Into the Depths Below

Chapter 1

The wind was shaking the windows, causing the glass to shatter. The howling of the wind drowned out the raging ocean waves outside. The window panes were barely holding up either, the wood splintering and flying around with reckless abandon. The door kept opening then banging closed in a catastrophic rhythm. The palm wood foundations for the seaside cabin kept rattling, threatening to give out. The thatch roof was already crumbling on top of her head.

"MARINA!" Nadira called out for her daughter, hoping for some kind of response that her daughter was safe. Her voice cracked with the amount of force she put behind her shout. She paid it no mind as her worry was more important than sounding put together

She got no such response. In fact, the only response she received at all was the wind blowing louder in her ears like a raging battle cry.

"MARINA!" She cupped her hands across her mouth giving a hopeless scream, hoping that her cries of desperation could reach her child's ears.

No such luck. The hurricane only grew more ferocious, the cold winds whipping her long, black hair over her eyes and face. Thunder echoed through her head like a horrible melody, threatening to haunt her forever.

Nadira trudged out of her house wanting to see even a glimpse of her daughter. Her legs dragged across the soft wooden floor of her house. The wood felt like it was tearing through her thin cloth shoes. Splinters broke through the cloth and into the skin of her feet, some stray pieces of wood lodging themselves in her arms and legs.

What she saw laid before her terrified her.

There was a large, gaping whirlpool in the middle of the ocean. Leading up to the whirlpool was an empty sandy path where the water seems to have split. There was lightning striking the middle of the spiral, making it even more menacing to look at, the flashing temporarily blinding Nadira. In the eye of the swirl of water, there was a person singing a haunting melody that gave the single mother full body goosebumps.

Halfway through the path where the water had parted was her daughter, Marina, walking as though she were in a trance towards this strange figure.

"MARINA!" Nadira shouted, her voice growing coarse with overuse. Her daughter did not stop her movements towards the eye of the swirl nor did she even really hear her. The melody was the only thing that rang through the six year old girl's brain. She was enchanted by the song.

Deciding action was her only option, Nadira began trekking the path her daughter followed, fighting against the harsh winds that felt like they were threatening to tear her skin clean off her bones. With every step, it felt like the sand grew hands and threatened to pull her backwards. The waves barely allowing the path to remain parted slashed at her legs and feet like icy daggers. She was barely making any ground towards her daughter and the figure in the spiral knew it. The singing only grew louder and louder as Nadira attempted to approach. Though in her ears, the melody grew shrill and ear grating, almost mocking her.

Nadira stopped moving for only a second to grip her ears and scream in pain. The melody she heard was hurting her eardrums and head. When she lifted her hands from her ears, there was a light trickle of blood falling from both. Nadira forcefully shook her head and pressed onwards.

The haunting song being sung only grew harsher upon her ears and head, serving as a way to distract the mother from her true purpose. She cried out in pain once again but kept moving forward. The only thought filling her mind was that she needed to save her daughter. No matter what, she was going to save her little girl.

The water began reforming behind Nadira at just a slow enough rate that once it passed her, Marina would still be able to walk on a path of sand. The waves crashed and roared like those of a tsunami, taunting Nadira to move fast or get eaten by the waves.