The moon hung low over the turquoise waters of Rasdhoo Atoll, but tonight, it wasn’t its usual silver glow.
It was deep crimson, casting an eerie, blood-red light over the white sand beaches and swaying palm trees.

The locals called it Rasdhoo Raajje — The Night of the Red King —
a night when the ocean whispered secrets...
and the dead walked among the living.

🌊 The Warning

Liam, an American marine biologist, had come to Rasdhoo to study the reef.
He laughed off the warnings from the islanders when they told him not to go diving during the blood moon.

“Superstition,”
he muttered, adjusting his scuba gear.

His Maldivian guide, Hassan, stood firm.

“The sea is hungry tonight,”
Hassan warned, voice trembling.
“It takes what it wants.”

🤿 The Descent

Ignoring the warning, Liam plunged into the dark water.
The beam of his flashlight sliced through the inky depths, revealing coral and darting fish.

But something felt… wrong.

The current tugged at him—unnaturally—
pulling him toward the atoll’s edge, where the reef dropped into the abyss.

👻 The Awakening

Then he saw it.

A figure—pale and bloated—
floating just beyond the light’s reach.
Its milky white eyes and silent scream froze Liam’s blood.

And then… more emerged.

Dozens of corpses.
Skin peeling.
Skeletal hands reaching for him.

The legends were true.
The Blood Moon had awakened the Dhivehi Maalan —
the drowned souls of those lost at sea.

They didn’t swim.
They drifted, carried by an unseen force, their hollow eyes fixed on the living.

🫧 The End Beneath

Liam kicked upward in panic—
but the current pulled him deeper.
Cold fingers gripped his ankles.

His final scream vanished in a flurry of bubbles—
as the dead swallowed him whole.

🧑🏽‍🦱 The Watcher

On the shore, Hassan watched the blood moon ripple on the water.

Then, silently, the waves began to lap at the sand—
carrying Liam’s abandoned dive light...

…and a single, waterlogged hand.

The Blood Moon had taken another.

And the sea was still hungry.