The Seaside Retreat

Chapter 35

Seth's POV

The underwater reef was like being in another world. There were so many different types of plants lining the ocean floor. I found myself unconsciously swimming toward them, wanting to examine them more closely. The colors varied from dark greens to bright pinks, with purples, oranges and many other colors in between. The coral looked soft and squishy, and after pressing my palm against its surface, I found that my guess was correct. The many strands of seaweed felt like sandpaper between my index finger and thumb.

I was becoming so focused on this magical world that seemed so alien and far away I almost didn't notice Violet signaling to me. I looked up at her, and she again motioned for me to follow her. Excitement lit up her face, revealing her laugh lines and the sparkle in her eyes, and making her look even more beautiful than usual. I signaled to Miles that we were moving. He saw my signal and gave me a thumbs up.

I started to move toward Violet, who was already swimming off to an unknown location. She turned back toward me, and when I got within an arms distance away, she grabbed my hand and pulled me along with her.

Holding her hand, even if it was underwater and just so we could stay together, still made me tingle. Any contact from Violet seemed to have that kind of effect on me. It was an undescribable feeling, one that I wouldn't trade for anything. Although I'd dated other girls before, none of them made me feel the way I did around Violet. Even Remmy didn't have the same effect on me that Violet does, and I had thought at the time that she might be the one. 

I laughed internally at my foolishness. How had I been so careless, not even realizing that Remmy had been using me until it was too late? Maybe I had been so desperate for her to like me that I was wiling to ignore the obvious signs that were right in front of me. 

Surveying my surrondings, I found that Violet had led me to a small cave. Although we were fairly deep under the surface, light still managed to shine through the many holes of the cave.Though fairly small concerning width, looking up I saw that the cave was very tall and towering. It reminded me brieflly of an underwater ruin, once majestic and grand, but now forgotten, left to rot at the bottom of the ocean. 

Violet tugged at my hand, and side by side, we entered. I noticed the temperature instantly dropped at least five degrees. The only warm spots were the areas where the sun shone through. I thought this was all Violet was going to show me, but found I was wrong when she led me to another part of the cave. It was small and almost cut off from the rest of the area; it blended in so well I hadn't seen it at first. Looking inside, I saw it looked like a small hideaway.

The sandy bottom was the only visible thing inside the entrance. As Violet and I studied our surrondings, I saw that Violet was leaning over something in the far corner. I hurridely swam towards her, eager and curious about what she was examining. 

When she saw my form beside hers, she scooted over so I could look at the object. It was a chest of some sort, made of old rotting wood. I wondered why Violet didn't open it until I noticed the lock for the first time. It was rusted, but still looked sturdy. Violet pointed at the lock and gave me a look that asked "How are we going to open it?" I shrugged my shoulders, unsure.

For a moment, the two of us swam in uncertainty until an idea formed in my head. I got Violet's attention and pointed at the small bag located close to her breathing tank. Her eyebrows scrunched together in confusion until I pointed to myself. She quickly got the bag off her back and handed it over to me. I mouthed "Do you mind if I open it?" while I pointed to the bag. Violet shook her head.

I unzipped a small part of the bag, hoping that what I wanted would be located inside. After some brief searching, I found what I was looking for. Taking the metallic bobby pin out of the bag, I zipped it back up and handed it back to Violet.