Chapter Thirteen

"Where did he go? Please tell me where he went!" My voice was almost a full scream. Panic rushed through me and my stomach felt like a belt was being pulled tight around it. Everything seemed so surreal. "Where is he? Where is he?" I continued to mumble as I looked around at the others and then back to the water, frantically searching from top to bottom.

Audrina shook her head. "Esa, we don't know."

"You have to know. You have to know," I pleaded, hoping someone would have an answer. My world was slowly collapsing around me. Theo was gone. It had all happened so fast. One second he was walking in front of me and the next he was gone.

I looked down at the blue pool. The surface was smooth as glass. My reflection stared back at me. My white skin almost blended in with the icy background. My blue eyes had a twinge of despair. I looked pathetic.

Why had he fallen? Theo was a soldier; he knew how to recover from a bad situation.

I moved away from the ledge and leaned my head against the icy wall. The cold crept through my jacket. Tears began to sting at my eyes. I looked back at Samuel, Gave and Audrina. "Where is he? Samuel, you have to know. Where is he?"

Samuel's head fell forward. "I don't know, Esa. Can you tell us exactly happened?"

I wished I could easily put it into words, but the sad truth was, I didn't understand it myself. "We were just walking and he slipped on some ice. He should have been able to catch himself, but instead he fell into the water. The water suddenly came alive. It was unreal. Large columns of water swallowed Theo up...and then nothing."

I stood silently for several seconds, reliving the situation in my thoughts.

Audrina covered her mouth with her hand. "I saw it. I saw what Esa was talking about. The water came out of nowhere and swallowed Theo. She's telling the truth."

Suddenly, I knew what I had to do. I took off my jacket. The ledge was two steps in front of me.

"Esa, what are you doing?" Samuel asked.

"I'm going in there," I said, pointing to the blue pool.

Samuel grabbed my arm. "No!"

"You can't tell me what to do."

"Let me go."

I yanked my arm away from him and, before he could stop me, ran forward and leapt into the water. Its icy temperature stung through my jumpsuit. It felt like a thousand needles were poking every square inch of my body. The clear blue water surrounded me. Above, I could hear faint screams coming from the rest of the team.

"Esa, what do you see?" Samuel tried to yell at me, but I could only make out some of the words from beneath the surface.

I looked around under the water, but there was no sign of Theo. The large rocky surroundings of the blue pool were the only things visible...until I saw it: a small light near the bottom.

Quickly, I tried to swim toward the light. I could feel my body growing weaker from the cold. There were only seconds left before I would have to go back to the top for a breath of air. As I swam, suddenly I could see myself. I was reading Audrina's mind again. She was watching me swim toward the light. She could see what I was seeing.

Then, above me, the water began to change. It was no longer calm. The pressure altered too. My chest grew heavier the farther down I swam.

A tap on my shoulder caused me to turn. I was able to catch myself before I accidentally took in a gulp of water. Swimming above me were the other three. They had jumped in behind me. Fear began to tickle at my thoughts. All four of us were together under the cold water. We had no one to save us.

My arms were growing weaker and weaker, yet I seemed to be making little progress going toward the light.

And then, at last, we were there.

We floated outside some sort of underwater door. I raised my hand tried to touch it with my fingertips. Just as I made contact with the metal exterior, large bubbles began to surround us. The temperature of the water was changing quickly. It was getting warmer. The large door slowly rose. It led to a dark chamber. I looked back at the rest of the team. Samuel nodded and swum forward. What choice did any of us really have?

Darkness surrounded us as we entered the chamber and the door slowly slid back down. The water level inside the chamber also receded, little by little.

The four of us swam toward the top, where there were several inches of air. Our panting was the only thing audible as we waited to see what would happen next.

"Why did you guys follow me?" I gasped through deep breaths. The air felt so good in my lungs. "Now there isn't anyone left on the surface to rescue us."

"We're stronger together than we are apart. Besides, Theo is our friend. We need to find him," Samuel responded.

The water began to drain at a quicker rate. It was down to our legs and then at our ankles. We all shook in the cold air. We looked anxiously at one another, wondering what would happen next.

A moment later, another wall, opposite the door through which we'd entered, opened. A bright light filled the small chamber, causing us to raise our hands to protect our eyes from the glare. As I blinked several times, the room in front of us slowly came into view. I knew this room. I had been here before. We had found her.