Kidnapped

6

One time when I was seven, I was pushed into the neighborhood pool. It was my first time ever going there, and I had never been taught how to swim. I figured I would teach myself by starting in the shallows, but there were no shallows. It was all deep, and then a kitty pool sat a good amount of feet away. I was a stubborn child, more so than I am now, and the thought of being the only one in the kiddie pool was nothing less that mortifying.

That's when I had myself looking nervously over the edge, wondering if I should just hold on to the sides when some loud teenage boys rushed past me and shoved into the depths below. At first they started laughing at me. I must have looked like an idiot waving my arms everywhere, splashing and choking. They called out mean names towards me and made fun of me and my struggle. Of course, they stopped laughing when I started to sink to the bottom and lost consciousness. I had never dared to face the pool again.

It felt like I was seven all over again, reliving that moment. I flailed my arms and kicked as hard as I could, but it seemed that the water was pulling me deeper and deeper every time I tried to keep myself above surface. I gasped in a mouthful of water and coughed underwater. The conclusion I had wasn't helping with the intense pounding in my head or the burning in my lungs. My energy was quickly diminishing and I could feel the darkness overcoming me, but I fought to hold onto the light.

I tried not to, but my brain took over and I inhaled deeply. My lungs were begging for oxygen, but instead were drown in freezing water. My attempts to force the water out of my lungs were in vain, I ended up sucking more water in. I felt so helpless.

But I couldn't give up. I was so close to getting out of this prison, but had failed yet again. If I always fail, why do I even try?

It was when I stopped fighting and sank to the bottom, awaiting my fate, that Miguel finally jumped in. I couldn't see him, only heard a faint splash and felt his warm arms wrap around my waist, dragging me upward. He lugged me to the side of the pool where he rolled me over the edge.

I hacked and coughed water up out of my lungs until my throat was raw, then leaned over and spilled the contents of my breakfast on the ground next to me. I lay gasping for breath while Miguel sat next to me panting slightly, his wet clothes clinging to his muscular frame.

I rolled on my side before pushing myself into a sitting position. Ignoring the spots dancing in my vision, I glared at him. If looks could kill, he would have had died a million deaths.

He shrugged, "How was I supposed to know you can't swim?" He tried to defend himself, but it was useless.

"I was drowning, you could have helped me way earlier!" I shout hoarsely.

"I though you were being a drama queen and faking it so you could escape," he admitted, before narrowing his eyes at me and saying, "Speaking of, you were supposed to go back to your room after meals."

"No one told me," I rasped, crossing my arms and giving him a defiant gaze.

"That's to bad. Your punishment is three days without food," He smirks triumphantly. I act defeated, but that's just to get him off my back. I had been without food for much longer than that. Shakily, I attempt to stand up, but crumple to the floor in exhaustion.

"I can't get up," I mummer, keeping my head down in shame. Miguel rolled his eyes in disgust.

"That's too bad," he growled. I huffed and rolled onto my side and closed my eyes. He doesn't know what I've been through; he doesn't have a clue. If only he knew, then he wouldn't be calling me weak. I'll show him.

I try to control my rapid breathing, but end up in another coughing fit. I lean over and dry heave and cough up stomach acid and lay back down and clutch at my chest where a throbbing pain has started. I have to get up, I must prove to him that I am not weak. Slowly and purely out of spite, I start to sit up. Out of the corner of my eye, I see Miguel pull out his phone and start typing furiously.

Once my head stopped spinning, I took a deep breath and hoisted myself to my feet. Immediately my ears started to ring and spots flew across my vision. I swayed on my feet and let out a small squeak as I tumbled right back down to the ground. I groaned as the world seemed to flicker like a broken flashlight. Letting out a low groan, I forced myself to try again but was gently lowed back to the ground.

"Eric?" I sputtered surprised, looking at the face in front of mine in shook.

"It's me, H. What are you doing here?" He asked me in wonder.

"I..." The floating spots grew until they filled my entire vision and the pounding in my head grew so loud I couldn't hear anything outside of my own thoughts. And just like that, I slipped from the world once more.

(A/N: Wow I haven't updated in forever. Sorry y'all. But one the other hand, 1k views! Omg! I am literally so happy, I was surprised when this even had two view, so it's come a long way. Anyways, so sorry this was an extremely short chapter at only 950-ish words, but I promise the next one will have 1,500 or more.)