It was a frenzy.
Arms elbowed. Skin smacked. Water splashed. Hands yanked on feet.
The pain in my sternum worsened.
I found some separation, grateful for the long summer days I’d spent swimming in the lake behind the trailer park after the foster parents were removed from my life.
As the swim continued, the gratitude died.
The panic in my heart became a blinding pain.
We were goingagainstthe current—on the shore, it had looked like the water traveled lazily in a slow, peaceful motion, but it was anything but.
With every stroke, I turned my head to the side and gasped, desperate to fill my deflated lungs with air, but it wasn’tenough.
I battled the water.
When I inhaled as I turned my head to breathe, water filled my nose, and I choked. Coughing, I flipped onto my back. Sinuses burning, I desperately sucked in air.
A loud splashing sound caught my attention—I leaned my head up to look around.
Christos was beside me, treading water, moaning pitifully. “Help!” he screamed, foam dripping out of his mouth as he splashed like he was in agony.
Someone’s hurting him, but who?
His head bobbed under as he looked at me with frantic desperation.
I tried to reach and help him.
He pulled away and screamed louder, fighting against an invisible monster.
A shadowy boat appeared out of seemingly thin air. My eyes widened.
It was thewho.
“Swim!” I screamed at Christos desperately as I tried to hold him up.
He pulled us both under. When we resurfaced, he screamed louder, splashing as he struggled against me.
“S-Swim,” I begged him as I sputtered.
He kicked at me.
A tattered dark cloak blew menacingly on the mountain breeze as Kharon leaned low in the boat.
Panic made white-hot agony burst through my chest.
I swam away from Christos, desperate to put separation between us.
Kharon stared down at me. His head tilted to the side with interest, like he was observing something unique.
I looked around, but everyone else was swimming yards away.
He was looking straight at me with glacial blue eyes.
Glaring at me.
Focused.
