Cipher

Chapter 14: Sinking

Cipher heard their footsteps behind him and had to make a conscious effort not to quicken his pace. He schooled his face into a mask of careful neutrality. He was here to further human - Aeolian coexistence. That was more important than any personal fears he held. If he did not rise to their bait they would soon grow bored, as all bullies did. At least that's what he told himself as he rounded the corner coming face to face with one of his tormentors, Drake.

Cipher felt the pigment leach from his face, darkening his marks. He wasn't particularly scared of this pack of humans. Wary, yes, but not scared. They did add unneeded stress to an already stressful assignment. He was never going to find peace if they kept blocking him at every turn, metaphorically and literally.

"Excuse me," he said keeping his voice civil, but conveying his hurry. "I do not wish to keep Isaac waiting."

"He doesn't 'wish' to keep Isaac waiting'," came a mocking voice behind him. "Don't worry we won't keep you long. Heard you wimped out on swimming today. We only wish to teach you a lesson."

Hands tightening on the straps of his backpack, Cipher shoved his growing fear down as he turned to meet the rest of the pack. The one who had spoken wore a vicious grin like a cat eyeing the canary, Matt. He held a large bottle in his hand.

"Perhaps another time." Cipher tried to go around only to find the way blocked as they edged him in.

"We insist."

It happened quickly, he was so distracted by Matt that the two behind him met little resistance as they forced Cipher to his knees.

Even at his disadvantage, he never let the mask slip. "I'm here as an ambassador for my people. What are you doing?"

One of the boys holding him down snorted at that. "He thinks the alien freaks are people."

"Why don't you all just leave?" Drake growled from beside his talkative friend. "We don't want you here."

It was a lower blow than Drake realized. There was nothing to go back to. Nothing habitable anyway. Aeolus was all but destroyed. His people were interplanetary refugees. Keeping his emotions out of his voice was harder than expected, "We are not here to cause harm. We only help."

"We don't want your help," Matt snapped, dumping the water on him.

His entire body jerked away before he could control his reaction; the cool feeling of the water sliding over his skin, soaking into his clothes entirely foreign. He realized his mistake even before he caught the wicked gleam in the other boy's eye. Cipher went still despite his drenched shirt and dripping hair. He needed to get out of this before it escalated any further. He couldn't fight off all of them, but he could outrun them. Unfortunately, he wasn't in any position to do so.

"C'mon, Matt," said the boy at his right shoulder. "You said this would be quick, I have to get to practice."

"I have a better idea," Matt, smirked. "It'll just take a second so chill, Malcolm."

Malcolm's mouth drew down, "Coach is going to kill me as it is. I'm not about to waste any more time here." He moved to leave.

"Yeah, because it's so hard to kick a ball down a field," Matt mocked him.

Malcolm's fingers dug into Cipher's shoulder, but he knew the anger wasn't directed at him. "At least in soccer we actually use skill instead of ramming our heads together like sheep."

Matt took a menacing step toward Malcolm, before Drake got between them. "It's fine, Mal, just get to practice before Coach has you running laps the rest of the week."

Neither looked like it was fine or that they wanted to drop it; Malcolm growled a few obscenities over his shoulder as he left. The exact opportunity Cipher was looking for. Lunging to his feet, Cipher slid his arms out from the straps of his bag and ran leaving the remaining boy holding nothing but a backpack. If he could get to a more populated part of the school perhaps he could find an ally.

He made it all of three steps before being thrown to the floor, head cracking solidly against the thin carpet. He fought for breath as someone - or a few someones - hauled him up and the world swam before him. Somebody is skipping football practice right now, he thought blearily. At least, if he was remembering his human sports correctly, which was questionable at the moment.

They entered a room, the humidity hit him like a slap in the face. It took him a moment to get his feet under him. Hands still held his arms tighter than twin vices. The three who had brought him here were still talking, but the words were bouncing uselessly off his consciousness. He finally was able to take a deep breath: chlorine. Oh no. They were at the pool.

His secondary lids flicked down allowing him to take in his brightly lit surroundings. Light streamed in from the large windows and skylights to cast dancing reflections off the nearly still waters of the pool.

"Time for a swimming lesson."

The words sank in only after the hands that were holding him in place disappeared and a solid shove sent him plunging into the clear water.

His body didn't know what to do as it hit the surprisingly hard surface and began to sink, earning him a mouthful of water. He thrashed instinctively, moving slowly through the liquid surrounding him, but he wasn't sure which direction was up or what he was supposed to do. His lungs burned for air even as they filled with water. As a child, he had never expected to see enough water to fill a bucket; now he was surrounded by enough to kill him many times over. Humans even had a word for it: drowning.

Cipher's vision darkened, narrowing to an ever-shrinking point. Immersion was never even a glimmer of a possibility for his ancestors; despite that, some part of him must have realized that he was going to die. Alone.

The pressure shifted around him and arms wrapped around him from behind, but he was already falling even as his savior's powerful strokes brought him closer to the surface.