Mermaids and Vampires

23: Drowning

~~~~~DYLAN'S POV~~~~~

When I get home from school I ditch my bag at the front door and head into the kitchen to make dinner for Lauren as usual. She's into spaghetti now, has been for the last five days. The noodles boil on the stove and I stare out the kitchen window at the beach behind our house. The water is so blue today, so, so blue. It's cloudy and overcast out but the sky isn't dark at all. Just diffused. And the water sparkles like a topaz gem. And I find myself held by it.

In the background of my mind the theme music of Lauren's kid show plays and she sings along to it. I can hear the pot on the stove begin to bubble. The phone rings.

I find it incredibly difficult to tear myself away from the window. But I do.

I take the spaghetti off the element and pour it into a bowl, add the red sauce.

"Lauren. Kitchen. Now."

The phone goes to the answering machine and the message is played out loud.

"Hi Dylan. It's your Dad. Just checking up on you to make sure everything's going alright tonight. Did you feed Lauren yet? If not put some pasta on for her. She likes it lately. Okay, well, I'll see you later. Hope you're looking after her and don't just keep ignoring my phone calls." He hangs up.

"That was Dad." I say casually to Lauren as she skips into the kitchen.

"Is he mad again?" She asks.

I laugh. "Well, not really. Just concerned I think. He doesn't trust me."

She sits down in front of her bowl and pokes at it with a fork.

"What's wrong?" I ask.

"This doesn't look very good."

"You just have to mix it in a little."

"It smells funny." She says.

I raise an eyebrow.

"Give me that." I snatch the bowl from her and shovel a fork full of noodles into my mouth.

"Ho!" As soon as it hits my tongue I spit it out.

"Gross! you got it all over the floor!" Lauren shouts.

"That's hot sauce!" I run to the sink and cup water into my mouth with my hands, rinsing out the burning sting.

"You messed it up?" She asks, giggling.

"Don't worry there's extra."

I grab a new bowl from the cupboard and dump the rest of the untainted pasta into her dish.

"This is the real red sauce." I state, pouring it on.

"You sure?" She asks.

"Sure." I give her the new bowl and she makes a great fuss testing it out, bringing one noodle to her face, sniffing it, licking it with the tip of her tongue, squinting and considering.

"You're funny." I say.

"Dad's gonna love to hear how you messed up the pasta." She smiles taking a bite.

"How about a mars bar?" I ask flatly.

"Deal."

I leave her to eat and step out the back door. The ocean is calling me. Its shores are breathtaking, they're perfect.

I kick off my shoes as I approach. The rippling waves sparkle with great intensity. The ocean is alive. Each wave a breath, a pulse, a heartbeat.

Without consciousness my hands pull the t-shirt up over my head. I enter the water. It's soft, cool touch sends shivers up my body. Every nerve ending is exhilarated. My senses heighten. I feel everything. A great energizing sensation moves through me. The water is alive. My heart races. I take a deep breath and dive in.

But the shore is too shallow. The water further out is much better - must be better. So I swim. I feel so good. I swim. I hold my breath and dive as deep as I can, getting closer and closer the deeper I swim. Closer to the feeling. A craving. I must satisfy.

But I touch sand.

I turn, swim back to the surface. But I'm too far away. I'm out of air. My lungs, like a vacuum long for breath. Suddenly my mouth opens. They fill.

My eyes still open, the world goes black.

I stop moving. Someone touches my arm.