Recall

Astrea

The car had gone silent after that. The soft jingle of the keys as her dad inserted them into the car was the only sound she could hear. Astrea glanced at him from her seat and noticed his mouth moving. It was like he was speaking, except she couldn't hear him. "Dad?" Astrea asked. He raised his eyebrows signalling he was listening, and opened his mouth once more. "I can't hear y-" Astrea started before being cut off by darkness surrounding her. They had still been in the parking lot and the car lights had been on, yet she couldn't see a thing.

Then suddenly a bright white light flashed and disappeared almost as soon as it had come. By that point Astrea was terrified with her nails digging into the car's seats. She felt the material around her nails fall away, except she hadn't moved her hands. The sensation of falling down overcame her, and she faintly heard herself scream. Until it all stopped abruptly.

She could feel a grainy substance under her hands and knees, but her sight had yet to return. The sound of waves crashing against the shore traveled back to her and Astrea knew she was at the beach. She could smell the salt water through the misty air and feel the heat of the sun beating down on her. Then her sight suddenly came back all at once and Astrea knew exactly where she was. She was on Short Beach, and from one glance at the cold waters, she knew the tide was up and she was stuck there. Though she still didn't understand how.

She looked down the beach and froze, she wasn't alone. A boy jogged over, a grin covering his face. "Looks like we're stuck here," he said. "There isn't any other way back."

She didn't know who he was, yet he seemed to know exactly who she was. "It's not like we're in any rush," a voice stated. But there was no one else on the beach except the two of them. It had come from herself, yet those weren't her words. She tried to take a step away from the stranger but her feet carried her closer to him.

The smile slid off his face but he still managed to look ecstatic. "Your parents are going to wonder where you are," he said.

"Maybe," Astrea felt her shoulders move up in a shrug. "It's not like we have any choice in the matter."

The cold ocean breeze pushed her hair into her eyes and Astrea reached up to push it back, except her arm didn't move. Instead the boy's did, his hand brushing her face as he pushed it away. Who are you? She wondered.

By then she knew something odd was going on, and that this was the same boy she had seen at the psychic's. Astrea didn't understand how she gotten to the beach in the first place. She assumed that this boy had just mixed her up with whoever the girl Ivey was, that he had mentioned previously. Though she couldn't move or speak, those normal functions almost seemed to be controlled by someone else entirely.

"I'm glad I got the chance to come back and see you again," he said. His hand was still gently placed under her chin and he was much too close for comfort. Every part of her was screaming to take a step back and get away from this situation, but she couldn't move. She watched as her hand moved up and wrapped around the wrist of his hand that was cupping her chin. It was too much for her, she didn't know him or want to be near him. What's going on? Her mind screamed. She hadn't made any move to touch him, so why was her hand holding onto his wrist.

"Me too," she smiled. "Though I didn't expect you to just show up on my porch."

"I wanted to surprise you."

Astrea pulled his hand down so she was now just holding it and guided him over to the sea. "And you always do. Let's just walk for a while," she said. Astrea wished she was back in the car with her father now more than ever. Swimming in Oceanside was something she detested, yet her bare feet splashed into the water. They stopped when it was at about their ankles and let the waves lap over them. Astrea knew if she could control what was going on, her hands would be shaking and she would be running for the shore. But a grin was plastered across her face, and it felt sincere.

"Why do you do this?" He complained jokingly. "The water is freezing."

This Astrea knew all too well, but obviously the girl he was referring to didn't. She knew she couldn't possibly be in a dream considering everything she was experiencing, but any other explanation seemed insane. What about what the psychic said? Her mind nagged. That was all lies though, it had to be.

"It's not even that cold," she laughed, though Astrea thought differently. The water was absolutely freezing if you were drowning in it. But the boy just smiled as if he didn't have a care in the world. His smile was so hypnotizing Astrea almost didn't notice him start to blur around the edges. That was until he disappeared all together. The same light flashed, and suddenly she was back in the old car. "Dad?" She called out.

"Astrea, what's wrong?" Her dad asked. Then he came back into focus, his forehead was creased with worry, and Astrea knew he wasn't going to let this go. "What happened?"

"I'm fine," Astrea said, "it was nothing."

He gave her one last look before starting the car. "You can talk to me, Astrea," he said. "You know that don't you?"

She nodded in replied and smiled assuringly. Though it didn't feel like she could talk to him. He hadn't talked to her about her sister for weeks after all. Whatever the vision was, it didn't matter to her. All that mattered was that it was gone now and she could start trying to get back to her life, as she had been doing before this all started.

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I hope you enjoyed chapter five, and the new vision in Astrea's perspective. Let me know what you thought of it! I'm always open to suggestions, so feel free to leave some feedback, it's always appreciated.

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