Agony

20

I was sure my arms and legs had fallen off.

I couldn't think straight.

My grandmother was just murdered.

My twin just betrayed me. And I was starving.

"My sister, your son, Ace, and another random girl are all under the dock," Hayley told the man, from her distance, alerting my senses.

We were in big trouble.

"They better be." The man grumbled in response.

"If they somehow aren't," Hayley laughed. "I chipped my sister's shoulder, like you asked."

She did what?

"Good."

"We gotta go." Ace whisper-yelled at the three of us.

"Where?" Dallas exclaimed quietly. "If we get on the boat, he might shoot us."

"We need to swim away from here," Ellie hissed. "We could try going around the island or something."

"What about the bags?" Ace asked, motioning to our floating luggage.

"Put them on, they aren't strong enough to pull us up from the water," Dallas replied.

"Cher?" Dallas shook me gently. "Cher, hold your breath, we're going under."

I was numb from the pain, as well as the cold, but I managed to whisper, "Okay."

Taking a deep breath, I allowed Dallas to pull me under. He kept a steel grip on my hand. The salty water stung my eyes, but the water itself was surprisingly clear. There was nothing but crystal, dark water, and a few plants and stones below.

The four of us swam away from the dock.

I wasn't sure how much longer I could hold my breath, I'd never been able to hold it very long.

Just as I thought my lungs would burst, I noticed Ellie suddenly get pulled away and out of sight.

I tried to scream, only getting water in my lungs.

Dallas pulled me forward as he and Ace kept swimming forward. Towards the water that had somehow sucked Ellie away.

A whirlpool.

We were all going to die.

I tried to protest, pull Dallas away from our inevitable deaths.

It was then that we were all abruptly flushed forward. Wherever Ellie had disappeared.

Dallas's hand left mine. I inhaled more water and panic filled me.

And then everything went black.

* * *

I came to, with lips pressing against mine.

"What the hell are you doing?" I protested, shoving Dallas off of me as I sat up, trying to catch my breath.

He rolled his eyes, but relief filled his features. "I'm sorry, next time you inhale water, I'll let you die."

"Oh." He'd given me mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. "Thanks," I muttered, I was. freezing.

Dallas smiled, pulling me up to my feet. "You need to strip, otherwise, you'll get hypothermia."

I noticed that Ace and Ellie were walking about, in dry baggy clothing. Familiar clothing. Ellie was rubbing her hands together, trying to warm up. Ace was looking around for something. I couldn't focus much on either one of them, my teeth chattering furiously.