VALERIE
When the water reaches hip level, I kneel down and my body is completely submerged in the water and I begin swimming. If anyone has been watching me, they'd think I have gone insane, but there is no one around since it's an isolated beach. Call it a miracle, but I don't feel like I am dying and I don't feel the need to breathe in any oxygen. I am just moving like a fish in the water, my hands are at my side and I copy some of the movements of the swimmers that I have watched on the television before.
As I swim further and deeper into the ocean and with each stroke, I feel more and more at peace. There isn't any noise around me, just quietness and total silence here. It feels like home and I get the feeling of being safe. I feel happy and strong. I don't know what is happening to me because any other time I would have been scared of drowning, but right now, I am super excited and it feels right.
Suddenly, I feel someone grabbing my arm with more force than necessary. I start kicking my legs and I start swallowing the cold salty water as I struggle to breathe and grow extremely panicky. I feel weak and like I am going to die. I open my eyes and try to see who is holding me but I can't. The last thing I remember is being pulled to the surface of the water, and then darkness engulfs my whole being.
"Hey, open your eyes. Can you hear me?" I hear the faint voice of a girl asking me. I am trying to open my eyes but I find it difficult. After struggling for a minute or two, I manage to open them and I gasp when I realise that everything is a blur to me. I blink several times in an attempt to force my eyes open but I'm unable to bear the early morning sun rays which are boring into them. I sit up straight and I immediately regret it because my head hits someone else's nose hard.
"Ouch!" I hear a girl's voice lamenting.
"I'm sorry," I say and my eyes go to the girl in front of me seated on the sand. She's around my age and has brown hair just like mine and green eyes with shades of grey in them. She is insanely thin and looks like she has a nutrition deficiency. She's wearing a pair of shorts and a tank top which are both wet.
It is then that I realise I am wet too and I start shivering. If the ocean water is that cold, why didn't I feel it when I was in there swimming? What happened in there? I bring my thighs close to my chest and rest my chin on my knees.
"Are you okay?" I hear her asking me and I nod in answer.
"Um... sorry about that," I apologise, pointing at her nose which has already turned into a light shade of pink. I notice she actually looks really cute with that pink nose!
"It's okay," she says and she gives me a warm smile. I can't help but smile back.
"By the way, why were you trying to kill yourself?" she asks after a moment and I notice that the smile is long gone from her face. It has been replaced with a serious frown.
I look at her in shock. I wasn't trying to kill myself. Okay, maybe it was stupid to step into the freezing cold water like that, but I know I had no plans of suicide. I don't like the thought as it brings back memories of my mom. I shake my head to quickly rid my mind of her memories.
"You're seriously okay?" I hear her asking me and I look at her.
"Yeah," I tell her, sounding quite unsure.
She frowns at me like she doesn't trust me, but she continues anyway, "Do you want to talk about it?"
"About what?" I ask her sounding confused.
"You know, about you trying to kill yourself".
"I was not trying to kill myself!" I say firmly. This time, it's me frowning at her.
"You weren't?" She asks me suspiciously and I shake my head as a reply. She doesn't seem convinced by my answer and says, "You looked like you were trying to. I mean, one moment you were sitting in the beach and the next moment, you were walking towards the water like you were possessed."
'And I believed the beach was isolated!' I think in annoyance.
I am about to say thanks when she continues, "And by the way you dived in, everything just confirmed my thoughts."
"Thanks for saving me, but seriously I wasn't trying to kill myself," I try to convince her.
"Practicing?" She questions me and I have to laugh at that. "No, truly? She asks. "I waited a long time for you to come back up!" She adds, this time round smiling. "So, you're okay?" she asks yet again after several minutes of silence and I smile wide at her.
I being a complete stranger to her, she doesn't need to be so concerned. In my old Pack, they wouldn't have even cared to ask about... 'You won't think about that pack Valerie!' I warn myself for the umpteenth time.
"Evie!" I hear another girl's voice call out before I can reply.
"Shit," the girl beside me mutters and stands up. I try to stand up with her, but my legs feel numb and I can't get them to work. I am about to ask her to help me up, but she is looking to her left.
When I follow her gaze, I notice another girl running towards us with more speed that I know is impossible for a human. She comes to an abrupt halt in front of us and gives me a murderous look. I notice her eyes are completely black and I understand that it means she is a shifter. I have to lower my eyes from that furious look.
"Chill Zelia, she's not going to harm me!" The girl who saved me, Evie says.
I grow scared. Maybe this is their private property and they might kill me for trespassing on their territory. She can kill me in a second and nobody would even question her actions. So much for running away and having a new life...I think in misery and can't stop the tears that come with it.
"See, you scared the poor girl" Evie says.
I dare myself and slowly look up at them. Zelia is still staring at me with fury, but her eyes are beginning to return back to their normal color. I begin to relax because I know it means she's no longer likely to shift.
"Who is she?" I hear Zelia asking Evie. Evie is about to reply when she realises that she doesn't have any answer to that question.
"My name is Valerie," I tell them.
"Hi Val, my name is Evie and this is my sister Zelia," Evie says, pointing at herself, then to her sister. I smile at her and look at Zelia.
Zelia's eyes are completely normal now and doesn't look as scary as she was when she got here. She looks only a little older than me. Her eyes are the same green and her hair a similar brown to Evie's. She's wearing a simple blue cotton dress and it shows that she's just as thin as Evie.
"Hi," Zelia greet. I slowly get to my feet, the feeling returning to my legs, and see a smile of relief and true happiness on her face. Maybe the smile is from knowing that I am not going to harm Evie.
"I'm sorry, I really am. I didn't mean to scare you. It's just that when Evie left all of a sudden, I thought she might have..... I mean, someone might have taken her." She tattles.
"It's okay, I won't hurt Evie. I mean I can't even if I wanted to... you are way stronger than me, I'm not even a wolf..." I don't get to complete my sentence, nor realise my stupidity, because I am suddenly pinned to the ground by Evie. Her hold on my throat is firm and she is growling at me, her eyes now completely black.
