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After several hours, Hope woke, and her eyes widened when she saw she was deep underwater, and she clapped a hand over her mouth in horror when she realised this was no illusion - she was deep underwater, and she was almost out of air. Kicking with all her strength, she managed to break the surface, gasping once her head was above water. But she had no chance to recover; something seized her foot and pulled her back under, away from the life-giving air. No matter how she kicked and flailed, the force holding her was too strong; already the precious air she'd managed to garner was running out, and she was being pulled deeper and deeper. 103Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡei8REFE4cx
But then the force holding her let go, and she kicked desperately, lungs burning as she ran out of air, fearing she might not make it this time. She managed to break the surface with only seconds to spare, and her eyes widened when she saw she was bone dry, still sat in the shallow end of the pool where she'd taken refuge earlier in the evening. The moon shone pale and cold through the broken windows, dappling everything in dense white light and deep shade.
Hope swallowed, her heart still racing from the nightmare from which she'd just woken. Or had it been real? She could no longer tell what was real and what wasn't, and as she climbed out of the pool, she knew she had to do something before she lost what was left of her mind. But when she made her way to the doors, she found them sealed shut, even though they'd been lying on the ground when she'd first come here several hours ago. It seemed she had to go on, and she turned back to the pool, her heart hammering again. Nothing in her nightmare clued her as to how to go on, but she knew that, somewhere, there was a way out of this place. She just had to take a deep breath and take the plunge.
Stepping into the pool again, she sat down, closed her eyes, and took a deep breath...
103Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdeoaSvzLKb
... and she was underwater again, swimming for the bottom. Somewhere there was a way out, and she prayed she'd have the air to get to whereever she was going. But it was wholly dark, and no lights showed her the way. To make matters worse, she was already running out of air, and she felt her way along the bottom, heart pounding loudly, lungs burning as the air ran out.
Then her questing fingers found something. An entrance! She pulled herself along until she felt the portal which would take her on, and she pulled herself through, squeezing through the painfully tight passage. It seemed to go on forever, but just as she thought she might drown, she felt the space around her open up, and she kicked upwards, breaking the surface with a gasp. The passage had widened enough to let her stand up, and she stood shivering in the waist deep water, teeth chattering in the cold air. And though she hadn't heard anything, she knew the passage behind her was now closed. But as she started wading through the water, she didn't care. She'd left the creepy city behind with its ghosts and its bats. Wherever she was headed had to be better than the horrible place she'd left behind. And when she got to where she was going, she'd make sure Jhansi and all her miserable countrymen paid for the hell they'd put her through, starting from the moment they'd forced her to leave her daughter behind, to the terrifying moment her train had emerged in the dead city. And they were going to pay big, Hope promised.
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