The armored diving suit smashed against the choppy surface of water, the depths of which the buoy-lights failed to venture into. As the rippling oxygen bubbles fled the heavy form, the single filed air offered verification of its constant descent. Calvin's erratic breathing abruptly halted as the frigid temperature transcended his metal shell and numbed his hands and feet. Gasping from the oxygen tank, he willed the condensation from the inner ports of his diving helmet clear. Terror shot up Calvin's spine as he felt pangs of bone crushing pain from his left shin. In feral desperation, Calvin tried clawing at the constricting tendril, his bulky gauntlets impacting on the metal of his leg to no avail.
"Shit, shit, shit!" Calvin yelled as he wrestled with the foreign entity. His hands grasped the tendril's length before his ankle and he strained to rip it asunder. His meager attempts at causing pain to the tendril did little to loosen its grip. From beneath the water, he heard the taut twisting of leather clench his shin with more resolve. His ears rang with the immense pressure, yet his visor still did not clear. All that was visible to him was the oxygen gauge inside his helmet; the sea-worn bronze dial encroached the faintly illuminated yellow slivers at an increasing rate. Even his labored breaths became white noise to him as minutes passed. All he could smell was iron, all he could taste was blood. His limp hands prodded the diving helmet, the bulky gauntlets barely managing to adjust the exhaust valve. An oxygen tank for five hours soon condensed to five minutes. Despite feeling more tranquil, Calvin remarked that his heartbeat had doubled its original tempo.
Refusing to fall unconscious, he thrashed violently against the engulfing ocean. The resistance of the water made him feel like a weak child again. Nothing around him was solid enough to land a blow upon, so the unbridled rage only served to fester within himself. Despite the layers of clothing underneath the dive suit, all of his body heat was sucked out through dense steel. Calvin's back arched with discomfort, the gums of his closed mouth felt so arid that the tongue therein struggled with speech.
"Oh god, the bubbles." Calvin said, "They're so small. The air pressure is making them so small."
A thunderous pop exploded from inside Calvin's head, causing him to jerk forward. Fumbling with frantic hands, he sculpted the back of his helmet feeling for the condition of the two gooseneck valves. Cinnamon aroma flooded his senses, first strong enough to block his sense of taste and hearing before gradually decreasing in conjunction with visual hallucinations. Constant prodding revealed nothing damaged, yet it couldn't grant solace to his inquisition. Despite his eyelids being closed or open, his severely blurred peripheral vision sparkled and shifted in pattern.
"Who is there?" Calvin prodded the ocean before him. "By god, I feel you watching me, who the hell are you?"
He could hear voices pounding against his ears, heavy slurs of vowels and consonants that perked and waned intelligibly.
Ak li va Ssssst-p sssss-ph
Liquid-fear pumped from his heart and pooled sickeningly in his stomach. The full-frontal attack of cinnamon returned from the recesses of his mind before it garnered the heated embrace of apple pie.
Va-Dommmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm!
The ocean around him screamed. Instinctively lifting his hands to shield his ears, his eyes clenched shut.
Crunch!
Calvin's helmet smashed the stalk of coral before him. His neck sped forward as the recoiling helmet retreated back. The sickening crunch of bone against metal explained the piercing pain of his jaw. Calvin surrendered to the sheet of dancing water once more as he drifted backwards. Mind numbing pain bit his shins as they came in contact with the rumbling ocean floor.
"An earthquake." Calvin said as he lay on his back. With two erratic tremors, Calvin's head bounced upward in his helmet before coming back down with a paralyzing
Whack