Come Closer

8.

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   I move my arms like I'm climbing rocks but it's only water around me. After only a second my brain was in full panic, no coordinated movements, just clawing through the thin liquid that threatens to invade my lungs.

   From my lips comes an explosion of air bubbles, the very last of my breath, moving away from me at a peculiar angle. I almost realize that I'm not facing upwards, but struggling perpendicular to the surface. As my back side touched the bottom my thoughts had already become groggy. My limbs slow down, stop and I float in the darkness like a doll.

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***ALERT: From here, the point of voice will start to shift between characters occasionally. But I'll indicate this switch each time.***
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NICOLETTE's  P.O.V.

   "Mwahaha!" I shriek with sinister laughter as I sprint away from the pool.

   Jules acts hard bodied, putting up a tough and ruthless persona, but I am not afraid of her. It's so funny to poke at her buttons and bring out her inner child. The way she chased me in the pool a little while ago excited me a little too much and I yearn to feel that again. Pushing her into the pool seemed like a good way to set a fire under her.

   I reach the patio doors and turn around to glance at the pool. I had hoped to see her jumping out from the water to chase me, but I don't see. In fact, she is nowhere in sight. I slowly inch my way back towards the spot where I initially pushed her in but don't see any sign of her, only bubbles surface the spot where she fell in.

   "Jules, get your ass up here!" I call to her jokingly, assuming she is playing some sort of trick in me.

   It only takes another second for me recall everything that has happened up to this point: from the way she has remained on the shallow side of the waters, to how quickly she ended her chase for me when crossed over into the deep side.

   She can't swim..

   "Shit.."

    Without another thought, I dive headfirst into the water. Almost immediately, I spot her at the bottom of the pool trying with all of her might at a final attempt to climbing her way upwards.

   Oh god-
   Oh god-
   Oh god-

   I swim with everything I have to get to her and I do, just as she gives up on her efforts. I wrap an arm around her and pull her into me before pressing my feet down into the pools floor and pushing us both upward. I don't notice the change in pressure and temperature until I feel my ears pop just before breaking the surface of the water.

   "Jules!" I scream, the agonizing sensation of her limp body breaks my heart in two.

   I've killed my only adult friend. If that isn't the case, I just know she's gonna hate me for this...

   I start to go through the steps of CPR unconsciously but a sense of relief comes over me when I hear Jules spit up water and gasp for her breath. Now, I focus on keeping her head above was as I swim us toward the shallow waters.

   "Stay with me!" I demand of her. "I've got you... I've got you..."
  

JULES's P.O.V.

    When I hear the thudding sound overhead, I am already losing myself. A dark figure comes toward me and I soon feel a warmth loop under my arms and hook around my torso. Slowly, I am being towed upward. The pressure in my ears pop again but my consciousness is still far away. Though the light brightens around me, my mind still darkens. It seems we can't get to the surface soon enough.