Chapter 10: Chapter Ten – Third Quarter

Chapter 10

 

"You remember the plan?" Lina whispers. 

"Yup!" I reply, treading water in the dark straits of Gibraltar. I look towards the dim silhouette of the Rock of Gibraltar looming ominously on the distant horizon, under the light of the third quarter moon. 

Lina hovers over the water just behind me, close enough to whisper in my ear. "Good, we move fast, as close to the African coast as we can without being spotted. If the Naval Base's magic sensors detect us, hopefully they will just think we are Moroccan water channelers out for a late night swim. If we are spotted, or they send a unit to investigate, you dive to the seabed and swim east as fast as you can while I draw them aw-"

"Lina, I said I remember the plan." I turn to look at my vampire. 

"Sorry, sorry, I'm just nervous. I mean what I said Lua. If anything happens you swim away, and don't stop or turn back, no matter what you feel through the connection. Promise me Lua." Lina's face is filled with concern. 

"Ok, I promise." I say, nodding to her. 

Lina takes a deep breath before wrapping herself in her shroud. I hear her voice emanate softly from within the dark mass above me. "Let's go then." 

Lina dashes off in the night, disappearing from my vision instantly. I quickly dive, and use my sense of her position to follow her. 

I swim as fast as I can to try and keep up. She keeps pulling away from me and then slowing down for me to catch up. I can feel her impatience and anxiety, or maybe that's my own, I don't know. It's hard to focus on anything else when I swim at this speed. I keep my head down and power forward, my chest heaving, pumping water in and out of my lungs as fast as it can. I'm quickly tiring out at this pace. Suddenly, Lina stops. 

I dash past her, then circle back to surface underneath her. I blast a full lungload of water into the air with a massive heaving cough. 

"Shhh!" Lina hisses at me as she partially drops her shroud, holding a finger up in my direction. 

The Rock of Gibraltar is to our left now, much larger, and much closer. Waves crash on the Moroccan coast just barely loud enough for me to hear to our right. 

Lina hovers, ominously still. "Do you hear that?" She whispers. 

I stop treading water and opt to silently float on my back. I listen carefully, but only hear the soft, distant sound of waves hitting the coast. 

Lina looks at me, a worried expression on her face. She briefly touches a black painted fingernail on her left hand. The faint sound of a horn from a cargo boat sounds in the shipping lane. Anxiety and fear bounce between us. We both hold very, very still. 

"Helicopter!" Lina suddenly shouts, abandoning all notions of stealth. "Dive Lua! Go!" She yells. 

I hesitate for a split second before being blasted by Lina's fear. I hurl myself down into the warm, dark ocean as Lina launches into flight towards the Rock. 

I angle myself straight down. I can't see anything, but I swim down as fast as I can. The pressure of the water above me builds and builds. It reaches a near intolerable level just as I finally crash into the sandy sea floor. 

I feel a big cloud of sand explode around me in the darkness as I impact at considerable speed. A sharp, crunching pain jolts through my shoulder. I cry out, or at least try to, but a lungfull of water doesn't transfer sound like air does. 

I take a moment to shove my pain aside. It’s difficult, but I have a promise to keep. Lina told me to swim east, but I have no clue which direction is which. 

I sink to the ocean floor. Its pitch black. I can't even see my own hand in front of my face. I frantically look around, but it's hopeless, there's no way to orient myself.

I feel panic building in my chest, but I push it aside, I can't afford to panic now. Think Lua, think! 

I sit on the sandy ocean bottom in the black abyss. I close my eyes, not that I can tell the difference in the light level, but it helps me focus. A mild nausea grows in my stomach. 

Wait, that nausea is from Lina moving further away from me! That’s it! I reach out to try and feel where Lina is. I'm shocked to feel her so far from me, and flying at dizzying speeds even further away.

Her emotions are focused. I feel determination, concentration, and under it all something small building beneath the surface. I focus to try and feel what it is. 

My eyes snap open. Violence. It's violence. A calm, calculated violence of someone with thousands of years of experience applying it. 

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My mind is immediately overcome with thoughts of the night I died. Images flood my brain, of the cruel face on the woman who stabbed me, of the other woman thrashing around as I held my water bubble on her face. The woman I killed. The woman I killed.

My chest heaves and struggles to pump water into my lungs under the pressure of the depths. The pain of it snaps me back to reality. I realize I am hyperventilating. I don’t have time for this! I promised Lina!

I have all the information I need. I know Lina flew north, I saw her go before I dived. I focus my mind on Lina's location, then turn to face her. Once I'm sure I am pointing directly at her, I turn 90 degrees to the right, and launch myself into my fastest swim, cutting through the heavy black water. 

The comfort and security I normally feel swimming in the ocean is long gone now. I swim blindly through the pitch black water, as fast as I can, driven by anxiety and fear. I concentrate on maintaining a straight line.

Suddenly my knee smashes into the sandy seabed. I tumble and slam into the seafloor. My mind is flooded with pain. My knee cries out in agony. 

I writhe around is a cloud of sand, struggling to compose my thoughts. I'm jolted out of my pain by an explosion of emotion from Lina, far off to the north now. 

I'm overcome by her much more powerful feelings. Pure adrenalin floods our connection. It's followed by a level of frenzied aggression that borders on rage. I feel violence flow through my whole body. I want blood. I need blood. I can almost taste it. 

Lina! She must be in trouble! I snap out of my trance-like state. 

What do these emotions mean? Is Lina fighting someone? Is she fighting the helicopter? Can Lina fight a helicopter? I have to help her!

I quickly take stock of my situation. I shove my pain down and focus on Lina's location. I have to get to her.

I launch myself forward, but am quickly halted by an agonizing pain from my right knee. It stops responding to my commands. 

Ok, so be it. I'll have to swim with three limbs then. Another sharp pain from my left shoulder squashes that thought. Ok, two limbs then. 

I push myself towards Lina, flopping one arm and kicking one leg to very slowly swim towards my vampire. 

It's slow, hard work, but I make progress. I gradually drift towards the surface as I push myself towards Lina. It's too hard to maintain my depth and course at the same time. 

I must keep going. I must swim north. Always north. 

My mind drifts as I struggle to push myself forward. Faint memories of a dream half forgotten swirl around my head. 

North. Swim north! 

The waves grow increasingly rough and choppy as I drift closer to the surface. My progress slows. My breathing is heavy, and labored. I fight against the waves, but they are too strong. Eventually, the rough seas halt my progress completely. 

I push myself to the surface, and roll onto my back, too exhausted to fight the waves any longer. I surrender to the will of the ocean. I let its unstoppable power overtake me. It feels nice actually. I feel small. 

I wish Lina was here. 

And then suddenly she was. 

My mind jolts back to reality as I feel Lina slam to a halt above me. Massive waves of water thrown up on all sides from the speed of her approach. I can't see her, but I know she's here. 

"Lua!" Her voice cries out from the darkness just above me. 

A single strong arm reaches out of the night and grabs my wetsuit’s collar. Instantly Lina dashes off, flying above me while holding tight to my collar to drag me across the ocean. 

I painfully skip and bounce off the tops of waves as Lina flies at a far faster pace than I could ever swim. Despite the pain, I feel safe now.

Lina has me. 

I can't fight my pain and exhaustion any longer. I close my eyes and give myself over to the loving embrace of darkness as I slip into unconsciousness.

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