Chapter Ten -

Ophelia is awoken by something skittering over her hand. Startled, she jerks her hand back and sits up. Her eyes open just in time to see a little sand crab scurrying back into its hole. Her eyebrow furrows. Her gaze quickly glances around, her eyes darting back and forth over the unfamiliar surroundings.

She lays on a white, sandy beach, the waves rolling onto the shore before her. Fallen palm trees and drift wood surrounding the area behind her, and a jungle-like forest behind that. The sun beats heavily down upon her skin as she shields her eyes from its blinding rays.

Sun...Sun!

Last night's events come flooding back to her.

She lay passed out on the beach for the entire storm? No wonder she is covered from head to toe in sand. Suddenly, a giddy feeling bubbles in her chest. A smile pulls at her dry, cracked lips and a lazy laugh escapes her scratchy throat.

"I'm finally free," she whispers to herself.

No cave.

No cold nights.

No musty smell.

"I'm finally free!" She repeats, this time louder.

Ophelia flops down on her back, her arms and legs sprawled out, soaking in the sun. She may still have no idea where she is, but anything is better than that blasted cave.

After many minutes spent laying in the sand, Ophelia decides to explore. She pulls herself into a sitting position, her sore body aching in some areas, especially the raw areas where the sand gave her burns.

She hobbles to the water. Ophelia bends down, mindful of her ribs, and splashes water onto herself, removing the sand from her skin. Her ribs still ache painfully, but at least her hip and shoulder joints are no longer swollen and purple.

She happily hums to herself as she continues washing, a lazy smile on her lips. She has found it quite difficult to be happy lately, which is why she finds it so easy to smile now. She is learning to find happiness in the little things.

Her thoughts drift back to the previous night. She can't seem to comprehends the creature's actions. He kidnapped her, only to her her and then save her life? She can't help but think; is he really a monster?

Maybe she was wrong about him? Maybe he isn't some murderous monster? But then again, why would her attack her in the first place? Ophelia comes to a conclusion that is rather unfortunate. The only way she will get answers, is if she were to ask the creature himself.

*

The island is small, Ophelia discovers. It is only about two or three acres in size and is circular in shape. Most of the island is just long flats of sand, but the very centre has a few palms and some exotic looking bushes. Too bad all of the plants are too pokey and sharp to use as bedding or suitable shelter. They should make good timber though.

She keeps her eyes peeled for a good spot to make a shelter. To her right, is the sea, to her left is thick, impassable shrubbery. She slows her pace to a stand still as she finds a peculiar tree. Its trunk leans at an angle out towards the water, its slender branches extending out towards the sea, the oceans breeze ruffling its leaves.

Two particular branches stretch out parallel to the ground about five feet above the sand. An idea starts to form in her head. She spotted a beat up plastic tarp earlier, she wonders if it would work as a roof, if she were to tie it over the two branches.

She quickly turns around and starts heading back up the beach to the tarp. Only a portion rests above the ground, which means she will have to dig the rest up out of the sand. Ophelia setts about doing just that, her hands eagerly scraping away the sand to free her treasure.

Half an hour and a sunburn later, and Ophelia has finally freed the tarp from the sands evil clutches. One would think sand would be easy to dig in, but not when the thing you are trying to dig up is buried four feet under.

She rests back on her haunches, the sweat making the sand stick to her skin uncomfortably. Pulling herself up from the ground, she drags the tarp back to the tree. It ended up being at least fifteen feet long and around twelve feet in width.

By the time she reaches her soon-to-be home, she is panting heavily with sweat dripping out of every pore. She cringes at the thought of how bad she probably smells.

She has been wearing the same clothes for well over a week now, and they are definitely worse for wear. No matter how many times she removes the clothes and rinses them, it doesn't do anything to clean them.

She would kill for soap at this point.

She spends about 20 minutes setting up her little amp. She clears out the underbrush and drapes the tarp over the branches. She has dug a hole and pushed the excess sand to the open end of her makeshift tent as the third wall. She fills the hole with some of the firewood she scavenged.

By this point, the sun is already setting. She had planned to use a piece of broken glass she found to reflect light from the sun onto timber to start a fire, but it appears she will have to wait until tomorrow. She cringes at the thought of having to sleep in the sand. Tomorrow, she plans to find something...anything...to lay on. Be it wood, leaves, or a freaking rock, anything is better than the rough sand, especially since she got a sunburn today and her skin already hurts.

Ophelia sits at the opening of her tent, waiting patiently. For what, she isn't sure, but found the answer when her eyes settled on a pair of obsidian ones.

The creature has been watching the girl for quite some time now, many hours actually. He's surprised by what she was able to accomplish all in one day, but he is more surprised by why he found himself watching her all day. She is really quite oblivious, he realises. She never once noticed his constant stare...never noticed his dark gaze analysing her every movement.

He would have to keep an eye on her then. There are many predators like him who would jump at the chase to sink their claws into an unsuspecting human.

They could harm her in other ways too, especially with the great tide coming.

He subconsciously swims closer to shore.

The creature watches as she settles herself in the sand at the front of her shelter. She scans the horizon, her grey eyes gazing out at the darkening waters. Too caught up in observing her, he forgets to hide himself. Her eyes land on his, a surprised look settling on her delicate features.

Deciding he'd rather not scare her anymore than she already is, he goes to turn away, but is startled to hear little splashes of feet in the water. He turns around to see her knee deep in the calm waters, an anxious expression on her face. He eyes her carefully, waiting for her to make her next move.

Ophelia has no idea what came over her.

She has no idea why she willingly went into the water, with the creature, and in the dark. This was, by far, one of her less intelligent decisions.

She clenches her fists tightly, willing her nerves to steady. I will not run. He hasn't hurt me, yet...

"Why?" She asks. No context, just why.

"Why, what?" He responds, not really sure what she is asking. There are a lot of things she could be referring to. Why kidnap me? Why haven't you killed me yet? Why am I here? Why--

"Why did you save me?"

Out of all the questions she could have possibly asked, she had to ask the one he did not know the answer to. The creature groans audibly.

"What's it to you?" He growls, an annoyed look settling on his perfectly sculpted face.

Ophelia, noticing his displeasure, quickly backtracks. "I'm sorry, I-I was ju-just curious," her voice shakes.

The creature closes his eyes and exhales loudly, keeping his temper in check. He forgets how easily he is angered. She was just curious and he couldn't blame her for that, but he also didn't owe her any answers, especially if they were answers he didn't wish to share.

"Thank you," she whispers.

There it is again. That phrase. He remembers the last time she said it, and it had shocked him then, too. His kind do not use that term.

The creature finds himself moving closer to her. She was just so...strange. There were things about her that she struggled to comprehend. Why would she thank him if he was the one to cause her pain to begin with?

Ophelia stumbles back as the creature suddenly moves closer. His onyx eyes squint slightly as he observes her more closely. Despite having spent so much time in the creature's presence, she still finds herself trembling at his nearness.

"M-my name is Calliope," she whispers, her delicate voice flowing into the creature's ears. He looks into her grey eyes. He once saw another human with grey eyes, but his were cold, lifeless, masking the evil soul which lay behind them.

Hers, however, are rather different.

They are calm and serene. They are like a rain shower brewing in the sky. They are knowledgeable, wise. He can't imagine an evil soul dwelling behind those eyes. They are, dare he say, beautiful. Her eyes remind him of her, not in that they look the same, but they carry the same caring gaze.

The creature backs away, his little form relaxing into the welcoming sea he calls home. The girl, Calliope, remains still in her place, he gaze following him. Before turning away, his deep, commanding voice sounds in her awaiting ears.

"I am Atlas."