Queen of the Underworld

69

Nicolas

There was this one time, I was fourteen and I went to a lake with Vee, Mateo and Gabriel.

Lago Di Loto: an old spot, that not many people came to anymore. It used to be popular when I was like ten, but people just stopped caring after a while. We rented it out for the afternoon, it was huge and the water was clear, perfect for summer.

But, to my prepubescent, adrenaline-junkie self, that wasn't my main focus.

All I managed to pay attention to from the second I stepped foot in the territory was the tall cliff on the other side of the lake.

There was a sign on it, I remember. Attenzione: alto venti piedi! Solo forti nuotatori!

Big, red, faded letters trying to talk me out of doing what I was definitely gonna do.

So what if I wasn't a strong swimmer? I wouldn't die. A twenty foot drop has nothing on me, I remember thinking.

So, against Veronicas protests and Giovanni's scolding, I went up the broken stairs and climbed the few rocks until I found myself on the dangerously high edge.

I felt like God as I looked at the way I was nearly leveled with some of the trees. I was invincible in that short second. Life had nothing on me.

But then I looked down, and my heart stopped beating. Veronica looked tiny on the other side of the lake. I could barely hear her telling me to get down and Gabriel and Mateo egging me on to jump.

I felt scared. But it wasn't the everyday life kind of scared, because I wasn't being threatened or tortured.

I was bringing this fear upon myself. It felt...glorious.

So, after three deep breaths and calling myself a pussy ten times, I jumped off.

The fall couldn't have lasted more than three seconds. Yet, it still felt like eons.

From the second I jumped off, my throat constricted and my heart was banging against my rib cage painfully.

I felt as if my soul wasn't falling at the speed of my body. With every passing second, it stayed behind as I slipped out of it.

After the first second, I felt like my stomach was at my throat.

After the second second, I felt my mouth drier than a dessert.

After the third second, I felt empty. Like I was an empty body falling off a cliff with no other destiny than to hit the bottom and stay there.

And, when I hit the water, I was scared so shitless that I landed incorrectly and the water hit my body like concrete. I felt my entire back on fire, the burn of the water making pain jolt up and down my spine.

I sunk.

For another three seconds I fought under water to get myself back up. To find air and breathe. I just wanted to breathe.

But even when I did stick my head through the surface, I couldn't fill my lungs. I was so shocked, scared and dumbfounded that my body refused to breathe.

It wasn't until I made to the other side of the lake, with my back red as a chilli pepper, that I managed three loud gasps of air into my deprived lungs.

I never tried anything so stupid again.

Until now, that is.

When I jumped off that cliff thinking I was invincible, I was met with nature telling me to go suck on a dick and die. It made me unable to breathe, move and filled my body with so much pain that I willingly admitted I was a world-class dumbass.