Page 18 of Drenched

Kim’s body hung ahead, limp, suspended in a creature’s grasp.

My stomach clenched with realization. The Drowner’s Hand. Its long, jointed fingers wrapped around her arms and torso. Webbed membranes stretched between its fingers, glowing faintly with that same eerie blue light. Its mottled, dark skin rippled as if it was breathing. The way it held her sent cold dread through me.

Kim’s eyes snapped to mine, wide and frantic. She jerked, her body fighting even as the creature’s grip tightened. It wanted her to struggle.

“Kim!” I lunged forward, water dragging at me. Panic surged. I had to reach her.

The creature turned. Not a face, just two dark hollows where eyes should be. The algae in my bag pulsed brighter, painting it in sickly green light.

No time to think. I yanked out my dive knife. The blade glinted, then plunged into its wrist joint. The knife slipped against its rubbery skin. Dark ooze leaked out, curling like smoke.

Kim sagged. Her oxygen was running out.

No. Not now.

I tightened my grip, drove the blade deeper, and twisted hard. The creature jolted. Its fingers loosened just enough for Kim to drop free. I caught her waist and kicked upward, my lungs burning, muscles shaking. The creature stayed below, watching.

The surface felt miles away. My legs screamed, but I didn’t stop. Kim’s tank dragged at us, but I clung to the faint shimmer of light.

We broke through. I tore the regulator out and gasped, air slicing into my lungs. Kim’s head lolled against my shoulder, her body limp and unresponsive.

“Trevor!” My voice cracked. “Help!”

He was already there. Strong hands yanked Kim out of the water while I hauled myself onto the deck, my fingers trembling toohard to pull her mask off. Trevor did it, his face twisted with fear. Kim coughed, a thin, broken sound.

“She’s breathing,” he murmured, like he needed to believe it.

Relief flared, then sputtered out. My mind couldn’t shake the image of those fingers, slick with dark ooze. The way she went limp.

Jonathan hunched by the rail, his eyes fixed on the water. His shoulders curled inward, like he was trying to disappear.

The wetsuit clung to me, suffocating. I yanked the zipper down to my waist, cold air biting through my bikini top. I didn’t care. At least I wasn’t in the water anymore.

Just as my heart started to slow, Kim stirred. Her eyes darted around, wild with panic. “Where’s Jaime?”

The words punched the air from my lungs. My gut twisted. I turned to the water. Endless black stretched out.

“He’s still down there,” I rasped.

The words barely left my throat before I was moving. I ran to the edge of the boat.

“Pearl, no!” Trevor’s hand clamped around my arm. “You can’t, “

I ripped my arm free. “I’m not leaving him.”

I didn’t wait. I dove.

The water hit like ice, stabbing where my wetsuit hung loose. It didn’t matter. Nothing mattered but finding Jaime.

My heart pounded as I kicked deeper. The beam of my flashlight sliced through the dark, searching. A faint glimmer caught my eye.

Jaime.

He was tangled in dark tendrils, curling like smoke. They weren’t solid, but they clung to him, wrapping tight around his limbs and torso. My stomach knotted. They weren’t suffocating him, they were keeping him. Holding him in place.

A cloud of red spread through the water. My eyes darted to his leg. Blood spiraled in thin ribbons from a gash. My lungs seized at the sight.

I reached for him, my fingers trembling. He was only inches away. Before I could touch him, the tendrils unraveled, slipping away like shadows in the current. Jaime’s body floated upward, free.

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