"Woo-hoo! Way to go, Georgia!" Shep hollered, darting by and snatching hold of her hand as he went, forcibly pulling her along with him.

Clydie didn't even have time to protest as she was swept along toward the water. Before she could prepare or brace herself, her feet were hitting the waves and then she was suddenly thigh deep, the breath leaving her lungs as the feel of the icy water struck her. The cold itself was enough of a shock to her system, but the strength of the waves rolling in toward shore was even more shocking. Those waves were pushing at her with all the force of a moving vehicle, actually lifting her feet up out of the soft sand as they ebbed and flowed.

Shep let go of her and disappeared underneath the water and then Matt was there, taking hold of her and ushering her forward, out into the waves, not stopping until she was waist deep. The water was frigid and within only a matter of minutes, she was numb and shivering. But, she was doing it. She was out in the water, feeling the push and pull of the ocean, smelling the briny scent and listening to all the squealing and hollering that was going on around her. 

 If she didn't think about the fact that she was probably going to lose a few fingers and toes to frostbite, it was actually kind of...invigorating.  Ish.

"How's it, Clydie?" Matt asked, suddenly scooping her right up into his arms and spinning her around in the water. "Is your blood pumping yet?"

"No! Its too frozen to pump!" she told him as he sat her back onto her feet.

"Aw, its not that bad! Its barely even cold!" he grinned, pulling her up against his bare chest and putting his arms around her.

The attempt was appreciated, but it did not help to stifle the shivers that were racing through her.

"Come on! Let's go under!" Matt urged as a large wave slammed into her back, making her shriek from that sudden blast of icy cold.

"Do it, Georgia! Show us what you got!" Shep hollered from nearby.

Crap. She was going to die from hypothermia because she, apparently, was too weak to withstand a bit of light peer pressure. "Okay, let's do it!" she said through her teeth.

"Hold your nose! Salt water burns like hell!" That warning given, Matt tightened his arms around her, giving her enough time to pinch her nose closed, and then they were both doused beneath the waves.

Being completely submerged in the bone-chilling water caused her heart to skip several beats and her limbs to smart painfully and it was all she could do to control her gasp reflex and avoid sucking in a lungful of sea water.

She might have panicked, being beneath those crushing waves, having her sight blocked out and her ears filled with the deafening roar, but Matt kept a firm grip on her, holding her close and keeping her from being dragged leagues out into the harbour. And then they were both back on their feet and she was sucking in a full, loud breath, instantly noticing that the cold air seemed about ten degrees warmer on her exposed flesh. Though, oddly, it did not help to actually stave the cold that seemed to have settled right down into her bones.

"Hell, yeah! You're one of us now, Georgia!" Shep hollered.

Clydie, swiping the salty water from her face, sent up that unlady-like hand gesture she'd wanted to use earlier, which caused Shep to guffaw as if she'd done something uproariously funny.

"Its official. You're one of us locals," Matt reiterated, still pressing her to his chest. "How does it feel?"

"Like I'm g-going to l-l-lose some of my toes to f-f-frostbite," she chattered, trying to get closer to the minimal body heat that coming off him.

She felt him stiffen beneath her. "Okay. I think you've had enough fun," Matt stated and in very short order, she found herself led out of the waves and whisked over to the bonfire.

She was sat on a piece of driftwood nearest the bright flames and then Matt hurried away to retrieve her clothes, quickly returning with them, but she couldn't even take hold of them because her fingers were stiff and useless.

"Damn!" Matt swore, a worried look passing over his handsome face. "Maybe that...wasn't such a good idea?"

Now he thought it was a bad idea? Now?

Shep appeared out of the darkness, looking completely unfazed by the cold...and he was also buck naked...revealing to her that not all of him had escaped the effects of the icy water. "You're a good sport, Georgia! I'm kind of proud of you!"

"Shep, cover your Johnson and help me get her clothes on!" Matt commanded. "She's freezing!"

Shep took a second to actually look at Clydie, assessing her as she sat there, shivering uncontrollably, her teeth clacking together so they sounded like a little machine gun going off. "Shit. Her lips are kind of blue."

"I know! Now get your jockey's on and help!" barked Matt.

While Shep hurried off to find his clothes, Matt dropped to his knees before her and began trying to get her into her jeans. And she could do nothing to help him. She was numb from head to toe, her body stiff and quaking, her feet and hands throbbing painfully.

A part of her couldn't believe she was probably going to be taken out due to hypothermia simply because she'd given into peer pressure from a guy who called himself Shep.

The guilty party suddenly reappeared, clothes in place, and quickly began helping Matt dress her. Between the two of them, they managed to shrug her into her jeans and shirt, and while Matt was helping her into her cardigan, Shep disappeared and then almost as quickly reappeared, pressing a red plastic cup into her stiff and frozen hands.

"Take a drink of this," he ordered.

"What is that?" asked Matt, suspicious.

"Its just some whiskey. A shot will warm her up," Shep knowingly replied.

"Dude, she's under age," Matt pointed out as he wrapped her scarf around her neck.

Shep snorted. "I'm not giving her a six pack! Its just a shot! And her lips are blue, man! She needs something!"

She actually knew that drinking alcohol did nothing to warm the human body. It instead dilated the blood vessels closest to the skin, which gave an illusion of warmth, while actually causing the body to loose heat. But, at the moment, she felt as if the illusion of warmth couldn't hurt. She was dressed, she was by the fire, she was exposed to passive heat...

Though she'd never even held a cup with alcohol in it, she lifted the vessel to her lips and took a mouthful of the amber colored liquid anyway. As soon as the bitter, sharp stuff hit the back of her throat and began to trickle down, she found herself slammed with guilt and half expected her mother to come flying out of the night, ready to kick the snot out of her for breaking their number one family rule...which was no drinking. Ever.

But, as the drink began to leave a slight trail of fire down her throat, and then splashed into her belly, lighting a bit of a fire there, too, she tried to push that guilt aside. Her very bones were aching and if a sip of liquor would help to stave off that pain—which was a direct result of her own asinine stupidity—then she'd risk her mother's wrath.

And she was stupid! She'd known not go running out into a freezing cold ocean! She wasn't made for that kind of thing. She was from the South, for pity's sake!

"Alright. One sip is enough," Matt said, taking the cup and tossing it into the fire, where she was a bit disappointed to see that it didn't go up in a loud whoosh.

"Hey! Does anybody have a blanket!" Shep called out. "We've got a situation here!"

Clydie would have blushed if her blood hadn't been too frozen to reach her cheeks. It was ironic really. She'd been worried about making a fool out of herself in front of a bunch of strangers and what was she doing? She was making a fool out of herself in front of a bunch of strangers. Perfect.

Someone came forward through the flickering firelight and handed Shep a blanket, which was promptly draped around her. But, it seemed as if the shivering and chattering were already starting to subside, though she couldn't say whether it was the heat from the fire or the slow wave of warmth that was spreading from her belly outward, flowing along her veins and reaching all the way to her fingers and toes.

"Clydie? Are you alright? Can you talk to me?" asked Matt, taking her hands in his and gently rubbing them between his own to try and warm them up.

"I-I'm okay. I th-think I'm unthawing," she croaked out past her stiff lips.

"See? She needs another shot," Shep offered.

"That's straight Jack! She can't have more than one shot!" Matt growled at the boy.

No. She would not be having more than one shot. The guilt of that one mouthful would probably gnaw at her for the rest of her life anyway. At least, however long of a life she might have left.

"So, do you hate me now?" wondered Matt, still trying to warm her hands.

She gave her head a firm shake. "Wh-why would I hate you? If I didn't want to get in there, I wouldn't have," she told that half truth, noticing that her teeth weren't clicking together as vehemently as before.

"Well, you sure know how to get a guy's attention, Georgia," Shep stated, dropping down next to her on the log.

"I'm from West Virginia," she pointed out.

Shep lifted a shoulder. "I know. But, you sound like you could be from Georgia. And its easier than calling you West Virginia."

"You could call her by her name," suggested Matt, rolling his eyes until they all but disappeared.

"I could," was Shep's riposte.

Clydie rolled her own eyes, for several reasons. "So, this is how you guys have fun? Giving yourselves hypothermia and then doing shots to keep from dying?"

"Pretty much. Aren't you sad you've been missing out?" posed Shep.

"I'm sad that I'm probably gonna lose a few fingers and toes," she answered.

"Aw, that's just part of the fun. I thought I was going to lose my left testicle once, but things worked out," Shep revealed that tidbit about his life.

"I'm...happy for you?" she said, trying not to make a face.

She's already seen his junk. She didn't need to talk about it.

Matt let out a hard breath. "Shep, you're an idiot."

A sudden outburst of loud voices from just down the beach filled the air and without needing to be told, she knew that some sort of fight had broken out. And as that thought occurred to her, both Matt and Shep jumped to their feet, racing past the fire and toward the clamoring voices.

Clydie kept her seat, huddling into her blanket and stretching her still bare toes out toward the flames, feeling the warmth tingling her skin. Whatever was playing out down the beach had nothing to do with her, so the new girl needed to stay far away from it.

As she sat, warming all her frozen parts and beginning to question her new motto to try things she'd never tried before, a young girl appeared, walking over and sitting down on the log beside her. For a moment, the girl didn't speak. She just sat, staring into the flames, and Clydie, not knowing what else to do, kept her own mouth closed.

"You know," the girl finally began, keeping her voice low and quiet, but still keeping her gaze on the fire, "you really shouldn't take anything to drink from Shep."

Those words sent something sharp shooting up her spine. "Why shouldn't I?"

"Because you can't be sure that he hasn't put something in it," came the response.

Clydie felt her heart skip a hard beat and all those lectures her mother had given her and Sam suddenly raced through her mind, leaving her feeling like something of a fool. That possibility hadn't even occurred to her.

Of course, she did have Matt with her...

Clearing her throat, she turned her full attention to the girl beside her. "H-has Shep done that to you? Is that...how you know?"

There was a pause from the girl, who looked so young that it was almost startling. "Yeah. He has."

Hearing that, Clydie sat, feeling the seconds beginning to tick past. She had no idea what to say. She didn't know this girl from Adam, so she had no idea if the girl was being truthful or just being...weird. Or jealous. Or angry. Or any of the other things that teenaged girls could be when it came to boys they liked.

"You don't have to believe me. I just thought you should know," the girl said after a lengthy pause between them. "You're fresh meat, so he'll definitely do it to you if he gets the chance."

The statement was filled with such sincerity that she felt her breath quicken. Oh shit. She'd taken that drink without so much as hesitating. And she knew better!

"I'm here with Matt Tanner. He'd noticed if something was wrong," she assured with way more conviction that she actually felt.

The girl stared into the fire a few moments before replying. "Matt's nice. But, if you're ever by yourself, be careful. He's done it to a lot of girls. I'll lay you down money he's already trying to figure out how to do it to you. Maybe he gave you a drink without anything in it ?this time just to get you to trust him?"

That was the most terrifyingly unsettling thing anyone had ever said to her. "I-I...have you...I mean, have you told anybody?"

The girl gave her dark head a shake. "Shep's dad is the sheriff. Nothing will happen to him."

"Can't your mom and dad help? If he's done it to a lot of girls—"

"No one will say anything. I've tried to get them to come forward, but nobody wants to cause trouble for their families by accusing Shep. Besides, even if his dad wasn't the sheriff, the police department here is a joke. They don't do anything but sit around, pretending to do their jobs, just so they can make a paycheck."

The flat out bitterness in the girl's voice was jarring. "Why do you say that?" she heard herself ask and then immediately regretted it. "I'm sorry. Never mind. Its none of my business."

The young girl shrugged. "Its not a secret. The whole town knows about what happened."

She did not want to pry. She really didn't. But, the girl was saying things that were piquing her curiosity to an almost painful point. "What happened?"

"My sister disappeared," came the reply and Clydie felt some of the warmth she'd recaptured leave her body.

She wasn't sure she wanted to hear anything else, so she shrugged off her blanket and reached for her socks, starting to pull them on.

"She went out to meet some friends one night and she never came back. And the police have no idea what happened to her. I don't even think they bothered trying to find her, even though they said they were looking."

There was a mix of sorrow and anger in the girl's voice and Clydie found herself buffeted by a wave of sympathy. Her own sister was gone, but at least she knew what had happened, she knew that Sam was safe in the ground and no longer in pain.

"What do they think happened to her?" she asked hoarsely, unable to stop herself.

"They think someone probably abducted her and then killed her, but they don't have enough sense to figure out who it was or what they did with her," the girl replied flatly.

"Why do they think...that? I mean, if they never found...her..."

"That's just what they told us," the girl sighed. "They questioned some people and they had a person of interest that they wouldn't talk about. And nothing has changed in the past year. They've stopped bothering with Jessica because they have to hand out speeding tickets and worry about neighbors fussing because somebody's playing their music too loud."

She had no idea what to say to that, so she said the only she could say. "I'm sorry. Really."

The young girl looked away from the fire then, turning large brown eyes to Clydie. Eyes that were swirling with anger and grief. "You've lost someone, too."

That statement jolted through her and she was too stunned not to respond. "How...do you know?"

Surely, Matt Tanner hadn't been running around town telling her business to everyone? She'd only known him for a couple of days! That would be so gross!

"Its easy to guess. Its in your voice," the girl stated. "You sound kind of sad. And...hollow."

She sounded sad and hollow? Well, she couldn't refute something that she knew was probably the absolute truth.

"Who did you lose?" came the inevitable question.

She instantly felt herself shutting down and wanting to get up and walk away. But, the girl had told her about Jessica. And Shep. And she suddenly completely believed that story, which made her want to find Shep and put her fist right through his teeth.

"It was...my sister. Sam," she responded weakly, turning her focus to tugging on her boots and lacing them up. "She...she...she killed herself. Two years ago. She...killed herself."

And she'd tried to kill me along with her. And most days, I wish she had...

"Oh no. I'm so sorry," the girl whispered.

"Thank you," she replied because there was nothing else she could say.

"Do...do you ever feel like your sister is still around?" the girl asked, her voice trembling, and Clydie went rigid. "I mean, sometimes I could swear I can feel her in the room with me. I catch myself starting to say something to her, because it feels so real that I...I forget she's gone."

Breathing hard, she forced herself to remain there, sitting beside the girl, who was obviously hurting. And she knew what it was like. She didn't want to get up and walk away from her, as if her pain didn't mean anything.

"I-I feel that way a lot. I...I think its supposed to be normal?" But, then again, what in hell did she know about normal?

"It doesn't feel normal. It makes me feel like I'm crazy," the girl said in a rueful tone.

She tried to say something, but she couldn't even form words. The subject of crazy was off-limits for her.

"My mom says I spend too much time focusing on Jessica. That I need to move on and live my life. Do they tell you that?"

She nodded, forcing herself to speak past her stiff lips. "They tell me that all the time. But, I don't think they really understand how hard that can be."

The girl bit her lower lip, trying to keep it from quivering. "Do...do you wanna see a picture of her?"

No. No, she did not want to see a picture of the poor girl who'd been missing for a year. But, she nodded anyway.

The girl reached into her back pocket and pulled out her phone, the screen lighting up as she searched for the photo that she was after. "This is Jessica. This was at her birthday party a couple of days before...she left."

Clydie glanced down at the phone that was being held out to her, taking in the picture of two girls. The one sitting next to her, and a second girl, who looked extremely similar. It was the second girl that she focused on, the girl with the sharply pointed chin and thick, dark brows...the long, dark hair...wearing a plethora of necklaces and bracelets.

She would never forget that face. She would never forget those thick brows or all that jewelry. It was just so strange, seeing that face...so full of light and life...because the last time she'd seen it, it had been off-color...faded...and the soft brown eyes had been replaced by gaping, empty black voids....

But, that couldn't possibly be. 

 She had to be mistaken. She was...just getting things mixed up. A lot of young girls looked similar, dressed similar. And the girl in the picture...she didn't have a mark on her arm. The image she'd seen...there had been that dark mark. She remembered it so clearly.

"She was pretty, wasn't she?" the girl asked quietly. "Jessica thought I was prettier than her, but she was wrong. She was way prettier than me."

She had to be mistaken. She had to be getting things twisted in her mind. She had to be... The things...the people...she was seeing...they weren't real. Other than Sam, those people had never existed. She'd just...made them up...

"Uh...did...did...was there a..." she paused, hating herself for wanting to ask the question, but she just had to know. She couldn't walk away...without knowing.

"Was there a what?" the girl asked, sliding her phone back into her pocket.

"Did she...she have a...scar on her arm? A mark or something? Something..." She felt absolutely stupid for having to ask, but she had to know...had to hear the truth...

The young girl's brows shot upwards and she leaned back a little. "No. She didn't have a scar."

A thick and heavy wave of relief rolled through Clydie and she could barely keep from sobbing. She was wrong. She'd just gotten things all jumbled up. Thank god...

"But...but, the day before she disappeared, she knocked a pot of soup off the stove and she...burned herself. It left a blister all up her left arm."

She was on her feet then, her heart pounding and her breath coming in loud, fast spurts. She started to turn and walk away, but the young girl clamped a hand onto her arm, forcing her to stay there.

"How do you know that? How do you know that Jessica burned her arm?" the girl demanded, her eyes bright with the threat of tears. "Have you seen her! Have you seen Jessica!"

Clydie jerked her arm away from the girl, spun on her heel...and then she was running...her legs moving beneath her, her feet striking the hard packed sand as she tried to get away... Away from the crowd and the blazing bonfire and...away from the girl with the baby face and the sorrow filled eyes...away from the fact that it felt as if her entire world was crashing down around her. Again.

She made it a good piece away from the bonfire and then Matt was suddenly there, his large frame blocking her path, saying something to her that her mind simply absorb. His hands were on her, trying to keep her there, but she fought them off and shoved him away, trying to tell him to leave her alone, but she couldn't be sure the words were making it past her throat.

But, whatever she'd said or done served to make Matt step aside and then she was bolting forward, running blindly, feeling as demons were pursuing her. Only, these demons lived inside her, so no matter how fast or how far she ran, it would never be fast or far enough to escape them.