She Went for Relaxation, But Woke Up to Her Worst Nightmare
It was supposed to be a relaxing day at the beach for Emily. She really was in need of one after the horrible week she just had. She still couldn’t wrap her head around everything that had happened. All she knew was that she was in desperate need of a quiet day at the beach.
The beach had always been her refuge, her go-to spot whenever life got tough. It had been that way since her childhood. The sound of the waves crashing against the shore never failed to comfort her; it was as if, with each wave, her worries were carried away.
However, Emily had no idea that things were about to take a turn for the worse. The tranquility of the beach, with its soothing ocean sounds, was merely the calm before a storm she could never have predicted. If only she had chosen a different day to visit the beach…
Emily’s eyes snapped open, and a sudden, harsh sting of the moon’s brilliance overwhelmed her vision. She squinted, her eyes adjusting to the dim light of the evening. The gentle caress of the ocean breeze did little to soothe the strange feeling that consumed every inch of her body. It was a feeling unfamiliar, unsettling. “Wha-what happened?” Emily’s voice, a fragile whisper, “what’s going on?!”
Emily hastily stood up and looked for signs of life around her, but the beach was quiet, too quiet. Grains of golden sand clung to her skin, each one burning into her flesh like a miniature brand. “Helloooo?” she screamed, but her voice was tinged with sorrow. What was this strange feeling taking over her? And why couldn’t she remember anything?
Panic struck Emily as she desperately tried to recall what was happening. But it was unsuccessful—her memory was a blank slate. It almost felt as though she had been brainwashed. The only fragment of memory she could cling to was going to the beach that afternoon.
It had been a beautiful day, and she had laid out her towel and book, ready for an afternoon of relaxation. Emily looked at her watch. “WHAT?!” she screamed. “That was almost seven hours ago?!!” Her eyes darted around, scanning the desolate, dim beach. “What is going on?! What happened to me?!”
Emily’s heart pounded as she frantically scanned the empty beach. Seven hours were missing from her memory, wiped completely clean. What had happened during that time? Where has everyone gone? The stillness around her was suffocating, like the entire world had simply vanished.
“Hello? Is anyone there?”, Emily cried out, her voice trembling. Only the gentle crash of the waves responded. She began to walk, her feet sinking into the soft sand with each step. The beach stretched on endlessly in both directions. Surely she would find someone, something to make sense of this emptiness. But there was nothing. No people playing in the surf, no seagulls circling overhead. Emily was completely and utterly alone.
The panic rose inside her chest until she thought her heart would burst. What was happening? How could everything and everyone just disappear? Emily collapsed onto the sand, tears now streaming down her cheeks. She held back a cry, the sound too painful in the overwhelming silence surrounding her. Something was very wrong here. And if she didn’t discover what was going on soon, the consequences might be even worse.
But then, out of nowhere, a sound broke the eerie silence on the beach. “Wait, what was that?”, Emily whispered. She whipped her head around at the sound of a bark in the distance. Could it be? She jumped up and saw a small figure far down the beach: an elderly woman walking her dog!
“Wait! Please wait!”, Emily cried out in desperation. She took off sprinting through the sand, her legs burning with exhaustion. But she didn’t stop, couldn’t stop. As she got closer, she could see it was a white fluffy dog bounding happily in front of its owner.
Emily was just yards away now. “Please!”, she screamed at the woman. “You have to help me! Something strange is happening!”. She was completely out of breath, but she kept going. This might be her only chance to get some answers. Determined to get them, she turned to the woman, but when the woman turned around, Emily got the shock of her life…
The woman slowly turned around but when Emily saw her face, she gasped. The look on the woman’s face was one of absolute horror and disgust. Fear and shock were written all over it. The woman’s eyes went wide. She held the dog’s leash so tight her hands turned white. Then, quickly, she turned and ran away.
Emily stopped, feeling confused. “Wait!”, she called out, but the woman didn’t look back. For a moment, Emily just stood there, bewildered and alone. She felt the cold breeze on her skin and heard the distant sounds of the waves. “Why did she run?”, Emily wondered aloud. She looked down at herself; her clothes were normal, and nothing seemed out of place. She turned around to check if something strange was happening behind her, but there was nothing unusual. Then Emily looked up again, but the woman was gone.
Emily felt a mix of confusion and fear. The woman’s scared face stayed in her mind. “What just happened?”, Emily asked herself, but the silent beach offered no answers. “Please come back!”, Emily cried after the fleeing woman. But it was useless. The woman and her dog disappeared over the dune, leaving Emily once again in eerie solitude.
Emily stood motionless as a new wave of confusion washed over her. What had brought that look of fear and repulsion to the woman’s face? Emily had never seen anyone react to her that way before. Something was very, very wrong here. But with the woman gone, Emily was no closer to understanding what was going on. She sank back down to the sand, more lost than ever.
Emily’s mind raced as she tried to make sense of everything. Could she have fallen asleep on the beach and somehow slept through the day?. No, that wasn’t possible. She couldn’t have slept for seven hours straight. But what had happened in that time?!
A thought struck her – maybe her phone would provide some clues. She pulled it out from her bag and gasped. Nine missed calls from Mom and five from Dad. Emily’s heart dropped as she saw the time – almost 9pm. Dinner had been hours ago.
“Oh no, they must be so worried,” Emily groaned. Her parents were definitely freaking out since she never stayed out this late without letting them know. Her phone buzzes with several missed calls and text messages, confirming her suspicions.
Emily quickly dialed her mom’s number, knowing she had to put their minds at ease. But as the phone rang, a low battery warning flashed. “Come on, not now”, Emily muttered. The line clicked.
“Emily?! Emily, is that you?”, her mom’s anxious voice flooded through the speaker. “Mom, I’m oka-“, Emily started but the phone blinked off before she could finish. “Ugh, dammit!”, she cried in frustration.
With the phone dead, Emily knew she had to get home immediately. Her parents were likely out of their minds with worry. And maybe they knew something about the bizarre events on the beach today. Emily shivered slightly, the loneliness and confusion overwhelming her again. What the heck was going on?!
She rushed to the nearest bus stop, but when she checked the schedule, her heart sank. The last bus had left over an hour ago. Anxiously, Emily glanced up and down the dark, deserted street. How would she get home now? The town was 10 miles away and she didn’t have enough money for a cab. Desperate, Emily took a deep breath and decided to do something she had never imagined she would have to do in her life…
She stuck out her thumb to hitchhike, hoping a kind stranger might stop. However as she stood there in the cool night air, the empty streets and sidewalks only amplified Emily’s unease. Was she imagining things or was it suspiciously quiet on the streets? Where was everyone?
Emily chose to walk slowly toward home, hoping to spot a passing car. Surely, there had to be someone out there, right?! And after a couple of minutes, finally to Emily’s relief, a pair of headlights appeared in the distance. Her heart leapt with hope as the car approached. She waved her arm frantically, trying to get the driver’s attention. But the car rushed by without slowing, leaving Emily standing alone once again on the dark, empty street.
She sighed, dropping her arm to her side. She couldn’t understand why the car didn’t stop. Didn’t they see her? She knew hitchhiking was risky, but right now it seemed like her only option for getting home. Emily resigned herself to keep trying, shivering slightly against the cold night air. There had to be some kind soul who would take pity and give her a lift. She just hoped they would come along soon.
After a while of not seeing anyone on the streets, Emily felt a growing sense of unease. She tried to stay calm, but her pace picked up. How was it possible that she had been walking for almost 20 minutes and had only seen one car? What was even stranger was the absence of people on the sidewalks, just like her. Where had everyone gone? Why was she the only one on the streets?
Emily wrapped her arms around herself, chilled in the cool night air. She felt so alone and afraid. Was there something going on that she didn’t know about? Consumed with the horrific thoughts of what might be going on, Emily almost missed the sudden movement behind her.
Out of nowhere a pickup truck pulled up behind her. Hopeful, Emily grabbed her bag and ran towards it. As she approached the pickup truck, relief washed over her at the prospect of a ride. However, as she got closer, an uneasy feeling crept into her stomach. The driver was a middle-aged man wearing a grease-stained shirt, staring at her intently.
“Hey there,” he said slowly: “Where you headed?”. Emily looked at him. Something about him made her skin crawl. “Um, just into town”, she replied hesitantly. The man looked her up and down, his gaze lingering. “Why don’t you hop in and I’ll give you a lift?”. Emily hesitated. Her instincts were telling her to decline, but how else would she get home?
“I don’t know…”, she mumbled. “Oh, come on, it’s late. I’ll get you home safely”, he said with an unsettling grin. Emily took a small step back, thinking it might be best to keep walking. Fear gripped her as she nervously scanned her surroundings, hoping for a better option to appear in the distance. The man eyed her eagerly and quickly added: “Tell you what, I’ll do something for you if you do something for me”.
A chill went down Emily’s spine. She knew exactly what he was implying. Without another word, she turned and started hurrying away, her heart pounding. She could hear him shouting after her but she didn’t look back. She’d rather walk the remaining seven miles than get in the truck with him. Emily scolded herself for even considering hitchhiking. But now all she could do was keep moving and hope she made it home before he would come looking for her.
Emily hurried down the dark, empty street, daring to glance back over her shoulder every few seconds. Even though the pickup truck was long gone, she couldn’t shake the uneasy feeling that had settled over her. She wrapped her arms around herself against the chill of the night air, trying to calm her racing heart.
How could she have been so stupid to try hitchhiking? She knew the dangers, especially for a young woman alone at night. The full weight of her situation sunk in as Emily continued. She was alone, with no phone, on an isolated road in the middle of the night. What if something happened to her out here? Would anyone even know? Overcome with loneliness and fear, Emily fought back tears. She just wanted to get some answers…
Mile after mile, she walked in solitude. The empty streets and sidewalks only reinforced her anxiety. Where was everyone? Why wasn’t there a single car or person out? The silence and stillness was almost suffocating. Emily’s imagination ran wild with all the things that could go wrong. The unfamiliar panic rose within her again. She tried to stay calm but her pace quickened, urged on by both fear and hope that her family could make sense of this terrifying day.
Then after what felt like an eternity, Emily noticed movement up ahead that caught her eye—a man walking towards her on the opposite side of the street. Emily hesitated, unsure whether to call out to him. He appeared somewhat suspicious, with his black hoodie and messy hair, which reminded her of her mom’s warnings to stay away from shady men at night. Just minutes earlier she had seen with her own eyes what kind of figures could be out there at night. However, he was the first person she had seen in a while. Maybe this time she needed to make an exception?
As they drew closer, the man glanced over at Emily. She opened her mouth, prepared to say something to him. But when their eyes met, the man froze. A look of astonishment crossed his face. He stared at Emily silently for a moment before taking a few steps to his right before he walked around Emily in a wide arc.
Emily stopped short, completely baffled by the situation. The man continued walking a few meters away from her as she watched. He held his head low and kept looking at the ground, almost as if he was scared to make eye contact with her. After there was a significant distance between them he walked back to the sidewalk and continued walking. “What just happened?!”, she gasped.
Emily was left speechless and growing more and more uneasy. Why had he walked around her like that? And more importantly, why did he feel the urge to avoid her? It was as if he…was completely repulsed by her in some way. But that made no sense!
She shook her head and continued hurriedly towards home. Nothing about this day was making any sense. Between the vanishing beachgoers, the repulsed old woman, and now the bizarrely suspicious man, everything felt upside down.
As Emily neared her house, she could only hope her family had answers. This twisted day had to end soon before she lost her grip on reality completely. She needed the familiar comfort of home and her parents’ loving support now more than ever.
As Emily turned onto her street, she immediately noticed something strange. Her parents’ cars were nowhere in sight on the driveway or curb. “That’s weird,” Emily muttered. Her parents should definitely be home by now, frantically waiting for her return. But the driveway was empty, the house still and quiet.
Unease prickled through Emily’s body. Where could they be? It wasn’t like them to both be out this late without telling her. She quickened her pace towards the front door, dread creeping up her spine.
Emily dug into her bag for her keys and stepped up to the front door. “Mom? Dad?”, she called out as she entered the silent house. No reply. She flicked on lights as she checked each room. Kitchen – empty. Living room – empty. Bedrooms – all empty. Emily’s breath caught in her throat. They were gone.
She pulled out her phone on instinct before remembering it was dead. As she fumbled to find the charger, the emptiness of the house pressed down on her. Just this morning, it had been bustling with life – her dad cooking breakfast, her mom hurrying to get ready for work. Now it was empty, with the people closest to her nowhere to be found.
As Emily paced anxiously around the empty house, a memory suddenly surfaced. Her sister! Earlier today, her sister Sophia had left for a sleepover at her friend’s house just a few blocks away. In the chaos of everything, Emily had totally forgotten. She let out a cry of relief. If anyone could help her make sense of this nightmare, it was her little sister. Sophia was the rational one, the problem-solver of the family.
Emily grabbed her phone and keys and rushed out the door, not even bothering to lock up. She hurried down the street towards Sophia’s friend’s house, nearly sprinting in her desperation. Would she finally get some answers? As the house came into view, Emily felt the first glimmer of hope she’d had all day. The warm glow of lights shone from inside. People had to be home.
Emily bounded up the front steps and rang the bell over and over. “Come on, open up!”, she impatiently mumbled. After what felt like an eternity, footsteps approached and the door slowly creaked open. Emily cried out, “Sophia, I’ve been looking everywh-“
She stopped abruptly. It wasn’t Sophia standing there, but her friend’s mom, whom Emily vaguely recognized. The woman wore a dazed, confused expression, but there was something else—perhaps disgust? As Emily examined her more closely, she noticed the woman’s unease. She even took a step back and wrinkled her nose, as if she had seen something very unpleasant.
Determined not to be deterred, Emily decided that this might be her only chance. “Um, hi, is my sister Sophia here? She was supposed to have a sleepover,” Emily stammered. The woman simply stared blankly for a moment before finally opening her mouth. “SophiaAA!” she bellowed: “Someone’s at the door looking for you!”.
Emily let out a sigh of relief. Ah, she was here! Finally, something good was happening. After what felt like an eternity, Emily could hear footsteps bounding down the stairs inside. Her sister’s voice called out: “Who is it?”. Before the woman could reply, Sophia appeared in the doorway.
“Sophia!”, Emily exclaimed. “Oh my god, you won’t believe the day I’ve had. I need your help figuring this out!”. But Sophia did not look happy to see her sister. As her eyes landed on Emily, she let out a blood-curdling scream. “GET AWAY FROM ME!” Sophia shrieked, her face distorting in horror. “WHAT HAVE THEY DONE WITH YOU?!”
“Sophia, what are you doing? It’s me!”, Emily pleaded, utterly confused. But Sophia only screamed louder: “You’re not my sister! Get away from us, don’t come any closer!”. With that, Sophia threw her whole weight against the door, slamming it forcefully in Emily’s face. Emily staggered back, utterly bewildered. Why was her own sister repulsed by her? First the old woman, then the man on the street and now even Sophia.
Emily stood frozen on the doorstep, with Sophia’s screams still echoing in her ears. Tears welled up in her eyes. She had never felt so utterly alone and rejected. Even her own sister couldn’t bear to look at her. But what did she see? What was going on? And what had happened at the beach? She wiped her tears away and glanced at the closed door in front of her. Then, finally, she saw it…
An icy shiver of horror coursed through Emily as she caught sight of her reflection in the window beside the door. “What the…”, she stammered. A stranger stared back at her—a grotesque caricature, with blistered skin and swollen features. This shocking sight rattled Emily’s understanding, making it hard for her to believe what she was seeing. “No wonder everybody is disgusted by me…”, she mumbled.
Emily stepped back, feeling scared and confused by her own reflection. Just then, the front door creaked open again. Sophia peeked out hesitantly, tears welling up in her eyes. “Oh Emily… I’m so sorry for yelling at you like that”, she whispered. “It’s just… you… uh…”, she began to stutter.
“You know, I could hardly recognize you anymore”, she finally said. “You almost look like an alien”. Emily gasped but couldn’t help but chuckle at the same time. “I can’t blame you, little sis”, she said lovingly as she ruffled her hair. “I must look like a freak too”, she murmured, a sense of awkwardness crossing her face as she glanced at her reflection again.
Sophia squeezed her hand reassuringly: “Let’s call mom and dad. They’ve been so worried about you. They were out in the car looking for you all night”. Emily smiled. “What?” Sophia asked suspiciously. “Ah, nothing. It’s just that I thought our whole family was wiped out when I arrived in an empty house”, Emily said. “I was slowly losing my mind..”, she took a short pause and then continued: “But maybe things aren’t as bad as I thought they were. We just need to find an explanation for what happened to me after I went to the beach.”
Emily and Sophia hurried back to Emily’s house, eager to reunite with their parents. As they walked up the driveway, the front door flew open. Their mom and dad came rushing out, faces etched with worry. “Emily! Oh my god, Emily is that you?”, her mom cried as she ran towards them. But then suddenly she stopped, confusion replacing fear.
“It’s me, Mom!”, Emily said. Her dad stared in shock, struggling to recognize his daughter’s distorted face. Emily’s mom reached out a tentative hand to touch her cheek. “What happened to you?”, she whispered. Sophia quickly explained finding Emily like this after her day at the beach.
Their dad’s face grew pale. “But that was over eight hours ago! Where have you been all this time?”, he asked. Emily shook her head in bewilderment. The hours after the beach were a complete blank. “I only remember being on the beach this afternoon, it was crowded and sunny. And the next thing I knew, I was there all alone in the dark, confused, and feeling this strange pain all over my body”, she explained.
Her parents exchanged anxious glances. “Let’s call the police. They can help us get medical treatment, figure out what caused this”, her dad declared, wrapping a protective arm around Emily as they hurried inside. As they looked at her changed appearance, Emily could see the fear in their eyes. They were just as perplexed by this nightmare as she was. However, Emily knew that they would uncover the truth behind what had happened to her after she had fallen asleep on the beach. They were determined to get to the bottom of this, and Emily was certain of that.
Emily sat nervously in the backseat as her parents sped towards the police station. She couldn’t shake the dread that something sinister had happened to her at the beach. Her mother’s face, etched with worry, intermittently glanced back at her through the rear-view mirror. Her father’s grip on the steering wheel was firm, betraying an anxiety he tried to mask.
At the station, the officers’ eyes went wide when they saw Emily’s distorted face. They exchanged grave looks with her parents. “We need to get her to a hospital right away”, one said urgently. “What’s going on?!”, panic surged in Emily’s voice, but nobody answered. In the tense silence, worried glances were exchanged, filling the air with an unspoken dread.
In minutes Emily found herself being whisked through the emergency room doors. Doctors and nurses gawked at her in dismay before hustling her away for tests. “Wait, what are you looking for?”, Emily asked in confusion. But no one would meet her eyes or explain what was going on.
Test after test was run on Emily – blood samples and CT scans. She cooperated willingly, hoping for answers. However, the doctors didn’t provide any, speaking in medical jargon she couldn’t grasp. Frustrated, Emily pleaded, “Please, can someone explain what’s going on?”.
A doctor took her hand, his expression full of sympathy. “We’re not sure yet. But we’ll get to the bottom of this, I promise. Try to rest now”. Emily sank back, more scared than ever. The medical staff clearly suspected something alarming had happened to her. But what? She studied her warped hands, feeling like she was trapped in a nightmare. At least she was surrounded by people now, instead of that cold empty beach. But never had she felt more alone and terrified about what the coming days might reveal.
After a while a doctor came into her room. “Emily, we looked at the data from your smartwatch. You were asleep for almost seven hours on the beach,” he said, his voice steady yet laced with concern. Emily’s heart skipped a beat. The silence in the room was thick, and every second that ticked by felt heavy and ominous. The doctor cleared his throat before continuing: “It means whatever – or whoever – did this to you, did it while you were asleep.”
A chill ran down Emily’s spine. The tranquil scenes of the beach, the gentle lapping waves, the warmth of the sun – Now, everything appeared threatening, and every memory carried an unnoticed sense of danger. What had happened to her in those vulnerable moments on the beach? Or as the doctor suggested, who had happened to her?!
The next morning, Emily awoke to a burning pain coursing through her face. She stumbled to the mirror and gasped – her skin was an angry red, badly swollen and dotted with oozing blisters. She could barely open her crusted eyes. Just then, there was a knock at her hospital door. The doctor entered, holding a chart, his expression grim.
“I’m afraid we’ve discovered the cause of your symptoms, Emily”, he paused for a moment before he continued speaking. The next couple of minutes felt like a blur to Emily. She could see the doctor’s lips moving but the words didn’t exactly come through. She heard them and she understood them but her mind was distracted. She thought back about those hours on the beach. Those hours that were a complete blur to her but now made complete sense.
After a few minutes the doctor finally finished explaining his findings to Emily. She sat in stunned silence, struggling to process what he had just told her. How could she have been so stupid? Falling asleep on a crowded beach, full of potential dangers around her. Looking back now, she couldn’t believe how she could have been so ignorant. She should have known what would happen…
Later, when her parents arrived, Emily recounted the doctor’s revelation. Her mother’s hand flew to her mouth, and her father blinked back tears. The three held each other tightly, overcome with emotion. ‘A severe reaction to sun exposure. An extremely dangerous sun allergy,’ her dad repeated the doctor’s words. It was as if he didn’t believe it yet and needed to say it out loud to make sense of it.
When the doctor had told her what was going on, she shook her head in confusion. “But I’ve never had any reaction before. I always wear sunscreen at the beach.” Emily still didn’t believe it and thought something else, maybe even more sinister was going on. However, the doctor was 100% sure about it.
“This allergy must have developed recently”, the doctor explained. “Going unprotected for those 7 hours caused an unprecedented reaction. Your amnesia indicates you lost consciousness from the pain and shock early on.”
Emily was stunned. “Will the damage be permanent?” she croaked. “With proper treatment, you should heal”, he reassured. “But you must be vigilant about sun protection going forward. Even a few minutes of exposure could be life-threatening now”, he looked at her sternly when he said that.
Emily let out a shaky breath. The past day’s horrors had a rational cause after all. As relief washed over her, she vowed to herself that the sun would never steal her memories and identity again. From now on, she would greet each new day with gratitude, no matter what precautions it required. Her life had been given back to her.
Over the next few days, Emily continued her recovery, following the doctor’s treatment plan diligently. One week after her ordeal, Emily was cleared to go home. Her parents, taking no chances, had stocked up on sunscreens to ensure she was always protected. When she walked through the front door, her parents enveloped her in a warm embrace, their eyes filled with tears of relief and joy.
Emily later learned why the diagnosis had brought such immense shock to her loved ones. In the terrifying uncertainty of those first days, they had feared something far more sinister had caused Emily’s affliction. But it was just a severe allergy after all. Their daughter had been spared from the unthinkable fate that had haunted their imaginations. Now they could focus on protecting her future, not unraveling mysteries of the past.
Though challenges lay ahead, Emily was grateful for this second chance. Her trust in the world around her had been shaken, but not broken. Each new sunrise would be a gift, not taken for granted. As long as she had her family’s love, she could handle anything life threw at her, even a sun allergy.