Previously on Flightmate...
E, C and B are on a trip to Europe. E and D meet and bond on the airplane. Loads of drama, doom, gloom and personal growth. The plane crashes as they brace themselves.
Chapter 7: Hoped So Hard It'd Be Sunlight
Elena felt the entire plane flip. She tightened her grip on the hand. A sense of a safety came over her. People gasped in their seats, children shrieked but Elena remained silent. Despite the general fear of death, she knew she'd vomit if her mouth opened. There was nothing more shameful than half-digested food landing on poor people's faces.
The plane righted itself. Everything stopped. Elena slowly opened her eyes, blinking rapidly.
Okay. Still alive.
The plane erupted with panicked yells. Bonnie and Caroline were tightly holding hands. Elena reached out and shook Bonnie's shoulder. 'Bonnie? Caroline? Open your eyes!' Bonnie's eyes opened abruptly as though she was sleeping but Elena saw tears in her eyes, as she observed her surroundings.
'We're going to die, aren't we Elena?' Bonnie asked, scared. Her confident best friend, calm in crisis; freaking out. Elena hated to see her like that. She wished she'd do something? How could she give hope when their lives were going to end in a ten minutes, give or take?
Bonnie's breathing got louder and louder by the second, sobs mixing in with the terrible sound.
'Bonnie, Bonnie, hey! It's okay.' Elena spoke, stroking her shoulder in an effort to calm her down. 'We're going to make it alive. I promise.' Bonnie looked at her, crying, not saying anything.
A high-pitched voice scared Elena out of her wits. Caroline had woken up.
'OH MY GOD! Guys, water in the plane! WATER IN THE PLANE!' Caroline yelled, standing on her seat.
Her words created instant havoc. Unfortunately, a baby wailed at the top of its voice, making everyone else scream louder. Panic was an infectious thing and Elena watched it spread. Clicking of people removing their seat belts, footsteps thudding on the aisle added to the commotion. Elena knew everyone was praying in their heart of hearts that they live. Begging internally that the life jackets work in the solitary waters of the ocean. One old woman whispered prayers under her breath and crossed her heart as Elena watched, her own troubles forgotten. She didn't know how long it'd be before someone rescues them, if at all.
The most surprising thing happened then. Elena heard a crow cawing.
Inside the aircraft.
As she whipped around, the crow swooped down on her. She yelped and covered her face. It flapped against the exit door, attracting attention and descending a stunned silence until a man opened it. Elena stared at it as it flew off into the sunrise.
How in hell did a crow enter the plane? Was it someone's pet crow? Crows were noisy creatures, surely it couldn't have been silent this whole while? Was it even legal for a crow to come onboard a flight? She looked over at her friends, stunned. However, their attention was else place.
'Oh god' Caroline declared, watching the scene from on top of her seat. 'We're never going to get out of here! And even if we do, what's the point? The water is freezing cold outside! It is dark! We're never going to find a rescue boat or anything! Assuming they send one.'
Elena and Bonnie looked at each other. They tried to think calmly.
Bonnie said, 'She's right. There is no land in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. How do we know if we are getting any closer to the non-existent land?' Elena pulled out her Samsung phone and checked it for any reception. As expected there wasn't any.
'My GPS app is not working either!' Caroline announced, clicking furiously. Dejected, she looked at her friends. Elena realized that no matter where they went, death was a certainty. The fact remained - they had a better chance if they moved outside in the water. Inside the plane hidden and burst into flames any minute was worse than living slightly longer in cold, dark and scary waters. Maybe there was going to be a rescue boat, who knew.
The girls grabbed their essentials and paused to look at each other. For the last time. Elena didn't want to move.
They followed the last group of people outside before Elena remembered something. She turned around and looked at the seat beside hers. Damon wasn't there. Elena remembered that it was his hand she had been holding when the plane crashed. She stopped her smile midway because he was nowhere in sight. How did she forget him in the paranoia? Did he already get out? He wouldn't leave without saying goodbye.
She hadn't even seen him since their hands unlocked. He was just…gone.
As the girls reached the exit, their hearts thudded as loud as they could. They took a deep breath and dived. The water was colder than expected and Elena thought for a fleeting moment that she had a deeper understanding for the Titanic passengers' plight. She tried to move fast in case the plane exploded in her face; 'tried' being the key word. She spotted Bonnie and Caroline speeding away in different directions. Elena suspected they couldn't see a thing and trusting their instincts.
She wanted to yell at them. Slow down, she'd have said. However, she wasn't a selfish person. If her friends had a chance at survival, she wasn't going to ruin it. Bonnie was the fastest swimmer. She was a bodyguard at the Mystic Community Pool since she was fourteen . Further, she was trained in CPR and saved Matt's life last summer. Caroline on the other hand, hated getting wet but her father forced her to swim since when she was 6. Watching her move gracefully and efficiently, Elena knew her dad's efforts paid off.
Elena, who was more into books than anything else in her entire life, only knew the theory of not drowning. Kick your legs or try to walk underwater, keep your arms still and don't panic. Easier said than done, she thought. Her lungs screamed for air but she was still underwater. The water pushed on her from all sides, forcing her to conform to its movements. She used her legs to propel herself upwards, trying to get her head above water. She was almost at the top when she felt a huge wave of heat and plastic like boulders hit her back. She was thrown into the air. Grabbing the opportunity, Elena took deep breaths and crashed into the ocean, sinking deeper than before. The plane's engines caught fire, finally exploding. She fought and fought against the waves. She wanted to get to air before water annihilated her.
After being swirled in the deep blue waters, she had no idea which way was up. Elena considered staying put and not wasting her breath but she was running out of oxygen. Trying not to breathe and let water into her lungs, she chose to swim towards the lighter area.
She hoped so hard it'd be sunlight.
Her efforts paid off as the water got lighter and lighter. Pushing as hard as she could, Elena finally broke the surface. She took deep breaths, retaining consciousness. Turning herself without moving her arms, she searched for help. There was no one. The only recognizable things other than water was wreckage and the sun, which was dancing on the edge of the horizon, warming Elena's face although she was too numb to feel it. No land.
As she tried not to sink again, she tried to recall her geography. Bonnie was right. Nothing existed in the middle of the Atlantic. Except, maybe icebergs and debris.
The thought disappointed her and she looked up into the sky, silently praying. Please help, she pleaded silently to anyone listening. I have Jeremy and he needs me. I can't die now please. Jenna, Alaric, Bonnie, Caroline. Help my friends. Help me.
As she stilled in the water, a crow flew into her view. It was the same one from the recently blown up plane. It circled and swooped closer and closer to Elena, staring in a very un-crow-like fashion. It did not stop in its tracks. The small bird simply stared at Elena. Since when do crows make eye contact that long?
As soon as it got close enough, it dived headfirst into the water. Elena gasped. At the same time, she lost her precious balance, falling a bit. Water entered her eyes and mouth and she spluttered. Trying the technique one last time, she broke surface, wiping her face with her hands.
As she stared at the spot where the crow crashed into the ocean, she noticed the small dark shape slowly increasing in size. Elena wondered if the water had finally muddled her brain, tricking her.
Watching paralyzed, two muscly arms and legs sprouted from the bird. Elena knew she was hallucinating then. She watched as the bird transformed into a…
Man?
The metamorphosis completed, Elena was inching slowly towards unconsciousness. It was too much to process and the water made her numb by the second.
Faintly, she noticed black hair flopping onto the pale blurriness followed. A man emerged from the ocean waters, his hair and black clothes dripping wet. Elena wondered semiconsciously if she'd seen him before.
He looked at her after wiping his face dry with his black leather jacket sleeve. Elena was right. Eyes as blue as the ocean she was fighting, they were quite unforgettable.
Eyes looking at her with anguish and alarm.
'Damon?'
BTW (that means by the way), I have written the entire story. I chose to update every Monday because I know how much we hate Mondays and I wanted to make it worth waiting for.
Mango smoothies to jairem and kfulmer7 for being my constant reviewers. Thanks guys.
All my fellow TVD fanfiction lovers - tell me if you like the story so far! Tell me how I can improve.
6x01 is named "I'll Remember". I can just tell from the episode name that I'm not going to be okay.
STALK ME (I mean, follow):
Twitter: anupapaya
Tumblr: arrogantanupapaya
YouTube: anupyathekiddo (Anupapaya Poopy)
You clicked, you read, now you review!