Dead Connections

Chapter 7 - Like... What the hell?

Chapter 7

My eyes opened, but everything was blurred.

I was no longer panicking.

All the nerves had suddenly vanished, evaporated into the water around me.

The ropes: They had slid off my hands and ankles. How could that have happened? Just seconds before they had been so tight. And my wrist didn’t hurt any more. It was like I’d been healed. Healed by some invisible force out to protect me.

I still held my breath, and realised that I had to get out of the water before anything else hurt. It was funny really. I swore I remembered taking a deep breath in. I remembered my lungs filling with water. The bright light heading towards me. I was lured towards that. Surely I hadn’t just imagined it.

I emerged at the surface of the lake. Unseen was still there in his boat, writing down notes into his notebook. He looked content, assuming that he had killed me.

“Hey,” I shouted out, my throat so soar that only a croak came out. I coughed violently, and to my surprise water sprayed out of my mouth, out of my lungs.

So I had swallowed water? Why wasn’t I struggling? Unseen still hadn’t looked up. Surely he would have saw me from the corner of his eye.

I swam over to the boat, clutching the side with one hand and holding on for dear life. I was suddenly exhausted.

“Unseen?” I asked, astonished when he didn’t even react. It was like he couldn’t see me. “Unseen? Why are you ignoring me?”

Nothing.

“Answer me,” I demanded, beginning to get my voice back. It sounded a bit stronger now. “Or… or… I’ll swim back to land and tell everyone you kidnapped me.”

No replied. Wow he was persistent.

“Fine,” I hissed, ducking away from the boat. Unseen smiled as he wrote and I frowned. What was so funny about what I had just said? He looked up, but not at me, instead, he looked over the boat into the water. “Unseen?” I asked again, beginning to get scared. He blocked me out again.

I didn’t know why I wasn’t making a run for it. This was my chance. I could get to land, phone the police, find a passer-by, and tell someone everything. Unseen would be arrested and sent to jail, and I’d be reunited with my family. Why was I even waiting?

I swam to the land, my tattered clothes drenched. These were the only clothes I had worn for the past few weeks. They were torn to bits, and had holes in now. On the night of my kidnapping, they had been my skating clothes.

I loved to skate, especially ice skating. That was my main hobby. Every Monday, Wednesday and Thursday after school mum would drive me to the nearest ice skating rink where I’d get lessons, or I’d practise stuff. I’d been doing it since I was 8, so it’s a good 6 years. I was pretty good, and I much preferred that than doing all the girly stuff like shopping and talking about boys. I wasn’t like most girls. I was much more adventurous. Girls got freaked out if they broke their nail. Even my best friend does. But me? I’m a daredevil. I’ve probably risked my life at least a thousand times just in the last year. I couldn’t be bothered to waste my time on clothes shopping.

When I stood on land again it felt like a miracle. I sunk to my knees, trembling from the cold water. I could only stay there for a brief moment though because I sensed that any moment now Unseen would charge after me like a crazed bull, steam pumping out of his ears and nose from his rage. I glanced over my shoulder. Unseen was still in the middle of the lake. He remained perfectly inanimate, and it freaked me out.