Dark Beach Read Online Free Page A

little carried away. Couldn’t go for days after it.”
    “Ah!” Jenny giggled. “That’s horrible.”
    The pizza went down well. Kip ate her chicken nuggets—her main food group—and Charlie scampering under the oak table, snapped up however many Kip tossed to him.
    “Nice.” Ron jumped up and opened the blinds to the patio. “The sun is out; I can see it through the clouds. I told you it would come.”
    “You do know this place, don’t you?” Jenny smiled.
    “I do. We used to come here often. Lived here awhile too. I have so many memories. Like this patio, the barbecues, the s’mores—sticky melted chocolate, mmm. Then the long grass: my legs would get scratched up from running through it as a teen, but I didn’t care. It was all about getting down to the beach as fast as possible. My sister would walk through it so slowly—hated it. She had allergies, still does. Then, once I got to the beach, the water. Didn’t matter how cold it was. It’s always cold. God, it was good.” Ron leaned up against the wall, casting his mind back.
    “Yet your mother hates this place?”
    “Yes. I never knew why, never asked her. Maybe I didn’t care. I remember being mad that we had to go. Something happened. I don’t know really. One day that was it: we packed, we left. Never came back. This is my first time back in years.”
    “I wonder…” Jenny didn’t pry.
    “Are you finished? I have to go down there.”
     
    The grass was dirty yellow, tall, waist high and bisected by a narrow path so overgrown that Ron had to cut through the vegetation with a rusted machete he’d found in the garage. Jenny jumped with each whack. What was it with that sound? It made her feel anxious, tense. Sweat beaded her brow as she followed—ever the good wife.
    Charlie weaved in between them; his tail wagging faster and faster, as if he knew something exciting was coming. They reached the edge of the sandy dune to find a four-foot drop to the beach. Ron jumped. Charlie followed. Jenny took Ron’s offered hand down, helping Kip last.
    “We’re on the beach!” Jenny pointed.
    Kip repeated the phrase, the wind catching at her small voice and whipping the words away as she ran ahead, her arms outstretched.
    The weather had improved, although it was still mostly cloudy and very cold. Jenny pulled her hood back up and stopped to watch Kip and Ron greet the ocean. She didn’t want to venture closer; she knew what was in it. Instead, she shook the red plaid blanket out on the sand, lay back, and sucked in the fresh air.
    After a while, her nerves settled. All the fire went out of her; all that remained was a little smoke. “Ah…” She breathed that out too, releasing any angst.
    Time passed. Jenny felt cozy there on the blanket, and a little sleepy, but, not wanting to nod off, she made herself wake up. The camera hadn’t been used in ages. She switched it on, browsing the last photos, which had not yet been downloaded, and added some shots of the grey distance. Standing, she zoomed in on Ron and Kip, knee deep in waves.
    “Did you catch it?”
    Jenny lowered the camera. “Excuse me?”
    “Did you catch it?” An older couple, dressed in raincoats, stood before her and pointed to the ocean. “The whale.”
    “What?”
    “It’s out there; you can see it spouting up water. We think we saw its tail, but the water is so dark it’s hard to tell.”
    “Oh right, yeah…” Jenny nodded, her anxiety rising again.
    The couple stared at her a minute, bemused, and then nodded and continued on their way.
    Jenny closed her eyes, blinking back the fear that crept over her like the sand invading her blanket. She just as quickly groaned and opened her eyes again, not wanting to see it there in her mind’s eye: that black body, those razor-sharp teeth. Gazing out at the ocean, she saw a huge black shape surface. Just as quickly, it was gone.
     
     

 
    TWO
     
     
    “This is so good.”
    “Oh yeah.”
    “Yeah.”
    Jenny leaned back