CHAPTER 9

Kick. Kick. Kick.

Despite everything, Miguel was actually enjoying the swimming. He had always loved swimming back home in L.A, taking every advantage to go to the beach and swim. His family didn't have a lot of money, especially back when he was a kid when they first moved to L.A, so going to the beach was an activity they did quite often. He had become quite adept in the water and it showed: despite having no clue that Tory was behind him, Miguel easily put more distance between him and her. He kept kicking and gracefully pulling his arms, slicing through the water like a dolphin, until finally he made it to the tip of the mast. As he treaded water beside the mast, he was honestly shocked that he managed to see it the night before. Only the peculiar pattern the waves were making splashing against it had alerted him to its presence, as less than a meter of it was pointing out of the water. Miguel quickly dipped his head underwater and sure enough, staring back at him was a shipwreck. It had clearly been there for a while, but it didn't seem like some kind of ancient ship. It looked a few years old, not an ancient vessel like the movie/TV nerd in him kind of wished it was. But Miguel didn't care too much. Anything could be down there. There could be a phone, a radio, something they could use to communicate with people! Staring into the darkness of the sea below, Miguel felt a shiver run up and down his spine. But it wasn't because of the chilly water he was wading in. No, it was because of the uncertainty of what was down there. He could see the faint outline of the sailing boat but nothing more than that. There was no telling what lay below, but Miguel was keen to find out. He figured as soon as he dived down, he had about 1-2 minutes before he ran out of air and needed to resurface, so he wasted no time as he took a massive gulp of air and then swam into the murky depths below.

Miguel exhaled sparingly as he dived down towards the ship, using his limited air supply wisely. In a couple of moments, he made it down to the main deck of the boat, grabbing hold of the mast and using it to anchor him. From there, he looked around and got a hold of his surroundings. The boat was no larger than an old fishing boat, with an upper deck and what seemed to be a lower deck beneath. A quick first scan of the surroundings showed Miguel that there was nothing on the upper deck. Anything that had previously been there must have been swept away over time, leaving a rusty, old deck in its wake. Speaking of rusty, it was worrying how decaying the boat was. It looked so structurally unsound that it could all collapse at any moment. But Miguel didn't care. Anything could be down there below, and Miguel intended to find out what. He knew his time underwater was swiftly running out so he needed to move a lot faster. He kicked his way over to a door to the second level of the door and finding it was closed, Miguel wrested it open, tearing it right off its hinges. At that moment, it sounded like the whole boat let out a loud groan, practically shaking from the sudden movement. Miguel was suddenly having doubts. Was it really safe to go down here? But as soon as they flashed through his mind, he shook them off. Whatever lay beneath this boat could be what would save them and get them off this island. So Miguel slowly swam down into the darkness below…

It took him a couple of valuable seconds for his eyes to adjust to the lower level of the boat. It turned out, to his disappointment, the whole 'lower level' was merely just one small room, what looked to be an old study of some kind. It was just as rusty as the rest of the boat, with the water savagely murdering any semblence of its old self. It didn't look like a modern office, but didn't look ancient either. He had no way of telling really, as the books were soaked through and most of the shelves had crumbled to the ground. The only thing Miguel would be able to take with him as far as the eye could see was a backpack. Miguel didn't know what was inside, and frankly he didn't care. He was getting dangerously low on air, so he knew it was time to go. He quickly grabbed the bag but just then, disaster struck…

As he slung the bag over his shoulder, in his haste to leave, he accidentally knocked the bag against a pillar behind him. The pillar was wood, made moldy and rotten after spending so long underwater. Normally hitting a bag against such a thick, strong pillar wouldn't do much, but in its weakened state, it completely gave out. Miguel heard a loud CRACK as it snapped, and then a deafening CREAK as the whole boat finally gave out. All he had time for was to look up, before the entirety of the upper deck above came crashing down onto his head…

HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

Tory internally cursed herself as she paddled through the vast ocean. She had never been the best swimmer, in fact she hated being in the water, so it didn't take long for Miguel to vanish off the road. And for a while, the only way Tory could follow him was to look at the direction of the splashing his feet were making as he kicked, but to her devastation, she was soon found devoid of that luxury. Miguel had disappeared, absolutely vanished. Where the hell are you? Tory's worry slowly rose as she swam around the general area, finding no sign of Miguel. She had one thought, but it wasn't a pretty one so Tory forced it out of her head: was it possible Miguel had drowned? No! First off, Miguel seemed to be a really good swimmer and the tide was pretty low so the chances of him drowning were less than likely. Second, if he had drowned, where was the body? Tory had read that people who drowned floated in water. She didn't know if it was true or not, but it was the only information she had heard before. Tory quickly then dunked her head underwater, and just at the right moment too. For as her entire face submerged itself in the icy sea, she heard a loud rumbling coming from below. She had no clue exactly what it was, but she figured it had something to do with where Miguel was. So as fast as she could, Tory dived ferociously quickly downwards towards the source of the sound and when she saw what it was, she was taken aback. It was a boat, a whole-ass boat just there at the bottom of the sea. But this boat was crumbling before her very eyes, collapsing in in front of her very eyes. At that moment, a horrifying thought occurred to her. One she knew in spite of her every hope otherwise was real. She could feel her heart pounding faster and faster but she forced her breath to remain steady. If what had happened was what she thought had happened, she needed every iota of air she had left. Tory shot over to the wreckage of the boat and began dragging large pieces away from it and hurling them behind her. She ripped out chunks of old, wooden floor and moved them as fast as she could. She wanted to shout his name, call out to him. Tell him that she was there. To stay conscious because she was coming to help him. She had so much more she wanted to say to him, but now for all she knew, no more time to say it. Tory was struggling for air at this point, her hyperventilating draining her air supply considerably. But thankfully, after removing a large pole to clear her path, she finally found him.

Her heart stopped. He was unconscious, his eyes glazed over and still, his limbs not moving a muscle. He looked very much dead, but Tory still grabbed him by the arm, yanking him upwards as hard as she could. It took a few tries, and for all she knew she could've dislocated his shoulder, but she eventually managed to dislodge him from the wreck and drag him towards the surface. They broke the surface moments later, Tory gasping and gulping for air as she did but Miguel worryingly not doing the same. She tugged him along as she charged as fast as she could towards the shore. As soon as she made it, she hurled him onto the sand, diving on top of him and preparing to resuscitate him. To her horror, Miguel didn't seem to have a pulse, so Tory needed to resort to whatever CPR she had seen in movies to help him. Taking a deep, shaky breath, Tory brought her hands up, and then crashing back down onto Miguel's chest, trying to restore blood flow in his body.

THUMP. THUMP. THUMP.

Tory kept on doing it but sadly, it didn't look like they were working. With every passing second, Tory could feel Miguel slipping further away from her.

"Come on, Miguel! Please wake up!" She pleaded with him, tears beginning to fill her eyes as she desperately continued her CPR. "MIGUEL! MIGUEL! PLEASE COME BACK TO ME! PLEASE!"

Despite Tory's begging, Miguel didn't. His body remained deathly still and his eyes remained firmly gazing up at the skies above. Tory began to tremble as she continued. She too looked up at the sky for a moment, silently begging that if there was a God up there, he would give her the power to save him. Not for her, for God didn't owe her any miracles. But for Miguel, a kind, innocent boy who made the whole world around him shine a little bit brighter. Come on, God, she thought quietly to herself. This is someone you want still on your Earth. This is someone who makes others better. Makes the world a better place. But Tory realised that there wasn't a God, for if there was and He was just, the roles would be reversed. She would be the one dying, for she deserved it a hell of a lot more than he did. At that moment, Tory realised that even if there was someone above, He wasn't listening. Wasn't watching. It was all on her to save him. As Tory continued to do the chest compressions, another method came to mind. She had seen this done quite a lot on TV, but had no clue if it actually worked. She was desperate though, and had nothing else to try, so she leaned in, her teary-eyed face mere inches from his tranquil, peaceful one, and she prepared to give him mouth to mouth resuscitation. However, as soon as her lips pressed gently against his own, she felt Miguel's entire body jolt. It was like his entire body had hit reboot, and it had finally managed to restart. His eyes snapped around for several moments, taking in his surroundings, before coming to a halt at the gorgeous girl still above him. It was the first thing he had seen after waking up, and he wouldn't want it any other way. His whole body felt like it was both trapped in a giant ice cube and on fire. He felt like absolute shit, but at that moment, he didn't care. He slowly summoned the strength to look up at Tory, smirk and joke…

"I knew you'd kiss me again sometime…"