Never again

Prologue

The boat was parked in the middle of the ocean. In the distance you could see two fading islands, the mountains translucent against the blue sky. The waves were slightly choppy, a dark blue rush of water occasionally sending splashes through the open window of the excursion boat. Charlotte could barely contain her excitement as she leapt up from her seat and ran over to the edge of the boat and lent over the side.

'Careful, there.' Her older brother Jem cautioned, but he was smiling as he stood by him.

'Do you think we've stopped?' Charlotte asked enthusiastically. 'Can we go in?'

Charlotte, Jem, and her mother were on holiday in Croatia, a warm country surrounded by crystal clear water and beautiful mountainous islands. The whole family had caught a boat to two of the many islands, stopping in between for a swim in the ocean. They were lucky that the boat was reasonably empty, but a warm atmosphere was kept up by the chatter of the few people there.

Jem laughed. At the mature age of seventeen he managed to contain his excitement, unlike Charlotte who was a very excitable fourteen year old. She often joked her mental age was ten.

Charlotte and Jem spun around to the sound of a splash, and both ran together to the opposite side of the boat. Two girls resurfaced, grinning, and Charlotte looked at Jem, her eyes lit up.

'Go on.' He smiled. 'I'll join you in a minute.' He moved away from his little sister, towards their mum, who lay on the bench sleeping soundly.

Charlotte stripped down to her simple grey bikini, her blue eyes shining. She was an average height for her age, and quite slim, her body already tanned. It was certainly not used to the sun, because Charlotte and her family came from England, a generally rainy country. The girl took her sunglasses off, put her curling blonde hair into a hasty ponytail, and clambered over the railing between her and the sea. Her teeth were fixed in a grin. Taking one last look at Jem as she wobbled precariously, Charlotte closed her eyes, and leapt into the water.

The cold was certainly a shock after being in the heat of the scorching sun the entire day, but Charlotte embraced it, and as she resurfaced she found it refreshing. She laughed delightedly, treading water to keep herself upright, and yelled up to her big brother, whom she admired so.

'Jem! It's gorgeous! You've got to come in.'

Before she could hear his reply, she ducked under, marvelling at the shoals of fish, their skin glinting. She blew a bubble through her nose, the silvery ring floating to the surface and disappearing. Before diving down more, though, Charlotte had to take a breath so she swam upwards, her head breaking through the ward between the sky and water.

Looking around, the young girl saw no one else in the water, but ignored it.

'Jem!' She shouted. 'Come on you freak.' She chuckled to herself.

Suddenly a figure came racing down the stairs and appeared in the bottom doorway from the boat into the water. It was Jem, his eyes wild with fear.

'What is it?' Charlotte frowned, and moved herself closer to the boat.

'Get out of the water, Charlotte, now.' His voice deadly serious, his tone urgent.

'Why?' Charlotte hovered, and then felt something brush her thigh. It felt like sandpaper, scraping a graze into her leg. She froze, and turned her head slowly downwards. She was greeted with the sight of a dark shadow, slowly growing larger.

'Jem!' She screamed, and swam hastily to the boat, scrambling to grab his outstretched hand. Her panic made it hard though, and as she felt Jem lifting her hurriedly upwards, she felt her hand slipping from his grasp.

The water didn't feel so wonderful anymore, a darkness to it now. It was a seal to hide the awful unknown.

Charlotte let out a breath as she collapsed at his feet, that was until she felt something tighten around her ankle and yank her back into the water. A shooting pain shot through her leg as she thrashed, her face screwed up. Her fists flew wildly in all directions, curled up tightly. It wasn't just the pain that hurt though, it was the fact she was rapidly losing breath. The pressure of the depth she was moving further into pushed at her ears, and as she looked upwards, she could barely see the sun.

She screamed, but no sound came out, and looked downwards at the monstrous figure capturing her. It was a shark, a long grey shark, it's mouth trapped around her knee. It's teeth were smiling, but were coated in a dark blood. It was her blood. It's black eyes stared at Charlotte emptily, a hollow circle of nothing.

Features contorted in pain, Charlotte pushed her fists forwards, her thumbs shooting out, and crammed them into the devils eyes. She felt the eyes weakening below her skin, and knew they were now unseeing.

A loosening on her leg. It was slipping from the shark's grasp, slick with blood. She withdrew her fingers from the eyes and hit them repeatedly against the nose, until finally her foot too slipped out. The wound was bad, really bad, the water around her recolouring into red, but using her hands Charlotte dragged herself upwards. She was desperate to take a breath - just one; just one before she exploded.

One leg kicking, the other hanging limp, the girl pulled herself through the water - the current like treacle to her. A figure revealed itself to her, coming closer. She flinched away, but then the face became clearer.

It was Jem, his hand on hers, swimming upwards. As her vision blackened, Charlotte could focus on little. The throbbing on her leg seemed to subside, as soon she felt nothing.

~

So, this is the prologue for my new story. I know this shark attack was quite - gruesome? But I won't have another chapter as gruesome as this, this is just the prologue for the story. Please vote, comment, and like. (And follow! :)

-maiabourbon