Diving into Fate

It was the day Estelle had picked to die.

For most of the people around her, it probably wasn’t a particularly special day. The weather was grey, and the air was heavy with the impending rain. It was a Wednesday, one of the most overseen days, the day that usually flew by unnoticed because work occupied everyone.

Maybe that was the reason she had picked this day; she would encounter fewer people in the late evening.

Less people to notice the dark circles under her eyes and the red rims, exhausted from crying. Less people to notice her intention when she approached the bridge over the river. She had planned this, spent the entire morning taking every single step toward the bridge. And then in the evening she finally took those steps. But as she took these steps, she didn’t go as unnoticed as she had wished. Calm blue eyes were watching her, while he lit a cigarette. Estelle had never believed in fate, which made this day even more ironic. Because fate certainly had a plan for her. For a while she just stood there, staring down at the water. A small part of her was waiting for someone to stop her. Maybe she didn’t really want to die, maybe she just needed someone to remind her of that. But nobody came. A quiet sob shook her, as she pushed her doubts aside.

With a swift movement, she jumped the railing, not giving herself the time to let her doubts come back. The air was rushing past her ears and her heartbeat picked up. Halfway through the fall regret settled in. No, she didn’t actually want to die, dying was final. There was no coming back from it.

She opened her mouth to scream, to call for help but she hit the water before a single sound could leave her mouth.

The water felt like it was solid, she could feel her body get crushed from the impact. Pain immediately filled her, making her cry out in agony. Her cry caused her to inhale water, her lungs instantly contracting and burning.

As she squirmed in her fight for survival, her body was sucked deeper down by the currents, deeper into the cold darkness. Her vision was blurred, her head was spinning, and her body felt like it was on fire. Slowly a numb coldness started to spread from her toes and fingers. The painful reality was setting in, she was dying. Her eyes went up, towards the lights of the city and the fading sun while she herself was sinking into the darkness. She thought she wanted that, to be swallowed by the darkness and be gone, but now she wanted nothing more than go back into the light.

Someone suddenly grabbed her, strong hands held her by her shoulders. Fear struck her once more as she looked up into red glowing eyes. Her body was too broken and numb for her to fight whoever, or whatever, this was. It felt like the stranger was assessing her, maybe coming to the same conclusion as she had, that she was beyond saving and would die anyway. Closing her eyes, Estelle started to feel a strange sense of peace setting in. That was until lips suddenly were forced on her mouth, pushing air into her mouth. Just as she tried to take a breath, her mouth filled with a coppery, warm liquid. Everything in her revolted, not wanting to swallow whatever this was. She could feel her stomach cramping as she started retching. But the stranger held her in an iron grip, his tongue pushing the liquid deep into her throat. Without a choice she swallowed it, hoping he would allow her to breathe some air afterward.

But as soon as she had drunk the last drop, he retreated, leaving her lungs to struggle and burn. But he didn’t let her go and seconds later something sharp pierced her neck. Too weak her mouth just opened in a weak protest, as her fingers twitched. She could feel the stranger sucking on her neck, stealing the last flicker of life from her.

With a final glimpse of the last light of this grey Wednesday, Estelle slipped into dark, cold nothingness.