Dreams and Disasters

The Beach

My mind shot completely blank. Yet so filled. Questions whirred through my head like a hurricane. Who could that have possibly been, how did they get my number, what did they want from me, why did they want to meet me? So much as this could have been another prank, I somewhat didn't believe it would be. Some strange, uneasy part of me strongly believed that it was a completely genuine text. I wasn't sure if it was what Dad had told me, or my natural gut instinct. It was something that could possibly be quite important. That didn't really seem to get to me so much, however, it was the fact that I was really, truly considering it. I had hundreds of questions but one answer, I am not telling dad.

I ran downstairs forgetting that everyone was waiting for me. They were all sitting on the sofas. I went to sit next to Tyra.

"What took you so long?"Macie questioned crudely, I didn't want to answer back, I felt sorry for her...

"I think we should get to our rooms now, it's getting late. "Mum shouted forcing herself off the comfy sofa. We all followed behind her and went to our rooms.

"What's up?" Tyra asked in a giddy mood.

Setting it straight on, I began-

"I got this message from some unknown person", I showed her the message on my phone.

"Wow, so are you going to go?"

"I'm still unsure if I should go or not."

Tyra pulled a packet of gummy sweets from her bag and said-

"I don't buy it, just another advertise of something to me. Plus, I wouldn't let you miss out on the start of our holiday for that. Listen, if you get another message or anything, then you should consider it. For now, why the HELL are you acting so weird, calm off it!, In the meantime, I'm going to get some sleep. I'm exhausted!" With that, Tyra jumped into bed and switched off her bedside lamp, I slipped under my covers soon after.

******

Alex woke us up the next morning, we had to get up quickly, Dad and Uncle Callum made plans to go to the beach today. We lazily got up and made our beds. I went to the bathroom to brush my teeth and wash my face. As soon as I got out, I tied my hair into a ponytail and applied some make up onto my face. Tyra came and took a seat next to me, she dabbed her face with some blusher and started combing her hair.

"How was your sleep?" She asked while carefully applying eyeliner onto her eyes.

"Not bad, the mattress was so cosy but it took me some time before I fell asleep"

"Cait, you need to stop thinking about that and start thinking about other things...like today. We are going to have so much fun!" She nudged me and grabbed the door keys. "I'm going downstairs for now, come soon."

"Wait, I'll come with you", I caught up with her at the door. Reaching the bottom of the stairs, I realised our mothers were still getting ready. I looked at the clock at the back of the wall, the time read 2:42, I looked over at my Mum, something glimmered on her hand and I realised mum was wearing the turquoise ring I bought her for her birthday when I was a little girl. The ring wrapped around her whole finger and bent fluently. It sparkled delightfully and resembled the twinkle she kept in the bright corner of her eye.

"You still haven't got dressed! We are leaving in about 20 minutes." Mum looked at us shocked at the state we were in so we ran upstairs quickly before she could yell at us more. As soon as I got upstairs, I ran to my suitcase and took out my diary, I wrote down today's date and all of the details of the text message I received, I also wrote down in brief the story about Macie than quickly closed my diary and put it back.

"Do you think I should wear this?" Tyra asked holding a red dress in front of her and looking in the mirror

"Yeah, that looks nice on you" I answered walking to my cupboard and searching for the right dress. I picked out a yellow maxi dress and went to the bathroom to put it on. When I got out, I took a quick look in the mirror than grabbed Tyra's hand and ran downstairs.

"Everybody ready? Let's go!" Dad shouted as he strolled off leading us. Tyra, Macie, Alex and I followed shortly after the other parents and we took the lead when we ran off to the beach making sure we wouldn't move from there. The sand tickled therapeutically under our feet as we found ourselves a comfortable place to sit. The lustrous sun began blazing its glory upon the glistening sand which absorbed the heat like a sponge to water!

Few people were here so I guess we were just lucky. Ahead of us was the ranting and raving sea, burning a fresh teal colour; beautifully contrasting with the sun. We didn't want to jump in right now so we decided to head off to a giant rock we found on the side. It was smooth quartz that would definitely give us good shade. Mum signalled from a far distance that she was going to buy us some ice-cream and she walked off.

Tyra couldn't resist and jumped straight into the water; I could tell she got some of the salty water in her mouth. Macie and Alex, a little more fluently, walked into the water straight after. Chase ran after them and jumped into the water making a huge splash. Being all the more smarter, I took off all my jewellery because it would get spoilt in the water, then I walked in. At first, the water was too shallow to swim in so we walked so far up I was sure we were swimming a couple of metres from a ferry! It was horrible trying to breathe in and taste some dirty, salty water!

The further up we went, the dirtier the water got. The five of us had a few swimming competitions, and we all saw who could swim deeper down the water. I felt sick. I hated it. I wanted to move from the water. I didn't need to see them to know that there was a pair of eyes on me. Watching my every move.

"I'm quite hungry guys, I'm going to go get myself some food." Without waiting for their reactions, I swam back to shore dreading the uneasy feeling. In all too much time, I reached the shore and headed for the rock. Strong breezes slapped me delightfully, and I hoped that they would make me feel less sick, but no. It didn't. I reached the rock and dried myself off. Putting my jewellery back on, I stared at my watch. 5:02. Where was mum? I went over to dad and I saw him and Uncle Callum moving somewhere.

"Where are you guys going?" I asked looking at dad.

"Stern lock cafe, your auntie is waiting for the girls to come so they know where to go," my Dad replied. Stern Lock, that rang a bell...

"Can I come?"

"Sure, but we're leaving now" I walked over to Dad and Uncle Callum. Just across the road was the cafe. I ordered a coffee on the go when I noticed café had some sort of garden. Telling Dad that I was off to the garden, I went. In the small corner of the garden was a beautiful tree. It was fresh and large. The rest of garden looked quite grey and uncoloured; much different form the tree. The second I reached the tree, I saw a box. Quite big it was. But what scared me was what was written on it.

Dear Caitlyn Brookes, You were late. was written on a small sheet of paper attached to the box. Without thinking, I opened it.

At first, all I saw was red. Then it all came into focus. I realised what it was. An arm. A cut off, fully bloody arm cut right from the shoulder. I went pale, frozen cold when I realised who's it was.

On the index finder was a still glimmering turquoise ring.

......................................................................................................................................................................

Authors notes: Things are cooking up now on the sixth chapter... The story is beginning to be much more interesting and I really hope you enjoy it! PLEASE VOTE&COMMENT- I will upload my chapter after my 50th or more vote. Im entering for the Watty awards, please support me by giving me more reads and voting if you like it. Please vote for this chapter if you liked it!