.

I swept my arms. I kicked my feet.

Just get to the surface.

My lungs burned. 

The urge to suck in a breath was unbearable. It took every ounce of strength I had not to breathe. But it was all I wanted. 

Is this how it ends? Drowning?

And just as I opened my mouth to take a breath, I felt something wrap around my torso. My body moved upward faster, and I broke the surface seconds later. I pushed the mask a bit to the side, enough for the water inside to drain, before sucking in a huge breath. 

I didn’t care that the octopus was still attached to my face. 

I didn’t care that the sharp beak was centimeters from my face. 

I only cared about air. 

After a few breaths, I began tugging on the tentacles wrapped around my neck. After a few yanks, I felt the octopus stop moving. I peeled back one arm with both hands. Its suckers made a popping noise as they parted with my skin. 

“Mui! Are you okay? Mui!” came a voice near me.

The octopus’s body was pulled from my face, along with my mask. Staring back at me was my hero, Ryan.