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But she was still afraid It was as if Georgia’s gut-wrenching screa was co that she dreaded

At eleven o’clock, she was still staring at the canvas She didn’t have anything really strong to help her sleep, but she decided on an over-the-counter aid In another half an hour, she was asleep

It ht have been the pill She slept, but she tossed and turned and awakened throughout the night And she dreaiant tears dripping down her cheeks "I told you, I told you there were iant shadow figures rising over her tent and of seaweedand devouring ships, boats and people, and reaching up to the sky to snatch planes right fro at herself for the absurdity of her dreams

She didn’t believe in seaweed monsters--sea snakes, yes, sharks and other demons of the real world, but seaweed ht chased in the darkness by a hu out she was in a dark house alone with a knife-wieldingscream

She blinked, stretched and rose Taking off the long T-shirt nightgown she’d worn, she put on a bathing suit, ready to hit the beach There were showers in the heads on both boats the crew had been using, the Seven Seas and the Jalapeño Of course, one boat wouldn’t be back until Carlos returned It was a bright and beautifulin the surf would be refreshing

She stepped out of her tent The , but the air retained a note of the night’s pleasant coolness The sea stretched out before her, azure as it could only be in the Bahamas Jay and Zoe were already up, and one of the!" Jay called

"Morning!" she returned "How long till coffee?"

"Hey! As fast as it brews!" Jay told her

Zoe giggled "What? Did you think this filet for a cook?"

Vanessa walked on out to the water It was delightful; warm, but not too warm So clear she could easily see the bottoone out about twenty-five feet from shore and the depth was around ten feet The current of the Gulf Strea the water around to the north; she decided to fight it and swi her on back offshore from the campsite

She swam a hard crawl, relaxed with a backstroke, worked on her butterfly and went back to doing the crawl, and then decided that she had gone far enough She had angled herself in toward shore, so she paused aback her hair

It was then that she looked toward the shore

She would have screamed, but the sound froze in her throat

She stood paralyzed, suddenly freezing as if she were a cube of ice in the balia’s terrified words of the night before seemed to echo and bounce in herAnd she found sense and logic, a for the others to come

The bones…the bodies…

They were there There was no sign of the boat, but Georgia Dare and Travis Glenn were there--in the sand Their heads, eyes glaring open, were posed next to one another, staring toward the sea Inches away from each, arms stretched out of the sand as well--just as props had done in the fil It was as if they desperately reached out for help as the earth sucked the only those pathetic heads, features frozen in silent screa, in shock and denial He shouted "Travis, what is this, daia--no! No, no, no! Where is Carlos? What kind of a stunt is this?" Jerking like a ure, Jay went to touch the actor’s head, as if he could wake hi

The head rolled through the sand The body wasn’t attached

Jay hi from a sudden cold that threatened never to leave her, Vanessa reotten the authorities, until a kindly Bahamian official came and wrapped a towel around her shoulders, and led her away

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2 years later