At twenty, Adeline Assalas lost her father, famed shark biologist Chris Assalas, during a mission to find the deadly shark, Lilith. Only Adeline, her stepmother Sophia, and another team member survived, but grief tore them apart.
Three years later...
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ADELINE RUMMAGES through her drawers, her hands moving frantically as she searches. Her apartment is a disaster, a chaotic mix of scattered clothes, half-open drawers, and food containers tossed about. It's like a whirlwind passed through, leaving everything in disarray. Her mind is racing, barely paying attention to the mess around her. Her focus is solely on finding what she's looking for.
After storming out of the SOS building—if that's even what it's really called—Adeline had come straight back to her apartment. The adrenaline from that heated conversation is still coursing through her veins. It's been years since she last thought about diving, not since her father's death. She vowed back then she'd never dive again. The sea felt like it had stolen too much from her.
She hadn't touched her gear since that day. After the tragedy, she shoved everything into hiding, convincing herself that her life was in the lab now, surrounded by research and data, far away from the water. The ocean had taken her father; she wasn't going to let it take anything more. But tonight, everything has changed.
Her eyes dart around her closet, and they suddenly widen when she spots something. There, hidden in the back, is a small, dusty box, tucked beneath old jackets she barely remembers owning. 'Do Not Touch' is scrawled in bold letters on the top, faded but still clear. A small smile, bitter and ironic, tugs at the corner of her lips. "Found you," she mutters softly, reaching out to grab it.
Her hands tremble slightly as she pulls the box out and carries it over to the bed. Sitting on the edge, she takes a deep breath, her heart pounding in her chest. For a moment, she hesitates. The weight of what she's about to do presses down on her, but she pushes through it. Slowly, she opens the box.
The first thing she sees is the laptop—her old beacon tracker, untouched since that terrible day. She carefully lifts it out, placing it beside her. Then, beneath the laptop, there's her diving gear, neatly packed away, as if it's been waiting for her all this time. Wetsuit, gloves, everything still intact. It all looks the same, but it feels like a lifetime has passed since she last touched it.
And then there are the photos. Adeline's breath catches in her throat as she pulls them out. Pictures of her father, Chris Assalas, smiling brightly with Sophia, both of them radiating warmth and joy. She traces her fingers over their faces, a dull ache settling in her chest. She hadn't been able to look at these pictures for three long years. The memories were too painful, too raw. Every time she tried, all she could see was that day—the day Lilith took everything from her.
Her father's face, beaming with pride, flashes in her mind. He had been so excited, so full of life as they planned their mission to find Beacon Seven. It was supposed to be a breakthrough in their research, a triumph. But instead, it became a nightmare. Adeline closes her eyes, trying to push the memories away, but they rush back, unrelenting. The moment the camera feed went dark. The screams. The helplessness.
