The Cycle of Endangerment

Crashing Tides

The day was too quiet, except for the crashing of the high tides in the distance. Fog was thick this day, towering over the quivering boarded up buildings. It was supposed to be a school day, but the school was long gone and so were the children. No cars were riding about, no chatter. Just quiet. James walked around in the abandoned street, masked by fog, he began to climb a small concrete wall and sat at the top. Smiling at the eerie atmosphere. The wind blew rapidly, so strong that a few buildings seemed to be leaning due to it, a strong enough force to knock someone off the ground. James gripped the wall tightly as if his life depends on it. He began to yell, he knew he might not hear it over the wind howling but he didn't mind. Finally, the wind knocked him off the wall and he slid to the ground. When he looked up, there was, a pair of dress shoes at his eye level. The girl had red curly hair that stopped at her ears and evenly cut bangs. She had blue eyes and her face was covered in neat freckles, and she had light pink lips and pale skin. Her figure was more boyish than feminine, and she wore a brown vest and dress shirt with a tie and dress pants. A hat in the shape of a fedora lay on her head, and she was holding a very thick and worn looking notepad. She looked around 16. Before he could speak, she began to bombard him with questions. "Who are you? Why are you here? Did the kidnapping of Beatrice Ellie bring you to this town? How old are you? Why are you wearing a Halloween costume? Where are your parents?" She had her notebook ready and her pencil down, to record his answers. James was about to say something before being assaulted by questions, "Uh well my name is James, who is Beatrice Ellie? I'm about to be 16." His eye twitched slightly "People make theories about how I could be a demon... Where are your parents? Hmm?"

"That's the wrong question, James." The girl smiled, and the smile could have been good or bad. "The right question is, Who am I?" She reached into the band of her hat and handed him a card. "Roxanne: The News." She said. "Sure, I might not be a reporter yet, but I'm going to be one when I move to the city with my relatives." James took the card and examined it. "Its catchy, I bet you will do just fine." He stood up and brushed himself off. "Is the wind always this bad?"

"Wrong question." Roxanne smiled again. "The right question is, 'Will you be able to sustain them?"

"Hopefully I will, but we will just have to see." He began to tap his right foot on the ground "Why are you here? Is it because of Bee?" She continued to ask him questions, furiously scribbling on her notepad his previous answers. "I don't know who Beatrice, who is she? I'm here because I live nearby and I always wanted to come here."

"Come, let's walk." She said. "This wind is terrifying. I'll take you to Hungry's." James walked with Roxanne and looked at her. "Hungry's?"

"The only open restaurant." She explained. 'Hungry's' was small, with stained windows. The sign said "Hungry's" with faded windows and a faded smiley face. It seemed to be the only place with more than one person. Rushing like a mad bull, James went to the door and entered the small restaurant. As soon as he entered, three children their age averted their faze and stared at James. Two were younger, one looking 8 and the other looking 12. The 12 year old had curly brown hair and brown eyes and braces, and the 8 year old almost looked exactly the same, with large glasses and buck teeth. The boy flipping burgers was about 17, with dull, grey eyes and slicked back blonde hair. He looked tired. The last one was exactly sixteen. She is what males would call, "Hot." Her hair was sleek and midnight black, straight as a pin and seemed to flow, stopping at her mid back. Her eyebrows were curved in the perfect way, and she had thin, piercing green eyes and pouty lips. Her teeth shined like she was in a Colgate commercial. She blinked her long eyelashes, and made a "tsk" sound and turned back around and continued to drink her black coffee.