He didn’t really have a destination. All he wanted to do was take some air and get away. He felt a peculiar sense of freedom as he sneaked out the back alley and headed out to the beach, looking around nervously for any signs of being discovered. He headed towards the surf shack where all the private boats, yachts, speed-boats and water skis were kept. He just hoped that there wasn’t anyone there. He was surprised to find that he was actually that determined to leave.

Luckily, the shack was empty. The noise of water lapping against the dock filled the eerie silence. In the dark it was a little hard to find the one he had selected some time ago today, but he found it a little out from the cluster of the silent vessels. He jumped into a small, one passenger speed boat and got it ready as silent as he could, hoping that the thumping and scraping didn’t attract any attention. As soon as he settled himself in, he took a deep breath and started the engine. Soon he was racing out of the dock, leaving a faint white trail of foam behind him.

The night air was cool and soothing as it whooshed against his face. He glanced back, then pulled the engine again. The little float took on an extra burst of speed and skipped across the tossing sea. He felt like whooping with the unbelievable thrill. It was sheer exhilaration and pure, pure freedom that he could almost taste. This was the real holiday he needed. Racing across the waters, he felt all the worries and stresses falling away like discarded clothes. There was nothing here but himself and the ocean.

It must have been some time, about one hour later, when he realized that he was a little out from the course that he had intended. This worried him slightly, but he had remembered the landmarks from the previous trip he took. He slowed down slightly, looking around at the choppy waters. This was the warning that he ignored- it hadn’t occurred to him that there was no one, not one soul around the beach, or the waters itself. There were usually some around at this time of the evening.

The sudden rumble of thunder took him completely by surprise. He looked up at the sky, a dread filling his mind. The sickle moon was rapidly disappearing under a thick mass of evil black clouds. The gentle evening breeze suddenly turned into a furious whipping lash- waves began to churn uneasily. He knew he was in big trouble as soon as huge plops of water splashed him.

The storm was working it’s hellish magic again.

Nick hadn’t the faintest idea where he was, not with the rain pouring in bucketful around him. A dense fog covered everything, smothering anything in it’s path. Waves crashed in enormous tides, rising threateningly over him, sending the helpless boat and its passenger way out in to the sea. Tossed into near unconsciousness, Nick struggled to hang on. There was no way he could get back to the shore now. If he tried, he would only be lost further. Soaked to the boot and panting, he tried to steer the boat in some way, but all he managed to do was flounder around in the pitch black. Lightening exploded and the wind howled deafeningly, devoiding him of anything else. He only knew that he had to survive this. If he can find a shelter somewhere…

Suddenly, out of the pitch black darkness, he saw a large shadow about two hundred meters away. The shape of it was very familiar. Where had he seen it? Another huge wave crashed against the boat, nearly capsizing it. He struggled to get his balance and wiped away the water streaming down his eyes. He peered at the lumpy irregular shadow and remembered- it was the cave that the guide had talked about. The one that Aaron wanted to go to. A surge of hope flared through his fear. With a superhuman effort born with desperation, he started to row towards it, looking for an opening. The wind always drew him back, and he was exhausted by the time the tough rubber barge touched the edge of the rocks. He threw caution to the wind then and jumped off the boat, expecting to hit the chilly waters. He thought he would have more chance to swim towards the mouth of the cave then to drive his boat through. His foot slammed into solid rock. Shocked by the impact, he fell and half-rolled into the jagged opening. Pain shot through his leg like burning acid. Panting, he looked up into the dark and got the second shock of his life. Staring back at him, looking as if he was a ghost that decided to barge into her room, was the girl that he saw earlier that day. Her face was white with fear, shock, or maybe both.

She was also holding a knife about two inches from his neck.

Nick immediately forgot about his killing leg and struggled to stand. “Wha…what the hell are you doing?” he yelled above the thunder.

“Don’t move,” she said, looking as though she had recovered from his initial shock. She edged the blade further across until the cold tip of the steel lightly touched his throat. He flinched. “Get up.” She ordered.

He did as he was told- who was going to argue?- eyeing her warily. His mind was spinning crazily. Was she some kind of a serial killer? Oh good work Nick, he told himself disgustedly. You ran off, stole a boat, got lost out in the sea and ended up in a cave with a girl who’s going to kill you. Wonderful. Next time just stick with Playstation, all right?

“Move,” she told him roughly, jerking her head towards the deeper side of the cave.

“Listen, you must’ve got this wrong,” he said, trying to keep his voice calm. She didn’t look berserk or crazy, and he had a feeling that she wasn’t too sure about the sticky situation either. Maybe he could wrestle the knife off her, although he didn’t know what he would do afterwards.

It was so dark inside the cave that he couldn’t even he see his feet. He could however, feels the girl following him closely with the knife ready to stab him if he took one wrong move. Christ, he thought in dismay, how did I end up in this?

He tried talking to her again. “Listen, I didn’t mean to barge in like that. I’m sorry. I was just trying to get out of the storm. If you just let me go, I won’t tell anybody of what happened.”

“Who’s going to believe you?” Was the scornful reply. She could have been bluffing.

“You could.”

She snorted. “You really are full of it, aren’t you-”

Suddenly, the entire sky lit up with a bluish eerie light as a lightening bolt as thick as a tree trunk in width struck, followed by an explosion that reeled his ears. The girl flinched momentarily- and that was the second he needed. Whirling around, he grabbed her wrist and twisted her into a headlock, trying to make her let go of the knife. She reached up with one hand and tried furiously to rip his arm away from her neck, all the while keeping a dead grip on her knife. The struggle was ferocious, the girl trying everything she could to get him off her and him trying to wrestle the weapon away from her. He cried out in pain as the dangerous tip slashed across his forearm, drawing blood. Gasping, he looked up at the cave ceiling, then his eyes widened in horror as he saw a seething coil of electricity travelling down the steel cables embedded at the mouth of the cave. A massive, giant ball of blue energy was gathering, swirling and crackling with the charged up power. At the same time he felt a strange tingling starting from his left hand travelling all over his body. At the last second, he realized what was happening.

“DROP THE KNIFE!” He screamed as the ball of intense electricity slammed into them.