CHAPTER FIVE: DO YOU HEAR MY CRY?

6TH MARCH 2022 - 11:47 AM

My eyes snap open. And that's when I saw a hand reaching for me, grabbing my arms, and pulling me upwards to safety. When my head was finally above the water, air rushing into my lungs, I leaned my head on the ground, coughing up water. I felt Aaliyah rubbing her hand over my back.

"Why didn't you tell me you can't swim?"

I was out of breath; I struggled to inhale the air into my lungs. It was a mission to breathe, let alone speak. "I can -" Breath. "Swim. I -" Breath. "Panicked." I take another deep breath in and will myself to control it.

I was disturbed by the sudden memories that I saw. If this was what the whole "life-flashed-before-my-eyes" ordeal is, then I'm sure that I'll have many regrets in my life I'm going to witness.

I turn my head to look at Aaliyah. She looked indifferent by this. I furrow my brows. How can she still smile at me like me drowning is nothing to worry about? How can she not feel uncomfortable by this? How can she not remember that she also almost died like me?

I lift my heavy head from the ground; open my mouth to speak my thoughts, but Aaliyah beats me to it. "We'll take it slow. Take my hand."

My breathing became steady. I hesitantly took Aaliyah's hands.

She guides me through the water; I struggle to find my footing on the lake bed, water swishes in my ears. At some point, I couldn't touch the bottom of the lake, and Aaliyah and I were using each other as support to keep us afloat.

"Is this okay?" She asks, her head bobbing up and down, careful to not go under the water.

I nod. "Y-yeah," I say. I'm terrified that something – anything – might grab my leg and drag me underneath. My grip on Aaliyah's hand tightens; I didn't want to let her go. I feel something graze my leg, and I jump. I grab onto Aaliyah, closing my eyes shut. I was terrified.

She laughs, loud and juvenile. "Do you wanna go underneath?"

I shake my head. I was scared out of my wits. The uneasy thought that something dangerous was lurking in the lake, ready to grab my leg and eat me whole – leaving nothing but a corpse of ripped flesh and clean bones – kept playing in my head on loop. Those horror movies that I've watched with Aaliyah and the guys had similar plots like that, which didn't help my overactive imagination.

"We'll do it together. There's nothing underneath, I swear." Aaliyah assures me. Her hand was on my back, and the other hand was struggling to keep us afloat. I gasp. I let her go and used my hands to help her, feeling bad. "Let's do it together, okay? You can do that for me, right?"

I was apprehensive; my eyes searched around me. The water was clear, so it was easier for me to see what was around me. There was nothing. Hesitantly, I nodded. Aaliyah pulled me towards her, swift and easy.

"Look at me," Aaliyah commanded, and I did. "Watch what I do." She takes a deep breath in, keeps it for 10 seconds at most, and lets out the air. "I want you to do that. I want you to keep your breath for as long as you can; when you start to feel lightheaded come back up. Okay? Don't overdo it."

Aaliyah holds my hand tight, and I mimic how she held her breath; pinching my nose, we both go under the water. Sound becomes sloshy and quiet; I watch as bubbles come around me from my movements – this time, I didn't panic. I saw Aaliyah next to me. She was giving me the thumbs-up, and then she pointed back up.

Understanding what she meant, I pushed myself back up. When I got to the surface, I gulped in the air. And then I look at Aaliyah, who's grinning at me from ear to ear. She puts her hand up, water trailing down her hand, and offers me a high five. Happily, I returned it.

"Let's do it again!"

I nod. I take a deep breath, feeling confident, and we go back underwater. This time I see more than just Aaliyah next to me. I saw small fishes of different colours and different types of plants dancing on the lakebed. They looked like they were floating, but as I swam closer to it, they were swishing side to side with our movements and the current. I wish I had a camera to snap the moment.

Looking at my surroundings, it finally dawned on me how beautiful underwater is. Almost surreal. I honestly didn't know what I was thinking earlier on ... I mentally flip myself off. Now isn't the time.

There was a sudden pang in my chest; my head started to feel lightheaded, I was dizzy with the lack of oxygen. Pushing myself up, I swim back up to the surface. Taking in all the air I can get, I realise something is wrong.

Panicked, I look around. I felt no breeze on my body, but the water suddenly felt cold, numbing my fingers. Or maybe it's just me. I thought only about the worst-case scenario. Aaliyah is nowhere in sight.

"Aaliyah!" I called out. "Aaliyah!" We went in at the same time, so we should've come out at around the same time as well. She can't hold her breath for that long. "Aaliyah! Where are you!" I strain my voice, hoping she can hear me. When I got no answer, I held my breath and went back underwater.

I look around again. My hair gets into my eyes; I search for any signs of Aaliyah. There was nothing except a school of tiny silver fish swimming past me. I swim away and decide to look down at the tip of my feet, but all I see is everything turning pitch black. Startled, I accidentally let out a breath; water rushed into my lungs, bubbles floating from my body. Flailing my arms, I went back to the surface. Quickly wiping the water off my face, I look around again, screaming her name. "Aaliyah!"

I feel warm water spill over my face; I realise I'm crying. I scream Aaliyah's name again and again and again - the still silence surrounds me, rattling me to the core. There was that same squawk of a bird from above me. I look up and see a lone bird circling me.

Behind me, I hear a big splash and a loud gasp for air. I look back and see Aaliyah flipping her hair back, rubbing her eyes. She looks at me and smiles. And my heart just cracked. "Sorry, sorry. I didn't realise I was down there for a long time." She must've noticed the look on my face because she put her hand on her mouth, shocked. "I am so sorry, I - I didn't know I'd scare you - "

I didn't let her finish. I trap her deep in my arms, unwilling to let her go. I let my tears overflow, running down my face, over the bare of her back.

"Don't do that to me again. Don't scare me like that." I mumble into the nape of her neck.

There was this feeling in my chest that I didn't like. As if there's a hole in my soul. It was like everything was running far away from the tip of my fingers. It goes so fast that I don't even notice it. I hold Aaliyah tighter in my arms.

"Please."

Aaliyah's fingers glide over my back, reaching up for my hair, running her hands through it. "I'm sorry." She says again. And again. And again. And again until my tears have run dry and the afternoon glory of the sun is burning our backs.

I pull away from her, sniffling. I glare at her. Well, I try to. I knew that my glare on her was just me trying to resist the urge to give her another bear hug attack. "I'm so mad at you."

"I know. I'm sorry." She looked guilty but sincere. The look on her face was enough to thaw my frigid heart. I offer her my hand. She gives me a confused look.

I give her a small smile. "Let's get out of here."

She nods and takes my hand. I had a sudden confidence boost with her touch alone; it was as if her warmth was enough to make me fly in the sky, almost like a bird. We swam back to the lakeshore, our hands never letting go, not once. I helped Aaliyah get up, careful not to touch her where I shouldn't.

She rushes off to the duffle bag before I get myself up from the lake, my body feeling heavy from all the swimming. When I look up, I see a pink-fluffy towel on top of Aaliyah's head, and she's rummaging through the duffle bag still. "Always come prepared" was Aaliyah's go-to motto. I smile. When I walk up to her, she's already passing me a dark blue towel.

"Dry up. We're gonna walk back to search for the warehouse." Aaliyah was rubbing the towel on her hair, drying it. "We might catch a cold if we don't properly dry up."

I was acutely aware that we were both standing in front of each other in our undergarments. I blush. Aaliyah looked unnerved that she was standing in front of me in her black lingerie. I clear my throat and move past her to grab my clothes. I didn't care that my body was still wet; I hurried to put my cargo shorts on, hopping around the spot. I awkwardly looked at Aaliyah, who was staring blankly at me. I mentally cringe at my idiocy.

I walk off to the side and give her some privacy so Aaliyah can put her clothes back on. I heard rustles and water dripping and waited for at least two, three minutes before Aaliyah came beside me. She looks down at her shoes. I look at them too; they look as good as new as if it wasn't dirty at all before.

"If we follow the path we came through, we can find the way to the warehouse. I think." Aaliyah says, looking at me. I nod. Aaliyah hitches the duffle bag up to her shoulder. I offer to take it from her. She shakes her head. "No, it's okay."

We start following the path that first led us here. I was suddenly tired of my surroundings. All I cared about was Aaliyah near me. I take her hands. We walk together in silence. I kept my eyes trained on what was ahead of me, swatting away any flying insects in front of me. The sun was burning holes at the back of my head. Aaliyah's hand felt cold. My grip on her tightens.

I looked back at her. "How far do you think it is?"

She shrugs. "Not sure. I don't think I've ever come across that warehouse whenever I come here."

I consider that. I look back ahead, silence following us. I heard leaves rustling in the faint breeze, the gravel crunching beneath our feet; I felt my heart thumping in my chest. There was no squawking of the bird. So when I look up, I see those same goldfishes floating/swimming in the sky. The sun reflects on its scales, making them look unreal. I smile at the thought of that. Though they may look unreal, it feels real to me. I can feel it.

Aaliyah halts in her steps, making me stop too. I turn to face her once again. She pointed at something ahead.

"I think we're here."

published! MARCH 10TH, 2022