Chapter Nine

The front door handle to the boathouse quietly twisted. Coming out of the darkness of the private harbor, Georgina slowly and painfully walked inside, tracking in mud and water. Her clothes were saturated and stuck to her body like a second skin as her wet hair hung limply around her face. She leaned heavily on the handle as she closed the door. Leaning on the white wood, she tried to convince her aching, exhausted body to move.

Even lifting her arm to switch the light on seemed like hard work. But she did it anyway. The light blinked on and she squinted from the brightness. Everything seemed like too much at that moment. The light was too bright, her muscles were tight and she was shivering uncontrollably.

Gripping heavily on the walls either side of her, she made her way into the kitchen and slowly lowered herself onto one of the stools. She folded her arms on the counter in front of her and rested her head. She felt cold but her forehead was hot. It was like she was getting the flu, except she hadn't been sick a day in her life.

Sometimes, after getting rid of the excess power, she would feel drained and tired. But this time was different. After practically running out of the bar and to her car, she drove out of town. The convulsions started quickly, before she could even get to an open space. Afraid that she would end up crashing the car, she pulled over. The car's tires skidded on the cliffs hard shoulder as the car jolted to a stop.

Struggling to open the door with her shaking hands, she got out. Horns blared from passing speeding cars. Keeping her feet moving she rushed around the car, casting long shadows from her headlights onto the dirt road shoulder. She stumbled a few times but she made it to a small well-used footpath that lead to a small beach.

The incline was steep. Taking a shuddering breath she tried to see the rough path through the darkness. The shiver ran up her back. She felt her eyes shift and the power vein itself down her arms. It was coming. She was running out of time. The car headlights behind her flickered. Without thinking, she plunged into the darkness.

Her boots skidded and shifted on the footpath. Trying to grip the plants and roots near the path to control her speed she struggled to keep herself upright. Looking ahead she could see the beach all the way at the bottom. A few fires were lit and she could hear music in the distance. Skidding to a stop, she panicked. Her plan was to go to an isolated place, but she can't go near people. She had no control on how her power was going to explode.

After roughly pushing up her sleeves, she could see in the moon light the black veins starting to make their way down her elbow. Looking around, she noticed another trail. It led off to the left, towards the low cliffs. Heading that way, she forgot about the slope and started running down the hill. Using her arms to keep herself upright, she focused on the approaching cliff top.

Meters from the gap, she felt something catch her foot. She fell hard. Lifting her arms to protect her head, she landed on her shoulder. Pain exploded from the joint. But she didn't stop there. She was still on a slope and she had built momentum. Keeping her head covered, she rolled down the rest of the slope like a ragdoll. With a hard thump, she cleared the footpath and landed on the cliff top clearing.

Clutching her bruised shoulder, she struggled to stand. Pain started to envelope her body, but it wasn't from the fall. Her power was moments away from release and it was painful beyond measure. Her body began to shake so much that she could barely stand. Clamping her mouth close from the pain, she walked towards the cliff edge.

Looking down, she saw it wasn't far to the water. The sea would help keep her power localized. Taking a big breath, she pushed her convulsing body and jumped. Before she even hit the rough choppy water, she felt the power release. Pain unlike any she had felt previous took over her whole body. As the sea swallowed the falling Georgina, it silenced the rest of her screams.

Jackie looked past the campfire and sighed silently to herself. She caught the eyes of her best friend, Denise, who was sat intertwined with her new boyfriend. Her lips mouth silently as she mouthed, Are you okay? Jackie smiled and nodded. Reassured, Denise went back to making out with her boyfriend.

The smile slid from Jackie's face. As she looked around the campfire, she looked at all the couples. They were Denise's new friends. They came as a package with her new boyfriend. Her fingers played with the full can of soda that some guy gave her who barely glanced at her as he paid more attention to the slender chick next in line.

Standing up, she shook the sand from her jeans and stood around for a few moments. Looking at her friend, giggling with her boyfriend, she felt a little hurt that she hadn't really noticed she was leaving. Walking away from warm fire, she carried her trainers and headed towards the footpath.

"Hey, are you okay?"

She had been averting her eyes from the rest of the groups of people around the numerous fires, she didn't want to see them having fun while she felt like a rejected loser. But she looked at the guy who spoke to her. He was sat around with a group of people who she wouldn't usually be seen with. They looked familiar, like she seen them around the high school. But she had never spoke to them. They had band tees that she didn't know or couldn't read, with ripped jeans or denim skirts and patterned leggings.

A few members of the group looked up at her and smiled kindly. The guy who spoke that short dark hair with soft grey eyes that watched her.

"I'm fine," Jackie replied politely but looked away.

"You're more than welcome to join us," he added, then nodded to his friends, "We don't bite."

Jackie opened her mouth to decline, but then she looked back to her best friends fire. She could see her laughing with her new friends. Jackie was always with Denise, but maybe it was time to meet new people, just like Denise had. With a smile she was about to sit down.

A scream broke through the darkness near the cliffs. It was followed by a resonating boom that shook the ground beneath her feet. The music and chatter on the beach instantly fell silent.

"What the hell was that?"

"Did you feel that?"

The same hushed questions were asked by everyone on the beach.

"Was that a scream?" Heath, the new guy, asked Jackie.

"It sounded like it came from the cliffs," she answered. They were both stood up, staring into the darkness.

"I think we should check it out. Make sure no one is hurt," he suggested. Jackie nodded and began to walk with him towards the cliffs.

They past people that were talking animatedly on the phone or rushing up the footpath to the road. Jackie wasn't sure, but she was certain she saw Denise run up the path with her friends. As they rounded the beach, they came up to the cliff face that overlooked the beach, or should they say, did.

"It looks like the earthquake broke the cliff away," Heath said softly as he looked up in amazement at the broken cliff wall. They could see the boulders poking up from the breaking waves.

"Oh, I hope there wasn't anyone on it at the time," Jackie replied with a hand over her mouth.

Heath looked over at the worried Jackie and put his hand over her shoulder. As they looked at the ruined cliff, they didn't see a dark figure break free from the water. She was a little way away from the beach as she struggled to breath. Spluttering the saltwater out of her nose and mouth, it burned her throat as she focused her eyes on the fires burning on the dark beach.

She slowly made her way to the now empty beach. She looked over to the cliff and the two dark figures. When her power released it hit the cliffs and broke the already eroded rock. She was lucky she was far enough to not get hit. The cold night air chilled her soaked clothes. Looking up at the hill, she could just make out her car's headlights. With a sigh, she began the usual trudge back to her car.

Georgina came back to the present. Her head was still on her arms, when she heard a shrill ringing coming from the kitchen wall. Remembering where she was she snapped her eyes open. A fast as she could with her aching body, she answered the phone.

"Hello," Georgina asked quietly.

"Georgina? It's Eleanor. I hope I didn't wake you?" Eleanor asked through the receiver.

"No. It's okay. Any news?"

"Yes," Eleanor answered, a smile in her voice. "We think we have something. When can you get here?"

Georgina looked down at her wet clothes. It would take about 20 minutes to get to Eleanor's house and about another 45 for a shower and change. Despite the exhaustion running through her body, she felt a new surge of energy.

"I'll be there in 25 minutes."

Thanks everyone for the favourites and reviews. It means a lot as this is my first fanfiction attempt. Sorry for the delay of this chapter, as I just got back from Barcelona. I hope you enjoy. There's plenty more to follow.