Prologue
Something you should know is that this story is a slow burn.
At one point, it felt as though she were floating, yet she was falling. It was a strange sensation, like a dream where she plunged helplessly, only to open her eyes expecting to wake from the nightmare, only to be met with a blurry vision. The blur, no matter how hard she tried to shake it off, eventually gave way to an endless blue, streaked with rays of light piercing through the water.
Her arms were spread wide, her hair floating around her as she tried to move forward, upward, anywhere that might take her back to safety. But the moment she moved, a sharp pain shot through her body like an electric current, causing her to wince in agony.
It was the wrong move. She felt herself gulp down a mouthful of water, maybe more, and when she tried to breathe, she choked instead. Panic and fear consumed her as she struggled to understand what was happening, and for a fleeting moment, she wondered if she was already dead, or at least on the brink of it.
Her soul seemed to cling to her throat, desperate to escape, while she fought against the terrifying sensation closing in around her.
Why was she falling? Where was she going?
Air rushed from her lungs, and no matter how desperately she tried, she could no longer draw in a breath.
Looking up, she saw that the once-clear water was now streaked with red, while the light above her slowly began to fade. Or perhaps she was simply moving farther away from it.
In that moment, she understood one thing.
She was drowning.
