Fracted (Book #2)

Chapter 36: We Got One

We stopped by a nearby cliff, beyond the trees. The cliff wasn't that high.
"Who here is Hydrophobic?" He said. My heart pounced for Eiffel. I furthermore understood why she didn't want me to know what she's afraid of.
"Me," Eiffel said confidently.
"It takes some guts to admit that, girl." He said. "Well, is there anyone else afraid of the water?"
Silence.
"What're we supposed to be doing?" I asked.
"There's gonna be a time where Innates will attack us from below, blow up the island, and kill us one by one--there's your answer."
"So you expect us to swim?"
"Correct."
Eiffel gulped. "Like literally right here?" She asked.
"I'm gonna be nice about this--we go to the lower section, the rocks. Then you guys jump, stay underwater for thirty seconds or more, and finally, you kids learn how to swim. Well in this case, the girl--Let's go."
"Are you sure about this?" I asked her. "Don't you think you're a little too hard on yourself?"
"No, I'll be fine."

I stripped off everything but my boxers. I drop my stuff off on the rubbles next to the bushes. I hold on to Eiffel's hand when I stepped closer to on the large rocks that were touching the water. Eiffel stares at the waves hitting us, apparently she's still shaking.
"You know, you don't have to do this for me." I said to her.
"I'm not doing this for anyone, I'm doing this for me."
"You don't have to force yourse--" I was cut off when He shouted for us to jump into the water.
I gathered some air before I let gravity do all the work. The cold water enveloped around us. Infinite sea blurred our visions. This reminded me a lot on my first day in Capricorn Academy. Robert pushed me off the building, Jackson was proud of it, and I survived the fall.
In that moment, I wasn't so afraid of anything. But now, I feel like something else is inside me. Fear, I suppose.
No matter how hard I tried, I still floated. Our goal was to be underwater, but how come I look like a floating corpse drifting away? Twenty seconds have passed, and I'm still floating facedown. I try to keepy legs bent down and my arms tilted under, but my torso was as light as a feather. I try paddling down, but all I did was flip forwards. Good thing it's gloomy as dawn down there.
Someone else's cold hands grab my ankles, pulling me down on the deeper section. The back of my head hits the rocks behind me on my way down. The blue water turns to purple because of the blood on my head. The hands felt familiar. Finally, the hands stop pulling. I stare at the puller's eyes, it's colors blend in with the ocean. Her beautiful face glistens from the reflection of the sunlight. Eiffel.
She holds on to my shoulders and shook her head. Time passes, and I felt like I was too. My lungs can't take this much pressure. I have to breathe at some point. I fanned myself under, but my hands can't move as fast underwater. Eiffel holds a finger between her lips and squinted. Her cheeks puffed up, holding in a huge amount of air.
Huge quantities of water entered my nostrils, disabling my breathing. It felt like time was running slow. I can't die on our first trial. I was trapped in Eiffel's grip, so I tried shaking her off me. But she was too strong. Fear made her strong. I looked up, seeing Patrick and Jason swimming to shore. Eiffel's fear gave me daunt, we were hopelessly stuck. But if she's afraid of the water, then how come she's dragging me into the deeper section of the water.
I soon realized that she wasn't paddling with her feet. Her right foot was caught in something long at tangled. She points down to her swollen ankles and she released me. The knotted seaweeds that got tangled on her feet was growing on the huge rock I hit my head in. I felt dizzy trying to untangle the weed from her ankles.
My head fills up with water. I was hopelessly drowning trying to free her. As I untangled the last twist of the knot, she swam up to safety. The vivid colors from above darken and my blurry vision went worse. I feel absolutely nothing, except for the real struggle of holding my breath. Eiffel would kill me if I died.

My head shot straight up from the hard rock after gagging on the ocean water. I coughed and finally started breathing. I'm dazed in confusion. I died for a few seconds--even minutes--and I was zapped back to life. I was wheezing again, and I was relieved to see Eiffel's beautiful face. All my problems seem to have weakened. Did she give me mouth-to-mouth? I really hope so.
"Kid, you alright?" He asked.
"You're okay?" Eiffel asked. "I'm sorry I pulled you down, Jess. I was just so--"
I only answered Eiffel. "Eiffel, you did great," I said.
"No, I did terrible. Because of me, this wouldn't have happened to you. I'm so sorry."
"Stop apologizing. You're not perfect."
"It's just I can't stop putting your life in danger and I'm just so--"
I dragged her down by her shoulders and she falls on top of me. I squeeze her with my arms in a tight hug.
"Did you give me mouth-to-mouth?" I asked her.
"I...didn't. Hunter's dad did."
"Ew. Why him?"
He frowns at me.
"He said he needed you. Weird right?" "Really weird."
"Kids, I'm right here." He said.
We both laughed.
We stood up a few moments later. We shared a blanket-like beach towel and we headed back to the site, until Hunter came up running towards us. He drops down on the sand coughing. "Hunter," He said. "What is it? What happened?"
"Dad..." He began. "They captured an Innate."
"Really?" The look on his face was similar to a werewolf's, hungry for meat.
He reached down on his pants and grabbed pistol.
"I need to see it--Kids, this might be your only chance of getting a three-day training."
It feels wrong, but it feels kind of right.