by Dale Mayer
Finally she made it above water, gasping for air, only to have more unrelenting waves crash down on her before she could fully fill her lungs. The life jacket then twisted, tugging. So many swells crashed upon her, forcing her under the current, catching her, then pulling at her, that she could feel the air being forcefully expelled from her. A black haze filled her mind. Her lungs burned. Her arms and legs weren’t working.
Blackness overtook her as something bright slid by, then beneath her, lifting her from underneath. It should have terrified her when she crested the water, coughing and gulping, gasping for air. And finally, when she could breathe well enough, she looked around to see what had brought her up to the surface. But it was gone. Whatever it was, it wasn’t here now. How interesting.
Another wave crashed over her.
Something brushed against her back, nudging her in a different direction. She could only see a massive form in her peripheral vision but couldn’t tell what it was.
Or was it just her imagination? Or more likely her nightmares …
Water once again cascaded over her, filling her mouth and lungs, and she choked on it, coughing to clear her passageways.
She was tossed high over the water, gasping for oxygen, before she fell again, to be engulfed by the ocean. At one point in time she blacked out, only to find herself waking up once again, floating on the surface of the ocean. The next time it happened, she opened her eyes to realize the storm was off to the side, and she was even farther away from the shore. Coughing and gasping still, she tried to preserve her heat by pulling her knees to her chest and holding her body tightly together, hoping for a quick rescue.
The beacon on my life jacket. Remembering that, now realizing that maybe somebody could pick up her signal, she punched the button to set it off. On her shoulder a light flashed. She curled up in a ball, the life jacket high on her neck, and just tried to hang on, hoping that help was coming soon. Then the second buckle on her life jacket snapped.
She panicked.
If she lost the life jacket, she was lost in a bad way. She could float on her own for a little while but not for very long.
She grabbed it against her chest, holding on as best she could. But no longer secured around her chest, it could be taken from her with one more wave, still powerful even amid this retreating squall. She had made it this far. She refused to lose this battle in the last round. She hung on tight. Her world narrowed to one focus: staying on the surface. Too numb to fight, she felt the waves still tossing and turning her.
Her arm was through the opening of the life jacket, trying desperately to keep it against her chest, but the next wave ripped it free, and she sunk deeper and deeper and deeper into the frigid disturbed waters. And again she felt that same presence—the huge strong back—sliding underneath her legs, lifting her, pushing her higher and higher. She reached down with a hand, feeling the silky smooth form beneath her fingers, as it pushed her to the surface yet once more.
This time when she came up, gasping for air, another killer wave sent her spiraling, tumbling toward something that she couldn’t see. But she felt it when she contacted it. Oh, she felt it.
All of a sudden her knees felt the harsh impact, then her face landed among barnacles and rocks. She inhaled a scream. Her knees pulled up into her as she crawled forward onto the sandy shore. Two feet later, she collapsed, unconscious.
*
Samson Cartwright fiddled with the dials of his ham radio, trying to get reception but with only a noisy buzz filling the air. “Damn weather.” The dogs, King and Queen, barked in agreement. The storm had knocked out the power, and, of course, Samson’s satellite internet was hit-or-miss at the best of times. But, given that he was here for as much peace and quiet as possible to do his research, the slow spotty internet was sufficient for his needs. Except for now when, absent the internet, he needed his radio to work for sure.
He rubbed the back of his neck, a pricking there quickly turning to an ache which then slammed into a throb without breaking.
A groan ripped free. He got up, gasping, as the cry ripped into his mind. He clasped his head, desperately trying to handle the influx of noise and pain.
Through the din, he heard the urgency. The screams ordering him to obey.
Unable to move, he yelled, “Stop!”
But the voice didn’t. It got worse—louder, more demanding—until Samson was crippled, slowly crumpling to his knees. “Stop,” he roared. “I can’t help if you do this.”
Silence came.
Samson stood, shuddering as his body slowly recovered. Then, understanding the urgency, he raced outside, thankful he was mostly dressed. The sky was dark, the rain a light soaking. The storm crackled above; the sky would open soon, and walking would be treacherous. Running, lethal.
But he had no choice. The noise in his head started up again. He needed it to stay calm before it killed him as he navigated the rocks. He couldn’t function when the voice took over. The rain pelted his head, blurring his vision, making the rocks slick under his bare feet.
The cliff edge loomed in front of him. The dogs, silent this whole journey, stopped on either side of him. Then turned and headed along the cliff edge. He trusted their senses over his. He could barely see for the gray sheets of rain blinding both his long and short vision, and the lightning cracking overhead gave him a partial but eerie look to the world in intermittent flashes. It was late afternoon, yet it looked like minutes from midnight.
King barked once.
The more dominant dog and the more psychically connected of the two, King led the way to the beach. Queen, her nose in the air, was the better physical hunter. And much more compassionate. The beach was too far away for Samson to see if anything was there yet.
Samson made his way to the outcropping that jutted into the ocean; the waves rose and crashed over the rocks, soaking him. The noise was deafening as Mother Nature unleashed her fury at the world, and, boy, was she pissed. He squinted at the angry waves that churned close to him. He noticed … movement. A darker mass in the water. But was it just a normal storm or something else?
And, if something else, … what? He’d been searching for months now, not finding what he sought.
“Focus,” roared the voice in his head.
“I am,” Samson shouted against the storm, but the wind picked up his words and tossed them behind him. In the distance he heard Queen howl.
She was never wrong.
Samson turned, slipped and slammed into the rocks. He straightened, used the rocks to stabilize himself and moved as quickly as possible toward the beach. There, close to the rocks, a rag-doll form was pushed forward with the tide, then pulled back as the ocean refused to give up her prize.
The dogs reached it first. Both dove into the water, grabbed hold and backed up, dragging the form with them.
Samson hit the beach, running now on sure footing to their sides. He reached down and scooped the tiny woman into his arms. Enough water twisted around his ankles that he had to fight its pull to drag him and his burden back into the ocean. Further inland on the beach he laid her down. He collapsed at her side, reaching for a pulse.
The dogs whined beside them.
“And?” the voice roared through Samson’s mind.
“She’s alive,” he whispered. “Barely, but she’s alive.”
“And you need to keep her that way,” the voice roared, splitting the words into white noise as they crashed through Samson’s mind. “She’s important. Don’t lose her.”
And, for the first time since this latest intrusion started, the noise in his head disappeared, replaced with a sense of peace.
Book 15 is available now!
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Author’s Note
Thank you for reading Unmasked: Psychic Visions, Book 14! If you enjoyed the book, please take a moment and leave a short review here.
Dear reader,
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About the Author
Dale Mayer is a USA Today bestselling author best known for her Psychic Visions and Family Blood Ties series. Her contemporary romances are raw and full of passion and emotion (Second Chances, SKIN), her thrillers will keep you guessing (By Death series), and her romantic comedies will keep you giggling (It’s a Dog’s Life and Charmin Marvin Romantic Comedy series).
She honors the stories that come to her – and some of them are crazy and break all the rules and cross multiple genres!
To go with her fiction, she also writes nonfiction in many different fields with books available on resume writing, companion gardening and the US mortgage system. She has recently published her Career Essentials Series. All her books are available in print and ebook format.
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UNMASKED
Dale Mayer
Valley Publishing
Copyright © 2018
All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including xerography, photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, is forbidden without the written permission of the publisher.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, brands, media, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
ISBN-13: 978-1-773360-99-7
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