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The Message - Prologue
by
Nancy Brar
I hadn’t meant
to stumble upon the bottle and the message it
contained. It had just
happened. And how am I to account for natural
curiosity? I am only human, right?
I barely escaped from the ruthless clutches of
boring and dull cousin Clarence, sidestepped
the downstairs maids, bolted past Cobbs the
butler, and snuck out the kitchen door right
under the
Cook's nose. I kept running until I was out of
sight and on the beach, the fog swirling around me,
hiding me in its blanket of white.
There I sat down, pulling my skirts
scandalously up to my knees, and digging through
the
sand like a commoner and not the famous Red Tide Heiress I am. My shoes fell victim to the
fierce tide of the water pushing up on the earth
and the fog hid them from view. I smiled at my
cleverness, but now look upon it and realize I was
nothing but a foolish, foolish child.
I walked along the beach for hours, making castles
out of sand and imagining my prince and I
would live there, forever in love, happily ever
after. I played with crabs and touched sea stars,
fondling
the sand with my tiny twelve year old fingers. The
wind tore at my carefully curled hair, my new
morning dress. I didn't care about the damage
it was causing my appearance and embraced it with
open arms.
I finally came upon a cave; dark and mysterious, it
beckoned to my imaginative mind, and wide
eyed I picked up the hem of my dress, tied it around my waist, my bloomers then scandalously
visible. I
ventured slowly, relishing the moment, licking my
lips and tasting a delicious sense of danger. Barefoot,
I padded deeper and deeper into the cave, until the
darkness consumed me.
I felt the jagged rocks pierce at the sensitive
skin of my feet and cried out in pain. Startled, I
jumped back and met the wall. I felt a sudden,
panicking fear. I swallowed a scream and continued
walking, not knowing where I was, not knowing if I
would ever find my way out of the darkness. My
small hands reached out, trying to feel my way
through the nightmarish world I had stepped into.
I heard a screech and fell still. My breath ran
harsher and deeper, I was panting in fear. Then a
flutter of wings, passing so near that I stumbled
and fell backwards in surprise, but I kept falling.
I
screamed and it seemed hours before I hit the
ground, a jarring commotion of my body dropping and
folding over into a heap onto the cold floor of the
cave.
I was astonished when I opened my eyes and saw
light, and a pond of water sparkling in front
of me. A wave suddenly crashed into the private
cove, drenching me completely. I sputtered, shaking
the water off. The water pulled out as suddenly as
it had come. I grumbled, muttering nothings, trying to
squeeze seawater out of my hair. It may have been
the flicker of the sun, or perhaps the angle of my
head, but I abandoned the task of drying out my hair, walked straight into the pond, and
grabbed the
pea green bottle. I stared at it curiously and another
wave pulled in, leaving me sputtering once again. I
tucked the bottle into my dress, and waded out in
the pond, coming to the conclusion it wasn't deep
at
all. I felt my way out of the cove, and when I
turned I saw the stretch of beach where I had first
come.
My shoes were wet and soggy, exactly where I'd left
them. I snatched them up and moved to a drier part of the beach.
I fell to my knees and pulled out the bottle
impatiently, tugging hurriedly at the cork tightly
screwed in. The force of pulling the cork out made
me fly backwards. My eyes rolled back and I saw
a blur, before the world came back into focus. I
scrambled back to the bottle, and turned it upside
down,
slapping it down on the sand, finally managing to
get the paper out of it. I unfolded it, immensely
annoyed that the author of the note had folded it more than thrice.
I almost ripped it, in my haste to read the message
it held. I squinted my eyes to make out the
words:
We are the undead, ruthless and determined in our
beliefs, in our vengeance, seeking
their blood,
They, she and I shall never fall, flying through
these blue waters, waiting for the red
to spill,
Warned be them, for their black draws near, feared
be we, for we are invincible...
I stared at the words, written in red, I gasped as
realization struck me: blood, the words were
written in blood! I tore the note, fear taking hold
of me, and I threw it into the sea and watched it
disappear with relief. The bottle I threw next,
satisfied when it was shattered against the rocks.
I
grabbed my shoes, and ran up to the house, my eyes
widened in horror.
I heard the rumble of thunder and lightening
flashed in front of me, making me run even harder
and faster towards the house. I looked back once.
And I knew I should never have touched the bottle.
A black ship perched high on a red wave flew
towards us.
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