DARLING | Nikolai Lantsov

Chapter 3 - Washed Ashore

- Mara's POV -

The rain beat down on her window, the storm not letting up even in the slightest. She could hear the creaking and settling of the house after every gust of wind. She sat silently on her bed, her focus on the paper and pencil in her hand. She was attempting to draw a light sketch of the view from the north side of the island.

After a few moments, She set them down and crawled under the covers. Leaning over to blow out the tall white candle that she kept by her bedside, and watched as lightning would strike and illuminate the room with a bright light blue flash, with the loud rumbling and boom of the thunder that followed closely behind.

After a few minutes, she let her eyes slide closed, and fell into a heavy sleep. Storms didn't frighten her, if anything it lulled her body into a sleep deeper than the sea itself.

The next morning, she awoke to the sound of gentle rain on the metal roof. After getting something to eat and getting dressed, she went outside to assess the damage that was done by the storm.

She found Grettle snuggled softly in her chicken house, sleeping away the morning. Mara smiled, sliding her hand under the warm chicken and grabbed the two eggs that sat beneath her. Placing the eggs in a basket by the door, before walking along the length of the yard. She fixed a few chairs and tables that had blown over, as well as picked up a few branches that had snapped off of the group of orange trees that surrounded the small home.

The rain had all but stopped now, and the sun began to peak through the thin cloud cover. She grabbed her shall from inside along with the basket and made her way through the metal gate at the end of the yard. Walking down the trail that led safely down the side of the cliff, She made my way down to the shore to see if muscles or crabs had washed up in the night.

She was greeted with a few black shiny shells poking out of the sand, along with some clam shells sprinkled along the shore. Mara collected them each one by one and was about the make my way back up the cliff, when she noticed something in the distance.

It looked like a beached seal. She hiked up her dress, and traveled along the coast, towards the animal. This wasn't uncommon to happen when the tides get as high as they do during a storm. The seals can't find a place to rest during the night, so they are exhausted the next morning and can be found lying on the sand.

But as She got closer, she saw that it was not a seal at all.

It was a man.

And he seemed to be knocked unconscious, or worse. He lay on his side, facing away from her. He was drenched and his dirty blonde hair was full of sand. Mars gasped and dropped her basket. Running to his side, dropping to her knees and pulling his torso towards her so that he was now on his back. The cold, wet sand seeped through the layers of her dress where her knees hit the ground.

He didn't respond, but she could see his chest rise and fall as he took in small breaths. He was alive. "Oh, thank the stars..." She said under my breath.

He was much larger in stature then she was, and she didn't even want to begin to think of what she would of had to do if he was dead. He was far too heavy for her to drag up the cliff, and there was no way she could pull him far enough into the ocean so that he wouldn't just wash right back onto the shore.

Mara took a deep breath and began to lightly shake his shoulders. She noticed the look of his teal coat; it wasn't like most coats she had seen on the local traders or shipmen.

"Sir," She said calmly. "Can you hear me?" He was incredibly handsome, which made her heart quicken as she tried to wake him up.

After a few moments of doing that and still no response, she started to lightly slap the side of his face. She noticed that her hand felt sticky instantly, and she froze when she pulled her hand away and found it covered in blood. Mara turned his head towards her, exposing a wound on the side of his head, the position he was in earlier had probably caused the blood to travel down through his hair and over his cheek.

Now she was even more worried. "Sir! I need you to wake up!" Mara said louder now, as she started to pat him on the side of his arm and shake his torso.

"Mmmhhhff..." The man groaned. He clenched his eyes tighter before opening them and squinting up at her. His dark grey eyes held hers intensely. Her breath caught. She could clearly see the confusion on his face. But before she could open her mouth to speak, he mumbled something under his breath. She couldn't hear it well enough or make out any words that she knew though, so she didn't pay any mind to it.

"Sir, can you hear me, can you understand me?" She repeated, he nodded immediately, causing her to sigh in relief. "You washed up on my beach after a big storm, do you know what happened to you?"

He looked at her for a moment more before looking around and wincing when he turned his head into the sand. His hand flew up and held the side of his head, pain crossing his face before looking up at her again. He pushed himself into a seated position and shook his head.

"I don't remember anything."