Beneath the hatch everything lay in total darkness. Cassie descended until reaching the last rung of the ladder and stopped. From the sound of the waves sloshing into and then back out of the tunnel, she judged the drop into the water to be about the length of a yardstick. The dank air held an unpleasant fishy odor.

She never felt more alone, empty, hollowed-out like the pumpkin she carved last Hallowe'en. Although Cassie didn't want to think about it, she knew her momma had been hurt bad and she'd probably never see her again.

Tears blurred her vision. What would she do without Momma? It would be so easy to just give up and wait for the hunters to come for her, but she remembered her momma warning that if caught, they would do unspeakable things to her. She was old enough to know about rape and how some men were creeper pervs who would snatch a young girl like her off the street.

Ew. She would kill herself before allowing that to happen. But what if they were too strong and she wouldn't be able to find a way to kill herself?

Fear drove her onward. She slipped her arms through the straps of her pack and dropped into the water. After bobbing to the surface, Cassie filled her lungs with air and dove under. She felt her way along the culvert wall as she swam toward the outlet submerged in the Gulf.

It took longer than she thought it would. Her lungs ached by the time she breached the surface and gulped air. At least the water wasn't cold, late September the Gulf of Mexico was warm as bath water. She swam behind a rock jetty that shielded her from view of the house and found a place where she could stand.

Unshouldering the pack, she fished inside and found her bathing suit. Stripping off her pjs, she threw them onto the jetty and pulled on the one-piece suit. Climbing onto the rocks, she spied out the house.

Should she stay in the Gulf and swim up the coast to Tarpon Springs like her momma said, or should she wait to see if the hunters would leave? If they left, she'd be able to sneak back into the house and help Momma if she was hurt and change into her regular clothes.

Cassie squeezed shut her eyes and wished as hard as she could for the hunters to go away.

Flashlight beams shone all around the house. The hunters were outside searching. If she stayed hidden behind the rocks, they wouldn't see her. They would give up after a while.

She counted two flashlight beams. They were slowly meandering their way toward her. Too close. She was so scared she froze, her heart pounding in her chest.

"Show yourself, little girl," one of them spoke in a sing-song voice as if he was talking to a baby. "I know you're around here somewhere. I'm not going to hurt you."

His spooky voice jolted her enough to unfreeze her. Quietly, she backed from the rocks and slipped into the waves. Worried one of the flashlight beams would see her bobbing, she dove under and swam away from shore. When she broke the surface, the hunters were shining their lights all around where she had been hiding. They would've found her and grabbed her if she had stayed there. They could still find her if they shined their lights in her direction.

She dove again and swam out farther, hoping they would think she'd never be able to swim that far from shore. Breaking the surface again, she looked back. Far enough out, even if the flashlight beams shined her way, they wouldn't be able to make out her small head sticking above the tide.

Cassie had no fear of the water. She and her momma spent hours in the Gulf as long as she could remember. A lot of times during nighttime too. She was used to it. That's why she wasn't afraid. When she tired, her momma taught her to rest by flipping onto her back and floating and how to move with the waves and let them carry her. If she swam out far enough, she could find the right current to take her in any direction she wanted to go.

Her momma had taught her all that.

Cassie tread water for a while and watched the house, but something told her she should go. As she started swimming toward Tarpon Springs, she really wished it was all a nightmare and she would soon wake up. She alternated between swimming and walking along the shore, but she felt safer swimming.

The sun had come up by the time Cassie walked onto Sunset Beach. She didn't see anyone. It was too early. She felt dizzy and couldn't remember a time she had been so thirsty. She had come so far, farther than she ever swam before. She knew there was a water fountain outside the bathhouse and stumbled that way.

After drinking her tummy so full of water it began to hurt, she decided to rinse off in the shower. She tried the door to the bathhouse but found it locked.

"Hey, you," someone shouted.

Cassie turned and saw a bare-chested man wearing a bathing suit taking big steps toward her from the parking lot. He was young, big, and strong. If she tried to run, he would easily catch her, so she stood still thinking about what else she could do.

He stopped in front of her but didn't try to touch her. "The beach isn't open yet. How did you get here? Where are your parents?"

She looked at the tops of her feet and started rocking. "I'm...I'm by myself."

"How'd you get here?"

He wouldn't believe her if she told him she swam. "I walked."

"From where?"

She figured out what she would tell this man. "I live with my Aunt Marnie in town. I walked here from her house."

"Where in town?" he asked.

Would it be wrong to tell him the address? She decided it would be okay.

After she did, the man ran a hand through his hair and whistled. "That's a couple miles from here. You would've had to come here in the dark. That doesn't seem likely. What's your name?"

She hesitated not wanting to tell him. If the hunters knew her name, they might find this man and discover she had been here. "Sandy," she said. Her classmates from school called her that because Cassandra was too prissy. She liked the name Cassie better. The hunters probably wouldn't figure it out if she used the name Sandy.

"Well, Sandy, I'm a guard here. I don't know how you managed to slip past me at the gate, but I suppose I should take you home to your Aunt Marnie. She's probably worried about you."

Cassie's heart pounded again. This man wanted her in his car. Momma and her teachers at school always preached to never get into a stranger's car. She backed up to the door of the bathhouse. Her eyes leaked tears and she started to shake.

"Whoa, ho," the man said. He took a step back and held his hands up in front of him. "I didn't mean to scare you. Should we call her instead? Does she drive? Will your Aunt Marnie come and get you?"

"Uh, huh," was all Cassie managed to get out before bursting into tears. She couldn't take it anymore, all the scary things that happened to her since the middle of the night.

"It's alright, Sandy," the man said in a soothing voice trying to calm her. He pulled out a cell phone. "Whenever you're ready, give me your aunt's number and I'll punch it in."

She couldn't allow it. The number would be stored in the phone's memory. Eventually she settled down except for an attack of hiccups. She always hiccupped after she cried and hated when it happened. She reached out a trembling hand. "I'll do it."

Cassie didn't expect him to give her his phone, but he did. Aunt Marnie picked up on the second ring. "Come get me."

"Cassandra, is that you?"

She eyed the man and wished he wouldn't be able to hear her talk, but he just stood there. Could she get her aunt to understand? "Hunters."

"Where are you?" Her voice sounded serious.

Cassie told her where she was.

"I'll be right there."

The man was looking toward the beach at gulls fighting over some dead fish. Cassie ended the call and quickly cleared her aunt's number from the recent calls list.

"Thanks, mister," she said between hiccups. She handed the phone back.

He walked her to the gatehouse at the end of the causeway. Now that Cassie had time to think, she wondered how the hunters had found them. Had she made a mistake and led them to her house? Was it her fault what happened to her momma?

Question: Do you think it was a mistake for Cassie to give out her aunt's address?

The next chapter introduces the hunters and what motivates them.

Top Photo Credit: meg_nicol - http://www.flickr.com/photos/43929493@N00/15315311424 via Photopin.com Creativecommons.org license - Original modified by author