Of the Sea

Chapter Eleven

Astrid didn't sleep much that night, if at all. As soon as she would begin to drift off, various faces would run through her mind, and she could only recognize them by their eyes. She saw her father's sunken in weary eyes, and in them the reflection of her mother's fretful glances as she clung to the side of an overturned boat. 

She had come to terms that her father's absence was not due to tardiness. She concluded he had met the same end as her mother did, and now she was an orphan. But her parents being dead was not the most sickening part of the ordeal, it's that there was no way to seek justice, to find peace. After all, the presumed murderers were just beings of fantasy and folklore. A thousand things could go wrong at sea, and authorities had plenty a tragedy to pick from.

The eyes that jolted her awake were electric blue.

It was not just that, but there was also an incessant banging coming from her window. She turned her head towards the clock which read eleven in the morning, and lifted her groggy head. She felt as if her skull was full of water. Her eyes were puffy and her throat was scratchy. Her limbs felt like lead when she rolled off the mattress, as if the loss of her father was a physical weight around her shoulders. Wiping her eyes she peered out the window, and saw Dupree.

Astrid raised the window, getting a clearer view of the worried look on the poor girl's brow. "I have a front door, you know." She humored.

Dupree wasn't in the mood for laughs. "I tried, but you wouldn't come to the door."

"I was asleep." Astrid explained, surprised by herself. It was unusual for her to sleep so late. "I'm sorry, what do you need?"

"I was wondering if Reece came by here sometime this morning. Her mom said she went out for a swim. She was supposed to be back an hour ago."

Astrid's jaw went slack. "I'll be out in a minute."

She hastily put on a fresh pair of jeans, and grabbed a hair-tie from the counter. Next to the sink she spotted Morgan's sand dollar, his token of gratitude for her. 'So you can carry a kiss wherever you go.'

"I didn't mean it...not a word of it." She murmured to the little sand dollar, thinking of her last words to him. She pulled her hair back, and thought of how simple her life had been before she knew the existence of morvens.

Dupree waited for her on the carport, fondly petting the old brown dog as she did. At the sight of Astrid she straightened up.

"So when did she head out?" Astrid asked, walking out to peer down at the ocean, hoping maybe Reece would appear in one of the waves. She didn't.

"Her mom said she came down here at eight-thirty. She said she was going to your stretch of beach."

"And have you checked?"

Dupree nodded. "We checked there and the Cliffs. We thought maybe she swam further down the beach, but she should have been home by now."

"Have you checked Addison's house?" She suggested.

"Addison is still in New Hampshire."

Astrid chewed on her lip, thinking to herself. "Anyone searching the water for her?"

"We hoped we wouldn't have to." Dupree admitted.

Astrid nodded. "Alec has a boat doesn't he?" She was not fully convinced that going out on a boat was the safest thing to do anymore. Especially after the enlightenment she'd been given by Celine yesterday.

"Alec and his dad left early on their fishing trip. Bad weather is coming in."

Astrid gritted her teeth. Could anyone in this damn town simply stay on dry land? "You sure you've checked everywhere?" Dupree didn't answer. "Let's check one more time, everywhere. Call up some other people and have them check again in town. Maybe she stopped to get something to eat. I'll go down to the beach and see if I see any sign of her, and if we still don't after that, we'll start searching."