Good God, it seemed like he'd been swimming forever.
Along with the feeling of his energy draining out of his body and seeping into the water, there was also a nearly overwhelming feeling of panic. He had absolutely no way to tell where he was or what the current time was. Hell, he could barely even see the moon shining above his head; his glasses were lost a long time ago.
It was getting harder and harder to pull the strokes of his awkward freestyle through the water, Eduard noted gloomily. His clothes were now just burdens, weighing him down and making his progress a whole lot slower than it should have been.
...What if they were following him? What if they caught him?
What if he drowned?
What if some horrible creature rose up from the murky depths and swallowed him whole?
As Eduard's overactive imagination fired into hyperdrive to make up for the shoddy work his limbs were doing, he missed a stroke and suddenly got a lungful of water. Coughing wildly, he then resorted to frantic flailing as he tried to both gulp down air and keep his head above the water. Alarm bells went off in his head; he had to find land or some help soon, or one of those "what if's" would become a reality.
Several agonizingly long seconds passed, then finally, with every fiber of his being screaming in pain, screaming at him to just give up already, he got back into the rhythm of swimming and continued on his not-so-merry way.
And then he saw it. A wavy block of light, some 50 yards away. Below the light was the unmistakable form of the bow of a small fishing boat.
A boat meant people. A boat meant that he was saved.
Icy adrenaline flooded through his veins, giving new strength to exhausted muscles. Eduard paddled and splashed his way to that boat as fast as he could go, because for the love of God, his life depended on it.
"Hey! Hey!" he spluttered in a desperate scream, his throat raw as he attempted to wave and swim at the same time without swallowing more water. "Please, help me! Over here!" Christ, he didn't care if the people on the boat couldn't understand what he was saying. Surely his frantic thrashing and howling signified that he needed help. As he drew closer and closer to the boat, the light suddenly swung upward, being held aloft by someone on board. They had spotted him. The little fishing boat seemed to hesitate for a moment before slowly turning in his direction and ambling forward. Eduard suppressed a giddy grin as he stopped swimming and sat back in the water to wait, managing to do an awkward and lopsided version of treading water.
Finally the boat stopped a few feet in front of him, her side now facing him. He sprang forward, so delirious with relief that he almost failed to notice the two men carefully standing up in the middle of the boat. He didn't really care who they were at the moment, he was saved. Using the last remaining ounce of his strength, he flung himself, panting, out of the water to latch himself to the side of the boat as soon as he was next to her and very nearly capsized the men already in her.
"Oh Jesus, oh my God, thank you, th-thank you..." Eduard wheezed, trembling as he broke into sobs. "Y-You've saved my-my life, I was gonna...I w-would have d-d-died, Jesus Christ, thank you-" He would have continued his praising, if it weren't for the fact that he was suddenly staring down the barrel of a silenced revolver that was aimed at his forehead.
The sharp click of the hammer being cocked echoed through the otherwise still night air, and that was the last thing he remembered before everything went black.