Nightmare Warriors

The Drowning is the Hardest Part

Four Years Ago

Max climbed the ladder to the diving board when he started feeling funny, not realizing his drinking water had been laced with a powerful drug. As he got to the top, he started feeling dizzy as he approached the edge of the board. Looking into the crowd, he saw his brother and his girlfriend, his adoptive parents, and his crush watching. Jonathan was handsome, popular, and friendly with everyone. He had perfect wavy brown hair and a dashing smile that would make anyone melt.

As he got his toes at the edge of the diving board, everything had started spinning and he felt dizzy. He had no idea what was going on as the crowd stared at him.

"Something's wrong," Grady realized. "He doesn't look too good. I'd better—"

Before he could say another word, Max fell off the diving board, hitting his head on the way down as he fell into the water. The crowd gasped as blood started floating to the top of the water. Max wasn't coming back up.

"MAX!" Grady shouted as he ran toward the pool, only to be held back by his parents. "He's going to drown!"

By the time Max had been pulled out of the water, he'd been under for three minutes and immediately taken to the hospital. It took weeks for Max to regain consciousness with Grady sitting by his side every second, talking to him constantly. By the time he woke up, his massive fear of water had set in and Max Madison was never the same again...

*

Cody made sure Grady's parents weren't around as he snuck into the den and started looking around.

"They're planning to kill Max, but why? I thought Max was like a son to them," Cody said to himself as he looked through the drawers. "And if they were planning to kill Max, was Grady in on it? Did his death set their plans back?"

Cody finally found a letter with Max's name on it. He picked it up and started reading. "Holy shit, that's why they're trying to kill—"

A board to the head knocked Cody unconscious. He fell to the ground as the letter fell out of his hand.

"We need to hide this brat until tonight," Paul said as he picked Cody up. "They can die together. He shouldn't have snooped where he doesn't belong, now he has to pay along with Max."

*

Max woke up on the floor, having passed out after seeing something in the mirror. It was something he'd seen before in his dreams. A tall grey monster with a bald head and sharp teeth. He had no idea who it was as he stood up and got closer to the mirror again, this time seeing nothing.

"I'm losing my mind," Max said to himself as he grabbed his shirt to go look for Cody.

*

Downtown, Tommy's team had been confronted by Cody's ex-girlfriend Bridget. She stared at the group angrily.

"I know Cody's still stalking me, and it has to stop," Bridget told them. "It's over between us. I can't forgive him for getting my father killed. I found a guy that loves me and doesn't keep secrets. And he doesn't have a blood-thirsty Leprechaun following him around."

"We know Cody's not... in his right mind about this," Tommy said as he stood up. "We didn't mean to make you nervous, but... maybe if you just talk to Cody, he'll realize it's truly over. The poor guy's been a wreck since he found out about your wedding announcement."

"He needs to move on," Bridget told the group. "I still care about Cody, but I also can't stand to look at him right now. Maybe someday, but my father's dead because he couldn't put down a stupid coin."