Not too long afterwards, Flug, 505, Demencia, and Melanie made it to the beach. It was getting closer to evening, but the sun was still bright in the sky for all the beachgoers on the surprisingly clean, glistening sand.
"Grace a Dieu!" Melanie exclaimed. "I thought I'd never see the beach again! Come on, 505!"
Melanie then dashed onto the beach ahead of everyone else. 505 handed the leash to Flug and ran after her. Flug walked down behind them with Demencia on her leash.
Once Melanie set down the basket, 505 set down three beach towels for the three of them to sit on since Demencia would be running around the beach anyways. He then set out three water bottles for them to drink from.
When 505 was done with that, Melanie set down her knapsack, took off her shirt and shorts, and started spraying herself down with the sunscreen. Before she had even finished spraying everything she could reach, 505 took the sunscreen and finished spraying Melanie down himself.
"Thanks, 505," Melanie said. "But I think you need to worry more about spraying down your dad…"
"I'm fine," Flug yelled from his towel on the left as he wiped sunscreen on his bare arms and neck. "You two can go ahead and have fun."
"What about Demencia?" Melanie asked.
Demencia just then dashed past them like a bat out of Hell, for no reason that anyone could discern.
"It's not worth the effort," Flug said. "Believe me. I've tried. You two focus on enjoying yourselves. Okay?"
For a rare moment, Flug set his coat down under him and let himself relax some, sitting on his towel in the sand. He multitasked, vigilantly watching Melanie to make sure no escape attempts would come Demencia to make sure that she didn't try to eat any of the other beachgoers.
Meanwhile, Melanie dug took off her sandals allowing her toes to sink into the sand, put on her sunglasses, and took in the sight of the horizon.
Melanie wondered what her parents and her sisters were up to and wished she could see. Her face fell and she shed a few tears.
Noticing her sadness, 505 walked up beside her and wrapped a hand around her shoulder.
Not knowing how to respond, Flug turned his attention to Demencia who required his attention since she was harassing an elderly couple. He immediately sprung to his feet to intervene.
Melanie walked over to where the water was lapping against the shore, let the water touch her feet, and let herself feel miserable.
"Why did the Lord let me get sent here, 505?" Melanie asked sadly, holding her arms tightly. "I hate this place. I was so stupid. I can't fight off Black Hat by myself. I can't even face Demencia. How will I ever get out of here? I just want to go home."
505 felt sad for a moment as he wondered what to say. Then he had an idea. He picked up a stick and walked over to Melanie, grunting to get her attention.
Melanie looked over to see 505 drawing pictures in the sand, so she walked over to get a closer look.
Melanie looked closely and saw a doodle of the villains being happy with Melanie. Then she saw one of her outside the gates of the manor with 505.
"Oh, I get it," Melanie said, perking up from her gloom. "Earn their favor, gain some freedom, and then come up with a plan."
505 shook his head vigorously and gestured to the happy villains and her outside the manor again.
Melanie gave out a sigh that slowly turned into a smile as she said, "505, I don't actually want to get along with them. I just need them to think I do. Oh, 505, you've given me an amazing idea! I just have to do well enough in my studies that they trust me. Then, when I get the chance, I'll run away back to my Nunja sisters."
Knowing that he had given her more mischievous ideas, 505 sighed. But upon seeing Melanie smile, 505 smiled, too.
"You'll help me, right?" Melanie asked excitedly. "I know you couldn't do anything with your dad watching before, but you could help me this time. I could get you out of here, too. I could help you find people who truly love you as you are and don't see you as a failure or as a disappointment. Doesn't that sound much better than here?"
505 visibly hesitated and looked away.
"505, are you okay?" Melanie asked.
505 picked up his stick and started doodling again. Melanie watched as 505 made a drawing of Flug hugging him and she understood.
"That's right," Melanie said. "No wonder you don't want to leave. Flug is your dad. I don't know how I keep forgetting that."
Melanie looked in the distance where Flug had just managed to pull Demencia away from the elderly couple she was harassing and was yelling at her to go do something else.
After watching for a moment, Melanie said thoughtfully, "You know, at first, I thought that Flug was nothing more than an evil, sadistic flunky. At least, that's what I got from all the videos. But now, I'm not sure what to think. Yeah, his lecture was boring, he knocked me out against my will, he drugged me into spilling the beans on Lucy, he implanted a chip in me, he threatened to dissect me, he bullied me with Black Hat, and he's a stickler for the rules. But on the other hand, in a weird way, Flug seems to care about me and my well-being. He warned me about Black Hat to make me behave. He tore down Demencia's mean drawings and let us come out here to help me feel better. He even saved my life. There's some good in Flug, just a little bit. So, I don't hate him completely. But on the other hand, Flug has rejected every inclination to be good and still follows Black Hat's directive to abuse me into being evil, so I'm not that fond of the guy either. It's so confusing. I guess I can love him where he is as a fellow creation of God. I also feel sorry for him and wish I could help him in a way, but there's no way I could ever trust him or expect him to be on my side. It's such a strange feeling. You know what I'm saying?"
505 looked at Melanie thoughtfully and drew some more pictures in the sand. She watched as he drew pictures of Demencia and Black Hat being cruel to him while Flug was kind to him.
"So, Flug has always been your only friend here, just like you are mine," Melanie said thoughtfully. "I wish there was a way to appeal to that side somehow."
Sunlight reflecting off the waves caught Melanie's eye and she instantly turned her attention to the beautiful waves beckoning her with their coolness on that hot summer day. She could not resist sticking one foot into the water and then another.
The feeling of cool water on her feet made Melanie smile. She buried her toes in the wet sand to soak up that feeling even more.
"Hey, 505?" Melanie asked. "Do you want to wade in with me?"
505 looked over at Melanie confused for a moment about her sudden whiplash in mood before he smiled and nodded his head.
Melanie stepped further into the waves, enjoying the feeling of the cool water on her legs.
"Hey!" Flug yelled suddenly from the shore with Demencia sulking in the sand behind him. "Don't go out too deep! Do you know how to swim?!"
"BS!" Melanie protested. "You just don't want me to damage your stupid tracker again!"
"Your tracker is waterproof!" Flug yelled while Demencia spotted something down the beach that made her wicked smile gleam and took her chance to run for it. "I'm just making sure you don't drown!"
"Calm your tits!" Melanie retorted. "I can swim okay. I'm just not great at it."
"Then no going too far from shore!" Flug yelled annoyedly before turning to 505. "505, make sure she doesn't get past where she can't stand!"
"Dios Mio," Melanie said with a facepalm as she and 505 turned around and headed into deeper waters. "You're worse than my dad!"
Flug sighed and returned to his spot on the beach towel to try to make himself relax some more while wondering why Melanie never seemed to appreciate his concern. All he did was try to look out for her, but she never appreciated that or the precariousness of her position.
Flug lied down on the beach towel and shut his eyes to try to relax. He let his thoughts wonder and thought about Melanie.
Hopefully, this little outing would calm Melanie down into being more compliant and persuade her to listen to the doctor without having to use her modified tracker. Otherwise, Flug would have to rely on the tracker and Black Hat would push…crueler…methods of behavior modification, if not complete brainwashing. It would be unfortunate to have to crush a spirit like Melanie's. But oh, well. If it was necessary, it was necessary.
Unfortunately, that was the moment he realized Demencia was missing.
"Oh, my God," Flug whispered in terror as he jumped to his feet and looked around from one side of the beach to the other.
That was when Flug spotted Demencia about 50 feet away harassing a pregnant woman and her husband. She wanted to touch the woman's belly and her husband was trying to hold her back with a beach umbrella.
Flug sighed and dashed down the beach after Demencia. There was never any rest for the weary.