Chapter 8:

Alexander's Point of View:

The house next door was lively in this early hour of the morn and I knew why. Yesterday, Jack Knighton had phoned the second pastor of Eastside Christian, the church Reverend Knighton worked at, and told him about getting away this weekend with Lara. Without further explanation needed, the back-up pastor agreed to take his place at the pulpit this Sunday.

Since I was already up, I watched them pack for the last minute trip to Hammocks Beach. It seemed a bit odd to me that the pair was traveling so far from home to go camping when Beaufort, North Carolina was a coastal town to begin with and thus surrounded by camping areas and state parks. No matter, the little island was only an hour away and I had every intention of following Miss Lara Jade until this mysterious matter of my vanishing thirst was resolved. They left at around seven o'clock, but I lingered around my home a while longer. No need for them to be conscious of the fact that I was stalking them. During my time of waiting, I paced around my house like a caged animal and planned how I would go about watching on the Knighton family. Most certainly, I would watch from a distance, under the cover of whatever foliage I would find on the island, which probably wouldn't be much. During the hours when the moon was high and they asleep, I'd contemplate how she had the ability to bury my murderous half when I never could.

Though I had not been to a worship center since I turned, I felt it had nothing to do with Lara's beliefs. No, the reason must be somehow tied to her likeliness to Amelie…

Even as I left an hour later, I still pondered these things… I would figure out this mystery, say my goodbyes, and end this eternal hell that was my existence.

Lara Jade's Point of View:

I couldn't breathe.

I couldn't think.

I didn't know which way was up and which was down.

The saltwater burned my eyes when I tried to see what had pulled me under. Just because I couldn't see didn't mean I couldn't feel… and what I felt did not make sense. What pulled me under was not a simple undercurrent like my mother had warned me about but a hand! A human hand wrapped around my ankle and dragged me down, and if I could not find my way back to the surface in the next ten seconds I was as good as dead. Kicking at the vice did no good and it used up the energy I needed to get back to the surface. Just as my lungs started to fill with water, I felt the iron grip release me. My attempt at clawing to the surface was pitiful at best. My energy was sapping and I was starting to fall into a deep slumber.

Suddenly, I felt my body propel to the surface by some external force, though by what exactly I couldn't be sure. My mind was past deciphering things. All I wanted was sleep…

That was my last thought before I slipped into oblivion.