《Beneath the Midnight Sea》


 Chapter 1: Lizzie

    The midnight sand was the only witness to Daniel''s desperate footsteps. He fled across the beach, wiping tears from his face, as his bare feet left footprints soon erased by the uncaring sea. A half-moon shone dim light onto the scene.


    He stopped and turned towards the sea, catching his breath. The stones in his coat pockets weighed heavy on his body and mind as water lapped at his feet.


    "Here goes nothing," he muttered. He walked forwards until the water reached his shins, ignoring the shock of cold that shot up his legs. Then again, up to his knees; again up to his waist. He took a deep breath and readied himself to slip beneath the waves.


    "Umm, are you alright?" A woman called from somewhere to his left. His head snapped towards the source of the voice.


    A woman stood in the sea a few dozen feet away; her hair was like seaweed and her clothes rippled around her like jellyfish. She was utterly soaked as if she''d surfaced mere moments ago. As he met her eyes, she smiled then gave him a cheery wave.


    It was enough to pull Daniel out of the inky-black fog clouding his mind. "What the fuck?" He breathed. A stone fell out of his coat pocket and landed into the water with a soft splash. The woman started wading towards him, water rippling around her as she splashed her way across.


    A second stone fell out of Daniel''s pocket when the woman was within twenty feet of him. Then a third. The woman stopped, watching the stones fall with strange fascination.


    "Are you trying to stay underwater with those?" She asked.


    Daniel stared at her, utterly discombobulated. From this distance he could see her more clearly. There was a purpling bruise down one side of her forehead and her hair stuck out in wild angles. The hair near where the bruise lay was matted and tangled.


    "What?" He replied.


    She pointed to where the stones had fallen out of Daniel''s coat. "They''re heavy. But they keep falling out. Do you want me to find more?"


    Daniel let out a strangled giggle. "Er, no. But thanks? I think?"


    "Oh. Okay." For a moment she looked disappointed; but then her face brightened. "I''ve never seen anyone out this late before," She said. "It''s nice."


    What the fuck is going on? Daniel thought. Am I hallucinating? Is this a dream? Might as well go along with it¡­


    The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    "What''s your name?" Daniel asked.


    The woman thought for a moment, frowned, then thought some more. "I¡­" she began. "I don''t know."


    "Oh."


    "What''s yours?"


    "Daniel." He shivered.


    "You''re cold?" She asked with concern on her face.


    "Y-y-yeah. Um¡­ I''m gonna get back to the sand. Aren''t you c-c-cold?"


    She grinned. "Nope! I''m fine."


    "Right¡­"


    "OH!" She clapped her hands together in delight. "My name! I remember it now. Lizzie."


    Daniel raised an arm to shake her hand. She looked at it curiously; he felt embarrassment wash over him for the out-of-place gesture then let his arm fall.


    "I gotta go!" She said. "The water makes you cold. You should go too! See you later! Thanks for helping me remember my name!"


    Before Daniel could say anything else, the woman let herself fall backwards into the sea, disappearing beneath the water with a gigantic splash.


    "H-hey!" Daniel shouted. "Wait!" He waded over to where he saw the woman vanish; she was gone without a trace, the sea having devoured her whole.


    Without a word, Daniel made his way back onto the sand then laid down, facing the sky. He shivered violently as a breeze passed over him. A cloud meandered across the sky before obscuring the half-moon from view.


    Perhaps, Daniel thought, I''ve finally gone mad.


    ~~~


    Daniel''s flat near the beach was functional, albeit small. He closed the front door behind him with a soft click then turned around. The only open door was the living-room at the end of the hall; inside that room the curtain was open, which allowed the half-moon to cast dim light over him. He padded towards his bathroom, flung open the door then stepped into his bathtub with his clothes on.


    With the turn of a handle, freezing-cold water erupted from the shower head.


    "Shit!" He hissed, shying back from the cold. He relaxed a little as the water grew cool, then warm, then hot. He stayed underneath the shower until the water began to turn cool again. Then, he switched off the water and tore his sodden clothes from his body.


    "Fucking hell," He muttered. "That could''ve gone better." He laid down in the bathtub then promptly fell asleep.


    ~~~


    He''d forgotten to switch off his alarm despite intending never to need one again.


    Bleary-eyed, he stumbled out of the bathtub and across to his bedroom. The warbling tones of some trashy pop song rose out of his radio-clock before cutting across to the headlines.


    "Tonight''s top news at 7," the announcer droned. "Family of local resident Elizabeth Holmes issue a second appeal following her disappearance last Monday¡­"


    Huh, Daniel thought. S''been a week already? Wait-


    He collapsed onto his unused bedsheets as the realisation hit him like a brick to the head.


    Oh fuck. That woman''s name was Lizzie.

 Chapter 2: Fear

    It was two nights before Daniel felt brave enough to walk the midnight sands once more. This time it was cloudy; he made his way across the beach with timid feet, near-forgetting to breathe in his fit of nerves.


    His feet met ocean. This time, he walked only up to his shins before stopping and looking to the sky where he knew the moon hid. Almost on cue it appeared, gazing down on him through a gap in the cloud.


    At once, he heard splashing. He looked down to see Lizzie rising from the sea, ethereal in the light of the moon, her hair as wild as before.


    Daniel''s eyes widened. Real, he thought. She''s real.


    "Daniel! Hi!" She called over to him. "You came back!" As her legs and feet clambered out of the surf, he noted that she was barefoot. This time he saw her clothes; a simple top and jeans, surprisingly intact though waterlogged.


    "Yeah," Daniel replied. "Honestly, I thought I''d dreamed you before. Wasn''t sure if you were real."


    Lizzie cocked her head to one side. "Not real? Why?"


    "Um¡­" Daniel began, thrown off by her question. "You ever met someone who only comes out of the sea at night?"


    Lizzie giggled. "Dunno. I don''t remember much of anything."


    Daniel held back the words he most wanted to say: You''re missing. You''ve been missing for over a week. Instead he sat down, ignoring the scratch of sand on his legs. Lizzie sat next to him.


    "What do you remember?" Daniel asked with a carefully neutral tone.


    "Hmm¡­" She pulled her knees up to her chest and rested her chin on her knees. Daniel stole a look at her hands; they were unwrinkled, as if she''d not spent who-knows-how-long in the sea. "I''m Lizzie," she said. "I grew up somewhere small and nice. I don''t know where that was, but I spoke to lots of people every day."


    Daniel bit his lip from nervousness. "Holmes," he eventually replied.


    "Huh?"


    "Elizabeth Holmes. That''s your full name."


    She clapped her hands to her face. "Oh my god, it is! How could I forget?!"


    Daniel watched her with trepidation; but she showed no signs of remembering anything else. He opened his mouth to say more then closed it firmly shut. Don''t, he thought. You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.


    "How''s you know that?" She asked.


    Fuck- "Uh," He replied, "I heard it on the radio."


    "You did?"


    "Yeah¡­" He sighed, then bracing himself, elaborated, "You''re missing. Reported missing. It''s all over the news."


    To his surprise, Lizzie shrugged. "Oh," she said. "Weird."


    "You''re not worried?"


    "I don''t remember anything about that. So nope!"


    Daniel nodded slowly. "Look, um, people are looking for you. Do you want to come to the police station with me? They''ll open in the morning-"


    "No!" She shrieked, startling him. "I can''t!" She put a hand over her mouth in surprise, then removing it said, "The sun hurts," She said. "It burns my skin."


    "I could call them now-"


    "NO!" She shrieked again. Steadying herself once more she said, "I¡­ don''t want to. This place is safe. But nowhere else is. I don''t know why."


    Daniel stared at her. "Oh," He eventually said. "Right. Um. Sorry." His eyes moved across to where he could see the bruise on her forehead. Hmm, he thought.


    "It''s okay," she said as cheer returned to her voice. "You didn''t know. Um, I''m gonna head back. I''m cold." Daniel spotted her shivers; looking more closely he noted her hands had lost circulation.


    "Right um, yeah, course," he stammered.


    But as she made her way back into the sea he called out, "Wait!"


    "Hmm?" She turned around.


    "Will you be here tomorrow?"


    She stifled a giggle. "I''m here every night, silly!" With that she waved, then sank into the ocean.


    Daniel looked round nervously. Deserted, he thought. Always is. No CCTV here, either. So nobody knows she''s here but me. Should I tell the police? But then he remembered her as she''d screamed at him not to; for a moment there''d been nothing but terror on her face. The police would never believe me. And something beyond these sands scares her, he thought. But why? What''s so scary about this stupid place?


    ~~~


    That night, as Daniel fell asleep in the bathtub, his dreams were clearer than they''d ever been. He found himself standing in a bar that felt familiar; all around him milled crowds of patrons. He pressed through the crowd to where the bar sat. Nobody paid him any heed.


    There was a woman behind the bar with her back to him, reaching for a glass on a tall shelf. Then she turned around. Daniel felt his stomach lurch as he recognised the woman: Lizzie. She stared past him towards where the exit was.


    "Lizzie?" He asked. She didn''t respond.


    He felt unease pressing in from all sides; he lurched towards the exit. He stumbled and almost fell as a patron walked straight into him. His brief glance at the floor precipitated his second shock of the night as he saw neither shoes nor socks worn by any of the crowd.


    He reached the door and crashed through it to the outside, looking up to see a full moon in a cloudless sky. Wait, he thought. This is a real place-


    He awoke, shivering violently, as the shower above him dripped ice-cold water onto his forehead.

 Chapter 3: Dance

    "Keep journalling," the woman on the laptop screen said to Daniel. "It''ll help you spot patterns in your thoughts. It could help you identify what triggers your ideation."


    Daniel nodded. "I will. Thanks."


    They said their goodbyes to each other then ended the call. Daniel pulled off his headphones and flopped back onto his bed with a sigh. I never did tell her about the other night, he thought. Maybe she''d have called an ambulance if I did. He could feel darkness swirling in the back of his mind like it had for months. Not been so bad since I met Lizzie. If I''d stop worrying about someone spotting her it''d be even better. Yet the weight of that was lighter and fresher than anything he''d felt in quite some time.


    He opened a tab in the website he was on, hovering a hand over the keyboard. Then he sighed again. Not here. He grabbed a notebook and pen then jotted down some errant thoughts:


    I hate this stupid place. Impossible to get a decent job.


    The only good thing is the beach at midnight.


    Will L- he paused, then scrubbed out the letter- she be here for long?


    I wish I could talk to someone about this. It''s fucking weird.


    That dream was even weirder. I know that bar. Where from?


    Daniel glanced over the notes, grimaced, then hid the notebook under his unused pillow before getting dressed and ready for the day.


    ~~~


    Eighteen years earlier


    A nine year-old Lizzie stood nervously in the dress her grandmother had picked out for her. She hovered in the open doorway to a school hall covered in gaudy decorations; children her age milled everywhere, chatting and squealing and effusing an air of happiness.


    Where''s my friend? Lizzie thought. She couldn''t spot her amongst the crowd of children.


    The lights in the hall darkened and the crowd grew more excited. Then, pop music began to blare from each corner, the low-end speakers overdoing the bass to compensate for lacklustre everything else. Lizzie hovered for another few minutes before making her way into the crowd, waving to her classmates who''d staked out a part of the dancefloor to themselves.


    The music was turned far too high. She couldn''t hear anything but; she let herself drift away on the sound, carried by the ebb and flow of the bass to somewhere else entirely-


    There was a tap on her shoulder, causing her to jump and squeal. She turned around to see a boy of the same age. He said something to her that she couldn''t hear. She leaned in.


    "Huh?" She shouted.


    "You like this song too?" The boy shouted back.


    She nodded furiously.


    "My friend does too!" He said. "Have you seen him?"


    To this she shook her head, grinned, then started bobbing along to the beat, putting a flourish on it with a spin. All around them, other children were similarly engaged though none quite so much as her.


    The boy grabbed her hand with the childlike glee of a silly idea coming to life. "Wanna spin faster?" He said to Lizzie. "Hold on tight!"


    She giggled then gripped his hand with two of hers. He spun her round, slowly at first then faster and faster and faster and the music reached its crescendo-


    Her hand slipped and she almost went flying; but the boy grabbed her arm with his spare hand. The two of them fell over from their combined momentum then started laughing. The children around them took no notice.Stolen novel; please report.


    A boy emerged from the crowd then grinned as he spotted his friend on the floor.


    ~~~


    In the present time


    Getting walks out here most nights is helping me, too, Daniel thought as he strode across the beach. The moon was fuller than half this time though not quite three-quarters.


    This time, Lizzie was already waiting for him on the beach, sitting by the shoreline. He sat down next to her without a word. The two stared out to sea for some time.


    "Haven¡¯t seen you in days!" She chirped.


    "Sorry," He muttered. He called to mind the previous three nights: lying in his bathtub with barely enough energy to move a finger. "I¡­ get kinda sad sometimes. Makes it hard to do things."


    "Oh. Okay," she replied. "Like the time you came here with rocks in your pocket?"


    Daniel blinked. Huh, he thought. "Yeah," He said. "Like that. Though that night was the worst."


    "You seemed lost," she said, still looking out to sea. "Like you didn''t quite know where you wanted to go. But I didn''t understand why. Not till yesterday."


    "Oh?"


    "I think I felt like that once. But I don''t know why. Um¡­" she hesitated before continuing, "Sorry I offered to help you find more rocks. My head was all swirly."


    To this, Daniel burst out laughing. "Nah, s''cool. To be honest it snapped me out of it. You ever had someone offer to help you off yourself?"


    Lizzie smiled. "Maybe? Who knows?"


    Daniel laughed again then glanced at her mess of tangled hair. "Oh. Here." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a hairbrush, offering it to her while trying not to smile. "Your hair''s kinda, um, yeah. Want this?"


    Lizzie accepted the gift then turned it over in her hands. "Oh! Thanks!" She raised the brush to her ends then tugged it through her hair to middling success.


    "Need a hand?" Daniel asked. "I used to help my sister with hers."


    Lizzie nodded. Daniel took the hairbrush from her hand; gripping each section of hair at the root so as not to tug her scalp, he took the brush gently through the tangles, starting from the ends then working his way up.


    "I don¡¯t think I ever got as bad as you," Lizzie piped up, ¡°but I remember it being awful. Like nobody could see this shadow that was always looming over me.¡±


    "Oh," Daniel replied.  "Yeah. Mine¡¯s like that."


    For a while they sat in silence as Daniel detangled her hair: long enough that the incoming tide started lapping at their feet. When Daniel reached the part of her hair her bruise was on, he raised an eyebrow as he noticed it continued three inches past her hairline. Looks like it''s healing, he thought, but what caused it in the first place?


    Suddenly, the faint noise of music echoed across the beach. Daniel glanced back to locate a source but could find none.


    Lizzie jumped to her feet in excitement; the hairbrush went flying. "I know this song!" She squealed. "Ohmygosh it''s been years!" She raised two hands onto the air, bobbing along to the music.


    Daniel grabbed the hairbrush and shook out the sand before tucking it away. "Huh," he said. "Same here." The music grew louder as Lizzie started to rotate, casting out her hands like driftwood as she went up on her tiptoes. The light of the moon gave her an otherworldly glow as the sand shifted beneath her feet.


    An idea fell neatly into Daniel''s mind. "Hey!" He called out.


    "Huh?"


    Daniel surged forwards, grabbing her hand with the childlike glee of a silly idea coming to life. "Wanna spin faster?" He said to Lizzie. "Hold on tight!"


    She giggled then gripped his hand with two of hers. He spun her round, slowly at first then faster and faster and faster as the music reached its crescendo then faded away into nothing. Lizzie let go of Daniel then sat on the ground hard, slightly out of breath and giggling like a child.


    Daniel glanced down at his hands which felt oddly warm to the touch. Huh, he thought. Wait- no way.


    ~~~


    Eighteen years earlier


    A boy emerged from the crowd then grinned as he spotted his friend on the floor.


    "Danny!" He shouted. "Hey! Hey! Hey!"


    The boy who''d spun Lizzie round looked up. "Hihihihihihihi!" He jumped to his feet, ran to his friend then looked back at Lizzie. "What''s your name?" He shouted.


    "Lizzie!"


    "See you later Lizzie!" With that he was gone, absorbed back into the sea of people.


    ~~~


    In the present time


    All of a sudden, Lizzie looked up at Daniel. "Oh- you- I remember you¡­"


    "I remember you too," Daniel whispered in astonishment. "What the fuck?"


    The two stared at each other for seconds that to them lasted hours. Daniel noticed flecks of green in her irises where he hadn''t before.


    Oh, he thought. Oh fuck. This complicates things.

 Chapter 4: Red

    Daniel almost threw his radio out of the window when it announced the morning news, eighteen days since he¡¯d first met Lizzie:


    ¡°The police have arrested a man on suspicion of murder of Elizabeth Holmes¡­¡±


    ¡°Christ!¡± Daniel muttered. ¡°They got ¡®im!¡±


    It was not to be; twelve hours later the headline had changed:


    ¡°...was released without charge. The police have launched an appeal for information from anybody in the area on the night of 18 May. Unconfirmed reports have surfaced that CCTV captured footage of a person leaping from the window of Lizzie¡¯s flat¡­¡±


    The window? Daniel thought as he brushed his teeth and picked out an outfit neither too casual nor dressed-up. Yeah, right. Probably some hoax. The last report said that she lived on the eighth floor.  He pulled out his journal from underneath his pillow and opened it up, flipping through the pages with an analytical eye.


    Funny, he thought, how I sleep so badly in my bed and so well in my bathtub. Why is that? He flipped to the most recent entries and read them backwards. I haven¡¯t said anything about wanting to die in three days. That¡¯s nice.


    ~~~


    ¡°I moved away,¡± Lizzie said. ¡°Not far, but closer to another school. After that end-of-year-dance.¡± The two of them were sat on the beach, Lizzie now wearing a hoodie Daniel had brought with him to ward off the cold. The moon was waning once more, with barely a sliver of it in the sky.


    ¡°That¡¯s why I didn¡¯t remember you till the other day,¡± Daniel mused. ¡°I¡¯d wondered where you¡¯d gone for a bit. But then I got busy with school and forgot. Kids have weird priorities.¡±


    ¡°What about your family?¡± She asked. ¡°You mentioned a sister, right?¡±


    To this, a long-familiar pit of dread opened up in his stomach. Lizzie noticed Daniel¡¯s expression darken. ¡°Oh-¡± she said, ¡°Sorry! You don¡¯t have to talk about it!¡±


    ¡°No, no,¡± Daniel muttered, waving away her apologies. ¡°S¡¯fine. Gimme a sec.¡± He shoved the feeling to one side with ease. Piss off, brain, he thought. It¡¯s like you¡¯re not even trying to hurt me. ¡°My parents died a while back,¡± he said, the words quieter than usual. ¡°Not long after I finished school. Dad had a heart attack. Mum died in her sleep a year later.¡±


    Lizzie looked down. ¡°Oh. That¡¯s¡­ that¡¯s really sad.¡±


    ¡°Heh. Yeah,¡± he replied. ¡°Got a flat out of it, at least. Not many people ¡®round here own their places anymore. But, uh, yeah. Been on my own since.¡±


    ¡°Is your sister¡­¡± Lizzie began.


    ¡°Abroad. Fucked off after Mum died. Couldn¡¯t stand to live within a few thousand miles of this place.¡±


    ¡°Oh.¡±


    ¡°Yeah. She¡¯s happy. We¡¯re not close - haven¡¯t spoken in years. Doesn¡¯t bother me, though.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t you get lonely?¡± Lizzie asked.


    Daniel opened his mouth to say some noncommittal response; before he could stop himself, the truth poured out of him as he said, ¡°All the time.¡±


    Lizzie said nothing; all of a sudden, Daniel felt himself being pulled into a hug, his face pressed into her shoulder as she squeezed him tight. She smelt of seawater and some other scent he couldn¡¯t quite place. Daniel felt himself relax, just a little, and then all of a sudden he was crying, silent tears spilling down his face. Lizzie held on until long after the tears had stopped.


    ¡°Thanks,¡± he muttered, embarrassed. ¡°Sorry.¡±


    ¡°Sorry for what?¡± she replied. ¡°You¡¯ve done nothing wrong.¡±


    ¡°Sure feels like I have.¡±


    She rolled her eyes. ¡°That¡¯s a stupid feeling. Tell it to go away.¡±


    He left out a bark of laughter. ¡°You don¡¯t mince words, do you?¡±


    Lizzie smiled as she drew back from the embrace. ¡°Nope!¡±


    There was a moment of silence as her smile widened. Daniel saw the way it flowed up towards her eyes, causing them to sparkle like the sea on a bright summer¡¯s day. He caught her gaze then forgot how to breathe; he felt a sudden manic impulse to lean forwards: to close the gap between them, tuck her barely-tamed hair behind one ear with a gentle hand then-


    She jumped as if shocked by a jellyfish. ¡°Oh!¡± She squeaked. ¡°I remembered something!¡±


    Daniel let out his breath in a jagged exhale. That¡¯s- I- no way. Warmth rose out of his heart, carried by geothermal currents spread up to his face. She¡¯s- I like her. Oh. I really like her.


    ¡°There¡­ I think there was someone,¡± she mused. ¡°Not long before I went missing. I dated him?¡± Daniel¡¯s blood ran cold. Oh.If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.


    Lizzie, in that cheery way Daniel had become accustomed to, added, ¡°Can¡¯t have been important if I don¡¯t remember him! Oh well!¡± She giggled as she stuck her foot into the sand, causing puffs of gold to rise into the air.


    She remembered me, Daniel thought, but not whoever this guy was. Ugh. I shouldn¡¯t be happy about that. And yet¡­ the warmth inside him intensified like water reaching a rolling boil. It makes me happy. Talking to her makes me happy. Damn. Being this honest with myself feels fucking great.


    ~~~


    The next day, and for the first time in months, Daniel stepped onto a bus and stepped off in a town twenty miles south. She lived here, he thought. When she went missing. The town was much like the one he¡¯d left. Pensioners meandered the streets and sat in run-down cafes having their Sunday brunch. As he walked around, he spotted the occasional poster containing Lizzie¡¯s face and information on who to contact if they knew anything. They¡¯d never believe me, he thought. But maybe¡­ if I found something? Evidence? Clues? The police could use that.


    He wandered up and down quiet roads until he reached a street name he recognised. Here, he thought. She lived around here.


    He stuttered to a halt as he glanced up at a random building. A window eight floors up had caught his eye; its pale-blue frame was weathered and old, and it was closed firmly shut. But as he stared up at it, something shifted. For the briefest of seconds, he could have sworn he saw water pouring out of it, straight through the glass-


    ¡°You alright, son?¡±


    Daniel jumped and turned; an elderly man with a cane was watching him.


    ¡°Oh,¡± he replied. ¡°Yeah. Sorry. I- I recognised the window. From the news.¡±


    The man nodded understanding. ¡°Terrible thing, that,¡± the elderly man replied. ¡°Bloody useless detective on that case. Can¡¯t even find the poor woman, let alone the bastard that did it.¡±


    Daniel nodded in agreement. The man took a seat on a nearby bench; Daniel sat next to him. ¡°Is that normal?¡± Daniel said. ¡°For them not to find anything?¡±


    ¡°Town isn¡¯t big.¡± That statement was answer enough.


    ¡°So someone knows and isn¡¯t telling,¡± he muttered. Like me. Fucking hell. I know where she is and I¡¯ve not told anybody. But¡­ his thoughts trailed off for a moment. She doesn¡¯t want me to. I¡¯d not betray her trust like that.


    ¡°Tell you what,¡± the man said, leaning in conspiratorially. ¡°You seem like someone who¡¯d listen to an old man. Humour me?¡±


    ¡°Sure,¡± Daniel replied.


    ¡°When I was a young lad,¡± the man whispered, ¡°Someone else went missing much the same way. Police never found her.¡± A hush fell over the street.


    ¡°I remember it well,¡± the man continued. ¡°Was nighttime, you see. I was on a walk. My eyesight was bad even then. Everyone thought I¡¯d had too much to drink. But ya know¡­ I could have sworn I saw someone run past me towards the beach, carrying a wee girl covered in blood. ¡®Twas her. I¡¯m certain of it.¡±


    Daniel stared at the man, open-mouthed. ¡°For real?¡± He asked. ¡°Did you see anything else?¡±


    ¡°¡®Fraid not, lad. Was only for a second or five. But you know what I think?¡±


    ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think she was murdered.¡± The man¡¯s eyes took on a faraway quality as he continued, ¡°I think whoever carried her away was saving her.¡±


    Daniel blinked several times. ¡°W-what was her name?¡± He forced out.


    ¡°Freya. Look her up. 1956. June 12. I never could forget that date¡­¡±


    ¡°Why- You don''t know me. Why tell me?¡±


    The man¡¯s eyes pierced Daniel¡¯s soul with their intensity as he mused, ¡°My eyes can¡¯t see much of anything anymore. But I saw enough. You looked at that window the same way I looked at that wee girl in a stranger¡¯s arms.¡±


    With that the man was gone, stood from the bench then shuffling down the street with barely a wave goodbye.


    I didn¡¯t even get your name, Daniel thought. Yet he didn¡¯t call after him. Freya. June 12, 1956¡­Oh! I know!


    Daniel pulled up his phone map then typed in a search query.


    ~~~


    Freya Marie, the article said. Daniel was sat at a computer in the town¡¯s library. Information flowed out of the article into his mind: 1956. Eleven years old. June 12. Missing. Window to her bedroom was left wide open. Father was arrested then released without charge. A search of the father¡¯s name found an obituary from three months later. Cause of death: drowned. Heart attack in his bathtub. Tragedy for the town.


    Fucking hell, Daniel thought, as he felt the first pieces of the puzzle fall into place in his mind. So who carried Freya to the beach? And what does that mean for Lizzie?


    He stayed on the computer for another hour, filling up his browser history with search terms on mythology and humans who could breathe underwater and missing persons who lived by the sea. He found nothing of note: everything either lacked detail or didn¡¯t resemble Lizzie at all.


    ~~~


    That night, Daniel didn¡¯t go to the beach; exhaustion lapped at his mind the second he stepped off the bus. He climbed into his bathtub then drifted off to sleep.


    He opened his eyes standing in a bathroom he didn¡¯t recognise. He looked around; the tiles were white, with a matching door closed firmly shut. In one corner stood a bathtub filled to the brim with water and soap suds.


    He heard movement from another room, followed by the creak of wood and a muttered curse. Daniel took a step towards the door, then jumped back and gasped as water from the bathtub was suddenly splashed everywhere. A woman emerged from it, pulling herself out with clumsy movements and scattering more water across the room. Daniel, to his horror, noticed that the water was tinged red.


    The woman stood upright, swaying a little from side to side as if she was unsure quite how to walk. She was clothed in a simple green dress. Barefoot, Daniel noted.


    "Lizzie?" She called out with accented syllables. There was no response. ¡°Lizzie?¡± She stumbled across the room and fumbled with the door handle; after seconds of consternation, she leaned back then burst the door open with a vicious kick. The sounds in the other room stopped.


    The woman stepped into the hallway, looked to her left, and Daniel dove across the bathroom as her mouth fell open and she screamed-


    Daniel woke up mid-air as his brain interpreted his dive as real; he hit the tiled floor with a loud thud. Rolling onto his back and hissing in pain, he stared at the broken lightbulb dangled from his ceiling.


    "What the fuck was that?" He whispered to himself. The darkened bathroom offered no answers.