by Ink Blood
He’s yanked hard.
He dropped the knife.
Janet fled with the rope in hand. Cutting through the water with excessive speed, dragging the rope behind that the buoy slipped out of Tom’s reach.
The diver’s dragged and knocking against rocks and obstacles under the water. He tried to grab onto passing rocks, but it was in vain.
He’s dragged closer and closer to the rock face. He couldn’t stop Janet from dragging him. He tried to unclip the rope from his waist, but the pressure on the rope was too great. If only Janet gave him a second of slack in the rope. Just a split second would be all he needed.
Janet came out of the murky water. Janet was fast drawing near faster than he could think something large and hard.
This thing that was dragging him was heading for the rock face. Its light lit up the way like a ghost coming out of the mist. Something was ahead of it, a rock formation. Now it was in his path, but it didn’t bother Janet in the least.
Franticly he tried the rope again.
It wouldn’t slack, not even for a split second.
He tried losing his weight belt.
He never saw it fall, neither did he hear it. He just knew it fell. He was gaining altitude. He could swim over the rocks rather than Janet dragged him into it.
The rocks came closer, more visible.
It was in reach, he might go over it.
He could clear it.
No. It was too close.
He didn’t gain enough height. He swam upward.
The diver kicked harder, he needed to get higher, out of danger of the rocks. It was too late.
The rock faded from view.
He’s dragged a few feet further and dropped.
His lifeless body pulled upward by his air bottles and the loss of the weight belt. No bubbles escaped his mouth. Blood colored the water as he broke the surface. He floated aimlessly near the rock face. His bodies like the dead that lied beneath the water. Close by light fell on the wet of his colorful diving suit. Help was drawing close, but too late to save him.
The lone diver had passed in the night-light falling on the lake. The rain tapped on his back and the mouthpiece still in his mouth but no air passed through. No movement broke the calm rhythm of the rain tapped water. No sound issued for help.
*~*~*
*IV*
Janet shot out of the water and made a full circle heading back towards the rowboat with Tom and Mr. Craft. Water sprayed upward into a column of water. Bent forward like a large worm it looked down at the small boat filled with men. Tom and Mr. Craft were still franticly pulling divers out of the water. The divers already in the boat armed with oars, anything they could lay their hands on.
The column of water collapsed on top of the small boat, spilling over the sides and pushed the little boat under the water. Simultaneously the men dove into the water and swam to the private pier some distance away.
Janet released a muffled scream under the water. The men knew she was close by.
The water started to move faster and faster as they’re trapped in water current. The men swam hard but couldn’t escape the current that started to swirl around them.
They tried to reach the water surface but something was holding them down, trying to drown them. They interlock their arm and hung onto each other using their air bottles for air. Tom and Mr. Craft received spare mouthpieces attached to the air tanks on the closed divers.
For a moment it felt like the current were easing off, just then it would rip again, forcing the men deeper under the water. A whirlpool formed in the swirling currents center. Spreading out faster and faster the vortex grew larger. It forced current to move like someone pulled the plug out from the bathtub and the water was running into the drain too fast. Rapidly it formed a deep vortex in its center.
*~*~*
*V*
Andrew saw from the height of the rock face that trouble brewed in the water. The divers haven’t yet reached the rock face and through the wind screams rose loudly. Janet was clearly at work, attacking anything on the water. He must act quickly to get her attention before more injuries or deaths occurred. Andrew called to Janet, demanding her to come to him.
In the dark, muddy and murky water, the currents started slowing down. Finally the currents stopped and the men surfaces, swimming to the distant pier like ten sorts of hell were upon them. Janet stood silently just above the water and shot off towards the rock face. She issued a scream so deafening that it took Andrew and Brat by surprise.
Janet’s down there, she directed her anger at so many people that it had started to wear off. She was calm, recognizing Andrew’s voice and realized that no one was there to harm her son and was even willing to except his help.
He called out to her again.
This time she turned to the direction of his voice and advanced slowly. She was humming and moaning softly like she had done so many times when she felt less threatened.
She came in from over the water humming gently. Her appearance wasn’t as violent and out of control. She moved slower, with ease she was actually strolling into their direction. She was calm as Andrew had remembered her. Gentle and at ease, she had no care in the world.
She stopped inches from Andrew and turned to Brat, looked at him hard and then turned back to Andrew.
“Will you free me?” She asked.
“Will you leave my men to do just that, they are here to help you and Christopher.”
“Find us and free us.”
“I promise you I will.”
She looked around and then turned her attention back to Andrew. “Did you find him?” She asked almost humming.
“Yes, I’ll make him pay for everything he has done to you and Christopher.”
“Where is he, bring him to me?”
“I need to know what happened to you.” Andrew said leading the conversation away from Martin.
Janet moved in closer to Andrew, he was cold and mesmerized by her appearance. She held his attention to the point that he could no longer feel the cold or breathe and he seemed fixated on her.
She reached out and took his forearm into her ice-cold grip.
His eyes grew gray and dead like hers. Through her touch he could now see and live through her last moments. Revealing exactly what she had experienced.
*~*~*
*VI*
Janet laid in bed listening to the sound of brakes on the four-by-four in the driveway screeched to a halt.
She remained still with ears tweaked to every sound. She glanced at the bedside clock indicating the time at quarter past two in the morning. She waited with her breath held until her chest ached. At the front door, the key fumbled in the lock was a dead giveaway and the loud cursing from downstairs sent shivers down her spine. For a moment she wished herself to another place where she could sleep on weekends without the fear that stuck deep in her gut. For a moment she considered going to her son’s room to check on him, but that would undoubtedly set off more than she could handle. Thumping footsteps stomped clumsily up the staircase like the echoing of a beating drum, beaten carelessly. She would pretend to be asleep.
A sudden noise came from the other side of the passage and made her aware of her surroundings. Her son’s room, it was different this time. It felt cold and hard, the person making it didn’t belong in the house, its nerve wrecking to say the least, more than she had expected.
What was he doing? Maybe, should she go check?
Janet sat up in bed. She grabbed the corner of the bedding ready to toss them aside at a moment’s notice. Hearing nothing, she tilted her head and listens more intensely.
Footsteps sounded again. A loud bang made her jump and ready to spring to her feet.
Then silence.
Her accelerated breathing and pounding heart rumbled through her ears, she tried to stop breathing for long enough to hear what was going on.
She could barely hear a soft knocking and scratching sound covered by a muffled moaning.
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The room held very little light. The on-suite bathroom door’s closed and the dumb light offered very little relief, the bedside clock was too loud and the wind outside echoed through her mind. She listened harder up to the point that her head started to hurt.
The passage light came on. It shone through the crack under the door. She was sure she had opened the door slightly so she could hear her son when he called. Still she couldn’t see or hear anything but the dark and deathly silence.
“Martin?” She spoke in a soft crackling voice.
He didn’t respond.
“Martin?” She called a little louder.
A door slammed.
She jumped to her feet.
Only silence echoed back.
A cold chill ran through her body, something was wrong, very wrong.
“Martin, are you alright?” She called and crept towards the door one baby step at a time.
Footsteps and soft cursing echoed from the other side of the door. Martin was arguing with himself angrily. No, more than that, he’s also drunk, a deadly combination.
He stood outside the door.
He must‘ve stumbled. Something fell and breaking glass ripped through the silence.
Janet closed her eyes and reached out for the doorknob, fearing what awaited her on the other side.
She knew something was wrong. Martin’s not the man she knew. She could hear it, felt it even sensed it. After knowing him for eight years one tends to pick up on these little things.
Her chest burned as she still tried to hold her breath without realizing it. Her heart pounded harder and harder in her chest. Should she switch on the light? No, her hand had already found the doorknob. It was cold under her sweaty palm.
She opened the door slowly. Martin was standing in front of the door, silent as the night, his face contorted with anger. Death was in his eyes.
Suddenly he issued a punch into her face, sending her stumbling backward. She fell hard. Her head hit the side of the bed.
For a moment he stood watching her, blood trickled from her mouth and nose. She wept softly. He walked forward slightly cursing softly. His rage filled the room. Stunned by the blow she couldn’t hear what he was saying.
Martin was usually loud when drunk but his stillness’s more unexpected then the punch. He was still in uniform. His gun belt removed seemed very little comfort. He was the perfect husband, now he was a demon from hell. He just stood glaring at her without a word. His silence started to unravel Janet and his stare cut through her like a knife through butter.
Janet looked up, her hearing slowly returning. She knew he blamed for something. The problem was she didn’t know what. He wasn’t saying much, which was both aggravating and unnerving. To ask would only pushed him further and made the situation more difficult. Janet wasn’t a timid, weak person. She could fight back as she did before. Tonight fear was holding her down.
He stood silent.
Finally she regained her pose and looked him dead in the eye. The light from the passage blocked by his silhouette didn’t reveal what was in his eyes. But she knew what it was. Just how much rage was there she couldn’t tell. She tried to stand up but her numb legs won’t allow it. Her weeping stopped.
“What’s wrong with you?” She shouted in pure anger.
“Now there’s something wrong with me?” His speech slightly slurred.
“You are acting insane.”
“Now I’m insane, what’s next?”
“You think this is how normal people react. You come home drunk and think you’re above all.”
“Yes, I’m far above you!” Martin screamed into her face.
“What’s this about, did I do something?”
“Cheated, you cheating bitch!”
“I never did, I didn’t.” Janet’s taken by surprise.
“What is this?” He shouted bending down towards her.
He produced a chain she had worn just last week and claimed to have lost it. It was a gift he had bought her years earlier.
“Where did you find that?” Janet asked in a whisper.
“Andrew. In Andrew’s house...!” He shouted loudly. “The truth woman, why is it in his house?”
“I probably lost it in his car when he drove me home from your office. He must’ve found it and took it in the house. I don’t know.”
“Not good enough!”
“You’re going to wake Christopher.”
“He‘ll never wake up again.”
Janet jumped to her feet.
A thousand thoughts whisked through her mind, her body cold almost frozen, his words were like sharp daggers cutting deep into her soul.
She had heard the words clearly. ‘He’ll never wake up again.’ It played through her mind repeatedly, like a record stuck on replay. Was he taunting her? Not that he’s beside himself. He was trying to intimidate her… No, not that. He won’t harm his own son. He loved him with his whole being.
It was just a … a nightmare. A real life nightmare, yes! She would wake up soon and find Christopher padding across the floor to her bedside. He would jump onto the bed and land her with the biggest kiss and hug a small boy could master.
She stood staring at him, trying to figure out what to do next. Go check on him, go check on Christopher.
She looked at Martin. His face still contorted with anger, he was ready to issue the next blow. She must get past him even if she had to fight him to do it. He was blocking half the door, enough space to squeeze through. Even if he hit her again, she must endure it. He won’t hurt his only son. He would give his life for that little boy. He would face danger head on. ‘Go check on Christopher!’ The thought like an order slammed her forward. She would push past him. She’d knock him down if the situation called for it, anything to get to her son.
Martin stepped aside, glancing at her with a grin on his face that cut worse than the words he had spoken.
Janet ran past him, but it was too late. He grabbed her by the hair and tilted her face to his.
“Going somewhere?”
“Let me go!” Janet screamed and grabbed his hands burying her nails into them.
It didn’t faze him.
“It’s too late.”
“What did you do?”
“You took him away from me, so I took him from you.” His voice was cold and sharp, there was no more care left to give.
Janet tried to turn her face away from him, but his grip was too strong. She didn’t want to know what he had done. Somewhere a voice was screaming inside of her. She was more than a hundred percent sure he was trying to intimidate her. He did this before to belittle her. He got a kick out of making her feel like a child, making her feel vulnerable. For God sake, she’s a mother and her instinct was telling her, no screaming at her to fight back. Fight back hard with everything you have, Christopher deserved it.
She couldn’t break free, as hard as she tried, it felt pointless. His grip tightened to the point where he pulled hair from the roots.
The feeling deep down in her, the voice that kept screaming that got even louder, even more desperate. It was a raspy, cold nasty voice that was telling her something was desperately wrong.
Why won’t he let go?
She glanced at him. He let go, shaving her towards the door, hard. Her head hit the post hard, blood trickled from her eyebrow.
She reached for the doorpost to balance herself and stumbled into the passage.
Janet had the aching feeling that something horrid happened in Christopher’s room earlier this morning, something more than just getting even with her, or settling a score. He was more than intimidating, not just someone who blew off steam. Something that would rip out her life and dangle it in front of her if she dared to set her eyes upon it.
Martin’s behind her again.
Biting down on the cut on her lip, determined not to lose control like a helpless person, she trusted herself forward and ran for Christopher’s door before Martin could react and stop her.
Janet exploded into the dark room, only the light from outside shone dull on the bed. She couldn’t remember moving until she stumbled against the bed on her hands and knees. Slowly she pulled herself up to the head of the bed.
The little boy lays still, eyes open. His lips had turned blue his eyes cold and lifeless. The pillow he had slept on lied at his side.
She was ready to scream out loud, grab the boy and shake him, more than ready. She did scream, she did grab the boy, but his lifeless little body lied numb and cold in her arms. Softly she rocked as her cry became a desperate sob. Anger filled her with every tear that fell. Her life itself slipped away, her spirit drained from her.
“This isn’t happening. This isn’t real, wake up Christopher, and wake up boy. Please boy open your eyes for mommy, please no...” Janet sobbed loud and hard.
Janet heard a familiar creaking sound, the door, the hinges needed oil.
In the darkness the gloom surrounded her. She noticed the light from the passage breaking through the darkness. For a moment the door moved slowly, and then swung open. Now almost certain, it was standing wide open, the door now silent. She turned around with urgency. The boy clutched in her arms.
Martin‘s in the doorway, silently standing at the threshold.
Their eyes met. Deathly silence fell between them.
“Why?” Janet asked between sobs.
“He’s not mine.”
“What?” She gasped.
“It’s all over town. All about you and him, you can't deny it anymore.”
“What are you talking about?”
“You thought I won’t find out about you and Andrew. For all this time, every time I went out of town.”
“It’s a lie, it’s not true, I never…”
“Isn’t it?”
“Christopher is your son.”
“Liar...!” Martin issued a horrid scream.
He stormed forward.