The midnight sand was the only witness to Daniel's desperate footsteps. He fled across the beach, wiping tears from his face, as his bare feet left footprints soon erased by the uncaring sea. A half-moon shone dim light onto the scene.

He stopped and turned towards the sea, catching his breath. The stones in his coat pockets weighed heavy on his body and mind as water lapped at his feet.

"Here goes nothing," he muttered. He walked forwards until the water reached his shins, ignoring the shock of cold that shot up his legs. Then again, up to his knees; again up to his waist. He took a deep breath and readied himself to slip beneath the waves.

"Umm, are you alright?" A woman called from somewhere to his left. His head snapped towards the source of the voice.

A woman stood in the sea a few dozen feet away; her hair was like seaweed and her clothes rippled around her like jellyfish. She was utterly soaked as if she'd surfaced mere moments ago. As he met her eyes, she smiled then gave him a cheery wave.

It was enough to pull Daniel out of the inky-black fog clouding his mind. "What the fuck?" He breathed. A stone fell out of his coat pocket and landed into the water with a soft splash. The woman started wading towards him, water rippling around her as she splashed her way across.

A second stone fell out of Daniel's pocket when the woman was within twenty feet of him. Then a third. The woman stopped, watching the stones fall with strange fascination.

"Are you trying to stay underwater with those?" She asked.

Daniel stared at her, utterly discombobulated. From this distance he could see her more clearly. There was a purpling bruise down one side of her forehead and her hair stuck out in wild angles. The hair near where the bruise lay was matted and tangled.

"What?" He replied.

She pointed to where the stones had fallen out of Daniel's coat. "They're heavy. But they keep falling out. Do you want me to find more?"

Daniel let out a strangled giggle. "Er, no. But thanks? I think?"

"Oh. Okay." For a moment she looked disappointed; but then her face brightened. "I've never seen anyone out this late before," She said. "It's nice."

What the fuck is going on? Daniel thought. Am I hallucinating? Is this a dream? Might as well go along with it…

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"What's your name?" Daniel asked.

The woman thought for a moment, frowned, then thought some more. "I…" she began. "I don't know."

"Oh."

"What's yours?"

"Daniel." He shivered.

"You're cold?" She asked with concern on her face.

"Y-y-yeah. Um… I'm gonna get back to the sand. Aren't you c-c-cold?"

She grinned. "Nope! I'm fine."

"Right…"

"OH!" She clapped her hands together in delight. "My name! I remember it now. Lizzie."

Daniel raised an arm to shake her hand. She looked at it curiously; he felt embarrassment wash over him for the out-of-place gesture then let his arm fall.

"I gotta go!" She said. "The water makes you cold. You should go too! See you later! Thanks for helping me remember my name!"

Before Daniel could say anything else, the woman let herself fall backwards into the sea, disappearing beneath the water with a gigantic splash.

"H-hey!" Daniel shouted. "Wait!" He waded over to where he saw the woman vanish; she was gone without a trace, the sea having devoured her whole.

Without a word, Daniel made his way back onto the sand then laid down, facing the sky. He shivered violently as a breeze passed over him. A cloud meandered across the sky before obscuring the half-moon from view.

Perhaps, Daniel thought, I've finally gone mad.

~~~

Daniel's flat near the beach was functional, albeit small. He closed the front door behind him with a soft click then turned around. The only open door was the living-room at the end of the hall; inside that room the curtain was open, which allowed the half-moon to cast dim light over him. He padded towards his bathroom, flung open the door then stepped into his bathtub with his clothes on.

With the turn of a handle, freezing-cold water erupted from the shower head.

"Shit!" He hissed, shying back from the cold. He relaxed a little as the water grew cool, then warm, then hot. He stayed underneath the shower until the water began to turn cool again. Then, he switched off the water and tore his sodden clothes from his body.

"Fucking hell," He muttered. "That could've gone better." He laid down in the bathtub then promptly fell asleep.

~~~

He'd forgotten to switch off his alarm despite intending never to need one again.

Bleary-eyed, he stumbled out of the bathtub and across to his bedroom. The warbling tones of some trashy pop song rose out of his radio-clock before cutting across to the headlines.

"Tonight's top news at 7," the announcer droned. "Family of local resident Elizabeth Holmes issue a second appeal following her disappearance last Monday…"

Huh, Daniel thought. S'been a week already? Wait-

He collapsed onto his unused bedsheets as the realisation hit him like a brick to the head.

Oh fuck. That woman's name was Lizzie.