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Sleepless Night

Finally their extremely long and busy day was coming to an end. Pacey, who was not really phased anymore, was out almost instantly. Joey on the other hand, couldn't sleep at all and eventually gave up trying.

Flinging back the covers, she made a quick and quiet exit from the room, and went to take another look at the images.

Sitting at the small table, staring into the laptop screen, she decided to find as much information as she possibly could. The hours quickly slipped by and it soon turned midnight. Still unable to sleep, she closed the laptop and rested her arms across the table, placing her head in between.

Completely lost in thought, she barely noticed the hand on her shoulder, until she caught sight of the finger tips out of the corner of her eye.

"Pacey, what are you doing...?" She asked sleepily.

She never got to finish her question as when she turned around, it was not Pacey stood above her. Instead it was a tall-ish girl with deeply bloodshot eyes, scruffy knotted black hair and withered skin, who was staring back at her. Instantly she freaked out and jumped back, causing the chair to tip and throw her to the floor with a crash.

Quickly scrambling to her feet, she didn't tear her eyes away and just stood staring. Suddenly, the thing that was staring back at her, began speeding towards her like lightning before vanishing, leaving Joey completely and utterly speechless.

"Have we got an invasion of elephants?" Pacey joked half consciously as he appeared in the doorway.

"What's going on?" He asked, taking in her mood and the rather unsettling atmosphere of the room.

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you." She answered and then picked up the chair from the floor, tucking it back under the table.

"Try me." He requested curiously.

"Okay...but I'm warning you now, this is going to sound absolutely crazy." She explained, gesturing for him to sit down on the sofa.

She had no idea how she was even going to begin to explain this one. They had had some crazy experiences in the past, like back on witch island, but not this one.

********
"Woah!" Pacey said astonished.

It was the only thing he could bring himself to say. Of course he believed her, but somehow he didn't think that his mouth would give her that impression.

"You think I'm crazy, don't you?" She assumed glumly.

"Of course not. Look, how about we forget about the....the thing and spend the night on the boat...well morning now, but...anything is better than sitting around here, driving yourself nuts." He said, mentally kicking himself for using that word. He hadn't meant it in that way.

"Well...okay then." She agreed.

Gathering up their things, they headed out to Pacey's beautiful sail boat; True Love. Once they got inside the cabin, things seemed to settle.

Pacey headed onto the deck to untie the ropes, only as he grabbed the rope it snapped. Investigating further, he leaned overboard to get a closer look. It was then that he felt a harsh force pushing against his back. Getting annoyed, he turned around rather quickly.

Big mistake.

He felt one last, harsh shove and the next thing he knew, he was in the ice cold water. Gripping the edge of the boat, he was about to haul himself back up but felt a strong force prying his fingers from the edge and throwing him back into the water.

Trying to keep his head above the water seemed impossible as something appeared to be pulling at his foot, dragging him under.

It was hard to see under the surface of the water, but he didn't doubt for a second what he saw. Something...with long knotted black hair and rotted skin, and it was gripping him tightly. Struggling to hold his breath, he began to feel himself drowning when suddenly he was being pulled rather quickly, out of the water.

Finally able to release his breath, a surge of relief ran through him as he realised that Joey had pulled him back onto the boat, and ultimately saved his life.

"Pacey? What the hell happened? Did you fall or lose your balance? Or slip?" She questioned, fearing for her love and completely freaked out.

"I'm afraid it's a little more complicated than that." He wheezed, trying to catch his breath.

Fortunately, he didn't have to verbalise his thoughts for her to understand what he was referring to.