Artifice - Man x Man - Book Six

Chapter 2

Those frightened eyes peer at me and I force myself to drag onward, my chest heaving as I fight for air. "Helen I can't-"

"There! Look!" In the distance, I can see the fluttering of something shiny. A chain.

"That's an anchor." I remind her. 

"Look what's tied to the anchor!" I can hardly see the glittering material from this distance but it does appear something, or someone, is tied. "It's worth a shot. Come on." We're fighting through my shortening expanse of a bubble. 

My body is growing weaker and weaker and she's practically carrying me as she supports me. I can see the movement of his gray hair in the current, his head bowed. We reach the anchor and it flops onto its back, taking both of us to direct it so it doesn't land on him. His pale body is limp, I can see that his eyes are hardly open and dull. 

"He's dead, Helen. It's been too long." I drop to my knees, clutching my chest as I fight to breathe. I can feel the moisture seeping from my mouth and when I touch it, I see that it's blood. "You tried." 

Her chest heaves as she takes us both in and she hurriedly rushes over to him, trying to hear his chest through the heavy chain. "Pull the water out of his lungs, I can't get it out with this chain on."

"Helen-"

"Just do it!" She screams at me. I crawl over to him, gripping the chain to pull myself up onto his body. I sniffle as I look down at him, was it wrong to hope I'd finally stopped watching him die? Concentrating, my hands tremble as I follow the track from his lungs to his mouth and pull out the mass amounts of water only to collapse onto his chest and cough. 

"It's too much water, Helen." She carefully pushes me towards his lap as she attempts chest compressions through the chain as I close my eyes. I feel his hand pressed against my knee and when I peer down, I spot the wedding ring. 

"It'll never be enough, darling." I quote him, grabbing his hand with mine. 

When I open my eyes, I expect to be dead but I hear coughing. "Nic! Nic!" It sounds so distant. "Nic, help me turn him! Nic!" The ringing fades away and I see Helen desperately yanking on the anchor. My hands shake as I grasp and yank on the material until we carefully turn it on its side.

Verando coughs and takes in big gulps of air. "Breathe. Your lungs were full of water. Just try to breathe." She tugs at the chains and curses under her breath. "They're too tight, he can't get enough air. Can you freeze the lock and break it?"

All I can manage is to stare. 

She did it? She did it when I gave up? How? I see her wave her hand in front of my face and pulling myself out of my trance, I leap into action by scrambling for the lock. Freezing it solid, I press on it with my palms until it shatters in my hands, slicing up my skin but I find that I can't even feel it. 

I tear at the chain desperately to remove it from him and he falls against the sand, we shove the anchor away and Helen pats his back as he gags on the saltwater. "Randy." I can't believe I'm saying it. "Helen! You did it! You wonderful girl! You did it!" I hug her tightly and she manages a weak smile, her eyes red and puffy. 

She sniffles in response, and my drenched warlord shivers as he slowly raises up onto his elbows. He's soaked to the bone, his hair matted down and his clothes clinging to his form. I notice his shirt is torn and his back paints a horrible picture of what he's endured the last few hours.

He's littered with lash marks and burns. "Randy..." My tone changes and my anger fades. 

Helen pulls out her bag and grabs the collar, tapping it out on her hand and she sighs a sigh of relief as the light blinks on. "Alright. Part two. Call Lipa."