Lighthouse

"Can I play with you?" I asked the boy I saw building a sand castle. It was boring coming to the beach with my parents. I had no brothers or sisters.

"Yeah," the boy said smiling up at me. I smiled back and sat next to him. He passed me a bucket which I happily started filling with the damp sand we sat on. "What's your name?"

"Riley," I answered, as I set the bucket I held on the flat surface of the ground in front of me upside down.

"I'm Gerard," the boy said. "I'm 8 years old. How old are you?"

"I'm 8 and a half," I said a bit smugly.

"You're old," Gerard said, laughing.

We played in the dirt for a while, pretending to be a prince and princess, living inside the miniture castles we built.

For a moment, I looked out at the ocean that lay in front of us, my eyes moving across the horizon. That's when I saw it. The lighthouse. The moment my eyes fell on it, I felt the pull of curiosity. I wanted to go to it.

"Do you want to go to that lighthouse Gerard?" I asked.

"What lighthouse?" he asked. I pointed to the lighthouse that I could see over his pale shoulder. He turned quickly to look. He stayed silent. He stood up. "Let's go."

He turned back to me and smiled. He grabbed my hand and we walked in the direction of the lighthouse, neither of our parents noticing us leaving.

It seemed like it was taking forever to get to the lighthouse, but finally we were almost there. I felt the wind pick up, blowing my hair in my face. I pushed it out of my eyes with my free hand, my other hand still clasped in Gerard's. I looked up and saw dark clouds moving in.

"We should go back," I said. "I think there's gonna be a storm."

"Come on, Riley," said Gerard. "We're almost there."

"Fine," I said.

There were some large rocks in our way to the lighthouse and we forced to climb them if we wanted to get to the lighthouse. Gerard let go of my hand and scrambled onto the first rock. I stood and watched as he moved to the next one. He looked down and saw me standing there.

"Come on!" he yelled. I hesitated another moment before following him up the rocks. Gerard waited on the top rock for me. When I got to the top, I saw that the rocks circled the land that the lighthouse was on. Gerard took my hand again when i was next to him. We walked on the top rocks towards the lighthouse. It sat on the end of the strip of land that extended a ways into the ocean. I could hear the waves hitting the rocks farther out.

I looked up at the sky which seemed to have grown darker. I felt a drop of water hit my forehead.

"I think it's starting to rain," I said. Gerard didn't say anything. We just kept walking. I felt more drops of water. It was definately starting to rain.

"Almost there," said Gerard. The lighthouse was growing bigger with each step we took. The rain was forgotten for a moment by my awe of the lighthouse. My awe was forgotten, though, when I heard a loud clap of thunder. I jumped slightly and my foot slipped on the rocks which were growing slippery from the rain. That's when I realized it was really raining. I was soaked. It was a bad idea to come out here.

There was more thunder and a flash of lightning. I felt Gerard pick up his pace.

"We should go back," I said. I don't think Gerard heard me. The waves were louder. The wind moving more swiftly. The rain was falling heavily. I was frightened. I didn't like this at all. I pulled on Gerard's hand. He ignored it. We were a lot closer to the lighthouse now.

I was staring at the lighthouse when I felt Gerard pull on my hand without warning. I slipped and fell onto my knees, scraping them. But Gerard was still pulling on my hand. My arm hurt. That's when I realized Gerard had slipped. He was dangling over the edge of the rocks, above the now dark water, swirling below him. I was slipping closer to the edge of the rocks. There was no way I could pull him up. I tried as much as I could to stop it from happening. But it was impossible. I felt myself scream as we both fell, hitting the cold, dark water below with a loud smack. I never let go of Gerard's hand as we fell, and I tried to continued holding onto it as I was pulled under the water. But it became increasingly hard as the salty water filled my mouth and burned my eyes. I kicked my legs as much as I could but it didn't seem to help. The tide pulled at me and Gerard, pulling us in opposite directions. I felt our hands slipping, and finally, I no longer felt Gerard's hand. I felt my head break the surface of the water. I gulped down as much air as I could. But it wasn't enough. A large wave crashed ontop of me sending me back under the water. I gasped, feeling the water filling my lungs, burning my throat. My head felt light. I couldn't breathe. I gasped for air, but I only found more water. I started to see spots. And then blackness. I felt nothing. I saw nothing.

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I woke up. I was cold. I sat up, shivering and began coughing. My throat hurt unbearably. I looked around but I couldn't see anything. It was dark. I started crying. I was scared. Where was Gerard? Where was I?

"Don't worry," a calm, feminine voice said. I continued crying. "You are safe now."

I hiccuped and sniffled. My nose was running.

"Where's Gerard?" I asked, my voice shaking.

There was no reply. I started crying again. I got up and started feeling along the walls of wherever I was. It wasn't long before I found a door. I felt for the doorknob. I found it and turned it. The door was locked.

"You can't leave," the voice said. I started banging on the door. I needed to get out of here. It became hard for me to breathe again. I was gasping for air. Then the familiar lightheaded feeling came over me. I passed out again.

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When I woke up again, I was warm. I was in a bed. The room was dimly lit. I sat up and looked around. I happened to look down. There was food and a bottle of water. I was starving. I picked up the food and ate it quickly. I drank the water just as quickly. I stayed on the bed. I didn't know what to do. Where was I?

"Do you feel better? I jumped at the sound of the feminine voice from earlier.

"Yes," I whispered. I could feel myself shaking slightly. "W-Who are you?"

"My name is Anna," she said. "Whjat is your name?"

"Riley," I said, looking around. I couldn't see anyone in the small room. "Where are you?"

"Nearby," Anna said. "If I show myself to you, do you promise not to be scared?"

I hesitated for a moment.

"Yes," I finally said. There was silence. I waited another minute, but nothing happened. "Anna?"

"Right here," she said. I turned my head to look at the corner of the room to my left. That corner was darker than the others, but I could see the silhouette of someone standing there. "I'm coming out into the light now. Remember what you promised me."

I nodded my head and watched as Anna stepped into the light. The first thing I noticed about here was her skin. It was white. Very white. With a slight bluish tinge to it. I looked at her face. Her eyes were black. There was no emotion on her face at the moment. She's probably waiting for my reaction to her. Her hair was also black. It was long, but snarled. I knew when I saw her that something had happened to her. She wasn't normal.

"What happened to you?" I asked quietly.

"I died," she said quietly. "I drowned in the ocean here, many years ago."

"Am I dead?" I asked. She smiled at me.

"No," she said. "You're very much alive."

"What about Gerard?" I asked.

"I don't know about him," she said. "I wasn't able to find him."

I thought about what had happened earlier.

"Why can't I leave?" I asked.

"It's very lonely here," Anna said. "I was hoping you'd be my friend."

"I want to leave," I said.

"I'm sorry," said Anna. She started backing into the shadows.

"Please!" I cried. "I want to go home."

"Sorry," she said again. Her voice was faint now. I started crying again. I want to go home.