The Death's Game

25. Game of Depth

Another place, another set of rules. Percy looked over the shoulder at the wad of paper Kyle was holding. This time there were a lot more rules than usual. She wasn't sure if that was supposed to make the task easier for them, or if it meant it would be much harder.

The Swimming Pool

Always keep your clothes on, when going into the swimming pool. The swimming pool is deeper than you think. The surface is only an illusion. The watch will measure the time you have left breathing. Don't be too deep when the time runs out or you won't be able to surface. Go swimming only when the clock points numbers between 2 and 6. Never go to the swimming pool at different times, they don't like strangers during their feeding hour. The water can't hurt you, but the things living there can. Be respectful. Don't take anything that isn't yours to take. You do not have to go alone, but there cannot be more than three. Approach the lifeguard sitting on a chair and ask for instructions. He will give you the list of things you need to bring him from the pool. Enter carefully. There is no shallow end even if it seems so. Leave the pool before the clock strikes number 2. Blood attracts them.

Percy read it repeatedly, trying to remember everything carefully. Only then she started analyzing the swimming pool. She would call the place a pretty ordinary swimming pool. It didn't stand out for its size, rather it was a small pool by the standards she was swimming in. To her eye, maybe about five short swimming lanes would fit here, no more. The pool was in the middle of this small space, with no ladders leading to it, so one had to jump in, or gently slide in from the edge. There were white, shabby chairs spread out all around for relaxation. There was also one long bench attached to the wall. At the very end was the lifeguard's station, who was dressed in a yellow, reflective T-shirt and calmly gazed at the unmoving surface of the water. Above him was a large clock that indicated the number nine.

Yes, Percy would have called the place a pretty ordinary swimming pool, if it weren't for the fact that tiles were falling off the walls, leaving an ugly bare wall soiled with a bricky smudge in some places. Also, on the floor were torn-out tiles, which added to the ugliness of the place. Cobwebs were hanging from the ceiling, on which at least there were no spiders.

Aside from the lifeguard, there were also no other paranormal beings currently in the pool. But they could've been in the pool. That was something Percy couldn't know. The water looked completely unscratched. It wasn't the cleanest, and certainly, in a normal pool this slightly greenish state wouldn't have been acceptable, but after all, she wasn't in her city swimming pool, but in a supernatural game. She wasn't going to complain either, because, despite the ugly hue of the surface, she could see the bottom perfectly. She would say that this pool was about 3-4 meters, but as the rules of the place indicated, the surface was only an illusion. She had no idea what this underwater world would look like once she entered it.

"Only three people can get into the water." Kyle looked at the four of them. Someone had to stay behind. It was better anyway. Someone should look out for trouble on the surface.

"Ryder, maybe you will stay?" asked Blake. He wanted to enter the swimming pool with Percy and he knew that neither she nor Kyle would agree to stay behind.

"Sure," he sighed and sat on the bench with his never-changing facial expression.

"Some break after the theater and basement will be good, huh?" Percy tried to make him talk, but Ryder just shrugged and picked up a book that was lying beside him. How to summon a water demon.

Terrific, thought Percy, who kind of admired these extremely strange book titles – like the ones in the library.

"Let's ask the lifeguard for instructions," proposed Blake and the two of them walked to the guy sitting on a high chair. They left behind Kyle, who was walking around the pool and checking it from different angles.