I discovered the beach when I was thirteen. Four months after my aunt started dating an alcoholic loser. At first, I was willing to give him a chance. That lasted about two weeks.
Once he had gained my aunt's trust, he revealed his true nature. The loathing is mutual, now.

After watching my aunt's boyfriend stagger through the door way too late, my aunt broke down. She was crying for him to stop with the beer, to love her like she loved him. He didn't listen. Instead, he threatened her, an empty bottle still in one hand. He scared her, and ever since, she's submitted to everything that he says. Watching his first "session," which is what I call them now, I sneaked out the back door of our house, and ran.

I planned to run forever. I moved until I reached the beach. My bare feet touched the cold, soft sand, and I stopped. The sand stretched into the sea. The sea stretched into the horizon. The beach was blocked from the city by around two hundred trees, but somehow, I had found it. There was no light pollution here. Not a single scrap of litter floated on the surface of the ocean, or tumbled across the sand. As far as I knew, I could be the first human being ever to stumble upon this hidden beach.

I did go home. I couldn't leave my aunt with that monster. But I remembered every step that I took. And when I did reach my house, my aunt's boyfriend was asleep. She was pretending to be, as well. Nevertheless, she was sleeping in the guest bedroom. What he had said must have taken any courage that she had left.

Four years later, my aunt still hasn't left him. He has had more and more sessions. At least once a week, now. They get more and more violent with each one, leaving my aunt scarred. They can't go on this way. He'll destroy her. I can't let him do that. So I try to fight him. But if he catches me, he hurts my aunt. If she makes him angry, he punishes me. But my aunt thinks that having him with us is what's best.

I'm seventeen, now. And while he nearly killed, he helped me find a new way of surviving.

It was last year. He hit my arm a dozen times. I ran to the beach, having done so far too often. When I reached the sand, I kept running. My ankles sank into the ocean. It was so cold. Frigid, even. The cold felt good. I fell to my knees, feeling tears streaming down my face. I dipped my raw arm in the water. It stung. It felt so good.

What happened next went too fast for me to even comprehend. My knees were sinking into the sand, the water rising to my nose. I had gone too far into the ocean. I had never been a strong swimmer. My throat burned, water clouding my brain and I felt so tired...

Then something lifted me gently through the waves. My face cleared the surface and I gasped for air, bobbing slowly back to shore. When I reached the beach, I hacked and coughed, retching, my lungs desperate to rid themselves of the water. My arms trembled as I attempted to lift myself up, only to fall back down again. Then I saw the girl. 

Hair as black as midnight, eyes the color of the sea. She lifted a hand to tuck my wet hair behind my ears. Her touch was cold. "W-who are you?" I choked, my vision blurring. Her clothing seemed to be made of pearls and moonlight. She was mesmerizing. 

The mysterious girl smiled serenely. Had she dragged me from the water? I felt a tugging in my chest towards this girl. Everything inside of me wanted all of her, and I had no idea why. "A friend," She whispered, kissing me on the forehead. Every cell that touched her grew warm. I closed my eyes, trying to let this dream carry on.When I opened them, she was gone, leaving only a ripple in the waves.