Where Is Your Rider?

Chapter X: Afloat

I think I could hear our child's heartbeat. I had fallen asleep on the plane. Evangeline wasn't seated near me. I had fallen asleep and all I saw was darkness. Nothingness. I swam in this darkness and faintly, I could hear a heartbeat. How?

I've always wondered what death was like. Was there a heaven or hell, or merely the same senseless oblivion we know before we are begotten? Perhaps I would soon find out.

We said little to each other after we reached Athens. We brought few things with us, as our journey back would commence in two days. I hadn't told her I wasn't planning on returning. I merely wish I could save her as well as I could save you.

We were headed towards the lion's den and we marched in silence. It was strange to see how life around us continued normally, like the four seasons, like the orbiting of the sun. No human, no season, no planet heeded our plight. We were alone. No gods to aid us.

I wondered; were we always fated to end up here, on the dusty paths of Athens, near the sea, where we found no peace when we left our old lives behind? Were our lives leading up to this moment? The friendships we forged, the blood we shed, the tears we dried on the top of our index finger, were they all merely to play this twisted little game called destiny? I began to realize how many questions I still had. A shame they would be left unanswered.

Evangeline halted beside me. She took a hold of my arm. The night was approaching. We were hungry and it was colder than we had anticipated. She was already wearing my thin jacket over her own.

"I'm afraid", she admitted.

I gave her a long hug. I didn't want to tell her that I was afraid as well because I was not. Now that I was so close again, it felt almost a relief, as if I would finally finish something I had started long ago.

It was a full moon. It shone brightly and illuminated the dark water. There were a few seabirds left, but even they were silent.

"I never told you this", she began, "but I'm really scared of water."

She hadn't. I thought I knew everything about her. The scars of her youth, the blemishes upon her mind, the aches in her body, the cracks in her voice. But this was something she had never told me.

"I never told you this", I began as well, "but you've chased the despair out of me. One of my greatest fears was to die alone, but knowing you were always with me in spirit was a great relief. And now, when I will surely perish, I am glad to say it is at your side."

I stepped into the water, which began to fill my shoes immediately. Evangeline, not as ready to face death as I was, untied her shoes and placed them on the solid bank. She muttered something about her clothes to lure her own mind away from the water.

But she was brave. Really brave.

She followed me into the water, slowly. I waded through the darkness. I turned around and I saw I was much farther than Evangeline.

The floor disappeared. I began to swim. I turned to look at where she was.

Evangeline found the edge where her feet could steady her. She balanced there, waiting for nothing. Gracefully, she let herself sink into the water. She didn't move for a moment and I caught myself gawking at her. With her head above water, she was like a waterlily. Innocent, pure, peaceful. She began muttering something about being scared. Her breathing was so loud. Louder and louder. Panic.

I swam towards her, but I was weak and slow. I had hurt my body so much in the past few weeks or months or however long it had been. Her head went under. Twice, she resurfaced. Her black hair was spread out on the water. I got close, really close. I dove for her, I did. I didn't open my eyes, but I felt around and I could not find her. I cut my hands on the stones of the bottom of the sea, but I did not feel the pain, only the fear that Evangeline was gone.

And she was.

I swam around and dove for minutes until my muscles cramped and I struggled to keep myself afloat. My last friend was gone.

But, as if it had been waiting for this moment,the creature appeared again.