Koete ↠ Sokka

Chapter 1: The Swamp - Part 1

The wind blew colder as the rain hammered down on the water's surface. Each roll of thunder drowned out the piercing screams of terror that surrounded the ocean around her. She was gasping for air at every breach of the waves, her heart high in her throat. A sudden explosion of light illuminated the sky, and for a second she could see the destruction around her. A great gust of wind pushed her back down. She fought to stay afloat, kicking her legs as hard as she could. She didn't have time to breathe again before another wave crashed over her head, grabbing onto her and pulling her downwards. The sound of the next thunderous boom was drowned out and muffled. Her legs stopped kicking when she realised the surface was further away than it had been before. She contemplated giving up. Her lungs ached and begged for air.

For a moment, it was calm under the water.

Then, another burst of lightning brightened her surroundings. It was shocking enough to give her the adrenaline rush she needed to kick her way back up to the surface. Her muscles were screaming for a release from the abrasive waves.

The rain spat in her face again, but the waves had now settled and stilled. Her chest was heaving, lungs burning with the residual water trapped inside. She couldn't see and she couldn't hear anything but white noise as she struggled to push herself upright. She only managed to get onto all fours as her breath quickened, the sting of salt water still scratching against her tightly shut eyes. It was hot—too hot—and she could hear the blood pumping in her ears. She knew she was hyperventilating, but there was no one to rub her back and remind her to breathe. She was alone, and terrified. She couldn't remember getting to land, but all of a sudden, she was there, and she seriously doubted she'd blacked out for however long it took her to reach trees.

Her arms buckled underneath her, sending her straight to the waterlogged ground, panic rising in her again as the water touched her face. She thrashed away, hearing the shallow water slosh around her, eyes still closed. She couldn't manage to peel them open. She begged herself to wake up from whatever sick dream she was having. She'd had hyper-realistic dreams before but she'd never actually felt like she was truly dying in them. She still felt sheer terror by being in or near any sort of water. She wanted a dry bed and for her mother to hold her. It was childish, she knew, but that's how terrified she was. Her breath quickened again as she realised there was a possibility she wasn't dreaming.

"It's just a dream, come on! Open your eyes and you'll be in your room. Come on, Charlie," she muttered to herself uncontrollably, almost hysterical.

She slowly forced opened her eyes and blinked back tears. She wasn't home, and she wasn't in the ocean anymore either. Her heart was still pounding away in her throat, but the tightness had left her chest. Her body had gone numb and her muscles limp, not even able to twitch her finger. The exhaustion weighed down her body. She held her breath a second too long and succumbed to the black spots that filled her line of sight.

When Charlie came to, she found herself collapsed onto her side. She groaned and whimpered as she tried to push herself up into a sitting position. At first her arms were unable to hold up her own weight, and she fell back into the mud. Confusion painted her features as she slowly realised she still wasn't dreaming and still wasn't home. Charlie still felt scared, wanting to cry again, but she had exhausted through her energy, rendering her unable. Her eyes widened as she felt sick, and shoved her head to the side. Bile and saltwater spilled from her mouth, causing her to reflexively gag between whimpers.

Charlie softly sobbed to herself, trying to rationalise if she remembered this place or not. She didn't have a phone or a flashlight on her, and it was hard to see in the dark. She was exhausted, both mentally and physically. She could still taste the salt from the ocean under the bile which stained her mouth. Charlie wasn't sure how long she laid in murky water beside her mess of bile, but when she heard animals begin to make eerie noises around her, she knew better than to stay.