Page 60 of Blue in the Deep Blue Sea

My eyes searched frantically for him as he disappeared above me. A dark shadow circled through the water while streams of bubbles blurred my vision. My body twisted and shook, finally surrendering to the sea.

I once read that when you’re drowning, your brain finally accepts what’s happening. It fills you with a strange sense of peace, making you believe you’re breathing. Your mouth opens wider, convinced it’s drawing in air, but all it does is swallow water until there’s nothing left.

For me, there was no peace. Only panic.

I couldn’t tell what was beneath my feet. It wasn’t just the endless blue that terrified me, but whatever it was hiding below.My vision clouded over, my eyelids growing heavier until they began to close.

Then, suddenly, I felt something grab my hand.

The feeling you get in dreams isn’t the same as reality. In dreams, there is still some hope, but in reality, all hope is gone. In that moment, panic takes hold because you know it’s over. Still, you keep fighting, even when part of you wants it all to end.

Oliver turned me around, his palms cupping my face as he shook his head, silently pleading with me not to panic. I wanted to strike him, to drag him down with me, to drown him. But when he motioned for me to look to the right, I understood why he was trying so hard to stay calm.

Two sharks circled the yacht as it slowly slipped beneath the surface. The second wave crashed over it, and the buoy disappeared first. Then a smaller, three-meter shark spotted a man swimming. It surged towards him with terrifying speed, seized him like prey, and when its jaws clamped down, it thrashed its head from side to side. The water erupted into a cloud of blood as the man’s body was torn in half. Meanwhile, the larger shark continued circling, never taking its eyes off us. Judging by what was left of the man, I think it was George.

But the panic only tightened its grip. I was no help to him.

Oliver raised two fingers to my forehead and gently drew them down over my eyes, urging me to close them. When I finally did, he pulled me towards the surface. My lungs burned as I fought for another breath, but my body was already beginning to give in.

Darkness had long since swallowed my vision. Now it was creeping into my mind. I felt us drawing closer to the end. The pressure in my ears built until all I could hear was the deep, relentless hum of the water, growing louder with every second.

Then everything blurred. My life. My thoughts. Reality.

And there was no light anywhere.

I woke up with my eyes fixed on the dark gray sky.

I was floating. The waves carried me while my body rested on something beneath the surface, but I couldn’t bring myself to look down. If I did, I knew the panic would swallow me again.

My fingers clutched the fabric of my uniform shirt against my chest so tightly that my fingertips throbbed. Tears came on their own. A scream swelled inside me until it felt too big to hold.

Is this the end?There should be peace at the end, but I still felt like I was in hell. Only instead of fire, there was water.

Lightning split the sky above me. Rain kept striking my face. All around me came the sound of splashing and screaming, yet I couldn’t move.

What if I had to save them?

That thought hurt more than anything.

What if I had to save Oliver, and I couldn’t? What if I had to watch him drown?I’d imagined that outcome so many times, convinced I wanted it. Now that it was real… I wouldn’t wish it on my worst enemy.

Something inside me forced my head to turn left.

Oliver was swimming towards an overturned inflatable raft drifting through the waves. Behind him, a massive fin sliced through the water.

“No,” I breathed. “Watch out!”

He looked back. The moment he saw the shark closing in, he drove himself forward, his arms cutting frantically through the water. Within seconds, he reached the raft.

Then the fin disappeared.

The shark had dived.

“No… no… no…”

I squeezed my eyes shut. The scream tore out of me. Water crashed, something slammed against the raft, but I couldn’t force myself to look.

“Hey!”