Page 114 of Corrupted Pleasure
I’d found my family. I would keep it, by any means necessary. My decision finally made up, I decided it was time to come clean with the girls. I couldn’t keep lying to them.We’re family; Wynter’s voice sang in my dream, confirming my decision was the right one.
And a memory flashed through my dream. A memory long forgotten, that shouldn’t have been.
I ran and ran, as fast as my legs could carry me. I tripped, the sand breaking my fall. The sandy beach was hot on my kneecaps. I slowly rose and watched over the horizon. The waves crashed against the sandy shore; the seagulls circled me, squawking. Though I wondered if they were greeting me or warning me. The large lighthouse rose above the sand dunes. It bore a black, white, and gray daymark, and I recognized it immediately.
My grandpa used to bring me here for our summer vacations. The Oak Island Lighthouse. Where turtles emerged from their nests and crawled into the sea, and we’d stay up all night watching them make their journey.
“Are you lost, little girl?” A woman’s voice startled me and I turned to face her. I didn’t recognize her, but she looked just like I always imagined my mother would look.
I nodded my head, but I remembered Grandpa’s rule. No talking to strangers.
“Looking for your grandpa?” She smiled sweetly and I grinned happily. If she knew Grandpa, I could talk to her.
So I nodded eagerly. “Grandpa and I are on vacation. He taught me how to swim. He doesn’t want me to drown,” I blabbed happily. “The salt water tastes funny and there are sharks. Baby sharks. They don’t bite, but they still scare me,” I rumbled, my words tripping over each other, eager to leave my lips.
“You are brave,” she commended. “Swimming with the sharks, huh?” I nodded my head with wide eyes. “And let me guess, you are six-years-old.” She didn’t ask. “Your grandpa talks about you.”
I smiled with a toothless grin. I had just lost my front two teeth the week before.
She pointed to the lighthouse. “He’s in there; he wanted to see the view from the top.”
I gasped. He’d never leave me behind.
“Go ahead, go find him,” she encouraged. “He really likes lighthouses, doesn’t he?”
“He does,” I agreed. “Thank you.”
I really liked her. Her hair was dark, like the night and her eyes were gray, watching me pensively. I wondered if she could be my mommy. Everybody had a mommy and daddy.
“Go ahead now.” She nudged me towards it.
I shuffled my bare feet through the sand, making my way to the lighthouse. “I love the beach. I love Grandpa. I love turtles. I love our vacations.” I repeated words over and over again, until I entered the lighthouse.
It was empty inside, but it felt cooler than outside in the scorching sun. So I started climbing the steep stairs.
I can do it, the thought was loud in my head. Grandpa always says I’m a good climber.
I was at the first landing. “Grandpa?” My voice traveled but nobody responded. The only voice I heard was my own.
“Keep going.” The woman’s voice sounded behind me and startled me. I didn’t hear her. I thought she left. But her encouraging smile assured me it was okay.
So I continued to the second landing and that was when I saw Grandpa. He was all the way at the bottom.
“Hello, Grandpa,” I yelled, grinning widely.
“Davina,” Grandpa shouted. “Come down from there.”
I smiled. “It’s okay,” I assured him. “The lady said you’re here. I came for you. She’s with me.”
His eyes traveled behind me and sheer horror entered his gaze.
“Dalia, what are you doing?” he asked. “Get away from her.”
Why? She was so nice.
A set of gray eyes that look like mine filled with concern. Grandpa’s eyes darted all around, frantically searching. I didn’t know what for. He was so far down, like a deep tunnel, but I wasn't scared.
He shuffled to the first set of stairs. “Stay right there, Davina,” he ordered in his stern voice. “And you, Dalia, need to leave.”
