Chapter 238

• "My skin is not my own..." -Leto Atreides II, Frank Herbert's Children of Dune (2003)
• Samantha swallowed hard and took a deep breath to calm her nerves. Tentatively, she stepped off of the dock and into the surprisingly warm water. As she plunged in over her head she managed to keep her eyes open. Suddenly, she wished that she'd kept them closed as there were vines shooting up from the depths of the lake toward her. No, not vines... Tentacles! She nearly opened her mouth and screamed when she realized what they were.
• Before she could claw back to the surface, they wrapped around her wrists and ankles. They then grew taut and pulled her down deeper into the lake. Now she did scream under the water and Samantha swore that she was going to drown. Another tentacle slapped her face once before fixating itself around her mouth and nose. Air filled her lungs and Samantha let out a sigh of relief at the ability to breathe. In the meantime, more tentacles were ripping her clothes off.