iHigh Tide

Author's note: I do not own the characters in this story, just the situations involved. All characters are the property of Nickelodeon. The idea for this story is based off of Something to Tide you Over from Creepshow. That being said, enjoy

It was late spring in Seattle, Washington. Sam Puckett was riding a high of life right now. She had recently come out to her mother as a bisexual, and even though a huge fight had erupted where her mother had kicked her out of the house, Sam couldn't be happier. Her sister, Melanie had known for years, and was all too happy to offer Sam a place to live.

Everything had seemed to fall into place. As luck would have it, her best friend and former co-host of iCarly, Carly Shay, had recently revealed to her brother, father and their entire group that she was a lesbian. Where Sam's mother reacted badly and had all but disowned her, Carly was met with nothing less than full acceptance from her family and friends.

But Sam couldn't complain. She had recently entered into a relationship with Carly. She had graduated Ridgeview High School a week after Melanie had graduated from her private school, making her and her twin the first Pucketts in their family to do so. She and Carly had been taking it slow since Carly returned from Italy with her father.

Sam reflected on all the happiness she'd had since she'd started dating Carly as she stepped into the shower. Twenty minutes later, when she stepped out, she was immediately grateful that Melanie had went out with Freddie for the day. As she reached for a towel to dry herself, one was handed to her, but not from someone she would have ever expected, nor wished to see.

"Silly bean, you're all wet," Nora Dershlit said, her voice immediately rendering Sam speechless. Nora handed her a towel as she slowly stepped out. She struggled with the fear of knowing that Nora was present during a time when Sam was certainly at her most vulnerable. Nora stared at her, a creepy smile on her face that didn't seem to convey happiness in the normal sense of the word.

Frightful memories came flooding back, memories Sam had tried very hard to forget about. The last time she saw that smile, Nora had informed her and her fellow iCarlies that they would never leave her house. "Well don't just stand there," Nora beckoned. Sam glared at her. Her voice finally found words.

"Nora..." she began, trying to find the right words. She knew she had to word this carefully. Nora's most dangerous trait was how unbalanced she was. Even now, although she appeared to be cordiall, jovial even, Sam realized that she could very well be in serious danger.

"Shouldn't...shouldn't you be in prison?" Sam asked slowly. Nora started laughing. "No, silly bean, I broke out two weeks ago," she replied. "Now hurry, quick," she said. "We're going for a ride." Sam wished her cell phone was here. At the very least, she could dial 911. Even if she couldn't place the call, 911 operators would certainly trace her phone.

She composed herself as she dried herself off. Nora was off her rocker if she thought Sam would go anywhere with her. "Nora, I'm not going anywhere with you," Sam said slowly. She had to play this carefully so that she could escape.

Nora didn't even seem to acknowledge Sam's refusal. "Of course you are," she replied. With that, she drew a small revolver from her purse. "If you want to see Carly, you will," she threatened. Her voice turned slightly darker as she delivered her threat.

Sam glared at her. "What have you done with Carly?" she demanded angrily. If Nora didn't have her at gunpoint, she would have pounced right then and there. "Carly's fine," Nora replied. "She wants to see you." Sam eyed her suspiciously. Something was not right here, and the least of that was the fact that Nora had managed to find her way into her home.

"Hurry up," Nora urged, her tone jumping back to almost friendly. "You've got to get dressed." Sam glared at her. She didn't dare make a move as long as Nora had that gun trained on her. She refused to put Melanie in the situation of finding her dead body later. There was only one option open to her. She had to string Nora along, preferably till she put the gun away, then she could take her.

"I've already laid out an outfit for you," Nora continued as if it were completely normal for her to be in Sam's bathroom, seeing her with an abscence of clothing. "You what?" Sam demanded, though she made no threatening gesture. "You were in my closet?" she yelled.

Nora ignored her anger. "I want you to look nice when you see Carly, silly," she replied. She gestured toward the bathroom door with the gun. "Come on, let's go," she beckoned. Sam nodded shakily and stepped past Nora, opening the bathroom door and making her way to her room.

On her bed, Sam saw that Nora had laid a simple tank top and shorts ensemble. She couldn't complain too much, except for knowing that Nora had been in her closet creeped her out beyond words. "May I have some privacy please?" she asked as Nora watched her, the gun still trained in her direction. Nora chuckled. "We're both girls here," Nora replied. "Hurry quick," she beckoned. "The longer I wait, the less likely it is you'll see Carly."

And there it was. The first not so subtle threat to Carly's safety. She glared at Nora, a desire to beat the ever loving crap out of her evident on her face. She actually stepped toward her. "I wouldn't do that, if I were you," Nora warned. "I'd hate to shoot you. It would be unfortunate to end our friendship like that." Sam stopped in her tracks. 'Play it cool,' she told herself.

"You're right," she hesitantly agreed. "It would be unfortunate." Even though she was acting, she still could barely say the words. Seeing no alternative, and not having any other choice as long as a gun was pointed at her, Sam hesitantly got dressed.

As she dressed, she covertly tried to search the room. She'd left her cell phone on her nightstand, but now it was nowhere to be found. "Looking for this?" Nora asked, pulling a familiar looking phone from her purse. "My phone!" Sam cried.

Nora eyed the open window. Without missing a beat, she threw Sam's phone, and with that, her only chance to summon help flew out the window. Nora smiled. "It's too bad. I liked the color." Sam glared at her, finally dressed. Nora laughed happily. "YAY!" she cheered. "You're finally ready to see Carly." She gestured to the open door. "After you," she ordered. Sam nodded.

It was a 20 minute drive from Sam's apartment to a remote stretch of beach. The sun shined bright as they drove, signalling in Sam's mind the beginning of what otherwise would have been a beautiful day. Nora seemed to have become smarter since she'd last encountered her. She gave Sam absolutely no quarter to escape. From the moment they'd left the house, Nora kept that gun pointed at her. Unfortunately, it was small enough to be easily concealed from any onlookers.

Even in the jeep Nora had procured for the drive, she still kept the gun trained on Sam. Finally, they had reached their destination. The view was nothing short of incredible. Sam was quick to notice that aside from herself and Nora, there was no one around. "You said if I cooperated with you, you'd take me to Carly," Sam said through gritted teeth. "Now, where is she?" she questioned.

Nora, for her part, remained chipper. "It's not quite time yet, silly," she replied. "We still have to get you ready." She pushed Sam toward the beach. "Start walking," she ordered. Sam refused. "Not till I see Carly," Sam replied. Nora gestured with the gun. Sam followed her gaze to a shovel that was sticking out of the sand just at the shore. "If you want to see Carly, you'll do what I tell you," she growled, her tone once again slipping from chipper to dark.

It wasn't long before they were standing just at shore. Nora gestured to the shovel. "Don't just stand there, start digging, silly bean," she ordered. Sam shook her head. "You said you'd take me to see Carly," Sam replied. Nora nodded. "I did. I just want you to be effectively neutralized when I do," she said. "For...my protection." Sam hesitantly pulled the shovel from the ground. "Fine," she growled, as she began digging a hole in the sand.

"That's enough, Sam," Nora said. After 45 minutes, apparently the hole was deep enough for Nora's purposes. Sam was presently at neck level with the ground, and she knew she'd need help to get out. Tossing the shovel out, she glared at Nora. "Cool. Can you help me out of this hole?" she asked.

Nora laughed at the notion. Sam had unwittingly placed herself right where Nora wanted her. "No, I don't think I will," she replied. "Why not?" Sam demanded angrily. Nora shook her head. "Temper temper, Sammie," she replied. "Now, let's continue this game of Nora says."

Sam had tried to supress her fear, but the longer it went on, the harder it became. "This is all a game to you?" she growled. Nora smiled and began laughing. "Of course it is, silly bean. Now, Nora says: fill the hole," she ordered, gesturing with the gun. Sam bit her lip as she did as she was told and started filling the hole she now occupied with the dirt she'd just dug out.

It wasn't long before Nora had to assist her, something the crazy girl was all too happy to do. When the dirt reached Sam's chest, Nora took over with the shovel. Sam was not thrilled about letting the nut case bury her, but the time to do anything about it had came and went when the dirt had reached her waist. With every shovel full, Nora was consigning Sam to a cruel fate, and all with that jovial attitude.

Nora smoothed the sand around Sam's neck, then took a moment to get down to her level. Sam now had a view of the shore from ground level, and it was beyond frightening. The worst part was that at this point, weather or not she was let out of the hole was entirely at Nora's mercy. "You know, Sammie," Nora began tauntingly as she took in the view from Sam's level.

"If I wanted to, I could finish this," she finally said. In emphasis of her point, she began piling sand over Sam's face. "Yeah, just like this, see?" Sam sputtered as dirt entered her mouth and nose. "But no," she said, once again smoothing the sand and clearing it away from her face. "I would never do that." Sam did the only thing she could and glared angrily at her. "Where's Carly?" she demanded.

"I'm afraid she lost the coin toss," Nora replied. "I had to bury her further down the beach." As Sam continued to glare at her, she smiled. "But I did say you would see her, and so you shall." Getting to her feet, she looked down at Sam. "I'll be right back. Don't go anywhere," she said with a laugh before turning back to head to the jeep.

It was only 15 minutes since Nora had left Sam alone. But for Sam, that 15 minutes was spent watching ocean water lap ever closer to the shore. Closer to her. Finally, she heard a car pull up. She had no idea if it was Nora or not. "HELP!" she yelled. "SOMEONE HELP ME!"

To her chagrin, it was just Nora. "HELP ME!" Nora shouted mockingly. "Scream all you want, Sam," she said. "My parents and I own this stretch of beach. Nobody can hear you." Things began to fall into place for Sam. It now made sense why there was nobody here. Except of course, for Sam, and somewhere down the beach, Carly.

As the water began lapping at her chin, Nora began setting up a tripod with a video camera as though Sam wasn't even there. "You lied to me!" Sam growled, spitting out a bit of seawater in the process. Nora seemed to act as though she wasn't buried in a hole in front at shore level. "I didn't lie," Nora finally said.

She placed a tv on the ground in front of Sam. As she plugged it in, Sam finally saw Carly. Wherever she was, the water was farther along than it was here. It was showering Carly's head as the tide came in and out. "No! No! No!" Carly sputtered, but the water was deaf to her pleas.

"It is possible to get out of this," Nora explained. "There's even a chance the water will free you," she continued. "It all depends on how long you can keep your cool. And how long you can hold your breath." While Nora was speaking, Sam was focused on nothing but Carly's suffering on the tv.

"You'll notice," Nora explained, "that this is not on play, it's on record." Sam was too worried about Carly, indeed to notice that at first glance. "Anyway, keeping your cool is crucial. As the tide comes in, you suck up a quick breath," she explained. Right on cue, Carly was hit by another barrage of water.

This one was big. For a moment that was too long for Sam's liking, Carly's entire head was submerged. It was clear she couldn't take much more. "No, please," Carly sputtered when the water finally receded. "Of course, your chances lessen if you lose your cool," Nora cut in. "Just like she is here."

Nora made one last inspection of the setup she'd erected. "Well, I think my work here is done. I thought I'd leave you with some entertainment, Sam," she said. "Well, at least until the monitor shorts out." 'Oh my god!' Sam thought. 'She's actually gonna do it! She's gonna leave me here!' Sam resorted to begging. "Nora please," she finally sputtered.

But Nora didn't even acknowledge her, and it wasn't long before Sam heard the sound of Nora's jeep driving away. Sam could do nothing put stare at the oncoming ocean. If only she'd fought back. Even if she'd lost, being shot would surely be better than the fate that currently awaited her.

She didn't have to watch Carly suffer for long. The first waves that came at Sam mercifully cut out the tv in a small shower of sparks. Sam couldn't focus on Carly right now. If she could somehow dig herself out, she could hopefully get to her girlfriend in time to save her.

But it was hopeless. The wet sand had all the consistency of wet cement. Every time her fingers managed to dig out the slightest gap, water quickly moved more sand in to fill it. Her struggling was taking it's toll. "AARRGH!" she screamed. A wave had rushed over her when she was trying to vent her frustration.

As Sam spit out seawater in mouthfuls, she realized Nora had lied. The water wouldn't help her get out. No, it merely sealed her coffin shut. She was out of energy. Between the sand making movement impossible and her own fatigue from trying, her arms wouldn't budge. "Oh my god!" she said as she saw the latest series of waves make their way toward her.

Nora Dershlit smiled to herself as she made her way inside a modest beach house that her father had managed to buy with the small fortune he'd made writing jingles. She knew better than to return to her parent's house when she broke out of prison. As she poured herself a drink, she smiled as she watched the monitors she'd set up.

Carly had ceased to say anything. She wasn't gonna be able to take it much longer. The only noise came from her sputtering between waves. Sam was trying to show a brave face, but she wasn't faring much better. As Nora viewed the proceedings, Sam glared at the camera she'd set up.

"Nora! Do you hear me, you crazy bitch?" Sam asked between waves. "I'm gonna get you! Do you hear me? I'm gonna get you!" She was cut off as another wave hit her head on.

Nora merely smiled at the threat. "Better hold your breath, there, Sam. Better hold your breath."

The water was a good three to five feet above Sam's head. Life was begining to leave her. As she died, a red aura appeared around her head. She would have her revenge for this cruel fate. Revenge for herself, and revenge for Carly.