Chasing Memories

[34] Spiralling

    She was at the beach again, only this time she was not lost. While she could not see much further than the patch of pearl-white sand beneath her feet, Elise's gut told her she had to be here. Something just beyond the reach of her mind had brought her here, and it had a good reason to call her.

    "You're cute, precious, but you're not thinking straight." Melody's snide voice sounded out in the darkness, yet in a heartbeat she stood by Elise's side. Without warning, she laid a hand on Elise's shoulder, a gentle miasma lingering over her vivid green eyes. "You can't help her. Only one person can help her, and you know it's not you."

    As Elise parted her lips to protest, a short, sharp sound cut through the ocean's fierce churn. She started running before she had a chance to think, a sense of the sound's source imbued in her every muscle. With each step, the darkness that consumed the beach ebbed away, motivating her to keep running even as the urge to stop clawed through her chest.

    "Ellie?" All Elise could see was the sea stirring itself into chaos, yet the water's thundering uproar failed to remove even a sliver of desperation from the unseen voice. Her girl was close, and she needed her.

    Foaming water turned the sand into clumped dirt, and Elise cast off the bag that hung from her shoulder to keep up her pace. In the distance, a figure shone like a guiding star against the twilit sea. Elise's lungs burned at the merest thought of speaking, yet that did not stop her pouring her heart into her cry. "Cade!"

    "Ellie?" Cadence repeated. She turned to face Elise, her face deathly pale. Flashing colours lit up the towering wave that surged behind her. "Ellie!"

    "I'm coming, Cade!" Elise called, reaching out across the stretch of sand between them. With a booming strike, the wave collapsed over her girl, and Elise's heart and knees thumped against the muddied sand. "No!"

    "Ellie!" Her name rang out in the distance again, followed this time by a firm grip around her upper arms. In a blink, Elise landed back among the shadows of the concert crowd, Robin's bright eyes surfacing amidst the inky atmosphere. "Thank goodness. Are you feeling alright?"

    Soft keys wept over the skilful laments of assorted strings on the stage ahead of them. Elise blinked the fatigue out of her eyes, wondering how much of the concert had passed her by. "I'm fine, Robin, really," she said through her exhaustion, placing her hand on her friend's tight hold around her arm. "Sorry for dozing off on you. I'll try to save it for the drive back from now on, I promise."

    Speckled with iridescent lamplight, Robin's deep coffee eyes swirled with silent storms. His gaze floated over his lingering hold on Elise's torso, and the ghost of a gasp passed between his lips. "You don't need to apologise. It's far too stuffy with all these people around, and even I'm feeling a little sleepy," he said, retracting his arms and laughing to himself. He glanced around, chewing his lip in thought. "Feel like taking a walk outside for a minute? Stretching our legs might help us both out."

    Elise tugged her hoodie around her shoulders, a tired smile flickering onto her face. "Who am I to doubt your expert opinion, Dr Pawley?" she answered with a cursory bounce of her legs to make sure her joints still functioned. "Though I hope you remember where the nearest exit is..."

    Even in the dark, the venue's polished white flooring shone beneath the scores of feet that lay between them and the exit. Rows of rainbow-drenched spectators swayed and shuffled in time with the spirited flutes that travelled across the stage with playful abandon. Heavy with fatigue and less energised than the woodwind instruments, Elise kept close to Robin's silhouette as they sheepishly skirted their way out of the venue.

    The dazzling foyer lighting stunned Elise with its sheer power, and only the cool, dark shroud of the street restored her vision. Situated a lonely drive along the coast from Bosmouth, Weyscombe's long history hid beneath a coat of clean, sterilising modernity. Young, pristine buildings towered over the pavements, teams of sleek lamps casting their flawless glass-panelled exteriors in solid cloaks of artificial daylight. Down a stretch of broad stone steps, the city's waterfront streamed with bustling bodies that sparked the night into life with their laughs and cries. One breath of the fresh sea air was all it took to revive Elise's weary senses.