The tide rose fourteen times a week. Twice a day they were stuck with no way to leave.

It was worse for the children, they couldn’t play in the sea. No one knew why; the adults just told them no. The littlest ones were always the ones that were most upset.

When the tide rose twice a day was the only time The Rule was enforced. All children under eighteen must, under all circumstances, remain indoors. No exploring the island. No leaving the main house. Most people there were teenagers, with there only being four people younger than thirteen, the women got uninterested in having babies years ago. They just had quit. Which was odd because the ladies on the island never whit anything.

Scarlett, Abigail, Tiffany and Bella all sat around in a circle. The tide had risen, so they were all in the main house.

The smack of the waves was calming to Scarlett’s ears. It was normal. Normal was good. Normal was safe.

Scarlett sat there, fiddling with her necklace as she daydreamed.

“Scarlett, James is totally looking at you!” Bella said, giggling slightly. The other girls giggled too. Bella always mentioned James. Always. She wanted Scarlett and James together for some odd reason Scarlett couldn’t explain.

“So? Bella, I don’t like James. It doesn’t matter. Plus, he looks at everyone.”

Bella grumbled, but she didn’t disagree. She knew what Scarlett was saying was correct.

Something weird hit the Main House in small, steady thumps. Everyone in the building shot up. The pounding kept hitting the building.

Scarlett and James both ran to the window. The glass was wet. Wet, but not from a child pouring a bucket of water on it to clean it.

The small things of water continued pounding down on the building. Scarlett’s heart raced as she looked at James. “What do we think that is?”

“I don’t know.” James said. He looked as panicked as she felt.

“Do we think it’s posion?”

“No. It wouldn’t be posion. I- I think I’ve read about this before!” James exclaimed.

Everyone looked at him, hopeful he had an idea.

“Rain. That’s what people call it. I don’t understand it, but it’s drops of water that come from the sky.”

“Is it safe water?”

“Yes.”

Scarlett sighed a sigh of intense relief. Nothing dangerous.

The torches on the wall flickered. A loud rumble came from outside. Soon, screams wwre heard. Loud screams of terror.

Scarlett and James shared a look before looking back out of the window.

Scarlett felt herself shake. The rain had shaken her up, but now the screams that were piercing her ears made her uneasy. She glanced back at her friends.

Bella, Abigal and Tiffany were with the young kids, trying to keep them calm.

Tiffany sung. Bella told them stories. Abigail just hugged them. She held them close and whispered to them. They were all shaking.

The boys were just sitting still and looking around at each other.

Outside the screams grew louder and closer. Too close. Scarlett sucked in a breath of air and walked to the door.

They weren’t supposed to leave the Main House during tides, but she was not going to ignore the screams of her snails.

She opened the door and walked outside. Cold rain smacked against her skin, wind blew threw her hair and clothes. She looked around.

Men were racing to the sea, spears and swords held high. The women were sharpening more blades, their eyes wide and their hands working as fast as they could.

Each woman took a turn sharpening the same blade so they were all sharpened a hundred times.

Scarlett looked towards the ocean, ignoring her skirt fighting against the wind and the fact that the rain was causing her hair to stick to her face. She saw nothing in the ocean, no reason for all the panic at least.

She ran to the closest lady, Mrs. Callberry. “Mrs. Callberry!” Scarlett’s voice was almost inaudible over the smack on the wind and the splash of the sea. “What’s happening?” She asked, screaming it so the lady could hear her.

“The monster, dear. It’s coming back.”

“What monster? I’ve never heard of a monster.”

“Oh, it was a nasty beast! I can’t describe him, as I wasn’t there, but he was nasty and strong. He is the reason for many things, dear.”

“What?” Scarlett had never been more confused.

“Why do you think we live here? Our ancestors found this island years ago. A swarm of mongers lived here though, but they wanted this island. It was plentiful. So, they made a deal with the beasts! They’d play a game and if they won, they’d keep the island. They said the beasts could have half, but they rigged the games.”

“Rigged the games?”

“Yes, dear. Rigged the games. And when we won them, our ancestors kicked the beasts off of the island and forced them into the sea! The beast said one day during high tide they would come and get revenge. They forbid our bloodline from ever leaving this island. Anyone who tries ends up dead. I’d assume they’d been eaten. We didn’t think they’d come back. They want what’s theirs.”

“Then let’s give it to them.”

“No.”

Scarlett’s face scrunched up. No? It was their half of the island. “Why didn’t you tell us about the beast?”

“We didn’t want the children to worry. We tell everyone when they’re eighteen. You aren’t eighteen, so you didn’t know.” She handed Scarlett a sword she’d been sharpening and handed it to Scarlett. Scarlett handed it to the man who ran over to collect it.

Scarlett’s red hair was plastered down to her foreheads. The weight of the water in the fabric of her light pink skirt and her white shirt was weighing it down and making it stick to her tan body.

She looked back to the ocean. She screamed. She saw it.

It was black and had at least a hundred arms. There were spikes all over its body. It’s teeth were yellow and its tounge green. The tounge had warts and bumps all over it. It had large paws with claws made of steel. In twenty paws he had men from the island, most dead from strangulation. The ones who weren’t were on their way there. The beast made a noise of pure rage. It sounded like a roar mixed with crackling fire. When it made the noise, saliva came out of its mouth. The salvia landed on a man and he fell to the ground, withering in pain and screaming. Smoke came from his scalp, where he’d been hit with it.

Scarlett needed to end this. Yes, they’d taken the beat’s home, but it would not hurt her family. The next sword Mrs. Callberry gave Scarlett, she didn’t hand it to a man. She took it for herself and ran to the shore. Her dad tried to pull her back.

“Scarlett, go back to the Main House. Hide.” He placed.

The rain pounded down harder. Scarlett looked at her dead family and shook her head. She would not run from this battle. She took in the enemy.

“Do you trust me, dad?”

“More than ever, my girl.”

Scarlett nodded. “I need two men per paw. Start hacking at them. Make sure to avoid that saliva.”

Her dad nodded. He gave her a hug and kissed her forehead before shouting commands to the men.

Scarlett knew her dad had given up on her going back inside and she was okay with that. She ran back to the ladies and grabbed another sword. Mrs. Callberry wished her luck.

Scarlett ran to the beast. She heard footsteps behind her and turned to look. James. She smiled.

“What do I need to do, Captain?” James asked with a wink.

“Distract him. I need to get on his head.”

James wasted no time.

With the beast distracted by fourty men hacking at its paws and a boy jabbing his chest, Scarlett stuck one of her swords in its side. It howled. Scarlett swung herself up using the sword as her support.

With her right hand, she grabbed the beast’s fur and pulled herself up. On the beast’s back, she hung on for dear life and she climbed up its long next.

It thrashed and howled. It was trying to throw her off. She clung tighter.

When she made it to the top of the neck, she picked her other sword up. She inhaled deeply and hoped it would work. She slammed the sword into the beast’s skull. It howled and made that awful roaring noise it made, spitting more saliva. She heard no screams, so she assumed no one got hit.

The beast started going down back under the water, this time bleeding from his head with no plans of returning. It couldn’t anyways, his brains were everywhere but in his skull. Scarlett stood to get off. She heard gasps from below her.

She turned behind her. A giant wave, about sixteen feet high, was coming for her and the beast. She took the necklace that was wrapped around her neck off. She threw it to the beach and hoped someone caught it.

She inhaled one last deep breath before the wave came and swallowed her and the beast whole.

“Wait! So, this necklace is Scarlett’s?” A little girl named McKenna asked, holding up a necklace.

James couldn’t help but stare at her Scarlett red hair every time he saw McKenna. “Yes, Kenna. It is her necklace.” He held it up for all the kids to see.

The other kids in the story circle watched in awe, some reaching out to touch the necklace.

“Did you know Scarlett?”

“Of course I did. Everyone kon this island is family.”

“And she saved us?”

“And she saved us. You wouldn’t be here if she wasn’t so brave.” James explained gently. His daughter, Scarlett giggled. He watched her. Wow. He and Bella had such a beautiful child.