Undertow

Maysie's Grandma always warned her about the dangerous riptide of the ocean that pounded her section of beach. But the girl never knew just how dangerous it could get...

Maysie stood at the edge of the ocean, listening to the waves crashing against the sand. Grandma always warned her not to jump in, because the riptide would steal her away and she'd drown. But Maysie wasn't scared of the water. She knew she was a strong swimmer, and she wouldn't get swept away. Last year, her father had taken her to a different beach, where the water was calmer, and shown her how to walk against the riptide: diagonal to the beach, so it wouldn't drag her back. She'd tried over and over again until she could walk against the tide without her father's help.

"Maysie, step away. This isn't like other beaches," Grandma said. "You must resist the call." She was always saying weird stuff like that. Maysie had gotten used to ignoring her. The surf tickled her toes as the tide rose, slowly, filling tide-pools along the beach. A crab scuttled past her foot, racing away from the water. Don't crabs like the water? Maysie shrugged internally. Everything was weird at Grandma's beach. Her house, the animals, her friends. Maysie shuddered when she thought of Grandma's friends. The weird man that was too tall and too thin. The woman with fingers ending in claws. The girl whose hair dragged on the ground and whose eyes glowed. Each weirder than the last. Only one, though, made appearances in Maysie's nightmares: the teenage boy covered in scales, with a long tail and slitted pupils like a snake.

Water slipped past her ankles. Maysie hadn't noticed how high the tide was getting. "Maysie, come inside," Grandma pleaded. "It's getting late." Maysie huffed, breathing out a long sigh. She didn't like when Grandma bossed her around, but her father had told her to listen. She turned to go.

A wave slammed into her, smashing her into the sand.

Water, everywhere. Maysie thrashed as the wave receded, the strong riptide tugging at her dress, her hair. Dragging her into the ocean. Grandma's voice echoed over the waves, but she was too far away already, the beach was a tan smudge against the darkening sky and the rolling green behind. She was pulled under again, into dark water, and when she broke the surface, there was no land in sight. I should've listened. I should've stayed away. Maysie struggled against the current, but she was being pulled every which way. Her legs felt like they were being weighed down. She looked into the water, and screamed. Her legs were gone! In their place, a fish's tail covered in silver scales.

The water covered her head, and she blacked out.

*

She woke up on the beach. The tail was gone, but Maysie had no doubt that as soon as she dared the ocean, it would return. Instead, she scrambled to her feet and sprinted to Grandma's house. The sun, high in the sky, told her how long she'd been gone. She raced up the white wooden stairs, across the wraparound porch, and through the magenta door. Then she skidded to a stop. Sitting around the table were all of Grandma's weird friends. The tall man. The claw-fingered woman. The glowing-eyed girl. The scale-covered boy. All staring at her.

"Ah, Maysie," Grandma said. "Good of you to join us." Maysie's eyes fell on her Grandma. But what spoke with Grandma's voice was not the withered, hunched-over old woman Maysie had come to know. In her place was a graceful, white-skinned woman with blood-red lips and gleaming amber-gold eyes. When she smiled, fangs glinted. Maysie's legs trembled. Monsters. They're all monsters. And after her trip into the ocean... she was one of them.

Author's Note

I don't know if I'm going to continue this or not, or where it even came from.

Reviews

[Locke Redwyne (night sy..]

huh interesting very very interesting

[Jay_Bluefire]

IDK where this came from tho =)

[Locke Redwyne (night sys)]

yeah but it could make for a great story

[Jay_Bluefire]

Do you want to turn it into a story? Cause I just wrote it as a one-shot.

[Locke Redwyne (night sys)]

could we do it together? like do back and forth povs? i'll create a group if yah want

[Jay_Bluefire]

Uh sure I guess but I'm more focused on Darkness Complete right now...

[Locke Redwyne (night sys)]

yeah i know me too i was thinking about later

[Jay_Bluefire]

Okay sounds good

[Locke Redwyne (night sys)]

cool :) sounds good