Somewhere off the Coast of

Burbank California

The lights were dim. The sand felt dry and coarse along her palms and still she ground her hands into the sand, so glad she was to feel dry ground under her feet.

She lay on the sand, sure that no one had seen her, sure that she had not been noticed. She was able to rest a moment, let her wet clothes bake in the hot summer heat. They would dry quickly. She had dressed for practicability.

Her dress, its simple cotton soft and clinging to her body, would dry soon. For now she could rest.

Closing her eyes, she calmed her heartbeat, put a hand there to feel it beating under her skin. Eight hours in the water, eight hours.

She could remember little except the body numbing cold of it, the bite of the water as it carried her.

She tried to make sense of what had happened, what had happened after she had left the tunnels, but it all blended together into shadows. Part of her mind was closed to her now and she didn't have the key to unlock it.

Stretching, she turned over on her back and stared up at the sky. It shone down on her, it's stars like blessings. She could remember the stars from her childhood, knew what colour her hair was, but she could not remember other things.

But she had a plan. She knew that she had to get to them, she had to find them.

And when she did that, than she could figure out what to do.

It didn't help that she had this extra baggage to carry around, as if she had a whole other person inside of her. But it had been helpful in the past, so she let it be.

It couldn't hurt to have a voice in your head once in a while.

Standing, she looked around.

She was in a secluded beach, along the coastline.

She could see trees near by, but could hear traffic. Thank god, she was near civilization. Where there was a road, there was traffic.

She shook out her dress checked to see that no one had followed her. Before she revealed herself from the darkness, she had to be sure she was safe. It would be a game she had to play from now on. Just like checking both ways before you cross the street, she thought wryly.

She walked across the beach until she got to the road. It wasn't too well lit at this time of night, but it was quiet.

It felt foreign to her, after the rushing of the water. She had to sleep. She had to find somewhere to sleep. She had to get money.

Standing at the roadside, she waited for a car to show its headlights before she stood partway into the road. She pulled up the dress so her leg showed.

The car slowed and she saw it was driven by a man. He smiled at her as he rolled down the window.

Smiling back, she bent down to address the driver, so some cleavage would show. "Could you give a girl a lift?" Miriam asked.