Volkodlak - The Beginning

10.The Drowning

"What will you tell your soon to be  husband?" 

"I am just visiting an old friend," April replied as she stuffed her bag with all the things that were necessities in her eyes.

"And your friends?" Nathan, her friend from another village, who used to help her on the farms asked. April went to him as she had kept some money hidden from her parents in case some situation arises. 

"They don't need to know," She murmured. 

"What you're doing is extremely stupid," Nate remarked. 

"I know, but it's the only way," April whispered as she looked down and thought of the consequences. She had made up her mind and carefully planned things in a way that she can reach where her brother was spotted for the last time.

"When do you plan to leave? Nate questioned.

"Now," April replied as she picked her sack up and walked out of the door. 

"You're going to sail on the waters of Copa, that sea is home to creatures unknown. Here take this and drink it when you start the sail," Nate placed the small bottle in April's hand.

"Have a safe trip, may your destiny take you where you're destined to," Nate wished as April walked out of the door.

April woke up with the droplets of water being splashed on his face. "Mhmm. Mama let me sleep..," April spoke grumpily and rolled on the other side. She came into contact with a hard surface, she slowly opened her eyes and saw that she was in small red coloured with the black strip in between lifeboat. She quickly opened her eyes and got up to find herself in the midst of the ocean. It had to be an early evening as the sun was not that harsh. She looked everywhere, and she didn't see any signs of her ship or any land nearby. She knew it would be dark very soon and it would very scary.  All she remembered about drinking the liquid from the bottle. April could see the murky green coloured water below her. She was scared, she clutched her legs and brought it near her chest. She was all alone in the midst of nowhere, surrounded by water on all the sides, with no radio or phone to tell her location. She was lost in the sea.

April chocked on a sob as she remembered that in stories, dangerous sharks attack out of nowhere and kill the people in a most gruesome manner. She wanted to go back to her friends, wanted to go home. She started crying as she could not find any hope. She could not see any ship nearby. She could see the sun descending in the sky, and it was starting to getting dark. April was terrified as she had to spend the night alone on the fragile lifeboat with no drinking water and she had no idea how far she was from human civilisation.

She tried to run the motor of the boat, but she was doing it for the first time, and she had no idea how to do it, and this one didn't come with an instruction manual. She tried to pull the string. It didn't work.

"Keep calm, stay calm..Ap.," she chanted the words in her mind and prayed to any god to help her out. She once again pulled the string of motor, and it didn't work. Out of frustration, she kicked the engine and stubbed her leg.

"Ow." She winced in pain. She touched her toe to soothe the pain. Sun had descended in the arms of sea creating hues of pink and purple swirling in the sky and soon the shade velvety blue of the sky had begun to change into the gravel grey. Moon has risen at its highest in the sky. It had frightened her wits. The landscape has changed to one that of a horrific one. One that of the horror movies. The water changed its colour from dark green colour to dark venomous black. It resembled the black shawl of the devil.

"Help .. help... !! Anyone, please help me!" She screamed in despair. She screamed for help. It seemed like sky got angry at her plea of aid. It started raining torrentially. The temperature of the ocean had dipped. Rains drops pierced April's skin like sharp needles.

It soaked April completely. Stinging rains, a roaring of the sea and thunderstorms with lightning in the sky made her shiver. She tried once again to start the motor and this time it did. She heaved a sigh of relief. There was hope after all.

The storm at the sea grew more merciless. She tried to go in the north direction hoping to find some land or any water-borne vehicle. The rain started pouring almost violently. The wind whirled savagely, causing an uproar in the sea. The turbulence of the sea was lethal. Her fragile motorboat began to collide with large waves. She was no expert in driving a car, boat nonetheless. Her only goal was to stay afloat. She could not swim. She didn't how to. If the boat topples over, she will be facing death.

Waves of the sea started to dance wildly, heaving and tossing the boat. As if it was taunting her, the boat was no match to gigantic waves of the ocean. She prayed all the gods she knew, to save her from the monstrosity of the sea. She prayed Poseidon even; he was the god of water after all.

The storm had started brewing in, and fog started forming in front of her. The waves grew stronger and stronger, with a wicked determination of sinking her boat. If she makes it out alive, she will never get on the ship. April started chanting celestial hymns as if magically someone will come up and rescue her.

Her boat bobbed like a cork upon the capacious sea and she felt a fever in his eyes. Her little boat keeled and tilted like the death flop of a mackerel. The timber planks buckled and bulged, then screeched and shuddered, but the craft righted herself once more.

The furore of the sea caused the tattooing of her heart. The sea wore a mask of hatred and longing. She looked ghastly at whirlpool opening and spinning beneath the boat. She tried to change the direction as it started feeding on the water of the ocean and started becoming massive. She couldn't think with the tumult and the tempest. She tried dragging the boat in opposite direction but apparently, the current was unyielding and was pulling the boat back towards it like a magnetic field. She with all her might pulled the navigator in the other direction, a feeble attempt to save herself. Clearly, luck was not on her side as she pulled herself out of the clutches of a whirlpool, a solitary wave rose before her, blotting out the sky. Throwing her boat right back into the clutches of the whirlpool, which now span faster and wider.

The boat rose with the bust, inclining upwards to its destruction. It was propelled up onto the lip and hovered there. The cobwebbed lines of the wave sewed the trap against her and the boat, catching it as its prey. She helplessly tried to get out of it but was met with nothing but the failure. The whirlpool snarled under her boat with dire-white jaws, causing her boat to spin and topple. The boat was inverted, and April was in the water now. She helplessly tried to move her hands and legs in an attempt to swim. Herculean waves crashed against her, pulling her in.

She has never been so scared in her life as she was now. The waves had made it their personal task to swallow her in. One massive threw her across the whirlpool inside the fog-gested area. She tried to keep her head above the water, spitting out the seawater which entered into her mouth. The fog-laden area made it extremely difficult for her to breath. She could see haze forming in front of her eyes; she coughed violently. She tried to use her arms to keep her on a surface, but it was as if someone had tied a weight near her ankle.

Fear started clouding April's mind. She was being pulled down and she knew she would soon succumb to the sea and accept her defeat. The fog felt like coil against her throat, strangling her to death. She lost her sight, black curtain started falling in front of her eyes. Something in the fog made her lose her eyesight. One more wave washed her away, and April started drowning in.

With all her might she screamed for the last time, "Help!"

She could feel her lungs getting suffocated, and water had entered her lungs. She had met her fate today. She would be meeting death. She had kept her eyes open though she couldn't see, she could feel current pulling her deeper into the ocean. Letting the wave envelope sucking her into the crevasse of silencing tenebrosity.

She was drowning she could feel the burning sensation in her lungs. She heard the soothing voice, "Fight, fight back. Don't close your eyes. Kick the water and try to come up, move your hands, April. Live, fight for your life."

She tried to follow what the voice told her to do so, but she was feeling light-headed, and there was no energy left in her limbs, it was very clear to her that she was going to die. She had a content smile on her face, and she closed her eyes, she had no idea how long she was under the water.

" I will find you.."  was her final thought before losing consciousness.