Chapter Text
Under the Sun
Chapter 1
Enid Sinclair sat in a shaded lifeguard chair, sunglasses on, whistle held loosely in her mouth, and flotation device resting on her lap. She surveyed the water in front of her, the Atlantic Ocean off New Jersey, keeping an eye on everyone to make sure they were safe. It was the beginning of summer and still just a little too cold for many people to be swimming, and from her experience guarding the local pool back in San Fransisco, people would probably only start getting wet in a week or two when it really started to heat up. Still, she had to remain vigilant. She wasn’t going to let something happen to some poor soul while she could do something about it.
She did take her eyes off the water briefly to check what the other lifeguards were up to at their own stations. One of her cousins was at the station to her left, maybe 100 feet away. He was mostly relaxed, though Enid spotted his leg bouncing for something to do. Past him, at the edge of the beach, was Ajax, her cousins’ friend, a good looking boy she had met a few time s on past visits. He was talking to a couple of beachgoers, not quite meeting their eyes. He was a touch shy, a touch sweet, and Enid really wanted to work up the courage to talk to him more, preferably one on one. She hoped lifeguarding together would give her plenty of opportunities to do just that.
She tore her eyes away from Ajax to check the last lifeguard to her right. Bianca, popular, proud, and more than a little intimidating was leaning back relaxed in her chair. They had only interacted a few times but every time she was supremely confident, which made sense considering she was a siren, an Outcast capable of transforming her legs into a tail and her hands into webbed claws, perfect for swimming.
Each of them was an Outcast, a person with some power or monstrous aspect. Enid and her cousin were werewolves. She could extend her nails into sharp claws and was stronger than average with better senses. At the full moon she was supposed to turn into a full-fledged beast, but much to her own and her parents’ disappointment she hadn’t been able to transform a single time in her sixteen years.
There were other creatures and powers in the Outcast community, some common some rare, some feared some sought after. Ajax was a gorgon, with snakes for hair which could temporarily turn to stone any who looked at them. Enid’s best friend, Yoko, was a vampire, blood drinking, garlic hating, and long-lived. Outcasts lived at the edges of Normie society, in a tense peace with occasional flare ups and occasional attempts at bridging the two communities. Most of the time everyone didn’t acknowledge the rift between them, content to let sleeping dogs lie. But that was more than Enid wanted to worry about for the summer.
She noticed the people in front of her start to whisper to each other. They glanced and pointed off to Enid’s right, and she sorely wanted to turn and see what all the commotion was about. After a moment of consideration s he allowed herself a pe e k, just a slight turn of the head to see what was going on. Coming down the beach walking towards the ocean was a family, the oddest family she had ever seen, which was saying a lot.
The family was made up of a mother and father, two kids walking behind, a daughter about Enid’s age and a son a few years younger, and… an uncle? Enid wasn’t sure considering the lack of family resemblance. Whatever his relation he was tall and lumbering and dressed not in swimwear like the others but in a suit instead. Even though summer wasn’t in full swing Enid didn’t know how he was functioning in a suit in the sun.
And as for the swimwear the family had on, Enid wasn’t sure where to start. It almost looked Victorian, long and dark with white stripes. The parents each sported wide-brimmed hats, and everyone had on sunglasses. Enid wondered if they were vampires, but while vampires could survive in the sun, most didn’t seek it out by going to the beach. H er eyes were drawn to the mother’s suit, which was low cut and really showed off her ample -
No. She shouldn’t check out strangers, even if their dress highlighted certain assets. But if her eyes lingered for a few extra moments what harm was done?
Then Enid’s eyes landed on the daughter. The rest of the family looked happy- save the tall man at the back who didn’t look anything at all- but the daughter was glaring at everyone and everything in her way. Enid couldn’t tell if it was intimidating or cute considering how short the girl was and the pigtails she sported . Then those eyes slid over to Enid and she had to swallow back a yelp. She was definitely intimidating.
She kept watching while the family staked out a spot and settled into it. The father, a short man with slick hair parted down the middle and a thin mustache, gesticulated around the beach as he gave an impassioned speech to his family. At least, Enid assumed it was impassioned since she couldn’t make out any of the words, but his arms swung grandly and his face jumped from one emotion to another. The son was listening intently, but the daughter looked like she wanted to be anywhere else. His wife stood out again, watching him with a soft smile and enraptured eyes, and Enid couldn’t help a twinge of jealousy at such obvious love.
She tore her eyes away from the family to resume watching over the rest of the beach. Things remained quiet for a while, and Enid snuck occasional glances at the odd family that had settled in her purview. The daughter maintained her dour look while she buried her brother. Enid was only mildly concerned when she noticed the girl completely cover the boy’s head and continue piling sand on. Since their parents weren’t reacting she assumed this was normal behavior and their boy wasn’t in any danger.
Eventually the boy escaped his sand grave and spoke with the girl, and they headed for the water. Enid perked up. Everyone else in the area she was responsible for had left the water, so sh e would have a good reason to watch the odd pair. On closer inspection the idea that they were a family of vampires grew stronger. They were pale and covered a lot of their skin considering they were at the beach, wearing more wetsuit than swimsuit. But they had removed their sunglasses, and they lacked the extended canines vampires had. Enid frowned. If they weren’t vampires then she wondered what kind of outcasts they were.
She continued to ponder the two teens as they entered the water. The cold didn’t seem to bother them. They didn’t hesitate or even flinch as they walked in up to their waist, and they continued until they were treading water to keep their heads above water. Enid bit her lip. They seemed like competent swimmers but she was a natural worrier. Her worry blew up into full on anxiety when the siblings counted down and dove under the water at the same time. They probably just wanted to ride a wave in, right?
When she couldn’t spot either sibling after two waves she blew her whistle, leapt from her chair, and sprinted for the water. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Bianca move as well, and she knew that her cousin and Ajax would get anyone else out of the water until all four lifeguards were back in position. But first she had someone to rescue.
Enid hit the waterline at a full sprint and barely acknowledged the cold. She heard Bianca a step or two behind her, though the siren would easily pass her in the water. She could just make out the shapes of two bodies in the water and adjusted her course towards the closest one. It was more slight so Enid guessed it was the daughter. When the water hit her knees she dove and started swimming. In a few short strokes she made it to the figure, definitely the daughter, and wrapped the flotation device around her.
The girl startled and struggled, a surprisingly common reaction to being saved from drowning, but though Enid hadn’t yet transformed she was still strong enough to haul the struggling girl to shallower water without being pulled under herself. When she could get her feet under herself she pulled the girl to her and lifted her completely out of the water.
“ Stop moving so much, I got you,” Enid said in her most soothing voice. The girl struggled harder and turned to face Enid with a potent glare.
“ Release me or lose your hands. Your choice.” Her voice was delicate and sharp, the edge of a knife, and Enid put her down quickly before even noticing the actual knife in the other girl’s hand.
She wondered where it had even come from, but before she could really process what was going on Bianc a hauled the brother out of the water. He wasn’t moving, and it looked like he wasn’t breathing either. She laid him flat on the ground and knelt to deliver CPR, but he spluttered and coughed on his own before she started.
“ A shame,” Enid heard from that same delicate voice. “ Taken by the callous ocean would have been a fine way for him to go.”
“ What?” she asked turning towards the girl. “You wanted him to die?”
“ We were curious what it would feel like to drown. What better way to find out than to go all the way?” she asked rhetorically.
The knife had disappeared again, though Enid still couldn’t tell where it had come from. Before she could respond, new voices cut in, the girl’s parents, come to see what happened with their children.
“ Marvelous, simply marvelous,” the man’s voice rang out. All eyes turned to him as he continued approaching. “Wednesday your lung capacity remains as impressive as ever, and Pugsley my boy, you have tasted the sweet embrace of the hereafter.”
Wednesday and Pugsley. Those were odd names for an odd family. Their mother spoke next.
“And you two,” she said in a smooth voice, gesturing to Enid and Bianca, “were so gallant. You should be proud of how quickly you responded.”
Enid didn’t have time to unpack how strongly a motherly voice telling her to be proud of herself effected her. Instead she turned fully towards the parents to speak with them.
“I’m sorry, what kind of outcasts are you? Because we thought your kids were drowning but no one seems to be worried?”
“Call me a kid again and we’ll see how you fare in the water when it’s full of piranhas.”
“ Don’t mind our little scorpion,” the father said. “Wednesday, these lifeguards were only doing what they are here for.”
“ An unnecessary task. If people cannot handle themselves in the water then they deserve what comes to them.”
“I mean, the ocean can be pretty unpredictable, of course they’d need help,” Enid said.
“Pathetic,” Wednesday sneered .
Enid looked around bewildered and met Bianca’s eyes. The other girl only raised her eyebrows, but didn’t otherwise join in. That was odd. She usually had no problem talking to others and changing their minds. If she was staying out of the conversation then maybe she knew something about this family. Still, Enid felt the need to respond.
“ Needing help isn’t pathetic,” she said.
Wednesday looked like she was about to respond when her mother put a hand on her shoulder. It was quickly brushed off.
“Very true, young lady,” the mother said, seemingly unbothered by her daughter’s rejection. She turned to her family. “Perhaps we have caused these brave lifeguards enough trouble for one day. Why don’t we take a stroll down the boardwalk and see what t here is to find.”
“Can we get some ice cream?” Pugsley asked. He sounded chipper for someone who had probably swallowed a fair amount of New Jersey runoff water.
“Of course, my dear, though I’m afraid we’ll have to add our own arsenic,” his mother said.
“ Thank you again for saving our children,” the father said to Enid and Bianca.
“Even thought it wasn’t necessary,” Wednesday added.
Enid decided follow Bianca’s example and held her tongue as the family returned to their patch of beach and packed their things. She turned to Bianca to ask what had just happened, but the other girl just shook her head. “Let’s get back to it Sinclair,” she said.
“If you say so.”
They signaled to her cousin and Ajax that their emergency was handled and returned to their stands. The rest of their watch was quiet, which allowed Enid to chase her thoughts in circles around the odd family. She was burning with curiosity about who they were, what kind of outcasts they were, and if she would see them again.