This was one insistent dude. He just wouldn't stop standing there, listing out his points nice and neat and one by one, wearing a bizarrely conflicting expression the whole time. Haywood and Jessica weren't buying what Mark was selling. He existed as another in a long line of adults thinking he knew what was best for them, but he thought wrong, and without their respect nor the teeth to back his argument up his words were worthless. Just as Jessica did when confronted with that auburn-haired teacher, Haywood knew that adults had to follow the rules, so Mark couldn't do anything to make his words stick. And Haywood was only too happy to let him know.

“My choice, huh?” He swelled up, poised to say something amazingly cool. “Alright, here it is. You can suck a fart outta my ass, how 'bout that?” Haywood laughed, pushing off the rock. “But seriously, keep botherin' us and you'll get nice and acquainted with that officer over there, just like my pal says. Inscribed on mundie harassment, never looks good.”

He started stalking down the beach at a steady pace with his hands in the pockets of his swimming trunks, trusting Jessica to follow him. This time he made sure via visual confirmation that Mark wasn't on their tail. “Jeez,” he said once in the clear. “What a riot. I tell ya, some inscribed are so pushy. Like havin' some tacky trick makes you important.” Haywood ended up looking at a commotion in the surf on the other side of the glorified bouncy castle called the Floating City. “Some kid drownin'...?” he asked.

The salt water stung, but Noelle kept her eyes wide open as she plunged underneath. Her heart beat like a prizefighter, filling her veins with adrenaline. Between her, Heath, and Lydia, no sign of Tucker could be found above the surface. Her realization of the only alternative filled her with terrible dread. Her son was already beneath the water.

She tore through the shallows as fast as her muscled could take her, struggling against the resisting water. Without firm footing she couldn't effectively use her own epithet to move faster, and with nothing on hand to build up heat with she couldn't amass enough strength to compensate. The coolness of the ocean would have doused her fire, anyway. After almost blacking out from holding her breath Noelle broke the surface, gasping for air. She looked left and right, her soaked hair whipping around, but saw nothing, not even the cloud rolling in. [i]Where was the lifeguard!?[/i] her mind screamed. She spotted Heath instead, and shrieked at him, “Where is he!?”

At that moment, there came a tremendous cracking sound, like a fracture in the earth. A wave of current hit Noelle, washing her back, but it didn't come from the sea. It radiated out from a source beneath the surface fifty feet away, and as the cloud cover began to darken the sky she could see something glowing under there. “Tucker?!” Noelle rushed in its directing, thinking of nothing but her boy. The water around the light started to boil, and she watched it grow frothier and angrier as something rose to the surface. The wind whipped across the top of the water, slinging stinging spray, and lightning flashed overhead. A voice, deep and unfamiliar, bellowed above the wind.

“He's gonna blow!”

Then came the thunder.

Noelle didn't know what happened. One moment she was in the water, swimming with exhausted muscles toward where her son was about to die, and the next a wall of wind slammed her in the face. The cyclone expanded as a sphere from the epicenter, sweeping up sea, sand, towel, chair, shop, and stone, and dozens of people with them. Everything was chaos, bodily punches of water and debris, calamitous wind and terrific cacophony. The gale devoured everything, and shortly after, everything went black.

[center][h3]Act I – Oceanic[/h3][/center]

[hr]

[center][h3]Act II – Castaway[/h3][/center]

The sun crept into the darkness, like early morning rays filtering through blinds to intrude upon the eyelids of someone trying to sleep in. Oblivion felt nice and comfortable, and Noelle didn't want to wake up and face another day. Hard to believe her vacation was over already...could days really pass that quickly? For a brief time, she'd enjoyed peace and relaxation. Her, Heath, Lucy, and...and...

Noelle's eyes shot open. [i]Tucker.[/i]

She sat up with a gasp. Everything came flooding back. She had to find Tucker. He was...drowning. About to be lost at sea. Then...it all got dark...a sudden storm...

Noelle blinked, looking around. Where was she?

She sat on a beach, but not the beach she knew. Yellow sand stretched out on either side of her, and gentle waves lapped at her legs. The beach sloped downward, and there was no end in sight in either direction. From her position the coast curved in a rough crescent shape, totally unlike the one she knew. When Noelle turned to look behind her, she found lush green vegetation, shrubs and palm trees. Large rock formations started to pile up, the land trending steadily upward. She could see enormous pillars of stone towering above the jungle. Getting shakily to her feet, she took in her surroundings. She stood in totally unfamiliar land.

Well, not totally unfamiliar. She saw one of the resort's beach huts lying on its side, carelessly thrown there. Now that she got another look, a number of items that might have been at Otterholt lay strewn on the beach. And some people, too. Her eyes landed on one, and she sprinted over. “Heath!” She knelt by his side, trying to shove him awake. “Heath, get up!”

After a few moments he started to stir, and a couple seconds after that he opened his eyes. “Ohhh...Noelle? What happened?”

His wife looked around again. Nearby, some of the others were getting up too. “I don't know,” she said, tormented. “We were looking for Tucker, and then this storm hit out of nowhere.”

“Tucker...” Heath sat up, groaning. “Oh God. Is he here?”

Noelle had been looking. She shook her head. “Not here...but he has to be somewhere. But I have no idea where we are.” An unknown island, a spotless horizon. No civilization in sight, just a portion of what must be the wreckage of Otterholt Point. Baffled and anxious, Noelle breathed anything but easy. “And where...where's Lucy? Oh...oh no...”

“Calm down,” urged Heath, as he hugged her tight. “We're okay. We can figure this out and find our kids.” But he was worried too. For all he knew, whatever happened had stranded his family on an uncharted island.

[center][img]https://images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca887773594c2.wixmp.com/f/0ae5f732-e525-4baa-ad3b-73bd3d6076b7/d5885p3-a4b138dc-1039-45a5-81c9-0cefdd7e9a71.jpg/v1/fill/w_1131,h_707,q_70,strp/underwater_by_fel_x_d5885p3-pre.jpg?token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJzdWIiOiJ1cm46YXBwOjdlMGQxODg5ODIyNjQzNzNhNWYwZDQxNWVhMGQyNmUwIiwiaXNzIjoidXJuOmFwcDo3ZTBkMTg4OTgyMjY0MzczYTVmMGQ0MTVlYTBkMjZlMCIsIm9iaiI6W1t7ImhlaWdodCI6Ijw9MTA1MCIsInBhdGgiOiJcL2ZcLzBhZTVmNzMyLWU1MjUtNGJhYS1hZDNiLTczYmQzZDYwNzZiN1wvZDU4ODVwMy1hNGIxMzhkYy0xMDM5LTQ1YTUtODFjOS0wY2VmZGQ3ZTlhNzEuanBnIiwid2lkdGgiOiI8PTE2ODAifV1dLCJhdWQiOlsidXJuOnNlcnZpY2U6aW1hZ2Uub3BlcmF0aW9ucyJdfQ.gM3Vz0E2A5lGsr_kdQaGcN6UNMFdIYS53KcFLdH6VSo[/img][/center]