When the Ocean Calls

Lani

Heat permeated my back, radiating through my skin like a fingerless massage. A squeal pierced the lull of waves around me. My eyes opened to see the pink stripes of my beach towel stretched over a bed of sand. A yawn tugged my jaws apart. I didn't intend to nod off like that. It wasn't every day that I got to spend time with my sister.

"Why didn't you wake me up?" Drowsiness slurred my words. I rolled onto my side, squinting against the sun, only to find Kiara's zipped beach bag. Of course, she was still playing in the ocean. My eyes flicked there next. A few children splashed in the gentle waves alongside an adult, but I didn't see Kiara.

Huh. She must have gone in further.

The breeze nudged my blonde hair from my face. I lifted myself into a seated position, glancing over my arms. It was a good thing I put the sun-tan solution on, otherwise my bronzed skin would turn to burnt skin. I pushed myself onto my feet, hands on my hips for balance. My vision swept over the ocean, then over the sparsely populated beach.

No Kiara.

That's weird. Kiara rarely goes anywhere without telling someone.

I strolled to the foreshore, wet sand squelching between my toes. "Kiara?" My yell carried over the waves' drone, but received no response. I searched for a bobbing head, listened for a shouted reply, but the transparent waters concealed her. She was nowhere.

My heart quickened. "Kiara? This isn't funny! Where are you?"

She had to be out there. She would have woken me up if she went anywhere. I just couldn't see her. I jumped, got a quick glance at the water beyond, and sunk into the sand with a splash.

I couldn't see her anywhere.

"Kiara!"

"Is something wrong?" The woman had turned toward me, while her children ran through the ocean nearby.

"I don't...know." My brain wasn't processing what this meant. Kiara wasn't the type to disappear or play jokes. "Have you seen a girl in a blue bathing suit swimming in the ocean? She's a teen, a little shorter than me, with long auburn hair, fair skin, and brown eyes."

The woman frowned, glancing at the watch on her bronzed wrist. "No, I don't believe so. We've been the only ones swimming for at least half an hour."

My head reeled. That wasn't possible. There was nowhere for her to go. I stumbled away, changing my path toward a couple lying in the sand.

"Excuse me, have you seen a girl in a blue bathing suit come this way? She's about my height with long auburn hair..."

Recognition failed to light up their faces.

"I'm sorry. We haven't seen anyone like that," the lady said, setting down her Vogue magazine.

"Oh. T-thanks anyway." I turned away, hurrying in the opposite direction.

Maybe she's this way.

Sparks of adrenaline fired in my veins. My feet broke into a sprint, pounding hard on the sand. My chest heaved; blood gushed in my ears. But it wasn't long before a cliff loomed ahead, too steep to climb. My hopes shattered on the precipice's jagged rocks.

I had gone as far I could. And my sister was nowhere. A fountain of desperation spilled into a torrent that swept through me.

"Kiara!"

There was no response.

Tears trickled from my eyes, tears I hadn't known were there. I dashed back to my stuff. I mustn't have looked for her enough at the ocean. She probably was just buried under a few waves, that was all. She'd be waiting for me as soon as I returned.

Two beach bags and a towel came into view, still planted in the sand where I left them, but Kiara was not among them. Panic surged through me.

She's probably at the apartment. I gritted my teeth, forcing myself to believe it. My knees collided with the sand as I grabbed my bag, shaky fingers ripping my bag open. The apartment key sat on top. Kiara was smart; she wouldn't go to the apartment without it.

The sparkly case of my iPhone caught my eye. Of course! Wherever Kiara went, she had to have taken her phone with her. I dialed her number, a lecture forming in my mind.

A pleasant tune rang nearby. My eyes settled on Kiara's beach bag.

No.

My heart thumped in my chest, thoughts clouding over. I lunged for her bag and ripped it open. Kiara's phone lay on top of her neatly folded towel. She didn't take her phone.

"Kiara!" I screamed. The world spun around me, red spots in my vision. Someone might have kidnapped her. Either that, or she drowned.

This can't be happening.

My fingers punched numbers into the phone keypad, a number I had memorized many months before. A number I hoped I'd never call.

Salty air filled my lungs as the phone rang. A woman's voice cut through the endless chime.

"Hello, officer? I need to report a missing person. My sister has disappeared."