Surface

Chapter 21 - Mysterious Creatures and Mysterious People

The dark and fast paced strumming of a guitar filled my ears followed by the haunting lyrics sung by a chorus of people on the beach. The pitch was low and the tempo was quick, making the stroll along the boardwalk at night feel treacherous.

"My lover was lost at sea

Her shadow floats adrift waiting for the sirens to drain it of it's blood

She's lost sight of me

I've floated away into a cavern with the corpse of my best bud

There are creatures in this place

They creep around in their twisted forms waiting to attack

Will they kill before I waste?

My lover and I will be dead by sunrise, I want to go back"

The people were gathered around the bonfire, the shadows of the flames moving over their faces in various patterns. Their ages varied but each of them were completely invested in the song.

I pulled the sleeves of my sweater further down and cross my arms on top of my chest.

Maybe I should have stayed home tonight.

A familiar figure bumped into me.

"Move," they muttered before recognizing me. "Oh, its you."

She was wearing checkered dress pants, an expensive looking belt, and a sleek black shirt topped with a large blazer. It was a bit more formal than her usual attire and I was curious as to why she was dressing up. Of course, I didn't have to ask.

"Guess who successfully finished an interview for an internship at the police station," her smile was wide and wicked.

"Why the police station? Are you trying to kiss up to them? Hope they pardon some of the questionable things you do around town?"

She groaned. "You have become so much more talkative and it's so annoying." Then her eyes lit up. "You know, they only have one intern spot and it just opened because the last one resigned."

"Oh really?"

"Yup." She circled around me. "It was Zac. Quit pretty abruptly."

Oh no.

He really was leaving which worked conveniently in Hannah's favor in multiple ways. I pulled at the thread of my sweater. There had to be a way to make this look better than it was.

"I know. He told me about leaving town for a while. He keeps me in the loop." I flip my hair off my shoulder with a flirty smile that makes Hannah snort.

"I'm sure he does, sweetie." She took off her blazer and - to my shock - draped it around my shoulders. "Why don't we spend some quality time together, huh? This bonfire looks fun!" She led me over the boardwalk railings and to our own spot near the fire.

I didn't bother trying to break away from Hannah. This was good opportunity to further investigate her anyways. Eline did say that Hannah knew more about the night Tori died than she let on - that she knew it couldn't have been a suicide! She was there the night it happened, which meant she was hiding something important to save herself.

Just because I had plans to use this time to my advantage didn't mean Hannah wasn't doing the same. She had not decided to randomly pull me aside to spend time with because she wanted to catch up. She most likely had something up her sleeve as well.

"I warn you children around this beach not to wander around the cliffs!" An older man with a beard was speaking vehemently, making sure to make contact with everyone in his audience. "There dwell the sirens! Yes, they are still around even today! In fact, I heard one howling up a storm yesterday! Sounded like the she-devil was hiding out in a cave of some sort because the echo of her agony bounced all over the east side of Raven's Eye Beach."