Page 57 of Chasing Riddick

Alexa Play: Only by RY X

I f you’ve never wiped out before, there are no words I can use to describe how disorienting it can be.

There is no up or down.

There’s no air.

No shape or form.

It’s all sensation and sound, but even the sound has no discerning features.

It’s a relentless rush in your head that prevents you from getting your bearings.

The only thing you can see is the color of the ocean and flashes of foam that seem to rip right through you, tossing your body around like a rag doll.

It’s disorienting when it happens with a normal wave.

This wasn’t a normal wave.

This was a Leviathan.

The first thing I felt was the impact.

I hit the water with so much force I felt bones break, and the breath was forced from my lungs. The quick release snapped on my tether, and my board tore away from me, removing my lifeline back to the surface… Not that I was sure I would have been able to follow it up anyway.

I went into shock pretty quickly when I realized I couldn’t move either of my arms.

Shock is a weird thing.

Your brain feels calm and slow, and everything around you moves like it’s suspended in gelatin. You can’t really process that you’re in pain.

It’s the calm before the storm. Usually, after the shock wears off, people descend into a delayed bout of hysterics.

I had this thought briefly as the ocean swallowed me up and pulled me deeper.

Cold liquid claws curled around my broken body and dragged me into the washing machine, like a predator hauling its prey into a den.

I tumbled and rolled underwater for what felt like forever before my brain started to catch up with the reality of what was happening to me.

“FINN!”

I could hear Riddick… which I vaguely understood shouldn’t be possible.

I was under water.

I couldn’t breathe or hear anything other than the endless rush of the ocean.

My body wasn’t working properly.

I was drowning.

For some reason, that thought came as a shock to me.

I was drowning… I was really drowning.

The ocean pulled me deeper and deeper, and I was helpless to stop it.

My vision flickered in and out as the undercurrent had its way with me, and I blinked, ignoring the sting of salt water in my eyes .

Jake was swimming toward me, his caramel hair floating like a halo around his head.

He looked terrified.

I tried to reach for him, but my arms still weren’t working.

Were they broken? Both of them?

“FINN! Baby boy, fuck, you need to swim up. The surface is this way!”

How was he speaking underwater?

He reached for me in an attempt to guide me to the surface, but his hands passed right through me.

How far out had the water dragged me?

“No… no, no, no, FUCK! Finn, you have to swim, baby, please!”

I shook my head, jerking my head toward my torso, trying to tell him I couldn’t move my arms.

His gaze traced my body, and his already pale face went even whiter as he realized I couldn’t move.

A strange feeling sparked in my chest.

It was a horrible feeling. A freezing shot of something that felt close to excitement but wasn’t.

A slow, cold realization unfolded in the deepest recesses of my mind.

Fear.

I was feeling fear.

I was afraid.

I was afraid because I was going to die.

Jake…

I opened my mouth to say his name, but only bubbles came out, taking my last breath to the surface with them.

“Baby, no, don’t try to speak. You need to preserve your breath…”

His hands cupped my face.

I could almost feel him now.

The panic in his blue eyes was so bright his irises looked like little underwater flames.

“ Jake… I’m… I’m scared…” I whispered .

My words were audible. They shuddered around us, and I knew it was over at that moment.

“Shh, I know. I know you’re scared, baby. It’s okay. Just focus on me. Look at me.” He was clearly doing his best to stay calm, but the look of pure horror on his face betrayed his smooth, even tone.

“I think… I think I’m dying,” I whimpered. My voice sounded shocked, even to me.

Jake pulled me into him. Was it weird that I could kind of feel him now? A great shudder wracked through his body as he kissed my face. He held me while we floated in the endless dark abyss that I now understood to be my tomb.

“It’s okay, baby,” he lied, and I choked on a sob.

A bright light started to form in the water behind him. It seemed to be calling to me, but I was afraid of it.

That word felt strange in my head.

Afraid.

“There’s a light,” I whispered, and Jake looked startled.

“You can see a light?” He glanced over his shoulder, looking hopeful, but his face fell as he scanned the abyss.

He couldn’t see it.

He turned back to me, frowning. “Is it calling you? Go to it, baby. I can help you get to it if you need me to.”

I shook my head.

“No…no… what about Turtle? What about you? I can’t go, I’m not ready.”

“Baby, you can’t stay here just for me. You need to pass on.”

I shook my head again, the decision solidifying like a hard weight in my heart.

“No. I can’t. I can’t leave you here all alone.” The words were broken, but as soon as they left my mouth, the light flickered, then faded, leaving us alone in the dark, cold depths of the ocean.

“Sweet boy…” Jake breathed, brushing his thumb tenderly over my cheek. I looked up at him, taking comfort in his familiar face .

“Jake… I don’t want to die.”

“I know, baby.” His voice cracked, and he looked like he was in so much pain. I knew his heart was breaking.

“Please don’t leave me,” I whispered. “I don’t want to die alone.”

He wrapped his arms around me and buried his face in my neck, his entire body shaking with grief.

“You’re not alone, sweet boy. I’m right here .”

Those were the last words I heard before my soul peeled away from my broken body.