Surface

Prologue - The Beginning of the End

The ocean violently raged beneath me. Its waves reached, trying to drag me down to the watery grave that I deserved. It almost seemed purple in the cloudy morning light. It was as if the pure, salty liquid was tainted. The obscure color was a premonition for how my scarlet blood would dilute in the gallons of sea. 

The wind was loud in my ears. A wind like this was often a prelude to a hurricane in Florida. The howling cries it made . . . It was the kind that could disguise the real agonizing pleas of a dying man. If you were light enough, it was the kind of wind that made you lose your footing. It could make you topple off the edge of a cliff - the very cliff I stood on. 

I closed my eyes and tried to focus on my thoughts for a moment. My head was as clear as it was ever going to be. 

I listened to the water and its beckoning call. The crashing of waves was equivalent to the roars of a lion, strong, scary, yet majestic.  There was a peacefulness about it. The thought of being tossed around by the waves, not having to fight anymore, seemed relieving. 

It was appealing to a person like me. 

The pearl rested below my neck attached to a silver chain. I gripped it hard, letting the sphere make an indent on my skin. It became something to hold onto while my mind hung off the edge. 

My body nearly hung off the edge. Three more steps and I'd be plunged into an icy abyss. A few second free fall and then I would taste the salt in my lungs. I would become a part of the water. It would be in me and I would be in it. 

Was death my only escape? 

I knew the answer. It was. 

The guilt of all the things I had done those past two years was consuming me. I was ripping at the seams and no amount of stitching or patching would fix it. It was too late. The only way to fix things would be to go back in time and change the decisions I made. I couldn't do that.  

My sobs echoed down to the sharp rocks that lined the side of the cliff. Was this death too easy for me? Did I deserve worse? 

All the faces of the people I'd hurt flashed in my mind. Their voices slithered around my ears and hissed yes. I deserved to suffer through the pain of dealing with what I had done. Only I couldn't. I couldn't live with myself. I was becoming weaker everyday. 

Everytime my eyes caught my reflection, a pit formed in my stomach. Even as the water reflected my face, I felt sick. I had to end things before I lost my nerve. 

I would go back into the hands of the ocean, a place that always comforted me. I had always been drawn to it. Its steady tides hypothesized me and lulled me into it almost everyday. There was something about it that made me feel refreshed and okay. It gave me the peace to keep going for a little while longer.

The moisture in the air soothed my skin and beckoned me closer to the edge. The trees swayed so hard, they looked like they might have snapped at any moment. The sandy rocks beneath me vibrated in the heat of the storm and the sky turned a deep gray, as if it was already preparing for my funeral. 

I was right at the edge. One more step and I'd be done, gone forever, free. 

Breathe, Arielle. Do you really want to do this? 

The other voice answered. 

You deserve this. I'm dead because of you. 

A tear ran down my cheek and sunk into the sand. 

"I deserve this," I whispered. I stepped up, ready to dive into the furious storm. 

"Ari!" Norah shrieked from behind me. I whipped around to meet my friend's grief-ridden eyes. Her skirt and top were soaked despite it not having rained and her hair stuck to her tear stained face. Sobs shook her body, her breaths uneven. 

She wasn't supposed to be here. Why was she here? Was she going to try and stop me?

"She's dead." 

I blinked at her. 

Dead? I was supposed to be the one dying. If she wasn't there for me then who? 

"What?" I ran over to her, pushing aside the emotional whiplash. I begged her to further explain as a pit formed in my stomach. She seemed unable to speak, like shock was setting in. I had been in enough trouble with Norah that I knew I had to have her back no matter what it was. It was the best and the worst thing in the world, loyalty. 

"Show me!" 

Norah led me down to the beach where a crowd of people had formed. At the sight of Norah and I they began to clear a path for us.  I knew people were often intimidated by us. Hannah promised to make me somebody. I was somebody alright, somebody people hated, somebody that I hated. But their faces were more than a little fearful, they were stunned.

Finally, as I neared the small clearing that had formed, I could see what everyone was panicking about. A small cry escaped my lips. 

Victoria Barely, my most favorite person in the whole world, laid on the sand. She wore a beautiful, long, lace dress that contrasted her pale skin in an unearthly way. Her lips were an unhealthy blue and those once fierce eyes were shut. Water droplets coated her face like tears as her boyfriend Pete cradled her limp hand to his cheek. His face was contorted in the rawest form of pain. 

"Tori . . .Tori please," he helplessly begged. 

My mind took me back to the last time I saw her. Her skin flushed, her eyes open, smiling at me while picking apart a cookie for the best parts. I had planned it to be the last time I would see her but not because I thought she would die. She was supposed to stay here. She was supposed to be safe. 

Shells, all types of beautiful shells, rested next to her. It was a crown with a conch at the tip of the tiara. Tied to it was a note, soggy and almost illegible from the water. I crouched down and read the faded script. 

The queen of the sea belongs at the bottom of the sea. 

A shiver ran down my spine and then the rest of my body. I couldn't bring myself to cry as anger surged into my chest in a massive wave. 

Someone murdered Victoria. 

-EDITED-