Nightmare II - Tia
The sun was shining brightly in the noon sky, the sand of the beach was pleasantly warm, and the blue waves of the ocean were relentless; all in all, it was a perfect July day, made more perfect only by the group of embarrassed men who refused to even look at her after she'd put them all in their place.
Tia Halibel smirked to herself as she propped her board up on it's tail and looked out at the rolling sea, drinking in the sweet, sweet feeling of victory.
Surfing, they'd said, was a man's sport. Only a man could tame the waves successfully. Only a man had the keen sense of balance to stay upright in the rough waters, and only a man had the strength to swim out into the ocean against the lesser waves to catch that one perfect wave…
They were eating their words now, oh yes indeed.
Halibel wasn't just the best female surfer on the west coast; she was the best on the west coast period, gender be damned. Twenty-five, and she'd spent the last three years going up and down the coast proving herself against the best she could find, all of whom had been men, and all of whom had mocked her at first.
The mocking never lasted long, though.
She ran a hand through her wet, short blonde hair and grinned wider as she watched one of the men lose his balance and fall off his board into the surf.
Her goal was recognition, pure and simple; she wanted the surfing community of California to acknowledge that she was one of the all-time greats, a legend in her own right. She wanted them to admit that her skill was unmatched by any male, that absolutely no man and no one was her equal.
Except her plans weren't exactly working out that well…
She'd thought the ongoing Women's Liberation Movement across the county, with women demanding equal pay and respect from men, would help her cause along, perhaps citing her as an example of how women were just as talented, but so far nothing had come of it; other than a couple of recent surf films, the sport was widely disregarded by the rest of the population and she remained an unknown star, even in the eyes of the Liberation Movement leaders.
Maybe it was time to go elsewhere and conquer new waves; Hawaii had a very active surfing community, and Australia's was growing pretty rapidly, too. It might not be a bad idea to dip into some of daddy's money and take a little trip to one or the other for a couple of weeks and show up the locals. Hell, if she managed to show up everyone in Hawaii on top of what she'd already accomplished in California, surely that would get her the recognition she deserved.
Yes, that was it; she'd go tame the Hawaiian currents and make the locals look like a bunch of incompetent beginners, and then people would notice her.
And if that failed, Australia had better watch out.
Tia hefted the blue and yellow board under her arm and strode out towards the water again, savoring the feel of wet sand between her toes as she went, even though the others were all beginning to pack up.
"Waves are getting too rough…" someone told her. "Hard to stand up, and the rip currents are absolutely brutal right now. I think we should all just pack it up and go home for today."
"Maybe it's too rough and brutal for you, but nothing's too much for me," she boasted, chin held high. Just like a male to hide behind excuses like rip currents and rough waves instead of admitting to his own shortcomings…
Well, she'd show him.
She'd show all of them.
Ignoring the protests of the others, she took her board and headed into the surf, laying on top of the seven-foot slab of wood and fiberglass and paddling out to sea against the waves as she waited for the big one, the perfect wave.
She did note, however, that it was a lot easier to get out away from the shore than usual in-between waves, signifying that maybe, just maybe, the complaint about the rip current was valid after all.
No matter; it was nothing she couldn't handle.
She saw the next wave coming, a decently-sized one, and she grinned and she prepared herself, letting it lift the board into the air slightly and begin to carry her towards shore before getting to her feet and taking control.
It was a bigger wave than she'd expected, one of the biggest she'd ever rode, and rougher, too…but that wasn't going to stop her. No, it was only going to help her drive the point home that she was the queen of the waves. She felt a surge of pride in herself when she saw the others on the beach, the men in particular, looking at her mastery of the waves in awe, some shaking their heads in disbelief.
Believe it, boys; I'm better than you'll ever be!
No time to taunt them or show-off, though; a wave like this could easily throw her from the board if she let her attention waiver too much.
The wave began to grow higher and Tia dropped down to ride through the tube forming as the white water began to crest overhead. She reached out to touch the rolling wall of water with her hand, trailing her fingers along as she rode through the tube.
Big wave, big tube; she couldn't recall having ever been inside a tube so large, and given the size, staying in it too long wouldn't be a good idea… If she was too slow exiting, the water rolling overhead would come crashing down on top of her with dangerous force.
She couldn't see the shore anymore for the tube around her and that was a frightening experience; a wall of water like this could potentially kill a man if it collapsed on top of them.
…or a woman, she thought sourly.
Halibel wanted her recognition, but she didn't want it posthumously.
The tube began to grow more and more unstable and her heart nearly jumped out of her chest a couple of times from fright. This was stupid, so very stupid… Damn her pride, damn it all! If she made it out of this alive, she swore to any god that would listen that she'd choose her waves more carefully next time. Her pride wasn't worth her life, damn it!
At least one deity answered her silent prayers and took pity on her as a break opened in the wall of water, allowing her to exit mere seconds before the entire large wave came crashing down mercilessly.
But she was safe; she'd survived the massive wave that she now realized to have been, by far, the biggest she'd ever seen.
The biggest she'd ever seen…and she had mastered it. She coasted into the shore to the sound of cheers from over a dozen spectators and she savored the sight of every male surfer on the beach looking down at their feet in shame.
Eat it, boys! she thought smugly.
"You're crazy…" said one of the males finally, shaking his head. "You're lucky you weren't killed out there."
Bad choice of words.
"Luck?" she snarled, "That wasn't luck; that was skill! Just admit it!"
"Alright, alright, you're skilled, but you also got lucky; in another second, that wave would have came down and crushed you. Let's just call it and day and—"
"No!" she declared boldly, "I will not call it a day, not yet! One more time and I'll prove that it's all skill!"
The others began to plead with her, trying to make her see reason, her competition and friends alike, but she refused to hear them out. She would not, could not, rest until they acknowledged that she was just that damn good.
Her earlier promise to any and all gods that might exist forgotten, she took her board and headed out into the pounding surf once more.
If I did it once, I can do it again!
She didn't need luck; only amateurs needed luck and she'd make them all see that greatness like hers needed nothing!
Just one more good wave… What harm could there be?
She could feel it coming before she saw it and she felt something else mixed in with her usual anticipation: fear.
As the wave grew and she climbed up on her board, she tried to force the fear deep down and out of the way before it could distract her. After all, there was nothing to be afraid of, especially since she'd already conquered the mother of all waves. She'd been swimming and playing in the ocean since she was a knee-high child and there was absolutely nothing to be afraid of.
And yet, the fear refused to subside.
The wave kept growing higher and higher, dwarfing even the monster she'd rode earlier and giving her second thoughts for a brief moment.
Only for a moment, though; the foaming white water began to crest and roll, forming a near-perfect tube that beckoned to her, seemed to call her name…
The terror in her gut screamed at her not to do it, not to go in, to simply break away and coast back to the shore, but she refused to yield to mindless fear and instead steered her board into the all-too-inviting tube.
Nothing to fear, no cause for concern; it was a perfect tube, a professional's dream. She allowed herself a tight grin as she began to work her way through the length of the massive tube of water, pressing her luck and banking up along the walls slightly.
Halibel had everything perfectly under control; this wave was hers now and it only reaffirmed that she was the undisputed queen of surfing.
And then the seemingly-perfect tube began to destabilize abruptly; the wave had grown too large, too massive to maintain the tube and it began to break and collapse inward, and this time there were no gaps were forming in the walls of water to allow for escape.
The water beneath the board became more chaotic and her control began to falter.
Gotta keep steady…just a little further and I'll find an exit…I can do this!
The board back under her control after a brief moment of resistance, she continued down the length of the ever-narrowing tube, looking for a gap as the walls behind her began to collapse violently.
Just a little further! I can make it, I know I can—
The massive wall of water came down on top of her with amazing force, knocking Tia from her feet and into the water and she managed to get one last gulp of air before the strength of the wave and the ocean current forced her beneath the violently-churning waters.
She quickly found herself caught up in the riptide as it began to flow back out into the sea and she struggled against it with all her might, swimming towards the surface and the safety of the shore, but the deadly current was quickly wearing her out. Her muscles began to ache from the buildup of lactic acid and her body screamed for a fresh supply of oxygen, but she was still several feet below the surface and the distance was only growing larger as the current continued to pull at her.
No one seemed willing to answer her prayers this time as she slipped further and further down, feeling the pressure of the ocean squeezing her torso tightly and she struggled to hold in her breath, stale as it was.
The pressure combined with her own fatigue was too much to take and finally she exhaled the last bit of her air supply, releasing the precious oxygen and watching it bubble to the surface without her. Instinctually, she tried to inhale for more air, but being more than twelve feet under the surface made that an impossibility as seawater flooded into her lungs, choking her.
Someone help me! Anyone!
The current finally released her, but it was too late; her lungs were filled with water and her body was far too exhausted and oxygen-deprived to make the journey to the surface, which was now a good twenty or more feet up. She could see large, dark shapes swimming overheard and she knew the ocean's top predators could smell her despair and fear as she continued to sink into the abyss.
Tia opened her mouth to try and scream for help as the world around her went black…
Halibel's eyes snapped open with a sudden surge of renewed energy and she found herself free of the ocean's grasp, heroically summoning the strength to swim towards the shimmering light that was the surface. She burst above the waves, coughing up seawater and gasping for air.
Never before had the salty air felt so good, smelled so sweet…
Someone up there must like me… she thought to herself, feeling extremely thankful and religious at that moment. This time when she swore that she'd never again be so reckless, she meant it; there was nothing like a brush with Death himself to force one's eyes open.
She was a lot further out from the shore than she had expected, but that didn't matter; the deadly current had lost much of its power and she began to swim towards the beach as fast as possible. Tia couldn't argue this time if anyone called it luck; by all rights and means, she should be dead and she knew it. Hell, not only would she freely acknowledge it as luck, she'd also wax religious on it and call it a legitimate miracle.
And she definitely intended to start going to church more often now.
As she neared the shore, she noticed the others were still calling out her name, looking right past her as if she didn't exist. A few were wading around in water knee-deep and shouting for her, ignoring her as she lurched ashore and collapsed in the sand from sheer exhaustion.
Halibel scowled as they continued to pretend she didn't exist; while this little joke was in bad taste, she supposed that on some level she did deserve it for her earlier attitude.
"Alright, guys; that's enough screwing around…" she said, slowly pushing herself to her feet. "I'm here, I'm fine, and yes, I was very lucky that time."
No response.
"Come on, this isn't funny!" she insisted, "Let's pack up and go! I've had enough of the beach today."
Still nothing.
Irritated, she reached out and swatted at the nearest person, her best friend and almost-sister, Kimmy.
Her hand passed right through Kimmy's shoulder, almost as if…
Tia paled as she looked down at her hand. No…no, it couldn't be! She got free, she made it to the surface, she swam to shore…she was alive, damn it, she had to be! She was unconscious on the beach, that's all it was; she had made it to shore and passed out from exhaustion and this was all nothing more than a ridiculous nightmare!
A nightmare that she couldn't wake up from.
She looked down and noticed the broken chain hanging from her chest for the first time, leading up to her heart. She tugged on it fiercely but it stubbornly refused to budge from its spot anchored to her heart.
"What the hell is this?" she murmured, confused. Yes, this had to be a bad dream; there was no possible way any of this nonsense could be real.
She looked around here, calling for help from the others as she continued to pull on the chain…and still no one heard her. Instead, others began to comb the shoreline still looking for her as Kimmy collapsed into the sand crying and someone else took a jeep to go notify the police.
"This isn't happening!" Tia screamed in denial, "I'm not dead! This isn't real!"
The only answer to her cries was an unearthly howl coming from further inland, a monstrous cry that made her tremble in fear. She'd never heard such a noise before in her entire life…and the others on the beach didn't seem to notice it at all.
Maybe it can only be heard by people like me…by the dead, she wondered, and that brought on another concern; if such a beast could only be heard by the dead, maybe it could also interact with them.
Halibel suddenly felt like prey, a mouse being stalked by a cat.
She turned and looked out at the ocean as the creature howled again, closer this time. She'd struggled so hard to make it to shore, did she really want to go out there again?
Then again, if she was dead, it wasn't like she could drown and maybe that thing couldn't swim. Maybe she could escape it and figure out what to do next; after all, surely all ghosts had somewhere to go instead of roaming the earth aimlessly.
Another roar reverberated through the air, even closer this time, and Halibel made her choice, diving into the blue waters and swimming for the open ocean as hard as she could.
Tia swam well into the night before finally stopping, still managing to feel exhausted despite her…condition. Her strength had faded long ago and she had made it this far by pure will alone, but even will had its limitations and she had to stop and rest for a moment. The moonlight danced upon the open water, creating a haunting and lonely scene; she was many, many miles from land, so far out that she couldn't see the shoreline anymore and no longer knew which direction was which. Only a few fins slicing through the water indicated she had any company out here whatsoever.
She had nothing to fear from the sharks, not now; they could apparently sense her somehow, but they couldn't harm her. She reached out a hand to touch one as it swam by and again her hand passed right through it, just as it has through Kimmy's shoulder. A faint smiled graced her lips and Tia found herself feeling grateful for their presence, as if they were friendly dogs escorting a lost traveler.
And then, the thing roared from somewhere behind her again.
It had followed her out to sea, had been following her all day. It was the sole reason she'd swam as far as she had, trying to escape it, but whatever the demon at her heels was, it was relentless in its pursuit and she could no longer afford to idly float and rest.
She began to swim once more, struggling to remain calm despite the fear brewing in her belly; she had noticed that the chain attached to her chest was actually eating itself, growing shorter and shorter as it encroached upon her heart and the more she panicked, the more it ate. She didn't know what would happen when the chain devoured itself entirely, nor did she particularly want to; it couldn't be anything good, that much was for sure.
But then again, she figured it was probably preferable to waiting around for that monster to catch her.
The fins in the water continued to follow her as she swam, staying by her side and keeping her company throughout the long night and well into the following day. Occasionally one would break off and disappear, but a new one always took its place and she was never alone.
Behind her, another roar signaled that the beast was growing ever closer.
No matter how far or how fast she swam, it wasn't enough; it just kept coming and coming, its dark cry promising a final, true death, and Tia's fear grew exponentially.
And with it, the chain began to devour itself greedily, encroaching upon her heart with ravenous speed.
Halibel screamed and clutched at her chest as the pain became overwhelming and it literally felt like something was eating her heart bite by bite. She thrashed about wildly in the water as her ghostly heart was destroyed and as if the pain wasn't bad enough, she suddenly felt as if she were choking despite her head still being above water. She vomited and saw some sort of thick, white goop like heavy industrial paint came out…and then it engulfed her head, encasing it entirely.
Once again she fell beneath the waves, struggling to pull off the rapidly-hardening material, but it was of no use.
When she finally broke the surface of the water again, she feltdifferent. She looked down at her hands, hands that were now clawed, and realized that she felt different because she was different.
The monster roared again and she knew it to be very, very close.
But the fear she'd had of it was gone, replaced instead with a maddening hunger unlike anything she'd ever known before. A desire to eat that overwhelmed all of her other senses and instincts filled her very being, and as the beast roared again, a terrible, toothy grin spread across Tia's now-bonelike face.
It was time for the hunter to become the hunted.
Halibel awoke with a start, sitting up in her large bed and wiping the cold sweat from her flushed face. That damned nightmare again… She'd had it many times before, though not since she'd left Hueco Mundo, and she scowled as she thought about it.
Remnants of a past life that no longer held any significance, nothing more.
It was hot and stuffy and she got up from her bed and lifted her bedroom window open, welcoming the cooler night air as it flooded into the room.
Her stomach growled loudly and Halibel cursed as she put a hand over it; she always woke from that stupid nightmare feeling hungry and it never failed to irritate her.
Deciding to give in to the hunger and go to the kitchen and fix a quick bite to eat, she opened her bedroom door and stepped into the living room, only to find that her idiot roommate was already in the kitchen, sitting at the small built-in bar and eating an overstuffed sandwich. The moonlight filtering in through the large sliding glass doors that led out to the balcony illuminated the living room and part of the kitchen in a soft, white glow, and the light reflecting off Tyn's green eyes gave them a very predatory gleam.
Tyn didn't say anything to her and she didn't acknowledge him as she made her way to the kitchen and began to peruse the contents of the refrigerator. She could feel his eyes on her back and for a moment she remembered the dream and the feeling of being hunted…
He wasn't hunting her, she knew that as she pulled out her chosen food items and sat them on the bar and began to build herself a sandwich; Tyn was probably still upset over the argument they'd had earlier in the day about the shopping, laundry, and who had more rights to the television. She glared at him hatefully for good measure as she put the lunch meat back in the fridge before sitting down across from him to eat, ignoring the warning growl rumbling deep in the back of his throat.
The other arrancar continued to watch her with a dark look as he slowly ate his sandwich and Tia finally recognized that the naked hostility shining in his eyes was from something other than their earlier fight, something that was every bit as intensely personal as the nightmare she had just suffered. For a moment, she wondered if perhaps he, too, was haunted by nightmare visions of his past that he couldn't outrun…
She discarded the idea almost immediately; after all, what nightmares could he possibly have that would even begin to compare to hers?
