Deadly Tides

Chapter 5

The graduation ceremony is nearly over. All the students have received their diplomas. All that remains is Grace’s speech and the principal’s farewell remarks. Dana and the rest of the family are seated in the front row. The day is warm, and Dana is becoming overheated. Leaning over to whisper in her brother’s ear, she says, “I hope Gracie keeps this brief. I feel like I’m suffocating in this heat.”

She sees her brother turning his head to answer her then everything goes black. Awakening, she finds Matt leaning over her, his brow furrowed with concern. The years melt away and she feels exactly as she had the day she found Elliot’s bloody shoe on the beach and believed him to be dead.

Matt had been bending over her that day, just as he was now. She had fainted at the horrific sight of her husband’s shoe, with a foot and nothing else, still attached. Her brother helped her up and together they returned to the house Dana and Elliot shared. Far from being dead, Elliot was home and had no idea why Dana was so shocked to see him

“It’s not the first time I have spent the night at my sister’s. Why are you looking at me like I’m a ghost?” he asked.

Dana tells him her story and wants to know how his shoe ended up on someone else. Elliot explains he had been robbed the night before. The thief had taken his wallet, jacket and shoes. He called his sister, who picked him up and took him back to her apartment.

“I’m sorry I didn’t call…I had no idea. I wonder what happened to the guy?” Elliot said.

The police, who showed up a short time later, wondered the same thing. Dana was unable to help them out. None of them had realized then, it was just the first of many disappearances that would take place around the town of Oceans Ending. Nor did they realize it was the beginning of the end of the world.

Dana waves away Matt’s concern. “I’m fine. I just need a drink of cold water,” she says. “Please don’t let me spoil Grace’s speech.”

Waving at his niece to let her know her mother is all right, he helps Dana back into her seat and leaves to find her a cold drink.

Grace delivers what the local newspaper later calls “a moving and triumphant valedictory address” and returns to her seat accompanied by a standing ovation. The principal says a very brief farewell and wishes them all good luck as they go forward “into the unknown.”

Dana has fully recovered by the time she and her daughter reunite. “You were wonderful sweetie. I’m so sorry I fainted. The sun…you know how I get.”

Hugging her mother, Grace says, “Don’t worry. It just added a little excitement to the proceedings! Now let’s go get something to eat. I am starving.”

Driving to the restaurant, Dana tries to rid herself of the cold spider of fear climbing her spine. She hasn’t told anyone about the voice she heard as she lost consciousness. She tells herself it was only imagination, but, she knows that isn’t true.

“It’s starting again,” she thinks, terrified.

Want to see how it all began?