AN: Next chapter. This story is not going to be all it could have and should have been; it'll be much shorter, but I'm still going to finish it...eventually...

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

I was practically bouncing in my seat the entire trip, hyped up on brownies and pure excitement. I was feeling great with the wind in my hair and tunes blasting from the radio. I even convinced Mom to stop so we could get some snacks, using the whole "I'm a growing girl" line on her. Yet, she wouldn't let me get a Monster or anything of the sort… she's learning what they do to me… hmm…

As she drove, Mom's face grew brighter and happier, and she had this almost wistful expression which let me tell you, was slightly unnerving. I wondered what she was thinking about… probably Dad… my stomach clenched slightly at the thought of my Dad, and I quickly shook it from my mind, focusing instead on the sky which was turning bluer and clearer the closer we got to the beach.

I absolutely couldn't wait to hit the beach… I just felt at home in the water and the fishes… The Little Mermaid was my all-time favorite Disney movie and with good reason too.

Finally, the car moved from asphalt and onto sandy gravel, and when we finally slowed to a halt, nothing stopped me from jumping out of the car and running straight to the water, jeans and all. The second my feet hit the water, I immediately felt the past week of frustrations and this afternoon's fight slip from my mind, focusing entirely on the feel of the water slapping against my legs, the sea breeze in my mussed up hair, and the slimy texture of seaweed and algae between my toes.

I was in heaven.

…..

"Cassie!"

I groaned, reluctantly turning away from my spot on shore just where the water ended. I was buried up to my knees in sand, my hands digging around me. I had left the water not too long ago, although I didn't stray too far. Instead, I had set myself at the water's edge where I set to making a sand castle… although it wasn't really a sand castle as much as a sand…community? City perhaps? I may be a teenager, but I was still my mother's daughter.

My Mom was standing farther up one of the dunes, hands on her hips, before the cabin. She had started dinner awhile back and now, she raised her hand, gesturing me to join her. I moaned, not wanting to leave my spot in the sand, but I pushed myself up nonetheless.

Slowly, I made myself up the mounds of sand to where my Mom stood. I looked over my shoulder, mourning the loss of my little sand city as the water swept in, wiping it away, before looking back towards my mom, who smiled softly at me.

"Come on," she urged me, "Do you want a cold dinner?"

"Yes, of course I do!" I informed her, huffing as the dune grew steeper. "Ice cold." Mom snorted and I laughed, not paying attention to where I was stepping…not noticing the broken bottle right where I was about to step until…

"Ow!" I cried, straightening up immediately and clutching at my bleeding foot. I hopped up and down slightly, when the sand beneath me slipped and, stumbling, I fell on my side, rolling all the way back down the dune, moaning and groaning the entire way. I finally crashed to a halt after falling into some underbrush.

Grunting, I wiped the sand from my eyes, hauling myself up onto my knees.

"Cassie?" Mom cried from above, peering precariously over the edge of the dune, the setting sun shining brightly off her blonde hair.

"I'm fine, Mom!" I called up to her, grumbling as I brushed myself off. "But I got to admit: not a big fan of brok-"

"CASSIE, BEHIND YOU!" The pure fear in my Mom's cry had me spinning around, hands out to defend myself, clenched tightly into fists. Mom had taught me at an early age how to throw a punch; she told me every girl should know how to do so, and yet, I knew immediately fists would not be useful at all…

Towering over me dauntingly stood a monster in the simplest form of the word. While its face resembled that of a human, the man's – or was it an animal? – body was morphed into that of a lion, its hair scraggly and long, while its tail – it had a tail? – stood at attention, sharp prongs branching off of the skin. Its face was contorted into a fearsome expression, pointed teeth bared and eyes piercing through her.

Before I could react, the man-lion raised its arm, razor sharp claws extending from its paw, which came slashing through the air, catching my jaw line and tearing straight through the skin. I screamed as the force of the attack sent me spilling to the ground, while blood trickled down my face and neck, staining my shirt.

I whimpered, almost pitifully, something very unlike me, my fingers slick with red… my blood… I groaned at the sight, my stomach clenching tightly. 'Where is Mom?' I thought desperately, pushing myself up onto shaky arms. I tried to push myself away as the monster came closer and closer, standing frightfully over me.

"M-Mom!" I called out in weak desperation, my eyes moving side to side as I searched desperately for something, anything to protect myself with. The creature's leer widened, and it licked its lips eagerly.

"You can't expect Mommy to protect you, young one," the creature hissed, its voice thick with an accent. It leaned closer to me, its rotten breath washing over me. I cringed and tried to pull away, but the lion-man's paws shot forward, pushing my shoulders into the ground, its claws digging into my skin. "And you can't expect Daddy-Dearest to be there for you either, can you?" He cackled grotesquely.

My eyes narrowed as his nails dug into my arm, and I felt a wave of anger surge through me, my vision turning red. Without thinking or perhaps I was thinking just irrationally, I spit in the creature's face. He roared in anger, shaking his head in disgust, his grip loosening ever so slightly. I kicked my legs up and out, catching the monster in the stomach and successfully pushing him off me.

It was his turn to groan in pain, and taking advantage of my freedom, I scurried to my feet, wobbling unsteadily forward, trying to place some distance between me and the creature. Behind me, I heard the monster scramble to its feet, shuffling unevenly in the sand, and I sped up, telling myself that this was simply another track meet and the monster behind me was another one of those girls who always tried to intimidate me before each race. I failed to take into consideration that this beast had four legs while my competitors only had two.

I heard the whistle of the swipe of his claw through the air, catching my shirt and side in its nails, before I was thrown through the air. I landed face first in the water, sputtering and coughing loudly, shaking the water from my hair. I froze for a moment at the sight of my red blood mixing with the water, and I felt myself heave slightly. Desperately, I made to scramble away and out of the water when a heavy weight came crashing down upon my back, and my arms gave out from under me, my head submerged for several moments. All I could see was red in front of me, and this time not from anger, the salt of the water burning into the slashes on my face and side. I thrashed beneath the water, my eyes wide in panic as I tried to breathe, yet the weight of the monster on top of me was too much, and I knew I could do nothing.

I waited for the burn in my lungs and the blackening of my vision as I desperately wondered where on earth my Mom was. Did she leave me? Did she not care? My eyes burned slightly in the salty water, and I blinked frantically trying to clear my vision, not wanting the last thing I saw to be the mixture of my blood and water, red on blue. That's when I noticed the change in my vision and the coloring around me.

Gone was the red and its place was clean water (well as clean as you can get in New York), and I began to notice the loss of the aching in my side, as well as the fact that my vision was as good as ever and my breathing perfectly fine. 'What the hell? I should most definitely be dead right now.' The water surged around me, crashing lightly into me, energy beginning to burn within me, my thoughts, for once, clear and rational.

My arm shot back, elbowing my assailant in the side, and somehow, sending him flying off of me. I shot up, gasping and gulping down huge breaths of the sea air. Shaking the water from my hair, I turned to face the monster, sitting up in water. Pushing myself out of the water, I raised my fists to the monster as he too pushed himself up, water dripping from his scraggly mane.

The monster growled and made to charge at me when a flash of blonde hair shot from my side, a blade bright in the setting sun. The body hurled itself into the beast's side, the two sprawling into the water.

"Mom?" I cried, taking a step forward. The creature roared out as my Mom stabbed her blade into its flank, and my mom held on for dear life as it thrashed around.

"Cassie! You need to go!" she screamed, trying to avoid the beast's claws. "Run as fast as you can! Go North until you hit the highway-" she cried out as the creature's claw slashed through her side, blood spilling out of her shirt.

"Mom!" I cried, moving to rush at the creature.

"Cassie, no!" she protested, digging her knife out of the monster and backing away, her hand pressed tightly against her bleeding side. "Run and you'll find a grove of berries at the bottom of a hill. At the top of the hill is a pine tree-" she cried out as the creature scratched her across the face. "Once you're passed the tree you'll be safe!" She shot backwards in an attempt to dodge another blow from the monster while I stood there in shock, not knowing what to do.

"Cassandra, go now!" Mom's voice was firm and held the tone of someone who was not to be reckoned with. I nodded stiffly, turning and running as fast as I could, water splashing under my pounding feet.

Signing off,

WiseGirl