Chapter 11: The Awakening
As soon as we pulled into the spot beside the PE Building, I jumped out of the passenger seat and ran inside. When Dwayne saw me charging towards the door without so much as a sidelong glance in his direction or the slightest expectation that just *maybe* he would open the vehicle door for me, he stopped for a second and stared at me. To speed up, I need to raise my heart rate and regulate my blood flow.
As the minutes passed, I became more aware of the chill in my breath. I just couldn't bear to lose another family member. Having lost both of our parents makes me refuse to see any of my siblings end the same fate!
“Lita! My goodness! Your sibling—”
*I know!*
I happened to go by a fellow student who had seen what had taken place, maybe in the swimming pool. She is moving in the direction of the exit, which is 180 degrees different from where I was going. At this point in time, there's no time for a chat. I also saw a few swimmers racing back to the building, and I think I saw them taking their phones with them; I guess they are the athletes.
When I got to the location where the incident had taken place, there was a large group of individuals congregating in a region that was near to that adult swimming pool. Perhaps Celeste was knocked unconscious there when she collapsed. My ears were welcomed by an immense tidal surge of noise, which caused me to shudder my shoulders. However, the bulk of those sounds were from the splattering of even the smallest waves from the water surfaces.
I glanced over and noticed Yvar having a conversation with a parent. This mother was yelling in front of him. Observing this raised my core temperature, and I had a burning desire to give that lady a smack on her cheek!
I made a beeline for them and was about to chastise that lady when I saw the principal in the area, so I refrained from doing it. Instead, I turned around to face my brother and directed all of my attention on him without ever glancing in the parents' direction. While the mother sobbed her eyes out and knelt on the ground, the father continued pleading with her to calm down while he attempted to lift her back up to her standing posture.
"Big sister—"
"Yvar," I stopped for a second to glance around to see if Nera was anywhere around. When I couldn't spot her anywhere, I asked, "Where is Nera?"
"She jumped into the water in an effort to rescue Celeste and Vanessa, but up to this point, she hadn't returned yet...”
*Wait, so if I'm understanding this correctly, there were two children that drowned?*
Instantaneously, my breathing increased, and I could sense that I was getting the desire to swim down the pool. "Do you mean—"
Yvar nodded.
When I peered down into the pool, I noticed that the water did not seem to be disturbed in any way, nor did it have any indication of an accident. I also was unable to make out any figures of bodies swimming below. I am aware that it was far deeper than the average swimming pool; but, swimming pools have depth limitations, and at the very least, those of us at the surface could make out the outlines of bodies.
I pivoted facing the pool and took a stride forward after making the turn. The moment he saw me, Yvar quickly put his hands on my elbow. His chest moved in a heaving motion. "Big sister, what do you have in mind now? It is not a good idea to swim in that area," he cautioned me, then he reminded, "You have never gone swimming in your entire life."
I really ought to be freaking out right now, but for some reason, I can't help but feel a little bit calmer about the situation. Both my respiration and my pulse were returning to their regular rhythms, as if Celeste weren't drowning at this point. I turned my attention back to Vanessa's mother, and the sound of her sobbing made me so irritated that all I could do was shake my head. At this point, the athletes had begun to swim down the length of the swimming pool, and all I could do was stare at them like a statue.
"The athletes have finally arrived, big sister... "They will save the three of them," Yvar assured, releasing a sigh of relief after making the assertion.
*Three of them?* I doubt Nera couldn’t survive.
The sounds and movements of the throng seemed to be happening in slow motion to me all of a sudden, as if the world around me was gradually shaking until the only thing I could feel was blackness. I only feel warmth on my flesh, not in the air around this closed building. The only thing that I was aware of was a severe frost that enveloped my senses and rendered me incapable of listening to the atmosphere around me.
It wasn't until I awoke with my body facing upwards and saw the light being refracted from afar that I realized what had happened. My arms and legs were swinging in front of my vision, and my spine felt lighter, as if I were floating like in the clouds underneath the emptiness.
Until…
My skull had apparently collided with some kind of solid object, since I became aware of my surroundings when I heard a faint thumping sound. It turned out that my body had sunk to the bottom of the pool and had made contact with the tiled covering. Everything in my immediate surroundings was illuminated, and I could even make out the refractions of the eyes of those standing below me... *beneath us*.
My hand had fallen on a kid's body, which I thought was Celeste. It occurred to me that maybe she's Vanessa. If that's the case, *where is Celeste?!*
I kept my arms over Vanessa's stomach while simultaneously standing with both feet on the ground. After turning around, I noticed Nera carrying my sister in her arms. Nera spotted me, and it seemed as if her eyes were both bewildered and empty. I was also concerned about how I would ever wind up having to swim in order to rescue them.
*Did I just leap off?*
Both Nera and I locked eyes with one another, and it was clear from our soul that we had complex questions to answer. We both nodded as we proceeded to ascend the surface.