Submerged

Chapter 10

Well, I officially have more chapters of Submereged than episodes of Sherlock. I hope you enjoy this after that last cliffhanger. Although I don't know if this will make things better or worse. ~Izzy

Chapter 10

                “C’mon! Just jump!” Navyy shouted, “It’s scary up there, but when you jump, it’s like you’re flying!”

                The water- the same water that was usually so inviting- now seemed to be kilometers away from me. I didn’t want to jump.

                “But it’s so far down! And there are rocks in the water!” I replied.

                I was the one who had wanted to go the party. A tribute- Finnick Odair- from our district had won the Hunger Games, and there were celebrations everywhere. Somehow, Navyy and I had been invited to one of the best. Ky Rivera- a boy who Navyy had liked at the time- had walked up to us and insisted we come. Later, I found out that he had liked Navyy.

                “You’ll be fine; I was,” one boy insisted. I could tell that my fear was embarrassing Navyy, but I couldn’t help it.

                Before we went to the party, Navyy’s parents had insisted that her older brother, Kenny, accompany us. I don’t know why they wanted him to supervise us; he was doing a bad job. I had already tried a bit of beer. I hadn’t liked it, but Navyy had gulped down two bottles already. At the time, I had been irritated; we were 15 and didn’t need a babysitter.

                “Hey,” Kenny walked up behind me, setting a suspicious-smelling drink on the ground, “If you’re scared, I can jump with you. I used to go cliff diving with friends all the time.”

                Despite my previous annoyance at his presence, I was grateful for him now.

                “On three,” He suggested gently. Then he pushed me.

                “Fuck!” I screamed. The air stung, and the water still seemed far away. My voice trailed off behind me, probably scaring a few drunk teenagers who were still on the cliff partying.

                “Woo-hoo!” He shouted back, jumping after me.

                After a few moments- it couldn’t have been more than a second or two- I realized that it wasn’t so scary after all. I was actually enjoying myself. I was flying! Then I hit the water with a splash, and it was over.

                I surfaced to the end of a scream. My head immediately swiveled around, thinking it was from up on the cliff. Maybe it was just more revelries.

                Then I saw Kenny, and my fun was over.

                One of the rocks had gone right through his torso. Well, I suppose the rock hadn’t gone anywhere; Kenny was the one who had jumped.

                There wasn’t as much blood as one might expect. The rock must have been blocking its exit from the body. Was that all Kenny was now? A body?

                All of this ran through my head in about a second. I Navyy treading water nearby. She looked so pale. Her bottom lip was trembling. People were screaming now. They were trying to find help, but there was no saving Kenny. He was dead. It was my fault. It was all my fault.

                I screamed as I fell, clutching Dylan tightly to my chest. Somehow, we were falling sideways, my hair streaming up behind us like a useless parachute.

                The irony of dying this way wasn’t lost on me. Or maybe it wasn’t irony. Perhaps it was more like poetic justice. It would only be fair for me to die like this, forcing someone else to jump. I only hoped that Dylan would get out alive. I had already destroyed part of Navyy’s family; I didn’t want to ruin it any more than I already had.

                Twisting midair, I turned so that I was positioned underneath Dylan. I would take most of the blow. We were only falling a few stories, and we had only been accelerating for a few seconds, but it could still be fatal. I closed my eyes and willed my body to relax. Then, pain washed over me in a tidal wave.