Saltwater Ghosts
She breathed in the salty air and pulled off the band that held her hair in a ponytail. The sky, a deep foreboding grey; the sea, dark and ominous, with waves growing choppy - she inched into the water. The wind howled, whipping her ebony-black hair in horror. Deadpan, she paused, gazing at the horizon where the sky and sea collapsed.
“Rethinking your decision again?” a voice shrieked behind her. She turned immediately to see a man dressed like a pirate; probably in his mid-thirties, muscular, his hair draped around his neck, his skin ashen and yellowish teeth gleaming.
“Oh, I hate that grin. Could you please move away from me?” she cringed, turning away from him and walking further into the water.
“You could use a hand, you know,” he said, his voice low and menacing. She turned around again and he was just a handspan away.
“Why are you following me?” she asked, a high wave almost knocking them both down. She staggered and moved to the side, away from him, but he followed closely, not letting her out of the rising water. Lightning flashed across the sky, and the tides kept increasing. In a few hours, it would be pitch black, and she would have to depend on her instincts to escape the psycho behind her.
“Who are you, and what do you want from me?” she asked, petrified.
He roared with laughter and then stopped abruptly. “You frequent this place to drown out the life in you, but you never do it. Each time, you come, hesitate, and walk away. Fortunately, you came at the perfect time today. Perfect because the sea is giving you the dramatic effect you need to end it all, and I’m also in the mood to help you finish your misery. Katie!”
“Katie? How do you know my name?”
“Oh, please. Your constant visits to this place with that long face were reason enough to stalk you,” he hissed.
By now, the sea was pitch-dark, the swells growing larger. The wind picked up again, whipping the waves into a frenzy of spray and foam. She glanced up at the sky, her chest heaving.
“Let me go,” she snapped.
“You wanna go be with your twin, right? You let her die, didn’t you? You couldn’t save her while she was drowning all because you felt she deserved to die. She was the better twin. The most beautiful. She got the praise. And you? The odd one. Now you feel sorry for letting her hand go? Stop lying to yourself. If you really felt sorry, if you really wanted to be with her to apologize, you would’ve drowned yourself the first day you came back here after watching her die.”
Hot tears streamed down Katie’s cheeks as she moved back and forth, trying to get away from him. He was relentless. He wasn’t going to let her go. He wanted her gone too but now she felt what it meant to live. She wanted to live. Her life suddenly made sense.
“I didn’t want my sister dead! I didn’t let her go because I was jealous! Yes, she was better at things and got more attention, but I never wanted her dead. I tried to save her that day, but my strength failed me. I was a better swimmer, but the waves were too high, and they took her from me before I could hold on to her. So don’t stand there telling a story you know nothing about, you broken psycho!” she yelled, drawing a knife from her pocket.
“I’m not broken,” he snarled and knocked her down. He held her hair back and forced her face into the water. Rain poured as Katie struggled. All she wanted was to free her right hand. He had pinned it down with his leg. She fought hard, freed her hand, turned swiftly, and drove the knife into his side. He groaned and turned away from her, but she unburied the knife and stabbed again. Oblivious to where she was hitting, she kept at it, screaming her lungs out.
“I am good enough!” she finally spat, left the knife in him and crawled to shore.
She staggered home in the pitch darkness, sobbing and breathing heavily.
“I am good enough,” she declared and took to her heels.