Disclaimer: Doctor Who and its characters do not and will not ever belong to me.
Author's Note: First, thank you so much for taking the time to check this story out.
Second, this is my first DW fic so I hope I do well. And this chapter is kind of fast and lame, but I'm never good at starting stories. Always mess them up. That is why I went ahead and wrote the first two chapters up before posting anything. :)
I am running. Running down a dirt path, surrounded by the bare trees and their refreshing oxygen. My sneakers crunch against the fallen leaves, filling the air with echoes. It mixes pleasantly with the birds chirping and the shallow streams flowing over the rocks. I startle as my phone's ringtone break the peace, almost tripping over a branch. After a sigh, I press the talk button and put the phone to my ear, slowing my run down to a jog.
"Hello?" I say, trying unsuccessfully to avoid sounding annoyed.
"Emma! Hey, it's Chelsea!" I roll my eyes at my friend's overly cheerful voice.
"Yeah, I know. 21st Century, remember? Caller I.D. ringing any bells?" Sarcasm weaves its way into every syllable. Chelsea doesn't seem to catch it and laughs happily.
"So what are you doing right now?" She asks.
"Before you called, I was running." I mumble, and then slow to a walk.
"Oh, sorry. I forgot. Today is Tuesday, and that is your running day." Chelsea says.
"No biggie." It really isn't. The trail ends in a half of a mile anyway.
"Good. Anyway, I was just talking with Brad and Cameron, who, by the way, told me to say hello." She pauses to add dramatic effect. Chelsea has been my friend for a few years, and she is super fun to hang out with… unless there are boys involved. If there are boys, then she is always trying to hook me up with one, despite my incessant refusals.
"Look, they wanted to know if we wanted to go to the beach with them later today, say… noon-ish?" My first instinct is to say no, but it has been a while since I've done anything particularly social, so I reluctantly agree.
"But only if you promise to not try to pair me with every guy we see, okay?" I say, phrasing it as a question but meaning it as more of a demand. There is a faint groan from the other end of the line.
"Fine." Chelsea says finally, dragging out the word.
"Thank you." I say, a small smile tugging at the edges of my mouth.
"Look, I'll meet you at your house around eleven and we can get ready, okay? I want to finish my run."
"Okay, sure. See you then!" She says, and I can hear the grin. I hang the phone up and put it back in my pocket, then set off at a steady run again.
Chelsea and I had spent nearly 40 minutes getting ready for the beach. Well… really it had just been Chelsea trying on one thousand different outfits, asking me which one looked best, and then taking seven years to put on her makeup. We finally reach the beach 15 minutes after twelve, which I consider rude, and Chelsea considers fashionably late. I apologize enough for the both of us, but Brad and Cameron just laugh and say its fine.
"We got you some lemonade." Cameron says, handing the two of us foam cups. I smile and take a sip, sighing at the feel of the cold liquid on my throat.
The four of us make idle chitchat for about an hour before deciding to go for a swim. We strip off our outer clothing and put them in our bags before walking down to the water's edge. I let the water lap deliciously over my toes, grinning at the feeling.
"Hey, Chels, do you wanna go for a surf?" Brad asks. Chelsea nods excitedly. They leave to rent a board, leaving Cameron and I standing knee deep in the water.
"Want to go further?" I asked, and he nodded. We waded out to neck deep waters, and then pushed off of the sand and swam out towards the open ocean. I was lucky, because Cameron wasn't really one for pointless conversation, so we swim in a halfway comfortable silence. The kind of silence where it almost feels okay not to say anything, but at the same time feels like you should.
But I don't say anything until I feel something touch my leg. I yelp and kick, accidently sending my foot into Cameron's calf.
"Ow!" He exclaims, looking at me in surprise.
"Sorry! Something touched me." I say quickly, my cheeks turning pink. Cameron smiles and I almost think that it looks kind of cute, but then the thing touches my leg again.
"Okay… Not cool. Maybe we should get out. I'm all for fish and stuff, but we're deep enough out for sharks…" I mumble.
"What are you talking about? I haven't felt anything." Cameron says, frowning. I purse my lips.
"Well I did. And I'm getting out. You can stay if you want, but I am not getting eaten today."
"Okay, okay, don't freak. I'm sure it was just a fish. I mean, come on, what are the chances that a shark is rubbing against you. They don't even like humans… usually." My eyes widen.
"Kidding! We can get out." He says with a grin. We start paddling back towards the sand, and we are almost to waist level water when something touches my leg again. The difference is that this time, the thing isn't just brushing my skin, it is stuck to it. I kick my leg out of the water, and the thing slides off.
"Calm down, Em." Cameron says, looking at me like I am crazy. He puts a hand on my shoulder, and my breathing slows considerably, but then I feel something jerk me back into the water. I land on my butt, causing me to get a mouthful of water.
"Em-" He is cut off by something dragging me back further. I have just enough time to suck in a gasp of air before I can't hold my head above water anymore. I thrash wildly as I feel my feet leave the safety of the sand, but I can't open my eyes. Whatever has been holding me loses its grip, and I try to swim back toward what I think is the surface. I break the water and gasp, trying to look around. I can see Cameron swimming toward me, and a few other people moving towards us. Then I see a hand grab my shoulder, and I am pulled under again. I suck in a breath and start struggling. It isn't until I am under the water that I realize that the hand hadn't exactly been a hand. It was humanoid in structure, but was tinted blue and had webbed connectors between the fingers, and sharp claws that are now digging into my shoulder. I am being pulled under too fast, and I haven't gotten enough oxygen. The pressure of the water as I am pulled deeper into the ocean is deafening, making my ears pop and my head ring. My lungs are burning, and my shoulder is in agony. I try to think calmly, and decide that my best chance of survival is using one final burst of adrenaline to escape and swim away. So, I brace my shoulder for the pain I am sure is coming and jerk hard upward. My mouth opens in a noiseless scream, and my mouth fills with salt water. I close my throat and swim away from whatever had grabbed me, still sightless, and with absolutely no oxygen. It feels like I have been swimming for ages, and I have to know if I am even close, so I open my eyes, ignoring the burning, and see that I am still pretty far from the surface. I kick harder, my lungs scream for oxygen, and I am almost there when I am grabbed again.
That is when I decide that this is it. The day that I die, killed by some unknown creature in the ocean, is today. I stop fighting, trying to use my last bits of energy for conscious thoughts. My vision starts to blur, black haze appears around the edges of everything, and just before I am about to black out for good, a green light fills my vision.
I close my eyes.
