Spirits

Chapter 5

As my back hit the frigid water, I remembered everything that had led up to this point. The lying, the deceit, and useless hope. I had trusted my abilities far more than I trusted the world. Maybe I was a naive little girl trying to choose a fairy tale.

When I was younger, I had tried to learn all that I could, convinced that I could do anything. As I grew older, I realized the world wouldn't allow that. No matter how much I studied or how much determination I had, it would never be enough. I couldn't control anything in my life and this was just the last decision someone else had made for me. The only reason I was dying now was that I believed I was strong enough to choose my future and not be led down the road like a cow to the slaughter. My father was right, I was just a little girl in a man's world. I thought I was strong enough to protect myself, but I was wrong.

I'm sure there would be tears streaming down my face if I wasn't submerged. My mind hurt as much as my body. The salt burnt my eyes and nose, but I refused to breathe in. My lungs stung, needing air like a fish needs water.

I had been willing to die over my fate on the ship, but I wasn't ready to give up that easily. As much as I wanted to be free and let go, I wanted to survive more.

My mind slowly worked through the shock as the pain in my chest increased. Kicking and pulling, I tried to claw my way to the surface. My arms sluggish with the lack of oxygen.

The dress clung to my legs, tangling as I tried to kick, the thick metal dragging me down. I should have kicked off my shoes which were filling with water, but I was so focused on trying to get to the surface that I didn't care. Maybe that's what death is, just not caring enough to try.

As I struggled to survive, my mind started reaching into the dark, depressing crevices of my mind. I had nothing to lose, I just didn't think I would lose everything.

I could easily give up right now and sink into the ocean in peace. It would make no difference. Just another faceless body in the middle of the ocean. I hadn't made an impact alive; it would be no different when I died.

I had no one in this life. The only person who loved me was miles away and unaware I was about to leave her. She would never know what happened to me. I would simply not exist. A faceless shadow in the endless darkness of history. Perhaps I would be lucky and someone would remember the runaway daughter of the noble house of de'Laure, but my legacy would be nothing more than a disgrace.

I closed my eyes as I started loosening up, content with my peaceful disappearance.

The pain was subsiding, leaving my body in a state of shock. I'd be dead before the water flooded my lungs. I could feel myself floating. I'd been told that drowning was one of the most painful ways to die. I didn't believe that anymore. Compared to the last few days, this was peace. With the realization that the ocean was the last thing I would ever feel, I accepted my fate and gave into its call.

The cool water melted around me, filling every space. The water above was rocking with the storm, but deep down the water was calm and cool. The lack of motion held me, the darkness around me creeping in. It wasn't dark rather than empty.

Like a painful shock, my body jolted awake once more. White-hot flames licked my limbs, the muscles twitching as the electricity coursed through my veins. Power and warmth boiling in the icy darkness.

My mouth opened automatically, deep breaths of water filling my lungs. The memories flooded back as the last words I'd heard pulsed through my temple. He was sorry, but they weren't. If I died here, I could never make them pay. They would be sorry they had tried to kill me. Every man who stood by while I pleaded for the help they could have provided.

My eyes narrowed as the two men flashed in front of me. Captain Pierre. I'd kill him for this. I could see my hands curling around his neck as the white hair floated around a limp body I dragged into the watery depths. The life leaving their eyes and seeing my face. The fact they had tried to kill.

My limbs snapped, bones shifting from their predestined position. Skin stretched against taut muscle and new shapes, my body changing in the darkness. The water that had once been killing me now gives me some of its power, life returning. Every cell of my body pulsed.

As suddenly as the pain came, it was gone. My head became light and I stopped gasping in the foreign environment. Calm overtook me. I only had one purpose now: kill the men who tried to kill me. Some distant part of my subconscious told me to leave while I could and keep my hands blood-free, but I pushed it aside as the anger increased.

I could feel the ocean around me. Slowly, I removed my shoes and thickest layers of my dress, watching the metal cage sink into the water and disappear, before turning my attention on the surface.

With my legs now free, I was able to propel myself up. I could feel the ocean moving around me, pushing me to the surface with desperate tension. I broke free from the surf, breathing the dry, painful air.

Through the storm, I could see a spot on the horizon. The ship. I don't know how, but I knew it was the craft. Dipping below the waves, my lungs filled with the cool water. Deadset on the horizon, I swam toward the wooden structure.

My body cut through the water like a knife. The thin inner layer of my dress fluttered behind me as I continued forward. I didn't have to swim to move. I simply thought about getting to the ship and the water pushed me, curling around me. It was a beautiful feeling. The effortless motion and strength.

The sea parted around me as I continued my path towards the ship. The churning waves didn't deter me. Instead of pushing me as the wind would have, the water was submissive and the ocean worked with me.

I felt like a predator born of the sea and violence, cutting my way through the ocean to my prey.

I would get my revenge. The man who had advocated for my doom would feel my pain firsthand. The pain they inflicted. I smirked and picked up my speed. I needed to make it to the ship before it broke up itself.

The last thing Pierre would see was my face. They didn't deserve to die by the ocean's hands. It was too peaceful. He had turned from a predator to a vicious killer who would die as such. I would personally see it as his last and final victim.