FYSH: Diving Deeper.

Chapter Seven: Bait.

"Atlanta!" A giant platform, that I had never seen before, loomed at the end of the pool. A diving board, I thought. But it was impossibly high and the person who stood shakily at the top looked incredibly skittish as they peered over the edge of the board. The lights shone starkly behind them, and I couldn't make out who was frantically calling my name. I could sense Kai's pleasure emanating from behind me and fear gripped my throat as my hand rose to my eyebrows, covering the light slightly. But as if I couldn't already see the wet, jet-black hair, and luminous, reflective navy eyes. As if I couldn't see the long, large build that I already knew and the deep voice that called my name.

I shut my eyes.

Tyde.

...

A shadow lurked behind Tyde's body as someone guarded the other end of the board, unenabling him to walk back. His face was contorted with a look I had never seen before. Sheer panic.

"What are you doing?" I snapped at Kai. He continued smiling.

"Look down." He replied.

Dreadingly, I did.

Slippery, lithe, little animals swam in and out of the water directly under Tyde. Black and green, speckled and blue, they were like long, clicking fish. Clicking? Squinting, I narrowed my eyes focusing on these slick sea creatures. And then I saw. Little jolts of burning yellow-white sparked off these fish as they flopped out of the water and expertly plunged back in. Impatiently, they began to speed up, the sounds growing harsher, their bodies slinking in and all over the pool, clicking and twisting.

"New form of electric eels." Kai explained.

I stood, horrified, as Kai enjoyed my open emotions.

"We created and experimented on them ourselves." He mused. "Electric eels aren't actually eels, you see. They're a kind of knifefish, which has organs that can produce electricity. But these bad boys, now, they're very different. Regular electric eels have two 'levels' of their electricity, low and high. But the Periculum eels only have the highest form of electricity that two sets of each organ can produce. So enough to kill a small child with one touch. Or shall I say fry?" He guffawed.

I could only imagine a young boy falling into the pool, and meeting his demise within seconds.

"I'm assuming you don't want your friend here to die, right? So let's make a deal?" Kai whispered, his tone like smooth velvet.

"A deal?" I could barely push out.

"Yeah, a deal. That could benefit the both of us." Kai snaked his arm around my shoulders, and suddenly everything started to spin.

"Please don't hurt him." I said, and suddenly I became eleven years old again, clenching my brother's arm and sobbing uncontrollably.

"Oh honey." Kai said. "This is your decision."

I looked up at him, and he gave me a rather maternal look.

"You dive in, swim past the eels, and if you make it in your personal best time or better, we won't make him jump, if not, he does. But let's make it more fun. If you don't make it in your best time, which is incredibly difficult, I know, we'll make our friend, Tyde over there, dive in and swim to the end. If he gets shocked more than three times, you both lose, but if he reaches the end with less than three shocks, you both win, and will be rewarded." Kai said.

"My best time?" I said incredulously. That's impossible!

"I mean, if you don't want to do it, that's okay. We'll just let Tyde go first." Kai moved his hand and began to make some sort of sign to the person behind Tyde. Time slowed down again, and I didn't know what I was doing until I was living in normal time again, and my hand was tightly wound around Kai's wrist.

"Don't." I breathed, my voice taking a mind of it's own. "I'll go."

Kai smiled once more, his teeth glistening. He dropped his hand and pointed to the very edge of the pool. One of the doctors, who usually paced around the room, tapping on their devices and writing on their clipboards, approached Kai and whispered something in his ear. He showed Kai the screen of his large gadget and Kai turned to stare at it and then me and it and then me. He whistled.

"Twenty-eight seconds." He said. "Impressive."

I gulped.

"Sure you can beat that?" Kai inquired, sarcastically. Tyde's face flashed in my mind. His voice, so taken over by fear and panic, calling my name. His big body, shrivelled into an unsure hunch. He needed me. He truly needed me.

"Yes." I said. "Blow the whistle."

I jerked my goggles over my eyes and readied myself into a squatting diving stance. My fingers clamped over the rim and my toes curled under my feet. A sure sign that I was terrified. Not only for myself, but also for the boy who stood far away from me, watching me carefully, his life riding on my shoulders.

I could feel the eyes of everyone burning into my back and the uneasiness within me began to sink in again. I took a deep breath, and it trembled as it flew down my throat and into my lungs. I felt frigid and vulnerable, like I was backed into a corner with no choice but the worst one.

"Atlanta!" Tyde's voice rose from my insecurities, tugging me back to reality.

"Tyde?" I said.

His shadow flickered from the distance. And he didn't tell me that I could do it, or that he believed in me. He didn't tell me to hurry up, or to shut up and just do it. He didn't say anything that was particularly encouraging or helpful. But his eyes shone.

"I'm here." He called. "It's okay. I'm here."

What?

Burning white hot throttled behind my eyes. I blinked, my eyes suddenly aching.

"I'm here! Lannie, I'm here!"

When I opened my eyes, my brother ran past me, laughing. His light brown hair matched his perfectly set, deep gold eyes, which were always bright and open wide.

He had a beautiful crooked smile, and the straightest, purest set of teeth which hid behind his

red lips. He was always smiling, and charming even when he didn't mean to be. Though he was three years older than me, he was never too busy to have fun with his (maybe a little lamer) younger sister. So he dashed by me, hiding behind a ginormous, lush tree, that fronds had stretched themselves over.

"Come on! Lannie, come get me!"

I hadn't seen my brother for six years. This didn't matter because here he was, right in front of me. Just like the last time I saw him.

"Roman?" I whispered.

He burst out laughing at my astonished face.

"What's wrong, Lannie? Can't catch me? Surprised at how fast I am?" Roman said.

My eyes brimmed with sweltering tears, and I couldn't stop my bottom lip from trembling. Was this a dream? Or was everything else? Was this really my brother in front of me? My pretty brother, whom I had loved more than anyone else in the world?

"Atlanta?" He said. Roman opened his big arms and leapt over to me, carrying me against his warm chest.

"What's wrong, Atlanta?" He mumbled. I rubbed my eyes, my ongoing tears dissipating onto the back of my little hand.

"Call me Lannie, again." I demanded, stubbornly.

He gave me another crooked smile, one tinged with confusion and humour.

"It's okay, Lannie, I'm here for you."

And then I was ten again.

...