Halloween 2010 story: The Lost Coast

[Viridian]

Lachlan had been the owner of the Port Stana general store for fifty years, having inherited it from his late father. Port Stana itself wasn’t a notable town, having a population of around four hundred and a lot of tourists who came for the lush forests and gullies that surrounded it. Perhaps its biggest quirk was its name. Rumour had that the name was an anagram of “Satan” and the town had a dark and demonic past. Tourists, however, were more puzzled about why a town that was a hundred kilometres inland was called a Port. Lachlan was just young enough to remember why – though it was knowledge he kept to himself and instead told curious visitors about how the coastline had changed; that Port Stana was named after a Swedish trader from the 18th century; and that it had been a thriving business hub since the colonial days.

It had been a rather quiet day in the store. The tourism season was at an end and the curious visitors from far and wide had gone back to whence they came. Lachlan spent the morning reading the paper and listening to the sports cast on the radio. When someone did enter the store, he glanced nonchalantly at the door and recognised the two faces and grinned. Some tourists liked to stay for the long haul.

Janine was the taller of the two customers. She had long golden-blonde hair and tanned skin from extensive time in the sun. She wore a halter top and Daisy Duke-style cutoffs with sandals; unashamed to show off skin and cleavage in this hot weather. The other woman was Kayla, who stuck out with bright blue eyes and fair skin. She wore a khaki blouse and skirt and had hiking boots on her feet. They approached the counter and stocked up on supplies – camping equipment and candy bars in particularly. Lachlan whistled as he added the cost on a calculator that could have been mistaken as an abacus.

“You look like you’ve seen a ghost,” he said idly to Kayla, who he noticed looked paler than usual.

“It’s funny that you mention that,” she replied. “I think I have.”

“I hear a lot of that,” said Lachlan. “Do tell. Can’t have ghosts hurting my business, though if this load is anything to show, it might be bringing more customers in.”

“We’ve been camping near the Cape for a week,” said Janine, referring to another oddly-named location near the Port. “Kayla and I were swimming in the lake there one evening when it got dark. When we got back to the shore, our clothes were missing. There was something really strange about the whole. It felt really cold for some reason, and it felt like someone was watching.”

“A lot of animals around here,” Lachlan dismissed. “Get spooked easily by tourists. Not used to them swimming ‘round in their drinking holes and leaving things lying around.”

“It happened more than once,” Kayla continued, indirectly looking at small pile of clothing she picked off the shelves. “We’ve lost a few other things as well from our campsite. Unless animals know how to take a video camera from a case, I think there’s someone – or something – out there.”

“Thieves operate around here, especially during the holiday season, ma’am,” said Lachlan. “Shouldn’t leave thing like cameras lyin’ around.”

“Are you sure?” asked Janine. “I mean, it’s pretty serious. Hundreds of tourists could lose their belongings. It’ll look bad on the town.”

Lachlan shrugged. “I’m just the store owner. If you want an investigation, you’ll have to see our town cop, but he’s out for the week. Got a funeral for one of his relatives a few hundred clicks away. We’ve got a park ranger checking the area out too, though. You let him know of your troubles if you see him and he’ll get things sorted out for you.”

“Thanks for the advice.” Janine and Kayla picked their items up and began to walk out. On the way, Janine picked up a tourist brochure from a nearby rack. “Could I grab one of these?”

“Sure thing, ma’am,” replied Lachlan. He returned to listening to the radio and reading the newspaper.

* * *

The car trip back to the campsite took an hour, by which time it was mid-afternoon. The girls talked during the journey while Kayla checked through their inventory.

“You know,” she said. “I was beginning to worry about all our clothes being stolen.”

“I know what you mean,” Janine replied. “Lucky we got some clothes from the store. With everything going missing, we might have had to go home naked.”

“Do you reckon he knows anything? About the ghost?”

Janine shook her head. “Nah. He’s some old geezer. If he knew something about it, he would’ve told us. Many times.”

“I guess. Still, he read my mind pretty well.” Kayla picked up the brochure that Janine grabbed earlier. “Why did you take this?”

“Second page,” she replied without taking her eyes off the dirt track. “I saw it last time we were there. It’s got a map of the place with the old coastline. Take a look.”

Kayla opened the pamphlet. On one side was a map of the area. Another was a historical depiction of the region around Port Stana. Indeed, the coastline had been redrawn accordingly, with the Port sticking out into the old bay and the Cape forming a natural curve. Several rocky stacks that were off the coast were still recognisable as landmarks dotted around the gullies.

“It’s a long shot, but I want to check something out.”

Janine would’ve explained, but the car suddenly ground to a halt. She had been driving through an unmarked trail that was supposed to lead back to their camping ground. However, Janine had taken a wrong turn somewhere, because the trail ended abruptly at the edge of a wide expanse of yellowish sand. The four-wheel drive rolled forward a few metres until it plunged front-first straight through the sandy surface. In the span of a few seconds, the car’s front end sank nearly up to the windscreen while the back wheels also became bogged.

“What the hell?” Janine shouted. She tried to put the car in reverse, succeeding only in driving the vehicle deeper.

“Janine! We’re sinking!” Kayla cried. She could hardly believe her eyes. The sand looked like it was moving and swallowing them deeper into its grasp. The vehicle was so deep that the wet sand began to pour through the open windows, pooling at their feet. The girls looked at each other in horror.

“We gotta get out!” Janine blurted in panic.

Kayla fiddled with her seat belt and tugged at it. “Janine, I can’t get this off!”

Janine leaned over. The sand was quickly filling up the front of the car and was up to their knees before Janine managed to open the clasp to free her friend.

“Out the back!” said Janine, unlocking the rear hatch. She clambered over the seats and boxes and opened the hatch. She turned to help Kayla up, whose legs were now covered in a thin layer of moist sand.

Janine leapt out first. Kayla followed, but the car suddenly lurched and made her slip. Her blouse caught onto something and she nearly dislocated her shoulder falling through the open hatch. Fortunately, the blouse gave way first, popping all her buttons and exposing her full, round breasts for a second before she fell face-first into the wet sand. She pushed down with her hands and legs to get up, only to find that they slid easily into the soft sand. Beside her, Janine was up to her thighs. The sand formed small depressions where the girls were stuck; causing slight ripples in the moisture on the surface. Janine could barely move her legs, while Kayla was now in the awkward position of having her arms and legs stuck and her breasts brushing over the grainy surface. The sensation against her hardened nipples sent shivers through her body. Kayla groaned as the sand cupped her breasts and caressed them with its softness. Janine was also moaning involuntarily, moving her hips from side to side as the quicksand soaked through her shorts and squeezed between her legs.

“What’s this stuff?” she grunted. “It’s sucking us down…can’t move…”

“Arms…stuck…” Kayla muttered. She tensed her upper body and tried to bring pull her arms free. Instead, her lower body slid forward so that she was now upright and up to her chest in the sand. She was now in another unflattering position with her bare breasts floating on the surface and her arms pinned to her sides.

“Oh my god,” she gasped, feeling the quicksand slide around her body. “Help!”

“Don’t struggle!” Janine shouted, sinking up to her breasts as well before joining in shouting.

By coincidence, the park ranger was nearby and had seen the vehicle drive into the unstable quicksand. The trapped girls looked up to see the ranger’s utility truck stop at the quicksand’s edge. The blonde-haired, well-endowed ranger hopped out and grabbed a rope from the back of the truck. She threw one end to Janine with perfect accuracy.

“Tie this around yourself,” she ordered. Janine hurriedly did so while the ranger tied the other end to the front of her truck. She climbed back into the truck and eased it into reverse. After some initial resistance, the quicksand released its firm hold on Janine, allowing her to slide freely through and out, leaving a wide wake behind her that quickly filled itself up.

The ranger leapt out again and hastily untied the rope from around Janine. Holding the loose end, she went flat on her stomach and began crawling out towards Kayla. Kayla looked on as the ranger made slow but steady progress across the treacherous surface; her uniform becoming moist and clinging onto her athletic frame. When she reached her, the ranger carefully slipped the rope underneath Kayla’s armpits and secured it in a knot before turning around and crawling back, climbing back into the truck and repeating her rescue for Kayla. The quicksand fought against this effort, but soon Kayla was also on her way towards the solid ground with her breasts exposed and her skirt sliding off her legs, leaving her in her panties

Once she was free and untied, the ranger sat them down and checked on them. She wiped the excess sand off her wet blouse, revealing her name badge: Christana.

“Thank you so much,” Janine gasped. “We could’ve died!”

“Just part of the job,” Christana replied. “Unfortunately you’re not the only ones who get caught in quicksand. There’s a lot of it around here, and it’s a shame that tourists don’t read the warning signs. Luckily I saw you guys from the other side. Your vehicle won’t be so lucky. We’ll need some heavy towing equipment to get it out, and it’s mostly likely a write-off. Motor vehicles and quicksand don’t go well together.”

“What about our things?” asked Kayla, covering her exposed body.

“They’ll have to stay where they are,” the ranger warned. “You’ll only get stuck trying to get them back out. If you need anything, I can provide a few things. Just don’t go hopping into more bog holes. Where are you guys camped out? I’ll give you a lift there.”

They gratefully accepted the offer. On the way back, the ranger pointed out where they had taken a wrong turn and drove straight into the area known as the Cove, which was known to have large pockets of unstable soil and sand. Despite feeling at a loss because of her car, Janine’s curiosity was piqued upon hearing the name of the Cove.

“What do you know about this place?” she asked. “I mean, its history.”

“Old Lachlan can tell you more about that,” said the ranger.

“How about why the forest is named after coastal features? You know, the Cape? Cove?”

“Well, it has something to do with the old coastline being somewhere along here. Used to be a major trading route in the old days. Very dangerous too – a lot of shipwrecks happened on these shores, and if you buy into that sort of thing, there’s talk about the place being haunted. Tourist tales, mostly.”

“How long have you been working around here?” Kayla asked, noting that Christana could not be beyond her early thirties.

“Actually, I haven’t been here for long. My family came from this area, but I moved to the city when I was a teenager and only came back here last month after I finished my study and training.”

“What made you come back here?” asked Janine. “Don’t you want to travel to other places?”

“I do, but there’s something about this place that appeals to me. Home turf, you know?”

The ranger dropped the girls off at their campsite and offered to come back the next day with supplies. They parted ways for the time being and the girls prepared to bathe in the lake to wash off the muck.

* * *

As they swam naked in the cool lake until the sun began to go down, Kayla found Janine distracted, often gazing off into the distance.

“Something wrong, Jan?”

Janine held her distant gaze. “The ranger, Christana. There’s something familiar about her, but I can’t pick out what it is. I think she knows more than she says she does. Kind of like that Lachlan guy at the store.”

“A bit too much conspiracy theory, perhaps?” Kayla joked.

Janine didn’t laugh. “Someone’s watching us.”

“Who? Where?”

Silence.

“Janine?”

“There’s something out there. Don’t look. Just feel.”

“Is it the ghost?”

“What do you think?”

Kayla thought about it. She might’ve dismissed the idea of ghosts as make-believe before, but after her encounter with the spirit the other day, her perception of such things was shaken. Janine began to swim towards the shore where the foggy apparition appeared to be.

“Where are you going?” Kayla asked.

“Checking this ghost out,” Janine replied.

“Shouldn’t you put some clothes on?”

But Janine wasn’t listening. She climbed out and walked through the fog. The cold made her nipples erect. She covered herself half-heartedly, more intrigued by the ghost than her modesty. It was the same one they saw yesterday – a shapeless figure surrounded by mist. The closer she got, the clearer the shape appeared, until she could make out the features of a young woman.

“Help me,” the spirit whispered.

It beckoned to her. Janine felt compelled to follow. Oblivious to her nakedness, the ghost led her away from the lake. The terrain felt unfamiliar to Janine, now surrounding by a thick fog. Her trek was stopped when the spirit pointed towards a place in the distance.

“Release me,” it bade.

Janine couldn’t see what she was pointing at. She took a step forward. Suddenly, the ground gave way beneath her and she plunged to her thighs in thick, bubbling mud.

“Ugh,” she groaned. “More quicksand?”

She tried to free her legs, but the mud squelched and move around her naked body at will, caressing her curves and pulling her in. She gritted her teeth as the mud forced itself between her legs. Realising she was trapped, she called out for help.

When Kayla finally found her, Janine was up to her breasts. Kayla was carrying their clothes from the lakeside and dropped them upon seeing Janine’s distress. Unable to reach, Kayla began tying some of their clothes together to form a rope.

“Christ almighty,” Kayla swore. “What do you think you’re doing, walking around naked like this? Something get into you?”

“Something’s out there,” Janine replied, grasping onto the rope and wriggling free. “The ghost. It pointed to something over there.”

“Well you just got juked into walking into quicksand,” said Kayla, digging her feet into the soft ground to find some footing. “Lucky I found you. Where’d all this fog come from?”

“Shh.” Janine stopped moving.

They could hear voices. Distant and faint, they could just barely make out the distinct, gruff voices of men. Further still they could hear a bell echoing through the mist. Shouting and screaming and the moving of many feet. Finally, a sickening crash followed by the sound of ripping timbers. The landscape became quiet again.

“Did you get all that?” asked Janine.

“Yeah,” Kayla replied, “but let’s talk about it later. Let’s get you out.”

Janine realised that she had sunk nearly to her shoulders and that Kayla had mired herself to her waist trying to keep her from sinking further. With a little trouble, the girls freed themselves from the grasping mire.

* * *

Christana came to visit the girls the next morning, and she brought along someone who heard about the girls’ encounter with the ghost from the townspeople. A tall lanky fellow with dark eyes and rough stubble, he introduced himself as a paranormal investigator.

“Charles Black,” he stated. “Just call me Chuck.”

“Pleased to meet you,” Janine replied. “So you look into ghosts and that sort of thing?”

“I sure do,” Chuck answered. “And I’m mighty interested in what you’ve seen around these parts.”

He listened intently as the girls shared their story, especially what they witnessed the previous night. His head nodded vigorously with comprehension while his eyes darted back and forth between the three women, appreciating the beauty of his new companions. Janine was wearing a tight pink tube top that exposed her midriff. Kayla was sitting shyly behind her, conscious about Chuck’s gaze and keeping her arms crossed in front of her – she wasn’t wearing a bra beneath her tank top and was worried about her nipples showing through. Both girls were wearing delightfully short skirts. Even the park ranger, anticipating hot weather, wore nothing underneath her blouse and was wearing shorts that accentuated her toned legs. He kept an eye on her in particular.

“This is a grave concern,” Chuck finally said. “Hauntings are often the result of a tormented past. If there is indeed a spirit wandering these forests, it could spell disaster for the population in the long term.”

“What would you suggest?” asked Christana.

He turned to Janine. “You said that the ghost was pointing towards something. Could you locate where it is?”

Janine watched him pull out a map. Like her map, it was taken from the tourist pamphlet. Surprisingly, he had also marked in the old coastline. Janine found the lake and traced her trek to where the ghost stopped. It was on the edge of the old bay. There wasn’t anything special in the current area, but following the line of sight on the old coastline, she found herself looking at the mouth of a river.

“It’s fortunate that you didn’t go any further,” said Christana. “The area was inundated for a long time before it became what it is today. The soil is naturally unstable due to the groundwater.”

“Is there any way to get to the river?” Chuck asked, looking at the spot with growing curiosity.

“I don’t know the place well,” Christana replied. “I could guide you there, though it might be dangerous.”

“I could do with some help,” Chuck said to Janine and Kayla. “Would you be interested in coming along?”

Not long after, the four-man expedition was ready to leave. Christana plotted a rough course across the Cove towards the mouth of the old river. She brought along food and water in a pack, which Chuck volunteered to carry. The four of them started the journey in Christina’s truck, though they soon had to leave the vehicle behind as they entered the Cove. Christana repeated her warning about the unstable ground, pointing towards a particular patch of yellowish soil and tossing a stone into it.

“You really have to be careful around these parts,” she cautioned. “The mist can make it difficult to find your footing, and getting out of these bogs won’t be easy. It’ll really feel like it’ll suck you down, and it could take hours to free you.”

Christana led the way, followed by Kayla. Chuck and Janine tarried behind – Janine was having a more difficult time traversing the terrain in her sandals while the others had good hiking boots. Chuck was patient with her and helped her through some tough spots.

“So, what got you into investigating ghosts?” Janine asked.

“I do a bit more than look at ghosts,” said Chuck. “Actually, ghosts and I go back a long way. You could say it runs in the family.” He smiled. “You look like the sort who would believe a ghost story.”

Janine wasn’t sure how to respond to that. “I’m no expert like you.”

“You don’t need to be. All you have to do is feel before you see. That’s why certain people are more sensitive to the supernatural than others. You need a certain level of attunement with your surroundings.”

“So like, sixth sense?”

“Something along those lines.”

“Speaking of ghosts…” Janine stopped. Her sandals had gotten stuck in the muddy soil again. She stepped out of them to pull them out. The ground felt soft and inviting underneath her bare feet, moulding eagerly around her soles. Janine glanced around. There was a mist settling around her, very similar to the one that shrouded her the previous night. She felt around for her sandals, but the mist made it impossible to see them and after a few minutes of searching she could find any trace of them. By now the ground felt very spongy underfoot, and Janine resigned to the fact that her sandals had someone disappeared and she had to go barefoot.

“Hey Chuck, wait up,” she called out.

Her voice echoed in the mist, but no one called back. There was no sign of Chuck or the others. Did they leave her behind? Janine’s stomach turned. She was in a completely alien place with poor visibility. The mist felt like a curtain around her. Which way did she come from? She called out a few more times, but the only reply was the echo of her own voice. She might have waited for them to return, but she felt a downward pulling motion on her feet. She was up to her calves in the gritty sand. Fearing that she had stumbled onto an unstable pocket, she had to move on.

The minutes seemed to stretch into hours. Despite calling out repeatedly, Janine was no closer to finding her companions. The Cove was beginning to look more and more like a swamp. She leaned against a tree to rest. A shiver ran down her spine.

“Help me.”

Janine jumped and turned. She came face to face with the ghost maiden.

“Release me.”

“Uh…guys…” Janine wasn’t sure what to do. “Chuck? Kayla? Christana?”

“Stana…” the maiden whispered. “My name…”

“Stana? Your name is Stana?”

The maiden opened her mouth to speak, but a chilly gust of wind tore through her, dispersing her form across the misty swamp. The fog, too, dispersed. Janine’s jaw dropped. Towering in front of her was a wooden ship. Its hulk was partially submerged in the ground and its masts seemed to glow with a grey aura; the mists forming the sails. Suddenly, the sound of lightning shattered the scene, followed by a drizzle that rapidly increased in intensity. A thunderstorm in the middle of summer? Janine had to find shelter. She ran towards the ship as fast as she could. The hull had a huge gap in the side where it had been smashed against something. Soaking wet, Janine carefully climbed through the jagged opening. The wind was howling now, and the storm was so strong that the rain was falling sideways. Janine climbed down the old staircase that led deeper into the ship, hoping to find some sort of shelter. Instead, she found something else.

At the bottom of the stair case was something resembling a wooden cage. Inside was Kayla. Her clothes were ripped and soaked, and she looked battered. She stirred when Janine arrive.

“Janine!” she cried out.

Janine rushed down to the cage. It was held together crudely by a bolt on the outside. She slid it open and embraced Kayla, who was shivering.

“What happened?” Janine asked.

“It was Chuck,” she said. “He said you disappeared, so we started looking for you. Then he…”

She was cut short by the crack of a bullet. The shot went by her head and hit the wall. The girls look up at the stairs. Chuck was there, holding a semi-automatic pistol. But instead of his own clothing, he was wearing a long heavy coat with brass buttons and medals, and wore a tricorn hat with gold thread

“You speak too much of things you know little of, girl,” he boomed. His voice was deeper than they had noticed and his eyes were now a steel grey. He stared at Janine. “You have met the maiden. Do you want to see who she is and what happened to her?”

“What are you doing?” Janine demanded.

Chuck raised his pistol and fired another warning shot into the air. “Answer not with questions! Your fate is yours to decide. Choose now!”

“Show me where Stana is!”

Thunder cracked. “Then come up to the deck!”

He strode up and the girls followed. The storm was so powerful that they were nearly blown off the deck of the ship. Chuck stood tall. In front of him, bound and naked, was Christana.

“Christana!” Janine shouted. She ran forward, but was stopped by the muzzle of Chuck’s pistol.

“Bear witness, and do no more, girl,” he commanded.

“He’s mad!” Christana shouted. “Stop him!”

Chuck turned and slapped her across the face. “Foolish girl! How dare you insult me! I have walked this accursed earth for hundreds of years, tormented by the same bloodline that smote me down from my rightful place.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about!”

He kicked her this time. She fell onto the deck. He raised his shoulders and roared so that his voice could be heard above the din of the storm.

“I am Charles Alexander Black, Captain of the Royal Marines. My family had always been wealthy patrons and peers of the realm. So it should be! But alas, were it not for the intervention of those foreigners from yonder sea, I would have held onto my wealth.

“I remember that day well. Victory was rightfully mine in the open sea. It was a stormy day like this. The coward struck his colours and beckoned us to his aid. We fought to save his ship and tow it home as ours. But the cur…he hid men in the holds and sprang upon us while we saved their miserable lives. I cursed them all, and above all I cursed him and his bloodline. I screamed his name as his sword pierced my flesh. I doomed him to an early grave.

“And so it happened. The ship never made it home. Running aground on an unforeseen reef, its fate was never to be known. The land and seas changed, hastened by my rage. I wanted to bury him forever in the dirtiest land and deny him of the honour of a burial at sea. My men avenged me by capturing his lover and chaining her in our deepest hold, to be forgotten by tide and time.

“But I was restless. I could not go in peace as long as his bloodline remained. I searched long and hard for his last descendants. Fate would have it for me to return to this wretched vessel and await her. And here she is! My vengeance will be sweet and my rest will be long and earned.”

“Are you going to shoot me?” Christana asked.

With inhuman strength, he grabbed her by the neck and pulled her up. “No, my darling. I will not make the mistake of forgetting you now, my dear Stana. Stand!” Christana’s body righted itself. She was now standing on a wooden plank stick out from the deck. She choked. He was going to make her walk off. He held his gun at her. “At the count of three…”

“Help me!” she cried.

He laughed. He counted three and shoved her off himself. Christana fell, but instead of splashing into the water, she landed feet-first into the new Cove – thick, grey mire that sucked at her as soon as she touched it. She plunged into the quicksand and sank to her waist in an instant.

“No! Help me!” she screamed, powerless to struggle against the relentless bog, which seemed to have the hatred of Captain Black in its grains. The mud forced itself between her legs, where it played with her darkly and fondly. She screamed and screamed. Black laughed.

His dreadful joy was interrupted by a coil of rope. The two women who had been watching all this time decided it was the time to act. They wrestled him down and wrenched his weapon from him. Black roared in fury. He swung at Kayla and knocked off her feet and turned to claw at Janine. His hands dug into her chest and he ripped off her top with ease. He flipped her onto her back and straddled her, his hands clasped around her neck.

“Do not mess with the course of history, girl!” he shouted, dribbling onto her face. “You cannot change what has happened!”

Janine couldn’t breathe. She was about to die. She knew it. She weakly grappled with him, pushing him away. There was another crack. He grew heavier, crushing her. Then he slid to the side and hit the deck. A bullet from his own gun pierced his twisted brain. Kayla stood behind him, clutching the handgun. Seeing the consequence of her action, she dropped the gun. Janine recovered from the shock first and remembered their predicament. She grabbed the rope and began tying it around Kayla’s waist. Kayla, realising what Janine was doing, looked over the side of the ship. Only Christana’s head was visible.

Kayla jumped overboard as soon as the rope was secure, nearly causing it to slip from Janine’s grasp. Kayla sank to her chest in the quicksand, which immediately began to devour its new prey. Kayla hooked her arms beneath Christana’s and held on for dear life as Janine battled with the quicksand for its prizes. It felt like hours of agonising struggle, but the storm was ceasing and the quicksand was relinquishing its grip. She could nearly reach them now – unknown to her, the boat had also begun to sink and the surface of the mire was just below the top deck. This worked in her favour by putting her within arm’s length of her companions. Just as she was about to pull them to safety, she felt something grip the back of her neck and pull her back. She turned and screamed as the bloody face of Captain Black screeched at her, opening its mouth to bite into her flesh. She could smell the blood and brains that were splattered down his forehead and cheeks.

Then the head fell off; swept clean off his shoulders and flew overboard. Beside her, another man took his place and grabbed the rope. By now her arms felt like they were dead and she collapsed onto the deck.

* * *

Janine awoke to the smell of the sea and glare of the summer sun. Her body felt cold but she could feel the heat return to her body. She was topless, and beside her Christana and Kayla were sitting and waiting for her to regain consciousness.

“Where are we?” Janine gasped, her memory flooding back. She snapped upright and looked over the side. Unbelievably, there was no sign of the mire or the swamp. She was looking out over the wide blue sea.

“Always thought that guy to be a funny one,” said a fourth voice. The girls turned to see the general store owner, Lachlan. He was patting the haft of his axe. He looked away as the girls quickly covered their bare bodies, and he laughed.

“Well, I guess you’ve missed the news then,” he said, raising his pocket radio. “Freak storm. Never seen anything like it in all my years. The hills just…collapsed or something. Radio said something about fault lines and earthquakes and all that. This whole area got flooded in the biggest deluge since Noah’s time, I’d say.”

“You mean,” said Kayla, “that’s…the sea?”

“The way it’s always been, darling,” said Lachlan. He looked at the women, who looked incredulously at him. “What’s the matter? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

[Weapon X]

Most enjoyable read. Usually, I don't get into stories much, but this was definitely an exception. A lot of detail, and great story line! Good work!

[PM2K]

Excellent! Really puts one in the mood for Halloween...

[Mwam]

Absolutely cool!
I enjoyed every seconds! It was creepy and exciting!