As a child, I used to adore reading classic horror novels like Hansel and Gretel, The Dreams in the Witch House, and The Case of Charles Dexter Ward.

Because I had an insatiable appetite for dark literature, I believed that I could be the next Edgar Allen Poe. 

So during my first year at Harvard University, I wrote at least five short stories — only to be rejected by the New York Times magazine. 

I guess the publishers didn't enjoy violent demons, gruesome monsters, or loathing witches. 

So when I told my future husband about my twelfth rejection letter, he asked me what was my least favorite monster.

I tell him that I am afraid of the beasts whose monstrous size overpowers me—almost like the sea serpent anxious to consume four helpless teenagers. 

Switching his safety off, Caleb cocks his Beretta and fires the shot. The vociferous noise crackled like lightning soaring across the bleak atmosphere. 

But even though the kids made a few dents in the sea monster's left ear, the bullets weren't enough to take it down. 

The enraged sea dragon let out a menacing roar and approaches the shore — only to be greeted with a hailstorm of bullets. 

Johnny, Brooke, Nessa, and Caleb all stood together, firing their weapons at the 200-foot long sea serpent. 

White silver bullet shells and golden round casings rolled along the grayish-brown sand.

Small projectiles irritated the serpent until the teenage misfits have run out of bullets. 

Quickly, the children dug into their backpacks to retrieve their ammo when a piercing cry forced them to cover their ears. 

Its scaly tail invoked ferocious waves. 

Caleb tries to cover his ears as well as he could, but he can feel something wet leaking out his eardrums.  

The indignant sea dragon sprayed a thick, hot stream of water from its mouth. It moistened the gravel, fended off seagulls, and even soaked Johnny and Brooke's hair.

Sand grains powdered their jeans, whereas the warm climate caressed their dampened curls. 

Nessa and Caleb tried firing shells at the sea serpent, but much to their disappointment, it dodged every single one of them.

Their feet sank into the bulky sand pudding. 

Steamed liquid jets gained behind Caleb's feet when all of a sudden, the deadly fountain stopped. 

The giant reptile shrieked until Johnny shoots its left cheekbone and watched the angry current swallow it whole.

"Holy shit." Brooke lowers her gun to inspect the chaotic water. "Is the monster dead? Did we . . . kill it?"

Angry ripples vanished, but the white haze wavered over the children. Shoving the gun in his back pocket, Johnny slowly lowers his sword. 

"I don't know," he says with a sigh. 

"Why?" Nessa inquired. "We barely made a scratch on that thing." 

Caleb slipped his Beretta M9 inside his bag. 

"That worries me, too." he lifts his bag over his shoulders. "Hell, I even feel like the battle had lasted about . . . two minutes." 

Johnny nods in an exhausted manner. 

And so, the kids celebrated their survival by collecting their weapons, discarding their empty magazines, and applied fresh ones. 

"For now, let's just . . . stay away from the water. Okay?" said an exhausted Johnny. 

Brooke and Caleb agreed. 

Nessa, on the other hand, claimed that she had seen something shiny hanging in between the cracks. 

Intrigued, the young clairvoyant followed Nessa's gaze over to what appears to be a girl's silver locket.

"It looks . . . priceless," said Brooke. "I wonder who does it belong to."

"Let's find out," Nessa suggested. 

She grabs her by the hand and drags Brooke towards the rickety pier. But just as the girls approached the wooden path, an anxious Johnny tells them to wait.

"WHY?" Nessa groaned. "The monster is gone now!"

"Yeah! That's kind of my point!" 

Brooke urges the siblings to stop fighting when Caleb came to her aid.

"Johnny and Nessa," he began. "It's okay that you don't agree with each other, but please make a decision." 

Nessa turns her head in Johnny's direction.

"Fine," she grunts. "Brooke and I are going to get the locket while you guys stay here." 

Her older brother rolls his eyes.

"Mom and Dad are going to kill me if I let you go out on your own," he grumbled. 

"We don't have to tell them."  

Johnny gapes at her. "Are you serious?"

"Yeah."

Nessa attempts to fix her jammed gun, but she couldn't figure out what was wrong with it. 

"Hey Johnny," she groaned. "Do you mind helping me fix this gun?"

Though irritated, her older brother kindly takes Nessa's firearm and fixes it for her. 

Meanwhile, Caleb hands Brooke one of his twin Berettas.

"Whoa," Brooke's eyes bulge in total awe. "Are you sure you want me to use it?"

"Well, yeah."

"But why? I already have a gun."

Caleb gives her a look. "I know, but I don't think your pistol is working right."

A surprised Brooke eyed the pistol in her left hand. Its barrel is covered in scratches and the trigger looked like it was ready to collapse. 

"I'll buy you a new one for your birthday," he promised. "But for now, just keep the Beretta with you, alright?"

"Okay." 

Brooke offers her pistol to Caleb, who takes it off her hands and tucks it in the back of his pants.

After handing the fixed gun to Nessa, Johnny tells her to be careful.

His younger sister smiled a little. "Cool."

"Are you sure?" Johnny pressed. 

"Yep." 

Nessa wants to see if the silver trinket is tied to the monster but Johnny refused.

"Okay," she starts to say. "But what if the locket is important-" 

"I said no." 

Nessa crossed her arms like an unruly child. 

"Come on!" she groaned. "When was the last time I have caused any trouble?" 

"Like the time you made a stupid plan to raid a fucking snack machine?" Brooke reminded. 

"Or the time you vandalized the principal's car?" Caleb recalled. 

Recollecting her reckless crimes, Nessa's cold expression turns bright pink. 

"First, I made that plan so we can survive," she snapped in frustration. "And second, that homophobic dick had it coming!"  

Johnny's anger wanes. "Seriously?"

Nessa did a sheepish nod.

"Look," she started to say. "I might have robbed a snack machine, vandalized a car, and stole the latest Pearl Jam album."

Her older brother's eyes widen at the last part. 

"You did what?!" he screamed. 

"Anyway," Nessa went on, changing the topic. 

"We have been friends since junior high. So, if we want to kill the sea dragon, we need to start trusting each other." 

Johnny and Caleb exchange weird looks. 

"So what you're saying is, we should let you put yourself at risk?" Caleb coldly implies. 

Nessa sucked her teeth. 

She wanted to say something bitchy to Caleb until Brooke intervened. 

"I will be more than happy to join her," she suggests with a warm smile. 

"And besides, the monster is gone. So we can grab the silver locket and make it back to shore." 

Johnny made careful glimpses at the wooden pier. "Look, I don't know-"

That's when Nessa cuts him off. 

"I get that you guys are trying to protect me," she groans. "But I am not scared of getting my hands dirty." 

Her brother nods; his cracked fingertips glide through Nessa's wet hair. 

"I know," he answers softly. "But Mom and Dad want me to look after you."

Brooke gives him a delicate smile.

"Don't worry, Johnny," she reassures. "I will be right beside Nessa."

Caleb smirks in approval. "Yeah, these girls can take care of themselves."

An affectionate Brooke looks deep into his eyes. One of the things she had loved about Caleb is that he gives her air to breathe. 

After kissing her lips, Caleb went up to the seaside to explore the specks of blood on the sand.

In the meantime, Johnny stares at the girls for a moment, and reluctantly said: "Okay, have at it." 

Like an energetic toddler, Nessa squealed in delight before scrambling towards the unsteady pier. 

Johnny yells at her to wait, but the fierce breeze muffled his cries. 

"Woo!" Nessa galloped along the hazardous surface. "The last one in is a rotten egg!" 

Brooke let out an exasperating sigh. 

"Please, slow down!" she groaned. "Don't hurt yourself, Nessa!"

Caleb smirked whereas Johnny prayed that nothing sinister will happen to those girls. 

Fortunately, neither Brooke nor Nessa had fallen off the pier.  

In fact, Nessa is busy searching for the sea monster. Her left fist clutched the gun close to her side.

Hazel eyes scanned for any drop of blood tainting the saltwater, but all Nessa can see are shades of blue. 

Meanwhile, Brooke retrieved the silver trinket between the thick crack. 

The silver-gray heart fits her hand. Ivory white metal wraps around Brooke's soft fingers until the colors turn into a suffocating pink.

"Who would abandon this precious little thing?" she wondered.

Brooke opens the locket and peers at the small pictures. Bittersweet lullaby came from the necklace, luring Nessa away from the dock. 

"Hey, babe!" Caleb called out. "What's in the locket?"

Nessa looks over Brooke's shoulder and said, "I think it's just some pictures!"

"Pictures?" 

I don't know if Brooke can tell, but those black and white photos were as old as the heart-shaped locket itself. 

The photographs captured an affluent family in the late eighties. 

What I meant by affluent, I mean prominent, blonde, and blue-eyed socialites who smelled of old money.

Everyone puts on expensive, bleach white clothes, and affectionate smiles — except for the little girl standing in front of her parents.

Her lips were in a terrifying frown. The little girl's thin eyebrows creased whereas her frail arms crossed over her flat chest. 

"Is this the girl from your dream?" Nessa asks Brooke after she tucks the locket away.  

Brooke simply shrugs her shoulders.

"I don't know," she responds. "I never saw a locket anywhere around her neck."

Furious, Johnny yells at his sister to get away from the water but Nessa ignored him. 

"Hey, we got it!" she squealed. 

Brooke's face matches the disgusting color of sour milk. 

"Nessa," she cries in a patient tone. "I don't think the water is safe!" 

"Yeah!" Johnny agreed loudly. "Get the HELL away from there!" 

Rolling her eyes, Nessa slowly treads her nimble feet along the wooden planks. 

But just when she is about to peer into the riveting ocean, the sea dragon's head shot up from the water.

Sea salt and vapor intertwined like long lost lovers. Thick clouds would have blinded the kids if the sun didn't arrive at the perfect time. 

Observing the startling scene from afar, both Johnny and Caleb sprint towards Nessa and Brooke. 

Their feet were caked in dirt and crushed seashells. 

Disgruntled, the lethal breeze abused Nessa's frigid cheeks; her silky brown locks shook vibrantly while her eyes were brimmed with tears.

Brooke whips out her loaded pistol and fires seven shots at the sea dragon. 

Some managed to scrape off its flesh while a few flew past its large ears. Caleb, on the other hand, gradually takes a step away from the towering monster.

For some reason, Caleb felt uncomfortable watching the stiff wood tear into shreds.

Brooke staggers. 

She executes two clumsy backflips before the famished monster sank its teeth into the pier. 

As soon as she was far away from the beast, Nessa retrieves her fallen Glock and fired seven rounds until the sea dragon charged towards her.

Golden eyes burned like a glowing ball of eternal fire. Its pink, slimy tongue swept across its large, fractured teeth.

Grabbing Nessa's hand, Brooke urges Nessa to move.

"Come on!" she screamed. 

Nessa ran until stumbled on a sharp boulder and fell on the splintered floor. 

She was about to shriek when Johnny quickly teleports onto the pier, drags her by the arm, and scrambles to shore. 

Behind the Phoenix siblings was the colossal sea serpent obliterating a small pier into smithereens. 

Johnny quickened his steps. 

His left hand grabbed Nessa by the back of her shirt, urging his little sister to flee.

Well, she would if her brother stops lecturing her for five minutes. 

"Why the hell did you stand too close to the pier?" Johnny growled. 

Nessa threw up her hands in frustration. "For the last time, I said I was sorry!" 

"You could have been MURDERED!" Johnny went on, ignoring her pleas. "Mom and Dad would lose their shit if you tried something like that!" 

"I know!" Nessa cried out. "I am sorry!"

While Johnny drags Nessa away from the raging sea dragon, both Brooke and Caleb reload their firearms. 

They fired at least twelve rounds at the serpent's rough skin, but sadly, the dragon was bulletproof. 

"Damn it!" Caleb cursed. "It's too fast!" 

"And bulletproof," Brooke adds dryly. "What are we going to do?"

An annoyed Caleb slips his jammed Beretta in the back of his pocket.

"Let's go and help them," he grunts. "Okay?"

Brooke nods, sprinting after her discerning boyfriend.

Moist sand sprayed the back of her legs. 

Some got caught inside her sneakers — which made Brooke feel a little queasy. She points her trusty Glock at the ferocious beast before shooting three bullets. 

Unfazed, the monster broadens its long neck, then plunged its head below Nessa and Johnny. 

But luckily, the siblings leaped out of the way and enter the gloomy waterfront. 

"You okay?" Caleb asks a breathless Johnny. 

The teenage ronin nodded. 

Meanwhile, Brooke continuously checked Nessa for any fresh bruises or scars until the shocked girl pleads for her to stop.

"Look, thanks for helping me." Nessa starts to say. "But I am fine. Honest." 

Smiling, Brooke let out a sigh of relief. 

"Oh, thank God," she said. "Next time, please don't give us a heart attack." 

A bashful Nessa apologized, then hugged her best friend. 

Blood trickled down from her sore knuckles. 

A thick gash scratched Nessa's left cheek, but the girl is at peace.

After their happy reunion, Caleb looked back and witnessed wooden fragments floating on the unstable water. 

"I guess we can find Triton and Brooke's parents," he said finally. 

Johnny nods, checking the bruises on Nessa's face. He tries to examine the cuts, but Nessa shivers at his bitter touch. 

"As soon as we leave, Brooke is going to fix your bruises." he looks at Nessa straight in the eye.

Speaking of Brooke, she was squeezing the water from her drenched hair. 

Pale liquid soaked the soft floor; warm brown eyes gaze up at the dreary horizon. 

Gathering their bags, the children were about to leave the beach when Brooke stop dead in her tracks. 

She senses someone's presence, but it was faint like a dream. 

A concerned Johnny was about to ask her what was wrong when a platoon of police cars rolled across the pale sand.