Author Note: First, shout out to Susan D, thank you so much. I successfully fix the chapter that you said was wrong and it most likely won't show again. The wrong chapter was from a different story I made that was discontinued for two months. I'm sorry to whoever saw it. I'll make sure I'm more careful with updating and check it. But since I only did it once, it's ok. Now, this chapter takes place on the beach while Claire is lost.
Claire was quiet and quick; Darci, Zoe, Aja, Mary, Elena, Daniela, and Maria didn't notice she was gone. When 20 minutes passed, they weren't worried, but they did when the sun began to come closer to the water.
"Alright, everyone, time to pack up!" Ophelia shouts, causing everyone to groan but obey.
Everyone goes to their towels and starts packing up, but something feels wrong. Darci looked up at Claire's towel, but she wasn't there. "I wonder where Claire is?" She voiced concern and a bit of worry.
And the girls have the same idea, looking at Claire's towel. "Yeah, this isn't like her to be this late," Mary replies in the same tone as Darci.
After everyone was gone, Claire still didn't show up. Darci turns to the boys and doesn't see her there either. Something in her gut told her something was wrong. She knows Claire the best and knows she wouldn't disappear like this. Darci gathers her things and runs to Claire's parents. "Ummm... Ophelia. Javier." She says softly, trembling a bit.
Jim takes notice of Darci's expression when approaching but thinks no more of it. Girl problems, probably.
They turn around and smile at their daughter's friend. "Hi, Darci!" Ophelia says sweetly as she holds Enrique, but when she notices Darci's worried expression, she becomes concerned. "Darci, what's wrong?"
"Do you know where Claire is?" Darci asks, trying not to sound scared.
Ophelia and Javier both shake their heads. "No. She's supposed to be with you and the girls. Why?" Javier answers and asks with concern.
"Because she disappears when playing with us in the water, and when you called us to pack up, she didn't show up. She's not with the boys, and I don't know where she is, and I'm worried for her." Darci sounded more worried with every word she said.
Ophelia and Javier's stomachs flip 360. They, too, start to get worried. They glance at each other and back to a now scared Darci. "It's ok, Darci, and she's here somewhere," Javier says reassuringly. "Just tell the girls to look for her, and we'll tell the boys."
Darci wants to believe them, so she nods her head to tell the girls. Ophelia and Javier go to the boys and asks if they've seen Claire calmly. They all shake their heads. Jim, Diego, and Douxie tense up. They also feel something wrong when Javier explains what Darci told them. Diego is worried because he feels something terrible happened to his favorite cousin, but he knows she is strong. Douxie is scared because he feels the same thing about his sister. Jim feels the worse because he thinks something terrible happened to his girlfriend from the expression and tone Javier gave. After more explaining and talking, everyone on the beach soon looks for Claire.
"Claire! "Claire!" People shouted either in unison or after every five seconds. No joke, everyone looks everywhere. Behind the palm trees, in the water, in the sand, under towels. They leave no stone unturned, crying Claire's name.
"Claire! Claire! Where are you?"
While everyone was looking frantically at one part of the beach, Abuela calmly walked across the water line, looking for her granddaughter. Unknown to everyone, Abuela knows where Claire is. She can feel-sense her, like when she sensed Claire's magic inside her as a baby, whenever she did something unexplainable with it, where she was or/and what she was doing. She knows Claire is out in the water and where, but she can't help or see her. She hears her granddaughter's cries and people yelling her name. All she can do is pray for her to be safe.
Soon, she hears a crash behind her. Abuela turns around to see a portal about 10 feet in the air and tons of water falling onto the sand. When the portal closes and the water stops coming, Abuela sees her granddaughter struggling to breathe and rolling to her right side. Claire coughs water and cries in pain, unable to see or get up. Abuela runs towards her and tries to help her granddaughter.
"Shhh, shhh! It's alright, Nieta." She says softly, kneeling next to help keep Claire on her side. She moans and softly sobs in pain. Abuela looks around and looks for someone to help. "She's here! Claire is right here!" She cries while holding her exhausted and unresponsive granddaughter in her arms.
Jim feels and becomes more anxious as the search continues. He wants to find Claire and make sure she's ok; he wants to know she's safe and not hurt, but the more he looks with no luck, the more he becomes fearful.
"Any luck?" Javier shouts at him, Douxie, Diego, and Toby as they walk in the water. Sadly, they all shake their heads, frowning. It's been over an hour since not seen any sign of Claire. Jim feels punched in the gut and guilty as Javier looks down and sad, but he takes a deep breath and rolls his sleeves up. "Then I'm joining you guys!" He says determinedly.
The five look for another ten minutes with no luck. Diego whistled while looking. He's been doing that the whole time. "Why do you keep doing that?" Toby asks with confusion.
Diego stops and turns to him while they walk where the water meets the sand. "When Claire and I were little, we would whistle to find each other, and it helped Claire feel comfortable, and it was our secret code." He answers calmly but looks sad.
Jim scoffs and rolls his eyes. He wants to argue with him. Tell him how stupid it was to whistle while Claire was lost on the beach or at sea, but Javier is next to him, and they're working together to find the same person, and she has been gone for too long. So, he lets it go and continues searching.
Then, Jim hears a faint voice screaming in his ear. He twitches and turns to where he heard it. He listens closer and hears Claire's voice. He looks out to the sea but can't see anything. But he still hears Claire's crying.
"Jim, are you alright?" Jim hears Javier asks with concern. He turns to Claire's Dad and nods his head. "Yeah. I just thought I heard something." Jim replies with a half-lie. Javier's daughter cries, but how can he explain his heightened senses near Diego? He wanted to find Claire fast and hold her tightly, not thinking of the inevitable.
Jim runs ahead and looks out to the sea. "Where are you, Claire Nuñez?" He mumbles with worry.
Fifteen minutes later, they hear a crash, and someone yelling Claire is here. Jim is one of the first to react and runs to the sound. "Claire!" He shouts, running faster as he sees his girlfriend held in Abuela's arms. Barbara and Ophelia get to them first to help Claire.
"She's still breathing," Abuela tells Barbara as she hands Claire to the professional. Claire keeps coughing up water while fading in and out of consciousness. When she's done, Barbara rolls Claire on her back and checks her. Her pulse is weak; she can't see and is unresponsive when people start swarming around and making a commotion, causing Claire to start to hyperventilate and whimper in pain.
"Stay back and shush! Claire needs some space and peace!" Barbara hisses at everyone, making them back up except for Jim, Javier, and Diego. "Ophelia, please hold Claire's head up." She orders. Ophelia hands Enrique to Javier, kneeling under her daughter's head. Claire opens her eyes briefly and looks disoriented. "Claire, please take deep breaths for me. You're going to be ok. Just breathe." She asks seriously but softly.
Claire doesn't obey and keeps hyperventilating. Ophelia sees the fear and panic in her daughter's eyes. "Shhh, relax, Claire. You're going to be alright." She says softly, wanting her to calm down.
This makes Claire stop and look up at her mom. "Mamá..."
"Shhh! Rest." Ophelia shushes and strokes her daughter's hair out of the way. Claire follows orders and tries to breathe normally while falling asleep.
Author Note: This is just a little chapter of what happened when Claire got lost and when she was found. It might not be important, but pay attention at one of the characters and how they find Claire. Can you guess who it is and how they did it? I will get the next chapter done as soon as possible. Please review.