Page 65 of Rival Hearts

“We need to find shelter!” Charlotte cried out as lightning cracked dangerously close by, followed by the immediate roar of thunder.

“The old lighthouse.” I pointed to the tall structure that reached up above us.

I grabbed Charlotte’s hand, and we ran across the beach toward the rocks that surrounded the lighthouse. We followed a path through, climbing our way up to the top. The rain made the rocks slippery, and Charlotte fell, but I helped her up, and she scrambled on with me.

We finally reached the side of the lighthouse. An old wooden door was locked, but the padlock was rusted. I grabbed a rockand hit it. After three times, it broke, and I yanked the door open, pulling Charlotte inside with me.

The door swung shut, slammed by the wind, but finally we were sheltered from the storm.

We both breathed hard.

Charlotte scrubbed her face and squeezed the excess water out of her hair.

I pulled off my T-shirt and wrung it out.

“Hello?” Charlotte called out.

“It’s abandoned. The whole island is.”

“Oh, no,” Charlotte said. “Are you sure?”

“The lighthouse isn’t even in commission anymore. It’s just a structure. But at least we have some shelter from the rain. We’ll have to stay here until the storm dies down.”

“It came out of nothing,” Charlotte said.

“Yeah, the change of the season can bring freak storms on sometimes, but this is pretty bad.”

I walked to the small window that overlooked the ocean; it was a roaring, wild beast out there. The ocean could be incredibly serene and beautiful, or she could be a tyrant and take the lives of those who ventured out on the waves.

The one thing I’d learned very early on in life was that the ocean was never to be underestimated and that we humans might have figured out how to be at the top of the food chain on land, but out there on the waves, we were nothing.

The wind drove water in through the rotten wooden door and through the windows that didn’t do much to keep out the weather.

“Come on,” I said and headed toward the spiral stairs that led up to the mid-level room. “It might be safer up here if there are any floods.”

“This high up?”

“Rather safe than sorry.”

Charlotte nodded and followed me as I climbed up.

The mid-level room was in much better condition. The windows were solid, keeping out the storm. A metal trunk, workbench and shelves, and a table with mismatched chairs were placed around the edges of the room. A pile of tarps and ropes was left in the middle.

At the far side, another staircase led up to the lantern room, but I didn’t need to go up there.

“Here,” I said and walked to the shelf, taking off blankets that had been folded up. They were dusty but okay.

“How did you know they had this here?”

“Chris and I came here a lot when we were younger. It didn’t look like anyone had been here in a while.”

“Right.” Charlotte shivered.

“It might help if you get out of your wet clothes,” I offered.

She eyed me.

“I’m going to strip, too, and wrap myself in a blanket. We can hang the clothes up and hope they’ll dry, but I don’t want to make a fire in here.”