Sunset Beach Condos

Mira stepped out of her apartment in a simple beach outfit that she didn't mind getting wet. It was a vintage-inspired oversized graphic tee in a soft beige hue with a classic black string bikini underneath that keeps things simple and sleek. To complete the look, a pair of earthy brown Birkenstock-style sandals and square sunglasses with deep brown lenses that she kept on her head.



She slipped quietly out of the building, the door clicking shut behind her with a soft finality. The air outside was a bit cooler than she expected, brushing against her skin with a salty breeze that carried the faint cry of gulls and the distant rush of waves. Her feet moved on their own, guiding her down the concrete that led through the path and out toward the sand. Behind her, the apartment sat still and silent, its living room cluttered with boxes that remained untouched. She hadn’t even tried to open them. She couldn’t. Just the thought of it made something twist uncomfortably in her chest. Like if she so much as lifted a lid, the weight of everything inside would swallow her whole. Nothing could bring her to unpack them right now. She didn’t fully understand why. All she knew was that staring at them made her feel like she was suffocating.

The sand was cool beneath her sandals as she stepped onto the beach, the sky a portrait of bright blue speckled with white clouds. Here, at least, there was space. No walls closing in. No reminders of who she was supposed to be now. Just wind and sea and sky. She stood at the edge of the water for a long moment, letting the sound of the ocean dull the static in her head. For the first time since arriving, she allowed herself to breathe a little deeper, just enough to remember she was still alive. Without waiting another second, she got down onto her knees and turned over on her back, letting the water brush up past her ears, paint her cheeks, collide with her body. She closed her eyes, letting herself drift away into another world that was not this one. One in which everything was peaceful and nothing bad happened.

"Hey, Rowdy. Can I ask you something about soul mates?" She asked as she kept pace with him as they ran along the beach. She asked it this way but knew Rowdy would understand what she meant. She gave him a side glance as he gave her his answer and smiled. "You know how long I was with my previous exes and how much I loved them. Hell, I still care about them. Always will. But is it wrong that it feels right with Fitzpatrick? Like it was a piece of a puzzle that I couldn't place for the longest time? Like something I was missing?" She spoke freely with a thoughtful look on her face and listened to his response.

She started to slow to a jog. Though she wasn't out of breath, she had worked up a sweat. Especially since the two had been running for a while to let off some steam for the beasts inside them. She focused on the sand beneath her feet and took in his every word before she spoke again. "Sorry if it was a sore subject, big guy. I am still trying to process the fact that I have one. I didn't think my kind did, so I'm not sure how the bonds work. Though, I am honestly grateful for him and have leaned fully into it. I just thought I would feel guilty about what had happened with everyone. But, I feel relieved. Possibly free. Especially after the potion was broken." She had already told him and Lia what had happened from the beginning to when she met Fitzpatrick. Though she hadn't been able to ask about the mate bond and how it truly worked. She had felt Rowdy was the right person to ask as he would understand more and, as a really good friend, would answer honestly.

She soon slowed to a walk as they came upon the end of their run. She looked over to him, "Maybe we can take a break and enjoy the morning here on the beach. I hope Lia joins us too and saw the note I left her." She gave him a brilliant smile as her gaze pulled away from him and looked ahead. "I think our bag was a bit behind us. If you can grab it, I will find us a good spot to chill." She said as she saw him run off towards where they left a bag with towels and water. As she walked further along the beach, she came to a sudden stop.

Her eyes widened in surprise at what she saw a few yards in front of her. There was a body laying on the water's edges as the waves crashed against the shore. Her shock quickly changed to that of concern as she cautiously took a few more steps closer. She saw that it was a female just floating on her back with closed eyes. "Hey. Are you okay? Do you need any help?" She called out, hoping that she received a response. Otherwise, she would be calling the ambulance as it looked like a dead body. She soon heard the sound of someone coming towards her on the sand and barely glanced over her shoulder as she stepped to the side. Then turned back to the girl in the water as she heard a noise in that direction and moved closer to the girl, though she was cautious in her steps. Making sure the girl was alright.

Rowdy, a surly and mostly described as an ornery little fuck by his friends, was one of the few people who could answer questions about mate bonds, as he had been graced with one, once upon a time. She had shaken him early that morning, wanting to go for a run. He had crawled out of the bed and pulled on some board shorts. He didn't bother with shoes or a shirt. There was a beach bag he and Lia kept ready to go by the door with towels, bottles of water, and a few books of Rowdy's. Bag in hand he followed Sadie out of the condo, down the stairs, and out onto the beach where the bag was deposited so they could run.

Rowdy alternated from running on the packed down, wet sand and the incredibly loose, powdery sand. He was panting and sweating in no time. It took more than half the run for Sadie to finally come out with the question she had for him. She wanted to talk about mate bonds; a touchy subject for him, but one he could talk about. "It's not wrong, Sadie. That's the first thing you need to understand - nature is never wrong." He took a second to think about how to explain. "You know the pull? That instinct that you can't say no to - that's the bond, the real bond."

They ran on and he knew he was going to have to talk about 'it'. "My bond formed when I was twelve years old. At twelve I knew for certain I had found my other half. Nothing in this world could have dragged me away from her. She became my sun and I became hers. Neither of us could fathom an existence without the other. And this wasn't some 'first love' bullshit that lasts for a year or so. This was something binding and absolute." Rowdy glanced over at Sadie, he hoped she understood what he was getting at. "You can't say no to that kind of pull, Sadie. It overrides all previous promises. It obliterates all past love because no love can exist that is more fulfilling than the love of your mate."

His voice faltered then and had to look away from his friend. "Just don't lose him. Because, when you lose them, you lose yourself. A bullet took my love, my world, my mate away from me and I had to fill the devastation up with something for I was empty of everything. I chose hatred and murder. You don't want to end up like that, either." Rowdy's eyes were trained on the packed sand beneath their feet, their running causing a faint slapping sound. "But you need to protect yourself, too now or else that's what will happen to him if he loses you."

Sadie must have had enough for she informed him to go get the bag with the towels and water. He jogged back to where they had left the bag and he had just thrown it over his shoulder when he heard Sadie's concerned voice. He looked up and spotted what she was looking at. A girl was laying motionless in the waves. Rowdy was not a passive guy, he was one to take action. Bag in hand, he broke out in a full out sprint. He covered the ground between the bag and the girl in seconds. Rowdy threw the bag at Sadie and dropped to his knees next to the girl.

"Can you hear me?!" He placed his hands on her shoulders and shook her carefully. "Miss! Can you hear me?! Miss! I'm here to help you!" His hand lifted from her shoulder and he placed his fore and middle fingers against her carotid artery to check for a heartbeat as he leaned in and covered his cheek over her mouth to test for breath.

True tranquility was something Mira rarely experienced anymore. Her nerves, always coiled tight beneath the surface, never truly let her rest. But the ocean was different. In the water, she could breathe in a way she hadn’t since before captivity. It was one of the few places that didn’t feel threatening, where her heightened senses didn’t overwhelm her. The rhythmic push and pull of the tide, the muted soundscape below the surface, the cool embrace of the sea, it all calmed her in a way nothing else could. That was one of the rare, good things about moving somewhere like Sunset Beach. The proximity to the shoreline gave her an escape, a quiet place to detach from the world. Out there, with her toes buried in the wet sand and her gaze fixed on the horizon, she wasn’t Mira the test subject, or Mira the broken girl trying to put herself back together. She was just a soul resting in the arms of something older and gentler than she could explain. The touch she'd been longing for, even if it wasn't from another person.

She wasn’t quite asleep, but she wasn’t fully present either. Her mind floated in that hazy in-between, her body lulled into stillness by the waves crashing against her skin and the scent of salt in the air. It was one of those rare moments when she could simply exist without fear or memory chasing her. So, when she heard the faint crunch of footsteps approaching across the sand, she didn’t flinch. Normally, the mere hint of someone nearby that she couldn't see would have her heart in her throat, her body tensed and ready to run. But not now. Not here. For once, her body didn’t immediately perceive danger. She remained still, letting the sound approach slowly, her breath steady as she listened. It felt like peace. And she wasn’t ready to let go of it just yet.

That was until she felt someone touch her. No amount of water could take that fear away from her so easily, no matter how hard she hoped it would. A primal fear emerged, her eyes shooting wide open and using all the strength she could muster to flop backwards further into the water and away from the strangers who'd approached her. Her mouth was open as if she was going to scream, but nothing came out. Just a weird, silent stand-off. Her wide eyes scanned both of them rapidly, slowing down once she realized they were just concerned. She swallowed the lump that formed in her throat to clear it so that she could speak. "Um... sorry-" she started, wiping strands of damp hair from her face that was bothering her. "Yes, I'm okay. I just came out here to relax. Sorry if I scared you." But her pulse never slowed. Eyes never narrowed. She looked on edge, like she was ready to run. Truthfully, after running into Olivia, Mira was worried about finding more witches or warlocks in Sunset Beach. She'd picked up something strange from the male when he grabbed her, but it wasn't similar to Olivia's. That would at least provide her some comfort.

It was a pretty awkward first impression. She could only imagine they were thinking the worst of her right now. What did she look like from their point of view? "I'm not on drugs, I swear..." A nervous laughter escaped her before she realized that it probably just looked weirder after she brought it up. She opened her mouth again to try and clear it up, but she instead just sat back in the water, wishing she'd never left her apartment.

He was leaning over, his ass in the air and his cheek near her mouth. When she moved she scared the shit out of him. Instantly, he sat up but with too much force, which sent him backwards into the water. His back hit the firm sand as a wave rushed to the shore, covering his face and shoulders. Luckily his eyes were closed but salt water filled his mouth and shot up his nose. The immediate sting of the salt caused him to sit up in a hurry.

Mouth expelled the silty, salt water as he pulled in a large breath. Hr breathed out of his nose in hard blast to clear his nasal cavity and sinuses of the salt water. He coughed, a rough violent cough as he cleared his lungs. He had swallowed a mouthful of the salt water as well and he felt a wave of nausea hit him. God he didn't want to vomit in front of people. He rolled to his stomach and pushed himself up to his hands and knees just as another wave rushed under him.

He surveyed the scene. The 'dead' girl was talking - apologizing even. Rowdy pushed off the sand, straightening his torso so now he was just kneeling in the water. "That was my fault," he said, still trying not to be sick. The words were rushed and they sounded like there was a burp behind them trying to get out.

Rowdy dry heaved but nothing came up. The salt in the back of his throat was disgusting. He looked at Sadie and motioned for the bag. "Water..." It was clear his body was trying to reject what he had swallowed.

She heard the muffled thud of someone running towards where she stood looking at the 'lifeless' body. She turned her head to the side and saw Rowdy rushing towards her with an expression of concern that matched her own. She barely grabbed registered that she caught the bag he tossed at her when he went to check on her body. She watched concerned a few seconds when she thought to check the bag for a phone. As she fumbled through the sack, she watched Rowdy lean over the body, checking to see if the girl was breathing.

She would have made a smart-ass comment about 'nice butt, big guy', but it truly wasn't an appropriate time. She paused her movements, looking for a phone, when she saw Rowdy jump back and land on his back harshly on the firm sand. When she looked back at the girl, her eyes widened in shock as a gasp escaped her mouth. "Holy Shit! It's fucking zombie!" She mumbled through her hand that had instinctively covered her mouth. She soon heard the 'zombie' girl apologizing and then Rowdy coughing roughly simultaneously.

She realized the girl was fine, just startled from them showing up. She grabbed a water from the bag she dropped just as Rowdy asked for one. She went to where he sat kneeling in the sand as the waves crashed against him. She crouched down beside him as she gave him the water. Before he took a drink, she gave him a few slaps to his back. Hoping to help the salt water he was choking on expell itself. "Are you okay, big guy? She looked at him and waited for him to answer. Seeing if she could do anything else to help. She rubbed his back in a soothing motion when she spoke again. "If you gotta puke it out, let it go. I will cover you." She said this sincerely but also was trying to lighten the situation. She looked over at the girl, "Well, now that we know you aren't a dead body that floated to shore and that your alright. I will introduce myself. My name is Sadie. This guy here is my friend Rowdy." She went ahead and introduced Rowdy seeing as he was still trying to get the salt water out of his lungs. She gave the girl a friendly smile to show everything was okay and that they meant no harm to her.

Guilt gnawed at the wide-eyed girl as she sat there, the relentless waves crashing around her and drenching her already damp shirt. She pressed a trembling hand to her mouth, whispering several apologies as the man nearby erupted into a violent fit of coughs, his harsh breaths cutting through the salty air. The woman beside him muttered something that she shouldn't have heard from where she was sitting, calling her a zombie. It was barely audible, more a whisper carried on the breeze than a coherent statement, yet it pierced through her like a knife. Self-consciousness washed over her, and she could feel the heat rising in her cheeks. Tears threatened to spill from her eyes, shimmering like crystals, but she willed them to stay put this time. Horrible first impression, Mira. Horrible first impression.

Any normal person would’ve rushed over and offered a hand, asked if everything was alright, maybe even tried to crack a comforting joke to break the tension. But Mira wasn’t like most people anymore. Fear had its fingers wrapped tightly around her, coiled around her ribs, squeezing the air from her lungs. It wasn’t the kind of fear that made you scream or run. No, this was worse. This was the kind that froze you in place, that made the world tilt and slow while your heart pounded like bass drums in your ears.

Still, despite the weight of it, she swallowed the fear. Just enough to get her voice working. “Hi, Sadie,” she said, the words soft and trembling as they slipped from her lips. Her voice quivered in that unmistakable way, like someone trying not to cry. She hated how weak it sounded, how exposed it made her feel. “I’m M…” she began, then paused. For a split second, her mind went blank. Not out of rudeness or nerves, but because the name still didn’t feel like hers. There was always that tiny hesitation, like she was a passenger in someone else's body. She blinked, recovered. “I’m Mira,” she finished, forcing a small, stiff smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes. Her shoulders began to ease, just barely. Not enough to be noticeable to someone else, but for Mira, it felt like a huge difference.

“And… I’m really sorry about all of this,” she added, her eyes falling to the sand between them. “I won’t come out here anymore if… if it’s a disturbance.” The apology felt like instinct. Like muscle memory. Always assuming she was the problem. Always trying to minimize her presence, to take up as little space as possible. A result of all those long days and longer nights where speaking brought her unwanted attention. Now, even being on a beach felt like something she had to apologize for.

Rowdy took the water – shit, he grabbed it from Sadie’s hand and ripped the top off. The first think he did was take about a third of the water into his mouth, swish it around and then spit it out into the waves rushing from the shore back out into the sea. The rest of the bottle was downed in third large swallows. Empty bottle in hand, Rowdy looked up from the water that was beating against the side of his thigh as towards the girl he had probably scared just as much as she scared him.

He blinked, his eyes squinting in the bright light of the morning. He examined her for only the briefest of moments, but he knew her type. He got to his feet and made his way towards…Mira, he thought he had heard her say. He offered her one of his hands, “You have nothing to apologize for. I think I was the one that wronged you.” He tried to offer her a grin, something pleasant and strong. “I’m Rowdy. And you will come out here as often as you like.” He cracked a real smile then and glanced at Sadie, “We need to get her a sign that says, ‘I’m not a zombie, just resting’.” He was trying to be playful, even cute.

He looked at Mira, “We have some beach towels and water, a few books, if you want to hang out with us. I think we were going to sunbath and just relax. Interested?” He knew he had packed a few extra towels, several bottles of water, some sunscreen, and a handful of his books he might allow himself to get lost in.

"Nice to meet you, Mira! And sorry for the scare. We were just concerned. There is no fault for anyone." She said to Mira with a small smile on her face as she stood up from where she had been crouching beside Rowdy. She listened to Rowdy introduce himself to Mira after washing out the salt water from his system. When Rowdy commented to her about a sign, she couldn't help but snort out a laugh. "I think that's a magnificent idea, big guy." She gave him a mischievous smile and looked back at Mira.

She had just heard Rowdy offer her to hang out with them and beamed at the idea. Her smile grew wider, "He's right. You should join us." She turned towards the bag she had dropped on the sand a few feet away, barely missing the tide. "I will go layout a few towels, and you can come whenever you are ready. Both of you." She called over her shoulder as she walked towards the bag and bent over to pick it up. She dusted the sand off and headed to a good lounging spot a few yards away.

She arranged the towels so they could sunbathe, then put the bottled water in a shadier area so they didn't become boiling water. She stripped down to her bikini that she had on under her tank top and running shorts as she grabbed the sun screen. She didn't really need it, but for appearance sake, she started to put some on. She looked over to Rowdy and Mira with a hint of playfulness in her eyes and a cheshire grin on her face. "Now, who can get my back for me?" She waved the bottle of lotion in her hand as the other pointed with her thumb towards her back.

The response she had gotten was more pleasant than she initially expected. Not that she was expecting them to be rude, but admittedly she was doing something weird. They wouldn't have been wrong to avoid her after all of that. "It's nice to meet you both as well!" Her nerves continued to calm, a hesitant but natural smile starting to appear on her face as they joked about getting her a sign to prevent something like this from happening again. She laughed, air expelling out of her mouth and taking more of the tension in her muscles with it. "I mean, if it means meeting more people like you guys, I think I'll be just fine without it." she said, returning the playful energy.

Mira watched the man get closer, her heart rate starting to pick up though she tried to hide it. Instinctively, she flinched as he extended his hand, only turning her head back to examine it before remembering where she was. She gulped down the fear that began to build up in her throat as she grabbed his hand, getting up and out of the water. She thanked him silently, listening to the offer. "Yeah, sure! I'd love to. I'll be over there in a sec." With that, she turned away for a minute, patting both sides of her face with her hands and taking deep breaths. Only, she couldn't do too many of those - her nose was way too sensitive. She briefly brought her hand to her heart and let out one last sigh before relaxing her arms and turning to meet back with Sadie and Rowdy.

"I can help!" Mira offered with a tentative but genuine smile, the words leaving her before she could second-guess them. She reached for the lotion bottle, her movements careful, almost delicate, as if the object might break if she handled it too roughly. She squirted a dollop of sunscreen into her palm, the coolness of it a stark contrast to the warmth of the sun overhead. Her fingers flexed instinctively, a tiny, almost involuntary motion she hadn't meant to make. Another flinch, but this one was much smaller. It wasn't a fear response; this one was because of how sensitive her sense of touch was. Still, Mira steadied herself, pressing her hand lightly against Sadie’s back. She moved slowly, spreading the lotion with careful, even strokes, determined to be helpful even if the contact sent a ripple of hypersensitivity up her arm. Her hand glided over warm skin, breathing slowly and carefully to keep herself steady. Sadie's calmness rubbed off on Mira in a way, helping her get through it a lot easier.