The Vessel

Chapter 6: Eldritch

The cold water hits me like a bullet, and I am, once again, at the risk of drowning; at the mercy of the almighty waves and powerful current. The freezing water seeps into my pores, violently awaking my muscles and luring my energy to rise.

Thankfully, I manage to break the surface of the choppy sea before running out of air.

The wind on my wet face creates a cold that chills me to my bones. I turn around, looking for Vivian. I spot her next to me, her hair sticking to her face.

"You good?" She gasps.

I nod, "Yeah."

Vivian kicks off, swimming ahead of me. I look over my shoulder at 12L for the last time, then take off after her. It doesn't take long for us to reach the intimidating prison ship. It's even bigger up close.

The black metal frame gleams in the moonlight and the ship is at least six levels tall. There are a countless number of square windows carved into the steel, all bordered up. I begin to feel anxious when I notice just how enormous it is; my family could be anywhere on that boat.

On the top and only deck stands a bight lamp post, turning in circles, illuminating the ocean far out into the distance. Too far to shine on us.

I push myself onwards until I am close enough to touch the hard surface of the ship. With Vivian by my side, we both began searching with our hands for a knob that Ronan explained, when turned, would unlock a small entrance for us.

Several minutes of looking and we've still made no progress.

In the light of the moon, I see Vivian's facial features twist into a look of desperation and anger.

"I can't find it!" She shouts in frustration.

"I'm going to look at the bottom of the boat!" I scream so my voice could be heard over the roar of the waves and wind.

"No! It's too dangerous!"

"What other choice do we have?!"

Before Vivian could say anything else, I take in a deep breath and plunge my entire body back into the watery abbess. I thrust my arms out in front of me, waving them around until my left hand hits something hard; the ship. I then place both hands of the metal and start to kick my legs, pushing my body down deeper into the water. All the while, using my hands to try and find the knob.

It's not until I feel my empty chest start to burn when my cold fingers brush against a groove on the boat. Without hesitation I turn the knob. It's hard to see in the dark waters, but I manage to make out the frame of an opening; a wooden plank was lowered by turing the knob, creating an underwater entrance.

I swim back to the surface to catch my breath. As I emerge from the watery deaps, Vivian starts to scream at me.

"Are you insane?! You could've drowned!"

"I found the entrance! When I turned the knob a small part of the ship opened up. But it's completely submerged in water. I have no idea how long the passage is, let alone how much of it is underwater." I gasp out.

Vivian frowns then nodds, saying, "Ok. Lead the way."

I take in one last breath then dive back into the waves. It's too dark to see if Vivian is following me or not which adds to my ever growing list of fears.

We make our way deeper into the ocean and I manage to quickly find the entrance once more. I grip the sides of the metal opening and thrust myself into it, which took a lot of effort since the powerful current was pulling me back in the opposite direction.