This Alien Soul

Chapter 9

Amber

My whole body hurt, wracked with a pain that I was barely able to suppress behind a smile as I greeted my parents. The last thing I wanted to do was cause them to be alarmed.

They were aware that the treatments took a lot out of me. But it had never been like this.

I didn't know if my dad had increased my dose or if it was a combination of the stress of my first day of school and practice, but my body was betraying me.

By the time I forced down a dinner of dried out meatloaf and soggy Mac n cheese - my mom would never win any awards for her cooking- my skin was burning with the need to submerge myself in the lake.

So then why did I find myself not sinking beneath the comforting waves but flying over top of them? Why was I directing my jet ski in the direction of the party cove from the day before?

What was it I expected to find?

Well, if the sinking inside my chest was any indication when I pulled up to an empty cove and equally deserted beach, I had been expecting something. Even if I wouldn't admit it to myself - I had expected him.

Unable to take the pains a second longer I quickly beached the jet ski and stripped off my coverup.

The relief was almost immediate as I submerged my body in the cool, still water. It glimmered with the last rays of the setting sun, turning from a murky greenish blue to a deep black with sparks of yellow light.

Now up to my neck, the burning beneath my skin had turned to a comforting tingle everywhere the water touched. Relaxing onto my back, I watched as a large crane flew low over the water, undoubtedly, looking for prey.

It was beautiful, as it's large wings stretched out to a span that surpassed the length of its own body. It glided as though weightless, never moving, using the wind alone to keep it aloft. For just a moment I was jealous of that bird, worried only about the wind beneath its wings and the prey it sighted with its sharp eyesight.

But that bird did not have one thing I couldn't live without.

The water.

Not waiting to witness it's poor victim being snapped out of its home in the waters depth, I dipped beneath the surface.

Finally, for the first time since I opened my eyes to this disastrous day, I could breath. Well not literally, but figuratively. All the pain and troubles melted from my mind. I was in my happy place.

Spreading out my limbs, I kicked off the bottom with my feet and started exploring these new depths.

While my friends were constantly complaining about the murkiness of the lake, I could see crystal clear. I was one with the environment as large fish swam by avoiding logs and other debris in the bottom along the silt layer.

Peppered along the bottom was trash from humans that had been thrown or had fallen from boats above, mostly beer cans. Then there was the occasional lost sunglasses and cell phones. Along with anchors that had been caught on the bottom and abandoned.

As I swam along, something caught my eye. In the distance at a depth that was dangerous even for me to dive to, I could see a large metallic material, glinting in the remaining sunlight. It was large enough to make out from a distance but I couldn't place what it could be.

I was nearing the point where my lunges would demand oxygen. I needed to get to the surface. But a large part of me wanted to explore. Wanted to get closer to that object.

I was staring the object down, trying desperately to place what it could be. Suddenly, a large form moved between me and the object. A large humanoid form.

I screamed beneath the water, the last of my air supply leaving me and water surging in to replace it.

Frantic in a way that I had never been beneath the surface. I flailed my arms to put space between me and the form. Also to get to the surface. Air became a must.

My lungs seized on me, trying desperately to dispel the invading water. For the first time in my life, I feared drowning.

Then his face was there, right in front of my own. His green eyes pierced into mine as his large,rough hands framed my face. Instantly, I felt safe.

Here I was drowning, facing down a Zionian that I had caused the whole school to alienate. I was at his mercy and yet I felt completely calm and safe.

He must have seen my trust in him in my eyes. He nodded his head once before moving behind me and wrapping strong arms around me.

I was pressed into his hard form as he easily kicked his legs. Propelling us to the surface. To life saving air.

But we were too deep. And I had been without air for too long.

As the sun went down around the lake, everything within me went black.

Alek

"Oh no, you don't." I shook the small limp form in my arms. "You don't get to die on me."

When I had first seen  her jet ski invade my beach I had been annoyed. I had wanted to march  down there and give her a piece of my mind. All I had been able to  picture was the look of shock and hurt on Zeenas face when that drink  hit her. Protectiveness had surged through me. It might not have been  Amber who directly delivered that insult but it had been a direct result  of her actions.

Then I had paused when  she had stripped down to a small, black one piece that was somehow even  sexier than the red one from the day before, despite covering her up  more. It had emphasized her tiny waist and long legs. She had undone her  hair from its pony tail and it spilled in messy waves down her back.

I had had to shake myself and remember that she might be beautiful on the outside but inside she was spoiled.

As she walked slowly  into the water, allowing it to swallow her. She had seemed to worship  the water in a way that only a Zionian could understand. On Zion it was  said that a majority of our planet was made of water. As a result, we  had evolved to a life below the surface. The need for air had been  erased from our genetic makeup.

She, however, was a  human. As such, she required oxygen to live. Which was cause for my blood  pressure to spike when she disappeared and failed to return to the  surface.

The day before I had  seen her perform a similar stunt and it was obvious she was an  exceptional swimmer. But this was different. This was too long.

Not even taking the time  to bother with my t-shirt and shorts I dived off the cliff I had been  observing from. Cutting through the water with ease as I scanned for her.

It didn't take me long  to find her. There she was, floating in the depths, and looking directly  at an object that wasn't for human eyes. An object she shouldn't be able  to see in the murky water.

Maybe it was just coincidence, maybe it just looked like she was looking at the object.

To be on the safe side, I  quickly swam over, putting myself between her and the object. Just as  her lungs finally decided to act human.

As I fireman carried her form through the shallows, I tried to calm my racing heart.

I laid her down in the  soft sand and tried desperately to recall what to do to save her.  Zionians didn't require air but I vaguely remembered a lesson in  something called CPR. Something about breathing for the human into their  mouth then manually pumping their heart.

I definitely was not  equipped for this task. But as I watched her lips were turning blue and  her skin leaching its healthy shine.

I had to try something or she was going to die.