Disclaimer: I don't own The Secret Circle.

I woke up with Adam's arms around me, both of us on his sofa.

I stood up, fighting away from him and started screaming bloody murder. He tried to grab me, hold me still,

but I fought like a wild cat and punched him on the nose, before running out of the house and down to the beach,

still screaming all the way.

I noticed my feet were bare when they hit the sand. That didn't affect me much. But it did help me stop screaming.

I kept running, ad hit the icy water.

I didn't know what I was trying to do, but I had to get away. The island wasn't safe anymore.

at first I tried to swim, but eventually I just let the ocean do with me as it willed.

I swallowed a lot of water, and got held under for long periods of time, but none of it seemed to kill me.

Faintly, I could hear someone calling my name on the beach. I couldn't tell who.

Instead, I just threw myself into the next wave.

This one was stronger than the others, the hercules of tides. I remember hitting the sandy bottom, then getting

caught in something that felt like a washing machine. Time lost all meaning, as did direction. I couldn't tell you anything.

After a bit of that, I stopped holding my breath.

Water flooded my lungs, and my vision went black. Everything hurt, stung.

Though I knew it to be morning, it felt like midnight.

As soon as I thought that, arms secured themselves around me.

But it was too late, and I blacked out completely.

…

I came to with a pair of hands beating the salt water from my body, a mouth pressed against mine urgently.

I choked, and gasped, and then started vomiting up sea water.

Warm, familiar hands held back my hair. Gentle hands.

As soon as I could breathe properly, Nick pulled me into his arms.

He was soaking wet, and shivering slightly. In fact, he was shaking.

I understood that it wasn't just from the cold.

"Why?" He questioned me.

"I had to get away, run as far as I could get. I didn't quite think things through," I told Nick.

He laughed bitterly, darkly. "Cassie," he addressed me, "stating lack of thought is a mild descriptive."

We both paused, contemplating what almost just happened.

He spoke first. "Why did you need to run?"

I hesitated. And then decided on the truth. "I woke. And there was Adam."

Nick tensed, understandable. "I screamed," I explained. "I was shocked, and confused."

He waited. "And then?" Nick prompted.

"He grabbed my arm," I hurried on before Nick could get caught up in his anger, " And I saw something."

He waited for my explanation. "The skull is possessing Adam."

For a long time, neither of us spoke.

Author's Note: It's short. Four hundred and seventy nine (479) words short. Before I said that I would never post anything less than a thousand words, but I wanted, essentially, to test this story. I needed to know if I could still write this story, after all this time. Also, I needed to see if people still wanted me to write this story. So, I'm going to wait a week. During this week, I'd like you to review. Tell me if you think I should keep going, or if I should hand it other to someone else, or just let it die in peace. If you would like to give it a try, by all means, feel free to tell me that too, along with where you would take this story. Either way, the fate of this story will no longer be in Limbo by next week.

Over and Out.

Dustfinger's Cheering Section

Tricia