Shadow Cave (31 page)

I hit something solid then and released the breath I was holding.
I gasped involuntarily and gulped the air. Air?
I opened my eyes and fell back in relief.
Air
—
I was on the beach.
I was alive
, and
from the looks of it, I was safe too.
The man that had been on the beach must have jumped into the water when everything went black.
I turned my head to get a better look at my rescuer.

He
is
tall
, I thought, although it was hard to tell because he was crouched in a sitting position beside me.
His hair was light brown, but I thought it may have been blonde when it wasn
’
t wet.
His eyes were dark brown.

“
Are you ok
ay
?
”

I sat up and looked down to make sure I was in one piece.
“
Yes, I think so.
”

“
What were you thinking
,
swimming in that water?
”

“
I wanted to relax
,
”
I retorted.

“
Well, another minute and you would have been relaxing, alright.
Permanently.
”

I shivered and stared out over the waves again.
“
What was that thing?
What happened out there?
”

“
You don
’
t know?
”

I shook my head.
“
No, everything was fine, and then all of a sudden everything went black.
I couldn
’
t move, and the water was getting hotter by the second
,
”
I recalled.
“
There was a shadow in the water.
What the hell was that thing?
”

“
A land beast.
”

“
Excuse me?
”

“
A land beast; everyone knows about the land beasts.
Are you not from around here?
”

“
No, I
’
m not…exactly.
Well, I am
…,
”
I corrected as I remembered that I was Annabelle, who grew up there.

“
You are?
Or
you
’
re not?
”
he
asked in confusion.

“
I am.
I hit my head.
”

“
Just now you hit your head?
”

“
No, week before last.
”

“
I see.
And no one told you about the land beasts?
”

“
No.
”
I remembered Miranda mentioning something about beasts.
“
Yes.
Damn.
”
I swore.
“
But she didn
’
t say anything about sea monsters.
”

“
Actually it
’
s a lake.
”

“
Fine…lake monsters. She still didn
’
t say anything about them.
”

“
She?
”

“
Miranda.
”

“
Huh.
”
He grunted.

“
This is a protected area.
”

“
The beach is protected.
The water is not.
”

“
Well, damn.
”
I brushed my wet hair back and stood up slowly before I realized that I was in my underwear in front of a total stranger.
I started to sit back down but thought better of it because I knew that it would not help.
He had already seen it
,
and I would just end up getting even more sand on my butt.
To his credit, he didn
’
t stare much.

“
Why are they called land beasts?
”
I inquired as I picked up my belongings.

“
They used to be on land.
So you have amnesia then?
”

“
Yes, it
’
s something like that.
”
The excitement had died down and my head was beginning to throb.

“
Is that your car up there?
”

“
Yes.
Well, it
’
s my uncle
’
s car, anyways.
”
I noticed that mine was still the only car in the lot.
“
How did you get here?
”

“
I walked.
”

“
Oh.
Well, can I give you a lift home, then?
It
’
s no trouble.
”
At least it was nowhere near the trouble he had put himself through for me.

“
That would be nice, but I was actually thinking that you should not drive right now.
You don
’
t look so good.
”

I could only imagine what I must have looked like.
“
You
’
re right.
Here.
”
I tossed the keys to him and climbed into the car.
I hoped that Uncle Bob wouldn
’
t mind about the interior of one of his new cars getting wet
,
and was grateful that the seats were regular fabric instead of leather
, although
something told me Bob would not have cared if they were.

“
What
’
s your name?
”
I asked the stranger when he had shut the door and started the car.
He turned the heat on and rubbed his hands together in front of the blower before he looked at me.

“
Mark.
”

“
Hi Mark.
I
’
m Annabelle.
”

“
I would say nice to meet you, Annabelle, but this was not a nice way to meet, was it?
”

I had to laugh at that.
“
No, it was not.
But I am glad you happened to be walking along the beach today.
”

He smiled and steered the car onto the main road.
“
So am I.
Where am I taking you, Annabelle?
”

I frowned at the simple question when
it
occurred to me that I didn
’
t know where I lived.
If I had not been so exhausted, I would have laughed.

“
It
’
s a big white house
,
”
I sighed.
Boy, that probably helped a lot
, I thought sarcastically.

“
It
’
s a big white house.
”

“
Yes, my Uncle Bob lives there.
And his housekeeper, Marta
,
lives there too.
”

I almost missed the look of shock that the man in the driver
’
s seat sent me.

“
I know, that doesn
’
t help you much, I am sorry.
It must be my amnesia
,
”
I explained.

“
No, it helps.
I know where it is.
”

“
You do?
”

“
Sure.
I grew up there.
”

I shifted around in my seat.
“
You
’
re Bob
’
s son
,
aren
’
t you?
”

“
Yes.
”

“
What are the odds
?
”
I murmured to myself.
I stared out the window at the passing scenery before I turned back to Mark.

“
Well, hello all over again
,
Mark
;
I
’
m your cousin Annabelle.
”
Damn, I hated lying
.
I frowned.

He nodded and patted my shoulder.
“
Just lay back and close your eyes for a minute, ok
ay
?
We should be there soon.
”

“
Thanks, I think I will.
”
I yawned and closed my eyes, drifting off to sleep before I could help myself.

Mark leaned over and carefully shook my left shoulder when we reached the house.
I was glad that he shook me rather than tapping my shoulder.
I hated
nothing
more than a finger tapper.
Having a finger repeatedly jabbed into my arm was not a pleasant way to wake up.

“
We
’
re here.
”

“
I see that.
Thanks.
”

“
Not a problem.
I was headed here anyway.
”

“
I meant for saving my life too.
”

“
Oh, that.
”

“
Yes, that.
”

“
You
’
re welcome.
”

“
Are you going to explain this to Bob, or do I have to?
”

Mark shook his head sadly.
“
I don
’
t think it will make any difference, Annabelle.
Let
’
s go and get this over with.
”

I sighed.
“
Ok
ay
.
”

Mark was right
—
it did not make a difference which one of us was telling the story
, although
, I was pretty sure that his eyes bulged a bit more when I was the one doing the telling.
Mark and I took turns relaying the horrific scene for the old man.
Funny thing about nearly being eaten alive by a lake monster the size of a cottage
,
there really wasn
’
t any way to gloss over the incident.

“
I should have
taken
time to go with you, Annabelle.
You were nearly killed and it
’
s my fault.
”

“
No, Uncle, it
’
s not your fault in the least.
”

“
That
’
s kind of you to say so
,
dear.
Now the two of you go on upstairs and wash up.
Marta will be serving dinner in an hour.
”

I shut the bathroom door and took a minute to simply lean against the solid oak; after my death experience, anything solid felt like a blessing.
I chose not to try and figure out what number
the
near death experience
of
the lake monster came out to.
I did a long slow stretch and considered myself lucky in some respect.
For one thing, I was still alive.
And the way I figured, it was a good thing I had gotten so used to the near misses lately
...otherwise
I would have really been freaking out.

I sat on the ledge of the white porcelain tub and pushed the stopper into the drain to run a bath.
The clear water swirled around the drain as it filled the tub.
I stared at the sloshing water and began to shake.
In my mind I was back in the lake, surrounded by heat and danger and things that went bump in the night.
I yanked the stopper out of the drain and jumped away from the tub before taking three deep breaths.