Until I Swim

Chapter 4

 I never thought I'd stand on the edge of a bridge, at least not preparing to jump. My instinct told me to jump, that the water was a safe place. But my mind, everything I had learned living with the humans, told me that this was not a good idea, that there was a chance of death. Which is exactly the thing I wish I could erase from my memory, of all the lessons I sat through in the human world. The constant worry that it, whatever it is, could harm you. That it could kill you.

Still deep in thought, I roughly made out that Aurora was counting down. I had five more seconds. I bent down. Four. I prepared to dive. Three. Deep breaths. Two. My eyes shut. One. I jumped, performing my best dive. I felt my stomach knot. I didn't realize how high the bridge was from the water until I was plummeting down from it. When I opened my eyes, I was half a second from hitting the water. I took a deep breath and held it as my forehead hit the water so hard, it went num. Great. The last thing I needed was to hit my head again.

I looked around after my eyes adjusted. I was glad to find I could see okay. Aurora was mumbling, "Owie, owie."

When we all recovered, everyone looked at one another, and of all things, we laughed. Even Bruce. We savored every second of that joyful moment. We all knew not many more will come in the near future.

Once our giggles died away, we started our swim. Alex, who had the ocean map memorized, led the way.

The trip was long, and fairly boring. Once we got away from the beach, we traveled closer to the surface.

* * *

The trip took a total of three long, miserable hours.

"I see it! I see the island," Aurora yelled from the front. She swam faster and faster, but stopped short and gasped. "Oh my god."

"What? What is it?" My question was answered when I looked towards the island. The land above the water was ash, and nothing more. We all swam faster. Terror sat like a rock in the pit of my stomach. My nausea worsened with every second. My mind raced through billions of possibilities. But of all my thoughts, one was the worst. It's my fault.

I was the first to reach the island. The once noisy, playful beach was deathly quiet. The moment my head came out of the water, I shifted to human form. When I reached the edge of the water, I bent down and lightly touched my hand to the scorched sand. "Who would do this?" My voice was quiet and broken.

Before anyone could stop me, I ran down the shoreline. My eyes started to water, besides my effort to stay strong. I struggled to sort through my emotions. Three stood out above the rest: sadness, anger, and fear.

I reached the underwater stone cottage. Every piece of me was praying Grandma was alive. I went up a small hill leading to a bridge that would bring me to the top floor of Penthia's place. When I got inside, I called her name several times. Only silence followed. I crumbled to the floor, tears streaming down my face. I curled up on the cold tile. My sadness slowly turned to anger. Anger towards whoever did this. Anger towards the world. Anger towards myself. I found myself searching for ways it could be my fault.

There were many things I've wanted over the years, but I have never wanted anything as badly as I want answers right now. It kills me. I don't know who was still alive, where they could have gone, who drove them out? I need to know.

"Hey." The voice was deep, but soft and comforting. "Are you okay?"

I looked up to make out Alex. "I've been better." I must've looked like a mess. Turning away was my only effort to hide it.

"You look fine." He knelt down to my level.

My face turned redder than it already was. Even though I've only told Aurora about my crush on Alex, I felt like the world knew. "I highly doubt that."

Suddenly, the front door swung open. "Pity Party's over! We just received a bubble. We assume you two would like to hear it...?" Typical Bruce.

"We'll be right there," Alex said. He stood up and held his hand out to me. I took it and he helped me up. He hesitated before releasing my hand. We walked in silence.

Aurora had a worried look on her face. She ran up to hug me. "Lizzie! Oh, hun, are you okay? Alex said he wanted to check on you." I pulled away and she winked. When I looked towards Alex, he put a hand on the back of his neck. His face was slightly pink.

"Anyways," everyone turned to Bruce, who popped the bubble. When I heard the warm voice of Grandma, I let out a sigh of relief.

Hello, kids. I want you to know that we have all evacuated and are headed towards The Runes of Sakoon. Please meet us there. Love you all. Grandma Penthia.

"Okay, off to Sakoon?" Aurora looked around.

"I guess so," I said. "How far is that, anyway?"

"It's in the Atlantic Ocean," Alex stated knowingly.

"Let's go there, ya?"I started towards the beach. "Come on, guys!"