Page 52 of Forsaking All Others

The weights draw us down immediately, and we hit the bottom of the riverbed with a thud. All around us are camera crew in wetsuits and scuba equipment, and other crew members who swim to us and tie on our clues. One by one other competitors sink down to settle all around me. Immediately I notice the Iranian, Mahsa, panicking and losing bubbles. As she opens her mouth to scream I close my eyes. Killing people may be a natural part of life, and part of The Game, but I don’t want to see someone die slowly.

‘Well, I do, but not this person.’

I try to imagine myself elsewhere as I lie, eyes closed, in the cold water. The catsuit is certainly not waterproof or offering any protection against the chill of a nighttime submersion, but that’s the least of my problems.

‘I’m running out of time. I can’t hold my breath much longer. Madonna Santa, please hurry, Sona. Please hurry.’

40

“And…Action!”

“Well, folks,” Starlen widens his eyes as he addresses the cameras, “there’s no clear leader yet. The competitors trying to solve the puzzle are working furiously, and their teammates, just like you at home, are holding their breath waiting for an outcome. I just hope they hurry things up; a full minute has gone past already. How long can you hold your breath?”

I frown as I watch the girls on the stands. The puzzle isn’t easy if you’re unfamiliar with such things, but not truly difficult either. Anyone who’d watched previous seasons would know that large 3D puzzle pieces must be fitted together to form a shape. The shape this time is the show’s logo, the letters VBG all fitting together around rose designs to form the symbol.

A scream of delight and clapping from Thorun reveals that Sona is the first to solve it.

“And here we have it, here we have it. Our little Nepalese mind bender — of course she would solve it first!” Starlen exclaims.

I don’t even bother looking at him as he goes on with his ridiculous commentary.

“Beauty and brains all rolled into one small but fierce package.”

Switching my attention from the Greek, who’s been turning one puzzle piece over in her hands for what seems like minutes, I watch as Thorun swan dives gracefully into the river and makes directly down to her teammates. Catriona is the first one she reaches, and it’s only due to my exceptional vision that I can see exactly what’s happening, given they’re wearing a colour that blends with the water. I expect her to free the Italian immediately, but she’s having some kind of difficulty with the chain securing the girl.

More competitors dive in, the ripples on the water temporarily obscuring my view. Now that time is running short, I find I can’t stand the thought of Catriona drowning. Not when I haven’t yet figured out my own puzzle involving her blood. I scowl as she shakes her head and points to Evelyn before turning to try to unchain herself. Thorun nods and, using her feet, propels herself to the surface like a cork to take more air. Taking a deep breath, she dives back down and switches places with Sona, who’s unwound the chain on Evelyn but is unable to lift the weighted clue she’s attached to, making it impossible for the American to reach the surface.

“Oh dear, what have we here, fans?” Starlen asks, his voice hushed with fake angst. “Our puzzle-solving leader is too slight to lift the weight. What good is that head-start if you can’t follow through? What’s to be done? Work together, I hear you say? Or should they sacrifice one in order to save the other? Blood, sweat and tears are the only things we can be sure to get here, folks. Hard decisions need to be made. Only God and these women know what’s right and what needs to be done for the good of the team. Meanwhile, it looks like another team is pulling into the lead.”

Sona now rushes to the surface and gulps another lungful of air before swimming back down. As she descends she passes Thorun and Evelyn, the pair reaching the surface shortly after. The cameras pan in as Thorun crawls onto the bank, hauling Evelyn along with her clue. Standing up, clearly exhausted, she turns and dives straight back down.

A few moments later Sona surfaces, gasping.

“Where’s Catriona?” Evelyn shouts, unwrapping the ropes from her legs and pointing to the water.

“I unchained her, but we can’t get her to the surface,” Sona shouts back. “She’s too heavy, a dead weight.”

“She can swim,” Evelyn scowls.

“No, she’s unconscious.”

Both girls stare at each other for several long seconds before Evelyn makes some unseen decision for both of them.

“Shit!”

Going against the summation I’d made of her character, Evelyn throws herself back into the water and begins to work with Thorun to drag Catriona up. Sona, shaking her head, stays on the surface, taking frantic gulps of air as she tries to catch her breath. The team seems to be making headway until another competitor clamps onto Catriona’s leg and begins pulling her back down.

‘Fuck.’

A low growl inadvertently escapes my lips as I watch the underwater struggle.

“And the bachelor is right to be concerned! Of course he is,” Starlen clamours around like a court jester, “well played, well played. We all know that now is the perfect time for a competitor to take advantage of another’s weakness. A sadness for the Italian’s family, yet perhaps not so for the Bachelor Universe; she wasn’t a popular contestant. Although, from the look on our Viscount’s face he might not agree with that assumption.”

Ignoring Starlen’s bullshit, I scowl and step closer to the river ready to jump in and intervene, even though I know this will create an absolute shitstorm. Fortunately, I’m saved from making a stupid decision as Sona gives me a contemplative look before diving down once more and joining the fray. From where I stand it looks like she’s grappling with a goldfish, but it soon becomes clear that it’s one of the red-haired twins from Zurich trying to murder Catriona. When she sees Sona she swims away, allowing the three to haul the Italian onto the riverbank.

“And what a change we have here, folks!” Starlen announces. “Our innocent little Icelander taking a lead and saving the life of her teammate. She may not know how this game’s played, but she’s learning fast that everyone needs protection, and she’s not giving up hers so easily. Perhaps she’s the one the bachelor is so concerned about… and who wouldn’t be? But as we all know,” he grins evilly into the camera, “that can be a double-edged sword.”

I’m compelled to watch as Thorun immediately begins chest compressions upon Catriona to the tune of the Bee Gees ‘Stayin Alive,’ while Evelyn starts mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. Under any other circumstances Thorun’s singing this tune, at this time, would be hilarious. But nobody’s laughing.