Strings and Stars (YouTube Oneshots)

Thalassophobia (Amyplier)

So, this was meant to be just a oneshot, but I got so carried away with it that I think I'm going to turn it into a fully-fledged fic. Since it was originally intended to be just a oneshot, I thought I'd post a preview here and get some feedback from you all. Let me know what you think!

~~~

It was a well known fact that Mark hated the ocean.

Space, he was absolutely infatuated with, and he had been for a long time.

But as far as he was concerned, the ocean was a pit of death and nightmares, and was infinitely inferior to space. It was cold, dark, and full of things that put most sci-fi movies to shame, meaning Mark didn't believe his opinion on it would change anytime soon.

Until the day he met her.

~~~

It was a warm day in July when it happened. The sun beat down on the land below with unrelenting intensity, scorching any living thing that happened to remain in its immediate line of fire for an extended period of time. The air it reached wasn't much better, becoming thick and dry as the temperature continued to increase, the sensation of inhaling it instilling so much discomfort that one could question how it was even still breathable.

The typical Californian heat was unbearable for some, but add the compactness of a city such as LA and weather conditions became more vexatious.

Which is why Mark, Tyler, Ethan, and Kathryn had decided to get out and head to the beach.

Originally, it had been Tyler's idea. He'd called each of them up consecutively that morning, laid out the plan and asked if they were on board. Despite the fact that it was the middle of the summer and devastatingly warm, none of them were willing to pass up an opportunity to go. A nice afternoon by the ocean sounded pretty perfect, and so Tyler had picked them all up, driving the four of them to a fairly unknown beach a couple of hours outside of LA.

Which is where they now stood. At the start of the beach's sand, admiring the view and marveling in the fact that there somehow weren't any other people there with them.

"Where is everybody?" Kathryn asked as they all made their way down the sand. "It's way too empty here."

"There's probably some radioactive waste in a cave somewhere," Ethan joked. "That's the only way to keep a bunch of people away from a beach in the middle of July."

"Where did you hear about this place again?" Mark questioned, looking skeptically at Tyler. It would be more than a little unsettling to learn that the site of what would hopefully be a day of relaxation was actually home to some sketchy secret.

"Like I told you guys, I found it on the Internet," Tyler said, though even he seemed wary of his own answer. "I was looking for beaches we hadn't been to, and this one came up. I'm just as surprised as you are that there's nobody here."

Almost immediately after Tyler finished talking, Mark felt his foot catch on something sticking up from the stand and lurched forwards. He quickly caught his balance again and continued walking, thankful that no one had seen him almost faceplant, but he did take a glance behind to see what was almost the cause of another embarrassing moment.

Sticking up from the ground was a metal pole, with a familiar pattern of chain mesh extending downwards and out from it.

It was part of a fence.

"Why do I have the feeling that the Internet is a less than trustworthy source when it comes to unknown locations?" Mark quipped, turning around and trying not to think about why there could possibly be a fence embedded in the sand.