All the sounds came back in a blur, and Riley felt herself drifting back and forth…
Her head was pounding wildly against her skull, and she heard a distant crashing of waves.
She rolled over, groaning in pain.
Why was she drifting in her room…?
But her eyes opened a slit, finding herself outside.
What happened…? Why was she outside?
With the waves and the softness under her, was she on a beach?
How did she get here? Why was her head pounding?
But when she felt odd bumps going through her, she sat up, finding herself lying on an inflatable boat.
But… where was she…?
Her heart pounded when she looked up…
The boat was drifting further into the ocean.
What? What?
Riley cried out, using her hands and diving them in the cold sea so she could use them as paddles.
But it was raining, and the waves were getting stronger.
No… no…
How did she get here?
A single wave went under her boat, almost throwing it over but she caught the edges and held it still.
“Help!” she cried, spinning around as the rain poured down on her.
She was getting further and further away.
“Help!” she called. “Someone!”
Did someone knock her out and put her here?
Why?
A second wave came from under her, rocking the boat as it pushed her further back into sea.
She couldn’t swim… and she’d been trying to paddle back with her hands, but the waves were too strong.
A third came, making the boat bounce, a forth followed behind it, and a fifth after that.
Thunder crackled across the sky, making her shriek.
She paddled harder, hearing the water crash from behind her.
Oh, God… she was going to die, wasn’t she…?
“HELP!” she called, wading further toward the shore but was only pushed back.
And that’s when it happened.
She heard water crashing harder behind her, and a sudden shadow loomed over her like her awaiting death.
When she slowly turned, her eyes rounded when she saw it.
The thirty foot wave moving toward her.
Crap.
She started paddling with her hands harder, keeping her eyes on the water.
Right as the thunder cracked across the sky—the rain feeling like needles piercing her skin—the wave came down on her at an instant.
She screamed, the sound drowned out when the cold consumed her like a mother of death folding her arms around her body.
Riley kicked as hard as she could, piercing through the water as she tried to swim back to shore.
She couldn’t swim though, and she slapped the top of the ocean as another wave covered her, and she pierced out again, coughing as the water entered her lungs.
“Help!” she cried, trying to stay above water but her arms were aching. “Hel—”
Another tidal came over her, crashing her through the water.
Riley came up again, trying desperately to breathe, but the panic as well as the water entering her lungs weren’t helping in the slightest.
“Someone!” she cried, the rain piercing down at her. “Help me! Please!”
Another came over, practically drowning her, and she pierced through.
“HELP!” she called. “HELP ME! HELP!”
But another forty foot wall came from behind her, and she stared up at it in horror.
And it came down on her, the impact knocking the breath out from her lungs and she sank further down.
She tried kicking, but the water only hit her harder.
Can’t… I can’t breathe…
I’m… going to die…
No matter how hard she fought, she only went deeper.
Until the water entered her lungs, and she coughed, only inhaling it further.
Her muscles felt so weak…
And she couldn’t fight anymore.
She accepted it. She was going to die.
When her muscles weakened from her lack of oxygen, she started finding herself sinking further into the ocean.
It was so dark down here… she wondered how the sea life could see in this darkness.
But a light came down from above her, and she parted her lashes, feeling the water sting her eyes as the light came closer.
And something caught her wrist, and she found herself pulled up by a savior, them holding her body to their body as they kicked up toward the shore.
It was so far… and she couldn’t breathe.
She could feel herself fading.
But as their legs kicked harder, the grey sky came through the top of the water.
Was this a lifeguard from the beach…? Did they come to save her?
How did they know she was out here? Did they hear her screaming?
Moments later, they pierced through the water, though the pain in her lungs didn’t dissipate.
She started gagging, choking as the water in her lungs came up to her throat and sank back down.
Riley felt herself fading.
The savior caught her tighter and waded to a speedboat that was slowly drifting into the distance.
She couldn’t breathe.
She choked as her lungs seized.
But the figure pulled her on the boat, lying her down and pressed their hands to her chest, gently giving her CPR even though she was partly awake.
What were they doing?
But the moment they pumped their hands into her chest, a pound of water exited her mouth, and she started coughing heavily, every bit of ocean exiting her body.
She stared at the figure above her as she started gasping, trying to regain all air back to her lungs.
“Go!” the savior called to another person.
And the speedboat rattled as the engine started, and they moved toward the shore.
But… why did his voice sound so familiar?
Riley gazed up at him, unable to see his shape with all the ocean water burning her eyes.
She started pressing her hands to the boat around her, still trying to get air to her lungs.
“It’s okay,” the savior promised. “I got you now… I got you… Don’t panic… Shhh….”
“Paris…?” she choked, only to start coughing again as her voice rattled her lungs.
She felt his strong arm slip under her back, and he pulled her weak body up and cradled her to him because she was freezing.
It was still raining.
There was too much water… Not enough air.
“It’s okay…” he whispered gently, holding her to him tightly. “I got you now. We’re almost back to shore.”
“I blacked out…” she said, voice raspy. “And woke on a boat….”
“You’re safe now,” was all he said. “We’re going to get you to home where you’ll be under protection, okay? And we’ll call a doctor to check on you. You’ll be okay.”
“Paris…” she said, choking still, “I think… someone’s trying to kill me.”
“I know,” he answered. “But I won’t let them.”
He turned to the man running the boat. “Faster!” Paris said with panic in his tone. “Go faster!”
The engine roared and the speedboat launched forward, making its way back to the shore.
“Who is… he?” Riley questioned.
“My friend,” Paris answered. “But it’s okay. You’ll be okay. As I said, you’ll be under protection.”
She stared up at the sky as it rained down on her.
She closed her eyes then, letting the darkness consume her.
God, she was so tired.
“Riley!” Paris said, panicked. “Riley, wake the fuck up!”
“Check her pulse,” the man running the boat said.
She distantly felt him press his finger to her wrist and pull back. “Her heart’s beating.”
“Then she’s fine,” the man said. “Let her sleep.”
When Riley felt a pair of warm arms surround her, she let herself fall into her dreams.
