In the Water

In the Water

PROLOGUE: 

“Breathe.”

“Breathe!”

“Breathe, dammit!”

Dawn Fay—a girl who was loved by many, but also hated by some—laid unconscious, possibly dead on Perth, Australia’s local beach. Her skin, normally sun kissed, looked deathly pale under the blistering sun.

People crowded around the girl like seagulls, their eyes wide like saucers as they watched a lifeguard try with desperate attempts to keep the young girl alive. By this time, mobile phones were out, calling hospitals, parents and whoever people could get hold of.

A strangled cry tore everyone’s eyes away from the poor girl for a moment towards another girl, who looked a lot like Dawn except older. She leant on the shoulder of a tall boy who struggled to keep her standing up right as she sobbed into his arm. The boy patted her arm with a somber expression crossing his features.

A wailing siren made people jump, a few even letting out startled squeaks. A few moments later, an ambulance sped into view, screeching to a halt in the beach parking lot. Seconds later, a paramedic jumped out of the back of the vehicle, pulling with her a stretcher.

Wordlessly and effortlessly, the lifeguard scooped Dawn into his arms, her head moving around like a ragdoll’s as he jogged towards where the paramedic stood waiting.

A hushed silence fell over the crowd as they watched on, nobody daring to move from their place.

Tears streaked down a few people’s faces while others tried to hold them back and instead sniffled. Others held hands over their mouths, a pose they had been frozen in for over five minutes now. One boy slowly sunk to his knees, his head bowed and his hands clasped together as he recited a silent prayer, some joined while the rest grabbed on to whoever’s hand they could find.

The girl who was crying earlier had somehow managed to compose herself enough to hold her own weight. With red eyes and dishevelled hair she stumbled towards where Dawn lay on the stretcher, paramedics moving frantically around her.

An oxygen mask had already been attached to the girl’s mouth, pushing fresh air into her.

“We’ve got to get this girl to the hospital now!” One of the paramedics roared, knowing that with each passing second, Dawn’s life was slipping away.

“Relative?” A paramedic who was standing back and observing what was happening asked the girl as she approached them. She nodded her head, opening her mouth to speak but closing it again as her bottom lip quivered.

Thirty minutes before panic had struck the people on the beach, a young boy of around eight was laughing happily as he chased schools of fish around in the water. He wasn’t very good at it, but with each failed attempt he took, he slowly drifted away from the safety of the beach.

A hand had clamped around the boy’s ankle, making him thrash around the water, a scream rising up in his throat. But before he could yell for help, a familiar head had popped out of the water, her laugh sounding like music.

“Hector,” Dawn had started, using the tone she spoke in whenever she was about to start lecturing people. “Your sister is looking for you, and you know what happens when she’s angry.” Dawn had curled her fingers, moving them to the top her head to make them seem like horns. She laughed again at this and immediately Hector’s face relaxed, his light brown eyes sparkling as his face spread into a wide, childish grin.

“Spencer isn’t going to be mad.” Hector had replied with a lisp, his S’s sounding slurred and slushy.

Dawn had crossed her arms over her chest, her hazel eyes narrowing at the boy as she stood straighter, towering over him.

“Now Hec—“ Dawn froze, her eyes had widened. She seemed to stare straight past Hector, at something behind him, though the little boy was too interested in the fish that had now gathered in front of him.

It happened within seconds. One minute Dawn was there, the next she was screaming as some kind of unseen force dragged her underwater. Hector wasn’t a very strong swimmer, but he splashed after Dawn, fear rising up inside of him as something brushed against his foot. The water was dark and murky and what looked like a giant cloud of smoke stretched far out across the water, though somehow Dawn’s hand was still visible if Hector squinted.

What happened after that, nobody really knows.

Hector had coughed and wheezed as he crawled out of the water, his tiny hands clamped onto Dawn’s limp wrist, the rest of her body sloshing about in the water. 

The doors on the back of the ambulance slammed shut, the sirens starting up once more as the ambulance pulled from the parking lot, Dawn Fay clinging desperately to her life as she was sped away.

Spencer Richards watched on with tear filled eyes, wondering exactly how her best friend had landed herself in such a critical state, and why, of all days did it have to be her sixteenth birthday?

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Hey everyone! I know I haven't updated in a while but I just had a lot going on. Don't worry, I'm not abandoning Fitting In, I'm just taking a temporary break and trying some different writing styles!

Tell me, are you interested to see where this is going, is it good, or should I head back to the drawing board? I also aplogize for any of my spelling errors and any mistakes you see, I'm still looking for an editor!