<<run UIBar.stow(true);>><<run UIBar.hide();>>
[[saltwater ->start]]
by Kit H.J.The water is undulating black glass, gentle waves that wax and wane along with the warm summer breeze that kisses your cheek. The moon overhead, a curved cat's claw, bathes the beach in a cool, dream-like haze.
She walks ahead, trailing the wet edge of the tide, sand clinging to bare feet.
The hem of her dress is heavy and stained, and when she turns around, the moon at her back, you swear it's more than water that darkens the cloth. Her black eyes glitter like the sea, her smile curving like the moon. A flash of white teeth.
<center><a data-passage="1"><img src="images/second moon.png" style="max-height: 10vh;max-width: 30vw;height: auto;overflow: hidden;width: auto;"></a></center>She steps into the water, crouches low to wet her hands.
"Dangerous, walking the beach alone at night," she says. You barely hear her, waves breaking at your feet. Foam curls around her toes, the water churning excitedly, and the wind shifts, sand battering your legs and tossing the woman's black hair in your direction.
You smell salt and rot.
<center><a data-passage="2"><img src="images/third moon.png" style="max-height: 10vh;max-width: 30vw;height: auto;overflow: hidden;width: auto;"></a></center>You turn towards the sea and the moon blinks behind distant clouds. The woman steps closer, halting when the light returns, the moon opening wide, curious to see how this encounter unfolds.
<<linkreplace '"Join me."' t8n>>
//[[We'll be safe together.]]//<</linkreplace>>
She undresses, skin translucent in the moonlight. There are bruises, fingerprints pressed along her ribs, grasping her hips, dotting her thighs. She smiles, laughing, before splashing into the water, vanishing beneath the waves.
She reappears, a dark shadow within the moon's reflection, black hair like tendrils dancing beneath the surface, beckoning you in. You strip until you're bare before the sea, just you and her and that warm summer breeze.
<center><a data-passage="3"><img src="images/fourth moon.png" style="max-height: 10vh;max-width: 30vw;height: auto;overflow: hidden;width: auto;"></a></center>The waves lick at your calves, your thighs, between your legs. You sink to your knees, digging your hands into soft sand you cannot see.
The water rocks you playfully, lulling you atop the waves, plumes of sand swirling slowly as your hands rise to grasp the woman swimming close.
Not quite a woman, anymore. But neither are you. She kisses with sharp teeth, hands caressing beneath the water, her legs tangling with yours. Is it the waves or her hand sliding between your thighs? Saltwater rushes into your mouth as you kiss.
━━━━ [[Sink]]
━━━━ [[Swim]]The sea envelops you completely. Useless to fight it-- the current, her cold touch. The unrelenting tide of truth.
Fingers curl around your throat, claws digging deep-- a gift of gills beneath the gore. You breathe in water and blood. The taste of transformation. The pain of becoming what you are. She pulls you into her arms, where you belong.
<center><a data-passage="0"><img src="images/final moon.png" style="max-height: 10vh;max-width: 30vw;height: auto;overflow: hidden;width: auto;"></a></center>You fight, like always. Thrashing and clawing at the moon as if she will pull you out, as if it's not her tide drowning you.
But you push away cold hands, free yourself from the sea's grasp. You drag your body ashore, water lapping at your waist. You look back, catch one last glimpse of dark eyes and pale hands. Split apart, before and after, a piece of you dives down with her. You'll never get it back.
<center><a data-passage="0"><img src="images/new moon.png" style="max-height: 10vh;max-width: 30vw;height: auto;overflow: hidden;width: auto;"></a></center>