The toe-curling impact which made Kristina cough was followed by a scalding heat spreading from her stomach to every fiber of her being as she knelt on the yacht's floor. Curling from the burning veil of misery, cold sweat started to trickle rapidly around her forehead as she crouched. Kristina's hands held her stomach to prevent the tightening around it, but the pain never lessened.

The more energy she exerted to swallow her cries, the lighter her head was becoming.

Kristina, though her eyes were still open as her head hit the yacht's floor, could not see anything. Blurred legs started to surround her. She could not guess who was who. Their chattering was incoherent as the ringing of her ears muted them.

'Am I going to meet my little sister this soon? I don't have the gal to face her yet.' Kristina's lingering thoughts faded along with the last shred of pain whipping her body. And then...

...there was darkness.

"AUTHORITIES IN THE STATE OF YUCATAN said they had prepared 350 storm shelters and planned to open another 1,000 if necessary. Hurricane Lancel rapidly strengthened into a major Category Three storm on Saturday as it barreled towards Mexico, triggering warnings of significant flooding and mudslides.

The storm clocked maximum sustained winds of 120 miles (195 kilometers) per hour while approaching the coast of Yucatan, according to the US National Hurricane Center (NHC). Category Three is the third-highest of five levels on the Saffir-Simpson scale.

A hurricane warning was in effect for the coastline stretching from the coastal city of Yucatan to Cabo Rojo ahead of landfall expected during this night." 

The radio rang like an alarm clock for Kristina Miller, waking her up from her slumber even in the face of death. Her eyelids moved, the sound from the radio now at the back of her mind as she remembered what happened before she slept... more like, before she was put to sleep.

Stiff and numb, the two words that went straight to Kristina's mind as soon as she started to gain consciousness. She could not move her neck as if there was a boulder lying at her back. And tiny insect-like sensation was spreading across her bounded limbs.

As she cracked her gray eyes open, the cobwebs littering around her like a second skin and the dirt covering her frizzy hair were the last things that came to her mind. The first thing that struck her like a lightning bolt was the piece of cloth in between her lips and teeth, disabling her to cry for help.

'They are not done with me. Are they going to rape me before they make me fish food?' 

All the colors left in her face finally drained from her train of thought. If it was not for her gag, her teeth could have been gnashing each other. She tugged her bounded hands and ankles, but they were tightly knotted with a rope to the metal chair she was sitting on.

The light flickered above her. The radio was now playing a Mexican hit song.

'Where am I?' Kristina asked herself. 

She craned her neck but ended up with a huge wince on her face upon the stinging pain that followed. She suited herself by looking at what was before her.

Beyond the veil of darkness that was surrounding her, the hairs from her nape stood up. The buzzing sound of the electric fan was the only noise that could be heard inside the dingy room. With the piles of wooden crates which were still sealed and the swarming darkness of the wall to her left and south side, Kristina reckoned that she was dragged to the bottom of the Poseidon Hotel.

Situated at the fiftieth meter, below the surface and completely surrounded by seawater, was the busiest part of the hotel for the elite, the Poseidon Hotel's casino, and bar.

"Looks like you are now fully awake," said the voice from the corner of the darkest pits of the small room. 

Kristina's head snapped to the source of the voice which was at her left side.

All Kristina could do was to look at the silhouette that was getting bigger and bigger as the ticking of the clock went by like the sands of time seeping through her fingers. Holding her breath, Kristina's eyes wavered for a split second before she gulped the clog that was blocking her to breathe.

And when the first tip of a pair of snake-skinned pointy shoes made its way to the circle of light surrounding her like a prison bar, the rest of his immaculate body followed. She tilted her trembling chin upward, only to meet a pair of eyes as black as coal. Her assumption of him being soulless did not seem so impossible at all.

For Kristina, he was the devil incarnate.

"Look what we have here." The hairs on Kristina's nape stood out as cold sweat trickled down her neck just by hearing his voice. It reminded her of the rich and sullen voices of the villains in most spy movies who had literally hundreds of minions following them.

A yelp escaped from Kristina's gagged mouth upon feeling the cold kiss of the tip of the gun under her trembling chin. She closed her eyes tightly, willing herself to stop the shaking of her jaws. Kristina inched her face away from him only to be tugged by his left hand, her frizzy black hair tangled in between his long and calloused fingers.

"Sshh... Behave. Tell me, you're one of the divers here in Poseidon Hotel, aren't you?"

'Are you blind? Look at the sigil of my diving suit on my right chest, you dumb mob!' 

Kristina screamed profanities in her mind as she slowly nodded her head. She wanted to delay the inevitable. She did not want to die and see her late sister. Kristina was not just ready to face her yet, not when she could not even forgive herself.

Kristina's mind went into complete static when he made her look up at him with the use of the tip of his silencer gun still situated below her chin. "My boys told me that the diver staffs in Poseidon Hotel are also the ones who discovered the lost Mayan City. Is it true?"

Upon his train of questions, Kristina's eyes widened for a fraction of a second. They did not kill her even though she had witnessed something worth killing for the scene. She already thought that it was quite odd for them to bring her there when they could have killed them right there and then at the docks! But listening to the devilish man before her, she could tell that it was all for this... for the Mayan's lost treasure!

Biting the inside of her cheeks, Kristina averted her gaze even at the mercy of the silencer gun.

"So you knew, huh? Tough luck, we don't have to hire a diver anymore."

'No! You will not have it! Never!' Kristina shifted back her gaze to the man hovering over her before she gave him a glare.

It was as if he heard her thoughts, though it was pretty obvious from the way her brows knotted with each other.

"Oomph!" His hand that tugged her hair strangled her neck. Gone was the gun on her chin as the cold touch of the tip of his gun kissed her right temple, doubling her tremble as if she was on the verge of a seizure.

His grip around her throat was not enough to make her choke, but the nuance of his action was enough to wreak havoc in her system. With a pounding heart, she bet he clearly heard her wavering pupils locked with his stone-cold black ones.

His hot breath fanned over her face. The corners of his eyes wrinkled as the corners of his peach-shade lips curled up. He was about to open his lips, their gaze never lost its connection. A promise of misery much crueler than death and a promise of resolution collided.

"Boss!" A heaving sound snapped the connection. In an instant, it was gone as if it was never there in the first place.

"What is it, Rogelio?" He let go of her neck before he turned around to welcome the sweat-stricken Rogelio, who was now clad in diving gears and a harpoon. His appearance made Kristina frown.

'What are they planning? Why the harpoon?'

Rogelio saw her heated glare toward the weapon in his hand. Chuckling, he showed it off by waving it in her direction. "Wanna know why I need this one, bitch? Because your boss has some loose screws! I saw the shark's fin after I dropped the poor puñeta. But who knows? I might skewer you with this one should you choose to screw us up."

On instinct, Kristina tugged on her restraints. She knew that she would be dragged and thrown in the water for their sake.

"Stop it, Rogelio. Gear her up and take off her gag. I have to change for our long-awaited dive." Without looking back, he walked past Rogelio, who was now looking at her as if she was a piece of meat. His mustache twitched upon Rogelio's widening grin. His eyes gleamed under the flickering light above her.

His beer-stained teeth showed upon her grinning question. "What if she tries to run away, boss?"

With Rogelio's question, the man, who was clad in a crisp black suit, looked back at his underling before he looked at her. His eyes were devoid of any emotion as he sized her up and down.

"Kill her."