The laughter was still ringing in my ears.
I stayed quiet. Like always. Let them laugh. Let them think they won.
But my grip on the plastic cup had gone stiff, knuckles white.
I hated this feeling.
Like I was thirteen again.
Like I was back in that locker.
"Hey, come here!" Mia shouted, waving toward the side deck like she'd spotted celebrities.
Three figures climbed up from a smaller boat.
My stomach dropped.
Zeke.
Ari.
Dani.
Not classmates.
Not old friends.
Nightmares with faces.
The ones who pushed me into lockers.
Stole my shoes.
Carved slurs into my notebooks.
Made me wish I could vanish.
Mia looked proud. "Surprise!"
I stared at her. "Are you kidding me?"
She shrugged. "I thought maybe it's time to face the past. You're not still scared, right?"
"You're joking," I said.
Zeke walked forward with those stupid sunglasses he wore at night. "Didn't think you'd crawl out of your hole, Elara."
"I thought we left drama in high school," Dani sighed dramatically.
Ari smirked. "Still pretending to be tough? I saw that boxing video."
I didn't speak.
Zeke leaned in. "You look good. Grief suits you."
My chest tightened.
"You still crack easy?" he whispered.
Mia half-laughed. "Guys, maybe don't go too hard."
But she didn't stop them.
Someone knocked the drink out of my hand.
Another shoved my arm.
I backed away instinctively — until the railing pressed against my calves.
"Let's see if she swims as good as she punches," Ari said.
"No—" I started.
Zeke whispered, "What's the matter, Rage? Afraid of drowning?"
Then Dani pushed me.
And I fell.
✧𓂃⋆༶⋆𓂃✧
✧ THE OCEAN'S SILENCE
Cold hit me like a wall.
Every breath shut down.
Salt burned my eyes.
The world spun as I sank too fast.
I tried to scream — but the water swallowed my voice whole.
The sea didn't feel empty.
It felt aware.
A gentle warmth brushed past me —
like someone reaching out.
A presence deeper than the water.
But then darkness took me.
✧𓂃⋆༶⋆𓂃✧
✧ THE SURFACE
On deck, laughter snapped into silence.
"She'll come up," someone muttered.
Seconds passed.
Then minutes.
But no movement.
Only bubbles.
Mia's face drained. "Why isn't she swimming up?!"
Someone threw a float ring.
It missed.
No one jumped in.
They panicked.
Argued.
Shook.
Then Trevor grabbed the wheel. "We turn back. Say she jumped. Crash your phones."
Crushed phones.
Shaking hands.
Rehearsed lies.
The yacht fled, music still playing.
No one looked back.
✧𓂃⋆༶⋆𓂃✧
✧ THE DEEP
Elara's body drifted downward, limbs limp, hair floating like seaweed.
She didn't see the change.
The water around her pulsed —
a pressure building
like the deep itself was holding its breath.
Then the sea split.
A rift tore open in the water, clean and silent.
It pulled Elara in.
Gone in a heartbeat.
The ocean sealed behind her.
✧𓂃⋆༶⋆𓂃✧
✧ THE FIRST BREATH
My first breath wasn't air.
It was light — sharp, cold, electric — a jolt that dragged me out of darkness.
My eyes shot open.
Grass.
Not water.
Soft, damp grass beneath my cheek.
My hair clung to my skin, dripping with cold.
My body shook with leftover panic.
I rolled onto my side, coughing so hard it felt like my lungs were clawing their way out.
When I finally lifted my head, I froze.
The sky wasn't normal.
Lavender.
Soft.
Faded, like watercolour bleeding gently.
Stars flickered even though it was daylight.
I sat up slowly.
A hill.
A massive ancient tree.
Its trunk pale and veined with blue light — breathing, almost alive.
Golden leaves rustled.
But there was no wind.
And below the hill — a lake.
Still.
Glass-smooth.
Reflecting the sky and tree…
But not me.
My reflection wasn't there.
A shiver ran up my spine.
✧𓂃⋆༶⋆𓂃✧
✧ THE COTTAGE
A wooden cottage sat near the hill's edge, quiet and untouched.
My instincts screamed to run.
My feet walked anyway.
Everything felt muted — my steps, my breath, even the world around me.
Like someone pressed pause on reality.
Déjà vu slammed into me.
Not normal déjà vu.
Not "I've been here before."
More like:
my bones remember this place.
A golden leaf drifted down and landed on my shoulder.
Warm.
Comforting.
It dissolved the moment I touched it.
My chest tightened.
I reached the cottage door.
No handle.
Only a carved spiral symbol — surrounded by three small dots.
My hand lifted on its own.
The moment my fingers touched the carving—
A hum.
A flicker of light inside.
A sound.
A lullaby.
Soft.
Ancient.
Sorrowful.
Holy.
A voice that shouldn't exist here.
A voice that felt like it had been waiting for me.
✧𓂃⋆༶⋆𓂃✧✧𓂃⋆༶⋆𓂃✧✧𓂃⋆༶⋆𓂃✧