What Lies Beneath

Eight

Before

I was convinced the universe had it out for me. If that wasn't the case, then maybe it was the town. None of this crap started happening to me until my mother decided to move to Lake Bellinor. It'll be great, she promised. I believed her. After all, why wouldn't I?

The day she told us we were moving; her face was a canvas of happiness that'd make anyone who loved her enough cave under pressure. Lake Bellinor was the new beginning she craved. For us. No one could take that dream away from her. Not even me. But my ability was growing stronger. And the stronger it grew, the harder it became to control.

The ocean tides swayed along the beach's shore. I stood close to the edge, my feet buried in the sand, as the water nearly brushed against my toes. A thick fog rolled in around me. But it was hot, and muggy out here. No sun. Pretty unusual for summer beach weather, I'd say. But that was Lake Bellinor. There was always something unusual about this town.

"Happy birthday, Tyler!" I recalled my mother's words before I snuck out the house.

That's right. It was my thirteenth birthday. I wasn't supposed to be here. I was supposed to be home, helping them set up for a party she'd been eager to throw me for making it to my teens. I was her first-born child so, of course, she wanted to experience it in style. She'd expected me to invite a few friends but all I had was family. And even then, they were hardly around.

That was probably a good thing. If any of them found out about this ability, I'd have probably been referred to as a freak on top of a sociopath. Did my mother know my grandparent's (my father's parents) talked about her child behind her back like I was in desperate need of a psych ward? Probably not. That wouldn't have ended well for anyone. She'd have really lost her crap.

"Haha! Tag, you're it!" I flinched when the water touched my skin, and I heard voices in my head. My toes curled. What was this? Another vision? Crap, I let my guard down. I hadn't meant to peak into anyone's death. I didn't want to. I should have known better.

"Come on, slow-poke!"

"Shut up! I'm going to get you!"

There were several voices gathering in one huge echo. A group of kids played along the shoreline where I was stilled in place, watching them in my head, like a movie scene. Only, I knew this had been real once, and nothing good came from the ending.

"Ricky!" Things changed that fast. A little girl, seemingly close to my age, was screaming someone's name. An older male, he looked to be. I'd say fifteen-years-old, the oldest. She was the same one taunting him after tagging him. But he was face-down in the water, drifting along the edge, in the same way the kids had been running. My stomach flipped upside-down.

"Call an ambulance!" one of the other kids shouted over her.

"R-Ricky. . ." There were tears falling from the little girl's eyes. She dropped to the sand, hovering over his body, as she hiccupped uncontrollably. "W-wake up. Please, Ricky. . . Ricky!"

My breath was shaky, but all I could do was breathe.

I could feel her pain. Boiling down to the pits of my abdomen, I could feel her cries. Pain this strong shouldn't have been something, someone my age or even younger, had to live with. Frankly, I wouldn't have wished it on anyone. But I'd have probably processed this a lot better as an adult, than I was doing as a child.

Witnessing these moments never got any easier. I knew it was too late for Ricky. They didn't know that though, at the time. His clothes were drenched in water as were his lungs. It seemed like the tides had snatched him up. Those were the dangers of running too close to the edge and not knowing how to swim.

You're a freak, a voice taunted me.

I didn't want to be a freak. I wanted to be normal. Was that too much to hope for?

You're a freak, it taunted me again.

My fingers trembled. I crouched down and clenched onto the side of my head with both hands. Before I knew it, an ear-piercing scream left my mouth. It was all I could do to release the anger I'd been keeping tucked away for two years and counting.