Contests

Drowning

It was too good to be true. And suddenly I was in his water of lies.

Prompt by - @thevividimaginator

=======================================

Dedicated to @thiryteencomets

========================================

"Do you think we're lost?" 

"Nah, I'm taking a shortcut."

I love my boyfriend, but his ego is more easily cracked than an egg under a cement block. We've been out on the open ocean for more than two hours and I had no clue where we were, or where we were heading. The salt sprays were beginning to irritate my sunburned skin. I hated this. 

Greg hissed to himself as he took a sharp turn with the GPS's instruction. I felt myself stagger and forced myself to hold onto the railing so I wouldn't fall right out of the boat. 

"Are you sure about that?" I asked, my hands gripping the steel bars so hard that my knuckles turned white. "I think that we passed the sandbar awhile ago..."

"No, we didn't," Greg stated, stomping his foot like a displeased child. Greg kicked his duffle bag out of the way with a thump as it hit the boat's siding. 

I wonder what he has in there?

I pulled myself along so I could reach down to the bag - only to have my hand slapped out of the way by the brunette. Greg waved his finger in front of my face like he was scolding a two-year-old. 

I pouted in the boat's padded corner, only to hear a sudden yelp of, "We're here!" I jerked my attention over to Greg, to see that he was grinning ear to ear. He gestured towards his duffle bag and I picked it up for him. 

"Throw it overboard."

"Why should I do that? It's a good bag." I asked, shifting so the bag was balancing on my leg, making it easier to hold. The bag was one of the best on the market, an Underarmor. Why would want to throw it out into - Wait, where are we?

The horizon didn't have a single mark on it, much less a sandbar. I whipped my head around to see the boat's other side. Completely bare. Something was wrong, something was very wrong. 

I've known Greg since I was 15. We met in high school through a mutual friend and started dating almost immediately. Now that we're both in college we've taken our relationship to the next level. I've even moved in with him and he even listed the apartment under both our names. We've said, "I love you." to each other more times than I can count. So, why? Why the hell did this feel so wrong?

We've never fought, not once. Our relationship had been nothing but perfect over the past 6 years, so why do I distrust him now? "What's in the bag, Greg?" 

"Nothing of your concern. Just throw it." he hissed, baring his teeth. I held onto the bag tighter, now scared of what it held. I threw the bag down and ripped it open. 

I felt like vomiting. I never thought that Greg was capable of this, nothing could ever be worse than what I saw.

A woman curled up and covered in blood. 

I fell onto my back in shock. My mind was bursting and simmering with unasked questions and accusations. 

"It's a shame. I wanted to get this over with and have a nice day at the beach. Guess that dream's over." Greg said inching towards me as I crawled back, trying to escape from the demon. "You know what, Jessica? I was planning to ask you to marry me, eventually. Now that's over too. It's a shame, a horrible shame. I did enjoy your company while it lasted."

Who the hell was this? Where's my Greg? 

The monster reached into his cargo shorts and pulled out a swiss army knife. He flipped up his weapon of choice and pointed towards me. "I can do this as fast as you want. After all, you did please me for quite awhile." 

The nausea was only becoming worse as I realized all the things that I had done to such a monster. I loved that monster, and now it was going to kill me. 

I stood up and got into the stance that my self-defence teacher taught me. 

I'm not going down without a fight. 

"Oh, please. I'm almost twice your weight and I'm a full foot taller than you. You have no chance of beating me." the hisses and venom that adorned every word made my spine feel like it had lost its strength. My mind was shutting down in the stress. I can't win. 

But, I'm not dying today. 

A lunge towards me was slow enough for me to dodge. I greeted him with a kick to the face, which he blocked. He held onto my ankle and pulled me forward. I ducked and whipped my leg out of the route of his knife. 

He tumbled a fell towards the right side of the boat. I dashed towards him and pushed him. Hard. He toppled over the side of the boat, not before grabbing me by the wrist. 

Pulling me in with him. 

Cold water shock stopped all my muscles, aside from my lungs which took a sudden breath. The water shot up my nose and mouth, flooding my lungs and stomach with the bitter toxin. My legs regained their strength. I flurried powerful kicks to reach the surface. Breaking through the blanket of water was the best feeling that I've ever experienced. 

The ecstasy disappeared when sharp tug brought me back under. A kick to the gut knock out my air, forcing more water to invade my body. My face lost its structure from a punch that broke the fragile cartilage in my nose. Deep red blood darkened the water around me, blocking any sight of my assailant from me. 

Arms grabbed me from behind and heaved me to the surface. The satisfying breath of air I was expecting never came. My head was being held underwater by a heavy hand. My mind began to fog as my lungs screamed for air. Black dots began to swarm my vision.

A voice whispered something to me, "Play dead. It's the only way." It was the only way.

I stopped struggling.

The arms let go of me and the force of water hitting my back told me that the demon had swum away. I flipped myself over, taking in gulps of cool air, calming my breathing. 

The sound of an engine turning over. I whipped around and saw the boat speeding through the water, leaving me behind. For the first time in awhile, I cried. I felt the water drip from my tear ducts to the end of my chin, pooling at its end before falling into the water below it. I lifted a hand to my face to muffle my screams.

I sobbed.

I was alone with nothing but the clothes on my back. Hours away from the closest shore and exhausted beyond words. I was going to die. 

My mind flashed with all the things that had happened. We had been so happy. Why? Why me? I only wanted what everyone wants, a home and someone to call yours. Now, I'm alone and as good as dead. All the "I love you" speeches, all the wonderful memories of laughter and joy. 

Was everything a lie?