Vanishing Acts

|| One ||

My laugh grew from a snort to a full blown laughing fit as I recognized the song that had begun playing behind me. It wasn't quite Queen's anthem We Are The Champions that had me laughing so hard, it was the fact that the crazy girl a few feet away was belting it out as loudly as she could manage. Eventually I laughed so hard I had dropped my gym bag, completely oblivious to the people walking around us as she winked at me, "We obviously won that thing."
I chuckled and stood up straight, slowly recovering from the fit of laughter as I waved my hand, "We lost the game by seventeen points, Ad."
The loud, confident, gorgeous redhead that I called my best friend continued to dance around the bench wildly, this time throwing me two of her middle fingers as she danced. I grinned, throwing my things into my gym bag as the rest of the players filed off the beach. We had played on the same volleyball team for years; the same awful, clumsy, uncoordinated volleyball team. What had started out as an idea to cure boredom, forming the team had joined the six of us into an annual tradition we looked forward to. Beach volleyball at Friday's at eight; fantastic people, good laughs and an overall humorous evening. I was nearly positive that there wasn't a single one of us who minded losing week after week. I called over my shoulder to Adrianna as the last few teenagers and adults had left the beach, "What're you up to tonight?"
She grinned wickedly as she picked up her bag, "Movies with Joey."
I clicked my tongue and whistled teasingly, though she was laughing as she shoved me back lightly, "Yeah yeah, keep quiet you."
I winked, though even through my teasing and smirking, she knew my genuine feelings about her and Joey. As bizarre as it sounded, and as against my beliefs as it was, I hadn't quite seen another teenage couple possessing the same amount of love that they held between them. I couldn't have been happier for her. Eventually the two of us had dropped our bags back onto the empty beach, sitting closely enough to the lake that our feet could touch the water. "What about you?" She asked, throwing her hair up into a ponytail lazily.
I shrugged, not actually having any idea when she piped up, "You could go with us!"
I laughed at the thought, simply shaking my head as she sighed dramatically, elbowing me, "You don't get out often enough."
I grinned, "Next time."
She nodded, though she didn't have time to speak before we heard a car horn. I turned around to see, as expected, the nineteen year old sitting in his old, beaten up green Honda. The car was a sight that always brought back memories of good times. I nearly lost my balance as I felt two arms wrap around my shoulders tightly, Adrianna throwing me an excited grin before running off with her teenage romance.
Relaxing, I lied on my back as I watched the waves hit the soles of my feet. I tried to let it sink in that I had turned seventeen, and I was officially a senior. Last year of high school; last step before plunging off the cliff of reality and growing up. The realization struck a whirlwind of emotions, yet excitement stood out. I was more ambitious than nervous; it was the end of living in a small town, surrounded by a few people that I had grown up with. Eventually, everything around me would be new. People, location, classes, me.
And I supposed I was alright with that.
I rested my head back on the ground, consumed in my thoughts of a completely different lifestyle, planning on lying there for a few moments before heading back home. Before I knew it, I had shut my eyes and fallen asleep before I could get back up to start walking.
What I woke up to was the most petrifying realization in my life.
I woke up to a needle being harshly stuck into my arm.
Startled, my eyes flickered open and a shaky scream left my lips as someone yanked me to my feet. It happened in seconds; a hand was slammed against my mouth as someone out of my view pinned my arms behind my back, beginning to drag me backwards. Struggling furiously, I kicked behind me and jabbed my elbow into their ribs; a loud, long, booming string of curses revealed that the man behind me had let me go.
I took off running.. I only made it a few steps.
My heart began beating so rapidly I felt it rattling my rib cage and suddenly claustrophobia attacked me, as if I had been shoved into a box. Panicking intensely, I took another step only to learn I could hardly walk. I took another step only to learn I could hardly move. I screamed fearfully, my eyes darting around the empty beach as I watched it begin to contort in front of me.
The sand was moving.
It was rushing around beneath my feet, though I couldn't back away from it. I couldn't move, I couldn't scream and before long, breathing became difficult. My breathing was ragged, uneven and panicked and it felt as if someone had their hands around my neck. Did they? Was someone choking me? I blinked furiously; I couldn't tell. Everything became hazy and confused, things merging together and I couldn't tell what was happening. I looked at the water; it seemed liked it was twenty feet away. It was far off in the distance, was I not just beside it? Did I move?
I was moving.
No, someone was moving me.
I looked in front of me but I just saw a hazy figure who looked nearly three foot tall- no, eight foot. He was a giant. Or was I tall? I couldn't tell, I could only hear and feel my heart ready to burst from my chest. Even as things continued to blur around me, I didn't realize I was passing out until it was too late