Rising Tide

FIVE

"Ari, where are you?!" Spike's scream resonates from somewhere far up the beach. The night cloaks the sand in an eerie darkness and gives the water an inky glow. I pray that he does not wander into it, seeing as he has only just learned to swim.

"Spike don't move!" I desperately shout, trying to sink a message into his four year old mind, "I will be there baby!"

I run madly in the direction I think his voice had come from. The sand claws at my legs, dragging me down to a pace slower than flys stuck in syrup. The wind picks up the ocean, tossing it wildly about, almost as if trying to drown me from the shore.

I hear another scream, this one muffled, in the distance, encouraging me to move quicker. It sounds familiar and feminine. It definitely did not come from Spike. The sound could have only come from one other person I know.

"Mama!"

The noise tears from my lips with a vengeance, rising over the roar of the waves and the on coming storm. The sinking feeling of dread resides in the pit of my stomach as I continue to fight my way through what feels like all of the elements revolting against me.

I see a light off in the distance. It seems to be a candle from afar but as I move closer I can make out one of the few battery powered flashlights in my family. One of the only ones in the district, if I am being honest. Rain pounds into my flesh as I finally begin to make out the shape of my mother.

But she is not alone. Four other figures crowd around her. Two look to be holding my her down. They have her hands held behind her back, treating her as if she is a wild animal. Though, she almost could pass as one. She is shouting slurred obscenities at them and her blond hair is being blown in every direction. A storm of its own by any means.

Relief floods my being when I see Spike. He is blended in with the tall grasses at the crest of the sand dune, untouched and out of sight, just as we have always been taught. His head whips towards mine and he makes a move to reveal himself from the weeds. I quickly shake my head once, commanding him back to his spot. Please stay where you are Spike.

Thankfully, he understands and tucks himself back into his hiding place. I turn my focus on my mother. The men have started yelling back. I can only understand bits and pieces of their conversation.

"...treason against the nation..."

"...execution..."

"...last words..."

In an instant I take off, my body running at a speed faster than my mind. Before I know what I am doing I throw myself into the man standing the closest to me. We fall to the ground into a pile of thrashing limbs. I smash my elbow into his nose, spattering my shirt with, what is no doubt, his blood. It's sweet metallic smell lingers in my nose, engulfing me in guilt.

He deserves it, Arista, keep fighting.

I pull my fist back and swing it as hard as I can into his jaw, whatever resolve I had previously, melting. My hand erupts in fire as he slumps in the sand and his eyes roll to the back of his head. I do not have much time to wonder if I had actually just done that before another figure rips me off the first one.

He squeezes my arms impossibly tight as I twist in his grip, kicking hard at whatever I can to break free. I think I hit his knee cap as the blow sends him tumbling to the ground. He lands next to the other man, groaning in pain and starting to rise. I waste no time slamming my bare foot into his face, rendering him to the same fate as his wretched accomplice.

"Arista!" My mother's voice shrieks to me over the crashing of waves and claps of thunder overhead. I turn to where the sound resonates, just in time to watch my life as I know it crumble infront of me.