Chapter Text
The drive from Gateway to the summer house in Maine wasn’t the worst. Four hours- sure. However, there were plenty of things to look at along the way. As much as Cassie wanted to be a typical upset teenager that her last summer before college was being spent hanging out with her mom on an archeological dig, it was difficult for her to not be excited.
Stepping out of the car into the salty fresh beach air felt rejuvenating. It had been a cold summer so far, but the current day's sunshine felt like heaven after the long car ride.
“Do you want to check out the house first?” Helena asked her daughter.
Cassie picked one of her feet up behind her and stretched her thigh, “yeah- I wanna see it. First the house, then unpack, then some food?”
Her mother grinned at her and went fishing in her bag for the keys, “Sounds like a plan to me.”
The house itself was relatively isolated on the outskirts of town, perched right on the edge of the beach in between the dunes and the rocky outcropping of the land. It had an old unused dock that, despite its age, still looked sturdy and safe. The inside of the house would, if it were actually being occupied, would be considered minimalist or maybe Nordic, Considering no one actually lived there Cassie didn’t feel too bad calling it the bare minimum requirement to consider a place furnished and move-in ready.
It didn’t matter that much in the grand scheme of things though. This was only for a summer and then she’d be leaving her mom for the foreseeable future. Sure, they moved around a lot because of Helena’s job, but she and Cassie had always been together.
“Landlord sure spared no expense huh?” Cassie laughed and her mother did as well.
“Go pick out your room, I need to make sure the appliances work.” Helena waved her off to inspect the kitchen.
Cassie took the walk through the barren living room, inspecting the only furniture, a table and two chairs, as she made her way. There were a total of three bedrooms- one master bedroom with a bathroom attached that her mother would get, and two smaller that shared a bathroom in the hallway. Giving them both a look over the decision was immediate. One bedroom had a window that faced the road and the rocky outcroppings of the shore- and the other looked directly out into the beach and the vast open ocean.
The choice was easy- she was here to see the ocean so she was going to see it. The room had a bed, a nightstand, a dresser, and a closet. It didn’t come with anything else and Cassie was stuck feeling like this was a hotel. A strange transience between two places that no one ever stayed at for any period of time.
Supposedly someone had lived here back in the 60s, but it had just been timeshares and short term rentals since then.
Cassie left the room and walked back to the kitchen, stopping when she realized her mother was talking to someone at the door. It was a man in his mid forties, giant as anything but with a kind face and gentle hands, showing her mother places on a map.
“Oh! Cassie, come meet the neighbor,” Helena ushered her over. “This is Mister Kent, he works the lighthouse up the road.”
The man gave her an easy smile and stuck out one of his large hands for Cassie to shake. “You can call me Clark, I’m just saying hi and telling your mother how to get around town.”
“Oh yeah?” Cassie shook his hand, “anything we should check out?”
“There’s all kinds of things if you know where to look. I’ve got a…son around your age that I can probably convince to show you around if you’d be willing.”
That was a strange pause but Cassie ignored it. “Sure. I’ll be here all summer. Tell him to come find me.”
Clark laughed at that, "No problem."
“You were talking about a library?” Helena asked, holding up the map again.
Clark nodded and took the map back from her, “If you go down Townsend road here-“
Cassie took that as her cue to walk away. Her mother would have that map memorized within the hour. The neighbors seemed nice enough, though she wondered how many of them there were. This wasn’t exactly a densely populated beach. She didn't even realize they would have neighbors.
After scoping out the bedroom again she took the back door out to go walk along the shore. The gravel was hot from the sun but the cool gentle wind kept the heat from being anything too intense. Maybe tomorrow she'd run around here barefoot- but for now the shoes would stay on.
The old dock really didn’t look too terrible the closer she got. The water was clear enough and she could see all the way down to where the pillars sat in the sand. The wood creaked and groaned as she crossed but nothing shifted or moved- sturdy as the day it was built. She sat down on the edge and dangled her feet above the water. If she fished- this would be the place to do it, but she didn’t, so she wouldn’t. She could easily Imagine it though, big bucket hat and a toolbox full of tackle. She’d look so silly.
Light bounced off the gentle waves in sparkling quick succession, like glitter playing across the surface. It was beautiful. She could easily spend the entire summer here.
She peered through the glitter and shine to the rocks beneath- squinting to try and get a look. There were various plants and fish. Some she recognized and some she didn’t. She followed a small school of darting fish back and forth with her gaze. She got sort of a strange feeling, like there was something she was missing.
She took her gaze from the fish back up to the surface, staring out into nothing. If she stayed out here too long she'd probably get a sunburn. How thrilling.
A small plop of a fish breaching the surface recaptured her attention. The school was still darting around the legs of the dock, weaving between the plants and rocks as they found food. In the shadow of the dock between the crevasses she saw something smooth and pale- unlike the rest of the rocks surrounding.
It took a moment as she tried to make out what she was looking at but- "HOLY SHIT"- a face. With huge dark unblinking eyes staring directly back at her. She screamed and fell backwards, dragging her legs up from the water and scrambling back to the shore. Her heart was pounding in her chest and ears as she tried to catch her breath to run.
“Cassandra? Honey, are you alright?” Helena called to her from the front porch, both her and Clark looking over the railing to see her running back up to the shore.
“There’s a body out there!” Cassie yelled as she ran back. “A boy! In the water!”
Helena gasped-while Cassie was prone to exaggeration at times this wasn't the type of thing she would joke about. Especially not on their last trip together.
Clark, on the other hand, looked deeply annoyed. Not at Cassie, just at the situation in general. He placed a large hand on Helena’s arm and sighed, “Let me check this out. It's probably nothing.”
Cassie and her mom watched from the porch as Clark walked out to the edge of the water and looked around. He made several shoo-ing motions with his hands, and Cassie didn’t understand it. Then he was saying something- talking- and then just stood there, looking at the water.
“Is he crazy?” Cassie asked her mom after a moment.
Helena sighed, “Well. He’s nice. We’ve been invited to dinner with him and his wife.”
“But is he crazy?” Cassie asked again, watching as Clark turned around and made his way back up.
“He works in a lighthouse, honey. I’d reckon he’d have to be.”
Clark gave them a million dollar smile where he was walking back up the shore, “it’s nothing! Probably just the reflection of the water.”
“I’m pretty sure-“ Cassie started before Clark interrupted her.
“It’s nothing.” He then looked at her, making sure they were having direct eye contact “there is nothing to be afraid of out there. Don’t worry about it.”
Weirdly enough, Cassie did feel better. Her heart was still pounding and she was even more sure Clark Kent was a lunatic, but he definitely seemed to believe what he was saying.
“Well.” Helena clapped her hands together, “this has been an eventful afternoon but we should start unpacking. We’ll see you at your place at seven, right?”
“Yes ma’am.” Clark tipped an imaginary hat to her, “I’ll tell the family we’re expecting you. See you then.”
They said their goodbyes and Cassie sighed, watching the large man get in his very small truck.
She didn’t know if she believed him or not.
“Did you really see something out there?” Her mother asked after a moment of silence.
Cassie nodded slowly and looked out to the open ocean, the glitter on the waves not as inviting as it was before. “I don’t know. I think I did. I couldn’t tell at first- maybe it was nothing.”
Her mother put a gentle hand on her shoulder and guided her back to the porch. “Well- there’s no point in worrying about it. Maybe it was a seal?”
“Maybe.” Cassie knew it wasn’t a seal. “Whatever. It’s over. Let's unpack.”