The Whipping

Chapter 24

Pain.

It was all I could feel.

Physically and emotionally.

The force of the water pushing against me was ripping at my skin, causing debris and dirt to scrape against me; a feeling of a thousand tiny needles all puncturing me at once.

The bleak and bitter water sent my body into pure shock, my organs feeling like they were being slowly frozen to death.

I peered through the dirty water, accidentally inhaling a large gulp, causing me to flail in panic, the fear of drowning fully hitting me.

I attempted to swim upwards, kicking as hard as I could, but the weight of the boulder holding me down was too much.

With every move, my limbs came weaker and I could feel my muscles giving out on me, signalling me it was time to give up. My ears were ringing due to the pressure of the water and my head was pounding, causing me to panic.

Adrenaline rushed throughout my veins as I pulled at the rope secured around my ankle, but it was so thick and tightly tied, my shaking fingers couldn't get a good enough grip on it to pull it apart.

With the frustration building, I slammed my fists against the boulder, yanking at the rope as hard as I could, but all that came of it was burns to my palms.

My lungs were screaming, the feeling of them shrivelling up inside me terrifying me, causing my heart to race. The water rushed past me, the only thing stopping me from getting dragged along being the huge boulder that was weighing me down.

My body was exhausted, and my vision was beginning to go even blurrier, even though the debris-filled water was already obstructing my sight.

Peering carefully in front of me, I noticed a hand, and after a few more seconds of trying to make out the shapes, I could see a human body about three meters in front of me.

Theo.

His body was still and at peace, floating through the water, angling towards the current. I couldn't tell if he was unconscious or had just given up, allowing the water to defeat him.

I flailed my limbs, trying to cause some movement in the water that Theo could see, but he didn't move. Fear struck through me, worried about the amount of water he was probably inhaling, knowing that he could possibly already be dead.

I frantically swam to the bottom of the river bank, again, banging on the large boulder in anger, but I knew it wouldn't help in any way.

I ran my hands along the river bank, feeling for anything that could be of use, but all my hands could attain was dirt.

I threw the dirt, yelling out under the water, creating a large amount of bubbles, but I continued to move and feel around, knowing that all kinds of things end up in rivers, and that I could find something to help me cut myself and Theo free.

My chest was burning and the searing pain was almost unbearable, but my adrenaline forced me to continue, egging me on.

I dove my hands deep down into the dirt until eventually I felt something, causing a tiny glimmer of hope deep within me to blossom.

I pulled out the object, brushing it off quickly and peering through the murky water to see a piece of glass in my hands. My eyes lit up and I quickly grabbed the rope, hacking away at it.

I continued to saw at the rope, frustration building up inside me when nothing happened.

The glass was blunt.

I threw it against the boulder with force, grabbing onto my head and squeezing it in anger, finally giving up. I relaxed my body, closing my eyes and allowing myself to float within the water, refusing to put up a fight anymore.