One Hundred Meters Down

They stood on the cold cliff, which hung out over the sea below. The sea was wild behind their backs and the water whipped against the rocks that broke through the water surface. The wind blew through Alice's hair and threatened to push her off the cliff. The trees that stood on the other side of the cliff blew back and forth because of the whistling wind that blew through them. She felt Avin's arm against her own and could sense how tense his body was. Alice's body tensed all the way to her fingertips, with all her senses fully on alert.

The salty smell from the sea reached her nose and the moist and cold air made a shiver run down her spine. The sound of the swaying trees reached her ears and the green leaves struggled to hold on to the branches.

Alice never thought she would end up in this situation. Her life, which had only been perfect a couple of months ago, was now ruined. Her own father stood in front of them and had tried to kill them. Her once kind and amazing father, who could never hurt even a fly. Now she realized that she never really knew him at all. She had grown up with a fake person who pretended to be someone else.

Her chocolate brown eyes stared at the person who had given them to her, but there is one difference between their eyes. All the warmth had disappeared from his eyes and the only thing left was the cold and hard look that she did not recognize. There was no trace of humanity left in them and a grin marked his lips.

"You do not have to do this Alice," he began, "Come, together we can rule the whole world. No one will ever oppose you. If you give up now, I'm willing to forgive you for all this. ”He did not have time to say more before Alice interrupted him.

"Forgive me?" she asked, "The only thing I did was try to save my people from your selfish and cruel reign."

"Alice, it's not your people-"

"Yes, it is!" this time it was Avin who spoke when he interrupted the king. "It has always been her people, you have done nothing to deserve to be king."

The king took a step closer to them and Avin took them a small step back. Alice felt the edge of the rocks behind their heels. Suddenly the sky flashed and she looked up at Avin, who carried a small smile on his lips. From his fingertips came small blue sparks. She looked back at her father and saw how the grin had disappeared and had been replaced with a worried expression on her face. You could see how his muscles tensed through the fabric of his shirt.

They could hear the thunder approaching and see how the heavy and dark clouds moved across the sky towards them. Avin looked at her and their eyes locked in each other. Somehow she understood what he was asking through his blue eyes. She nodded subtly and could feel the tension growing around them. They waited until the next lightning strike and it was not long before a new lightning struck the forest in front of them. The air stuck to her skin as she stood next to Avin. Alice had to take a few steps to the side so that Avin could get enough space. She could hear the sparks growing bigger on his hands and finally his whole hands were enclosed.

Alice looked at her father one last time and she could see how terrified he was. His eyes were wide open and his feet slowly began to back toward the forest behind him. Just when the next flash came, Avin had gained enough power. Alice watched him from the place where she stood a few meters away and could see how his eyes lit up and got an electric blue color. The wind that was still blowing threatened to make her deaf and the only thing she could hear was when Avin fired all the electricity he had collected. The lightning flashed through the air in a dazzling light and she closed her eyes because the brightness was blinding. A shiver ran through her body and goosebumps spread on her arms and legs. Her nose caught the burnt smell of the burning trees where the lightning had struck.

As soon as they had arrived, the light and lightning were gone. Alice gently opened her eyes and saw how her father was lying on the ground with burn marks all over his body and his shirt was burned in many places. He was still moving, indicating that he was still alive and that Avin had not actually tried to kill him, but had only injured him so that he could not escape. 

Her eyes widened as soon as she realized what had happened. Even though he had been horrible, he was still a person she deep down still cared about. A tear rolled down her cheek, but she stubbornly wiped it off with her hand. 

She had forgotten that the edge was just behind her heels and took a small step back. Alice felt how she lost her balance and began to fall backwards, down towards the sea. A numbing scream ran from her lips and she struggled not to fall backwards, but without luck. She saw Avin run towards her in panic and she could feel how she began to fall backwards. She struggled with her arms and legs in an attempt to continue to not fall into the night-black sea. 

When she completely lost her footing and began to fall against the icy water, she felt a hand grab her arm. Alice looked up with wide eyes and could see Avin, who had stretched over the edge and grabbed her so that she would not fall. She could hear him fighting to keep her up with one arm. He had his eyes closed and Alice could see tears forming on the edges of his eyes. 

Alice realized that he would not be able to pull her up and would instead fall down with her if he tried. She took a deep breath and stretched out her other hand to loosen Avin's grip on her arm. When Avin felt her hand trying to loosen his, he hastily opened his eyes. 

"What are you doing?!" he shouted at her. Alice struggled to pry off his fingers which only took a firmer grip. 

Alice looked into his eyes and said, "Let me go," Avin looked like a question mark, so she continued. "You will not be able to pull me up. We will both fall down if you do not let go of me. ”

“What? No, it is something that I will not do. " Avin looked more confused than ever and Alice took his confused state as an opportunity to pry his fingers off her arm. When she got rid of all his fingers she started to fall down towards the water and while she fell she could hear his screams and she could see how Avin got smaller and smaller the further she fell. 

She waited for the water to hit her back and once it came in contact with her, the air was blown from her lungs. All she could hear was silence as the water surrounded her and the only things she could see were darkness. The water was like a thousand small knives against her skin. She struggled to get to the surface but without success, due to the strong current that fought against her. When Alice began to run out of air and she could no longer refrain from breathing, she involuntarily took a breath. The salt water washed into her mouth and down into her lungs, like burning lava it found its way down her throat. Alice felt the darkness get closer and it became black to her eyes, just as if she were falling asleep. The last thing that left her was the burning sensation in her chest, which eventually subsided and she drifted away from consciousness.