Hello to all of my readers, I would like to thank you all, but special thanks to my one follower, DragonSlayer2187. I'm not sure if I'll be updating soon, I have to go back to school. For a girl as old as me, getting attention on my story is great, but getting a follower is even better. Thank you guys.


"Nessa, Lauren, are you ready to go?" Nessa's mum calls from the bottom of the stairs. I look around me and realise I've forgotten to bring anything with me. Oh no. I don't even have swimmers.

"If you're looking for your swimmers Lola, you left them here last time you came over, remember?" Nessa sighs, shaking her head. She chucks me a bag with a towel and my swimmers, then shoos Jack out while we get changed. Nessa changes in her room and I go into her bathroom. When we're ready to go, I take one last look around and spot my bag of gems. Maybe I'll just bring a few, just in case I need them. I must bring my spinel. It's my favourite gem, I think. Spinel looks like a ruby, except it can also sometimes look like a really rich pink sapphire. I also grab a few more, then tip the contents into the new bag that Ness made for me. It's so pretty.

"Nope. You are not bringing that with us."

"Nessa, I need my jewels." I plead.

"Come on just go. You can get your jewels later, after the beach." she says, pushing me out of the room.

I sigh. I'm not winning this fight. "You coming Jack?" He looks up at the sound of my voice and nods, putting away whatever shiny thing he'd been playing with. "You can fly, right? I saw you before." I whisper, careful not to let Nessa hear me.

"Yeah, I can." He whispers back. "And I have this staff that I use to make snow days as fun as possible." This still feels like a dream.

"That's so cool!"

"Hurry up, mum's calling us now!" Jack motions for me to go in front, so I step onto the first step, place my towel down and ride the whole way down the stairs. I can hear Jack laughing as I step onto the wood at the bottom, rubbing my knees. I have to find a way to do that without it hurting. As soon as he gets down, we join Nessa to stand at the car. "Jack, how are you going to get there? You could come in the car I guess, but don't make it cold." She hisses. Luckily her mum's too busy trying to put makeup on to notice that we're having a discussion with nothing. Are we the only people who can see him?

"Don't worry about me, I can-" I cut him off, with a look that said don't you tell her anything about it.

"He can run really fast." I say quickly.

"Ooh, so cool." She says in awe. I gently shove her through the door of the car and we wave slightly to Jack before I close the door.

"Ready to go chicks?" Nessa's mum Jillian asks, running her manicured fingernails through her dyed red bob of hair. Before she dyed it, her hair was the same chocolate brown as Nessa's.

"Lets go!" Nessa sings overenthusiastically. I agree with Ness, and the brand new car whirrs to life. "Lola, you're going to help me swim, right?" I nod slowly. Should I tell her about how I have a really bad feeling about today? I won't. I'm a certified lifesaver, which means that I can help her if she needs it. I hear a tap at my window, and I look over to see Jack, and a lot of ice crusting over the window. 'Follow us' I mouth. He gives a thumbs up and waves to Ness. She doesn't see, so I give her blue butterfly towel a slight tug, getting her attention immediately. I point to the window, and to Jack who's grinning like a maniac. Her whole face immediately lights up.

"Girlies, we're here!" Jillian cries, pressing a button that makes both doors slide open automatically. I feel my heart stop beating for a second as Jack grabs my shoulders ad pushes me slightly.

"Jack! You came!" Ness yells, running over to hug the frosty spirit.

"Nessa, who's Jack? Is he a friend of yours?" Jillian asks her daughter. "You know what? Just go have fun, I'll be back to pick you up at 3? That's okay, right? Bye ladies." With a quick hug goodbye, we run down the steps that separate us from the beach, and the crystal clear waves.

"Race you guys to the water!" I shout, taking off at a run. There's a small rip in the water. We'll just have to watch out for it. I feel the tiny waves splashing around my ankles and dive straight into the deeper water. I resurface to see Ness and Jack running head to head, until they reach the water. Jack puts his staff onto the squeaky soft sand and Nessa chucks our bags behind her onto a small sand dune. Nessa squeals as I splash her with the water.

"You want to play that way? Fine!" She yells picking up a handful of sand and throwing it at me. I dodge the sloppy throw and taunt her. She grabs Jack's arm and pulls him towards the water. "Come on Jack! come in the water!" He looks at the girl holding his arm tightly, then at me in the water.

"Okay."

"Yes! Jack, you're on my team, and Lauren's by herself. She's a lifesaver, so it's fair. Lola you're in."

"Hey, that's unfair" I laugh, swimming after Nessa and Jack. I catch Ness first, and she gives me a little push. Jack chuckles at how childish we are.

"I'm going to have to go soon, I've got to help Sandy come up with a punishment for Cory. Cory's the Halloween Spirit, and he's always annoying us and ruining North's workplace and stuff like that. Actually, Cory is about your age"

"Who's Sandy, who's North. I thought you were the only spirit." Nessa asks.

"Oh sorry, North is also your Santa Claus and Sandy is the sandman. There's Tooth, as well, who as you can guess is the tooth fairy. Then you have Pitch who is-"

A scream escapes my lips as something brushes against my leg. Something big, and it's not a fish. I check where we are. I can't see the flags clearly. Nessa can't swim properly! Again, the huge thing bumps my leg and I panic. I can't see Nessa anywhere. A shadow flickers beneath me.

"Nessa? Nessa! Where are you?" My voice changes pitch and my breathing quickens. "Nessa! Ness answer me, please Nessa. I'm terrified of sharks." I give a strangled cry and begin to sob. "Jack! Jack! Please don't leave me here! Where are you going?" I scream through my tears.

"I'm going to look for Nessa, ok? You're going to be ok. It's going to be ok. Just start to swim to shore." I stick up my hand and wave it in the way we're supposed to when we need assistance. Why haven't the lifeguards seen the shark? Is it a shark? Maybe I'm overreacting.

"Jack! Nessa! Help me." I splash around wildly. There is a shadow moving around an area right near me. Nessa! Oh god please no, please don't be under the water Ness. Without thinking, I dive under the surface, blinking twice to clear my eyes and get used to the water. I spot Nessa's sparkly pink swimsuit. It can't be that deep if I can see her, but the water is really clear today. I resurface for a second, take a huge breath and swim to the ocean floor. I grab her by the waist and swim to the surface again. My breaths come out as short gasps, and all I can think about is the shadow. It's moving steadily towards me. "Nessa! Ness, you have to wake up! You have to help me! Nessa please don't leave me here alone!" An obsidian black fin pops up out of the crystal water and I scream as loud as I possibly can. Nessa looks up and sees the shark. She begins to cry, in loud, terrified sobs.

"Lauren, please wake me up soon, please wake me up, I don't want to have another nightmare." I clutch my friend to my chest and start to swim away. I never learnt what to do if you find yourself in the water with a shark chasing you. I'll have to make it up as I go.

"Jack help!" I falter and scream in pain as something sharp ruptures my leg. My vision goes blurry through my tears but I keep swimming with my good leg. I can feel blood rushing out through a huge wound, but I'm afraid to look back for fear of what I might see. My brain feels tired and the sounds around me sound fuzzy. I'm not going to make it back. I might as well inspect my wound. I've lost too much blood. I wave frantically, but I realise that I'm next to some rocks. Sharks are never around rocks, are they? I stop swimming. "Nessa, swim back to shore. I'm slowing you down. You need to be safe, you need to be brave. Go. Tell them that there was an obsidian shark. Go!" I release her and place her feet on the soft sand. The water is shallow enough to walk the whole way in. I can't walk. I'm stuck here, until I disappear.

"I'm not leaving!"

"Walk in right now Nessa. I want you safe, and if I find out that you've done anything other than what I told you,"

"You wont be around to find out. You're dying! And it's my fault."

"Go right now. If you want me to be happy, then you'll go get help. You nearly drowned! I'm injured Ness, do what I tell you!" Without looking back Nessa begins to propel herself through the water. She stops, sniffs, then continues with more determination than before. I look down to see blood staining the water. I place my good foot on the sand and try to keep moving towards the shore. With each advance I make, I get pulled out double by a rip that sweeps from the side of the rocks, out to the ocean. I stand still and watch Nessa from afar, seeing her crawl out of the water, and I watch the lifesaver in the red and yellow tent rush over to Nessa. I begin to count all of the gems I would never see again. My 7 rubies, my little diamond I found at a park, my dozens of garnets, my beautiful pair of spinel hearts. My head bobs in and out of the water, and I feel my pulse slowing. I don't want to choke on my own blood, so with one last ounce of strength, I push myself sideways, away from the pooling blood.

"Jack, where are you?" I mouth as I fall through the water. My swimmers twinkle with the light of the afternoon sun. a pocket that I had sewn onto the inside brushed against my back, and I felt something hard under my head. A rock, and I can feel the veins of rock crystal and iron deep inside it. In our last moments, maybe we get amazing magical powers. Maybe that's why I can hear someone, no something singing a lullaby. My eyes start to close, but I keep them open long enough to see another rock open its eyes and show me its teeth. It smiles and nestles itself next to my cheek. I finally lose consciousness.