The Death Beyond Living

Pool - Thriller

A swim team practice at an indoor pool quickly turns lethal as the main character realizes something is off, and all people have dissapeared.

Disclaimer: Enviromental horror, death, blood, implied violence, etc.

Scare Rating: 6/10

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 "You're swimming a seven hundred and fifty. That's fifteen laps. Followed by that I expect a butterfly drill, another five hundred kick, and an eight hundred backstroke."

"Yes, coach." The simultaneous deadpan replies echoed around the tiled pool walls, the shade of aqua blue squares looking almost sickly with the months of endless swimming gone by.

Before another thought can pass the dreaded buzzer sounds, and the splashing begins. One after another, separated by three seconds from feet to head, feet to head, feet to head. And then the marathon begins. Stroke after stroke, my mind begins to drift after each second stretches endlessly. Breath after breath, the pattern repeats itself until I lose track of time, blindly following one another-

I'm snapped back to reality as I sputter on water, kicked onto me from the swimmer before. Although air is lost, it isn't enough to stop swimming. Trudging on, strokes are followed by more breaths, followed by the familiar splashing-

The surface of the water merely ripples with my presence. As the water drips from tinted goggles, my throat finally clears. My mind almost seems to recalibrate to new surroundings, consciously reminding myself to breathe in three strokes...two...one...

Another breath. And for a mere moment, my eyes scan the horizon of the crystal waters, scanning for fellow swimmers in the lanes beside me, or people mingling in the distant hot tub, free from the stress of swimming lap after lap.

To my surprise... I'm met with nothing. Emptiness in its purest form.

But it's not enough to stop. Another 25 meters later, I'm washed with relief as I seem to swim easier, each stroke taken without the disturbance of splashing water around me.

Is the kid in front of me really that far ahead? There's no way I'm not sensing at least a bit of movement beneath the surface...

Another breath. And this time, I stopped in complete shock.

My instincts had served me right the first time.

Not a soul was to be found. The odor of chlorine burned into my nose, the surface of the water sat in a peaceful, eerie pause, with no movement besides the rippling of my treading strokes. The feeling quickly grew surreal. It was the busiest time of the day, when many would leave work and head straight for the gym and its magnificent pool, with a room as large as a ballroom and ceilings as high as a warehouse.

"Hello?" The call came out more as a whisper, barely enough to echo off tiled walls.

The only sound breaking though silence was the dripping of water somewhere.

And then, a child's laugh. From the shadows of the darkened locker rooms.

"Hello? Is someone there?" I called out, praying for any sign of life.

Pulling myself from the water, I snatch a towel from the closest rack, and head straight for the locker rooms.

I couldn't care less about swimming anymore. The longer I would stay in an empty pool, the more I would panic. Plus, it's not like the coach was there anyways.

The child's laughter echoed from the locker room once again.

"Hey! Hello?" I bounded into the lockers, pushing through the door as I left the empty pool behind me. A wave of chilled air welcomed me as I stepped into the locker room, just as empty as the pool. My stomach plummeted.

However, items were scattered around the benches, lockers left open as if people had left halfway through a task. Along what seemed like an endless row of sinks, one faucet ran endlessly, the water pouring straight into the drain.

I switched off the water.

And the laughter began again.

I nearly leapt with joy. At the other end of the corridor, stood a child, a little girl in a skirted swimsuit dotted with purple patches of daisies. My favorite shade.

"Hey little girl," I approached her with the calmest tone I could muster up, the adreadline in my veins pumping with relief after seeing another person. "Do you know where everyone is? Where's your mommy or daddy, hmm?"

Nothing. Just the same expectant blank stare.

"Okay, I'm going to come closer, just tell me where your parents are, okay?"

"O...Okay." For a child, her voice was shaky and uneasy, like on the borderline of tears.

With her acknowledgement, I step forward, and she runs into a locker aisle, leaving nothing but a choked sob behind.

My stomach drops further, and I break into a desperate run, catching up to the lockers she disappeared into.

And a pained cry breaks the silence.

In a twisted combination of horror and confusion, a crowd of figures stands before me, many adults, but all with their faces drained of color and their outlines blurry- like a dream.

Reaching out, my hand goes through their bodies, passing effortlessly like a ghost I can't quite see clearly. With my heart already racing, the sight of what seems like ghosts doesn't bother me as much as the pool of blood in front of them.

The little girl.

Laid face-down, a pool of blood steadily grows around her head, the smudge of crimson on the locker doors indicating the impact that killed her.

Bile brews in my plummeting stomach.

"No...No I can't, I'm going to be sick." In pure instinct and sickened adreadline, I backpedal and turn around, booking it for the door to the pool again, but this time determined to reach the exit.

Something's off about this whole place.

And as I run though what seems like endless locker aisles to my right and running sinks to my left, I shove through the sandblasted glass door to reveal-

The most lively pool one had ever seen.

Children splashing at the kiddie pool with swim lessons going on beside them, parents watching from the sidelines as people move about the hot tub, coercing with others and mingling in relaxation.

But the weight plummets as fast as it has been lifted.

The door to the exit wide open, a crowd of doctors and first responders bee-line straight for the deep pool, where a figure has been pulled from the lanes and laid out beside the pool.

A lifeguard desperately performs CPR as onlookers wait anxiously, just for them to fail with harrowing reactions.

My mind running at miles per second, I approach the rest of my swim team at the poolside, peering over shoulders at our fallen teammate.

Me.