Water covers the sole of my foot, and silt squishes between my toes.
Hardening myself, I take another step.
The water rises higher, almost to my ankle. A tremble overtakes me, but not from cold. I remember the night with Luci and André. I remember her warning.
Not that way. The tunnels flood when we have too much rain.
And it’s been raining.
A lot.
Moving cautiously, I ignore the freezing water, even as it rises to my calves. Even when I shiver and my toes go numb.
The water sloshes and gurgles with every step, the sound brutally loud in the dark.
“Brooooke.” Lyam’s voice echoes through the catacombs, his sing-song voice close behind. Too close.
I have no choice. I need to keep going.
Hand scraping the wall for guidance, I move faster. Putting space between myself and the sadistic glee in Lyam’s voice.
My leg suddenly drops from under me, and I fall, plunging into a pool of black.
51
The dark water swallows me whole.
I hold my breath, even as terror jolts through me like lightning in my veins. I can’t tell up from down, only blackness pouring into my eyes, my ears, my nose. My soaked clothes drag on me like weights, pulling me down into the abyss.
Just when I’m certain I’ll disappear, my feet bump against the bottom, and I thrust myself to the surface. My head breaks the water, and I gulp for air.
My gasp is loud, ricocheting off water and stone, echoing in what sounds like a hollowed-out space.
I flail my arms and reach for a wall, but my limbs feel like rubber. Cold. So cold. My heart is a constant flutter in my chest, not only from panic but the sudden drop in temperature.
I have to get out.
For seconds, my fear of drowning in the murk overrides my fear of Lyam.
Kicking gently, I propel myself forward. I’ve lost my bearings and don’t know where I’m going. If I can find a wall, maybe I can feel my way to a tunnel.
I can’t see, but somehow the space doesn’tfeelbig. Something about the way sound travels, my ragged breaths bouncing back at me.
Easing through the water, I try not to think about how cold I am or how deep it is. Or what might lie below.
Serious shivers have set in, signs of hypothermia, so when my hand finally slaps against rock, I don’t mind the painful scrape on my skin. The stone is jagged, but it’s solid. Reassuring.
As I’m tracing my hand upward, searching for anywhere to climb out, a slight shuffle fills the hollow space. Then a scrape.
“Brooke. I know you’re there.”
Lyam’s voice in the dark, floating from somewhere above me.
I need to move away from Lyam, but I’m still operating blind. And scared of getting lost in the flooded tunnels.
Lungs burning, I break the surface, gasp for air, then go back under. The rocky wall scrapes my palm raw, but at least I know I’m moving in one direction.
The next time I come up, I keep my head above water, drawing deep, filling breaths. I need a moment. I need oxygen.
