Alex Rider: Contamination

By: Edna Baudelaire

Chapter Six: Dangerous Waters

Annabelle's POV

I cursed under my breath as I stared at my reflection in the mirror. The bathing suit I borrowed from Sophia was horrifying. It barely covered my body causing me to feel exposed, naked. There was no way I could go out there like this.

"Are you decent?" Alex's voice called out from the other side of the door.

"Almost!" I called out as I desperately adjusted my suit, pulling it up in one place which resulted in it slipping down in another. "Hey Alex, do you have an extra pair of trunks?"

"No, this is my only pair, why?"

I stomped my foot.

"Alex, you go on ahead without me. I think I'll stay here. Tell them...I'm sick."

"Oh, come on. It can't be that bad. Let me in." I sighed and yanked open the door. Alex stood there, his chest perfectly tan and toned, with one hand against the door frame, looking impatient.

"Whoa," he uttered, standing up straighter.

My shoulders slumped as I walked back to the bed. "I can't go out there like this Alex," I said as I slipped on a sweater. "Just go on without me."

"No, no. You look fine Annabelle. More than fine. It looks great," he said sincerely.

I smiled at him, thankful for his generosity. But generosity can only go so far. It won't make this suit fit me any better. I cursed as I adjusted it for the millionth time.

"Thanks for the compliment, Alex. But it won't work." I started to pull on a pair of jeans. His hand stopped me.

"Just go out like that. With the sweater. Just don't leave me alone. Not with Sophia." I got an image of Alex, laying out by the pool, Sophia clinging to his shoulder, rubbing sunscreen on his back, fire and lust dancing in her eyes—

"Fine, lets go," I said before I had a chance to realize what I was doing. The thought of Sophia and Alex together had me fuming. I had to go out there. I couldn't just let Sophia take Alex away from me.

My sudden spark of jealousy surprised me. Alex and I were partners and nothing more. I had to get my act together, now. I had to separate my work and my personal life.

Oh, who am I kidding? I like Alex. Not just like-like, I mean I have a silly 5th grade crush on the boy. Ever since the first time I met him in Mr. Blunt's office, he intrigued me. Everything about him drew me in. His smile, his laugh, his voice, his eyes...

His eyes, which were now watching me incredulously. His mouth attempted to hide a sly smirk as I grabbed his hand and jerked him outside.

I stepped out into the intense sunlight, still clutching Alex's hand. I had expected to find a small, in-ground pool in the backyard, filled with various blow up toys. What I did not expect, however, was to find an entire ocean, filled with sparkling reflections of the sun.

"I thought we were going swimming in a pool," Alex said, shielding his eyes from the unbearable sun.

"This ere' is the pool, mate." Dale bounded up from behind. "We have the world in our cubby!" He slapped Alex on the back and sprinted for the water. I could see Aace, breast stroking towards the shore as Sophia was sunbathing on a towel, obviously comfortable with her body. Bindi ran around the yard, chasing Terry, fits of laughter spilling from her lungs. I smiled watching her. She was so innocent. She knew nothing about special agents, or death or danger. My smile vanished as those thoughts flooded back to me. I had completely forgotten about the mission. I had been so caught up in meeting my new family that the importance of everyone's lives had been forgotten. I shouldn't be out here, swimming. Alex and I should be inside, going over strategy and plans.

Bindi came running at us, pigtails flying in the wind, a huge grin plastered to her face. Terry followed, in hot pursuit.

"Aaron!" she squealed through a fit of giggles. "Save me!" She ran into Alex's open arms as he lifted her up, out of Terry's reach. The dog frantically jumped up onto Alex, barking at Bindi's pants. Alex gave a hearty laugh.

"What's going on here?" I asked.

"I took Terry's cookies," she replied, out of breath. Then, she took them out of her pocket and held them just out of Terry's reach. The dog replied with a series of pleading barks.

"Well," I said. "How about you give Terry those cookies and we go have some fun in the water?" What could possibly go wrong? Alex and I deserve a break, after all that's happened. I'm sure a couple hours won't kill us.

I should have knocked on wood.

I swear, I didn't think Bindi's grin could get any bigger, but my goodness, it did. With that, she threw the cookies on the ground (which Terry thankfully ate like a vacuum), and when Alex set her down, she grabbed his pinky and started to run towards the water. Alex followed, laughing. When they got to the crashing waves, Alex scooped her up, ran into the ocean, and as soon as they were waist deep, he threw her in. She emerged, in a fit of giggles.

I stood there, arms crossed, a smile spread across my lips. You know that feeling you get when you see the man you like with children, and then you realize you want to spend the rest of your life with that person? That was what I was feeling at that moment. Pure joy.

"Alyssa!" I turned my head to see Aace jogging over to me, body glistening with saltwater. It was like a slow-motion scene straight out of Baywatch.

"I'm going scuba diving later. Care to join me?" He stopped in front of me, a little out of breath, and a pleading expression plastered to his features.

I considered it. "Do I have a spare suit?" I asked.

"Yeah, you can borrow Sophia's. We bought it for her but she doesn't use it. Water's not really her thing. She might get her hair wet," he said sarcastically.

I had to giggle. "Alright."

A half an hour later, I was suited up and ready to go. I sat on the edge of the boat, Aace at my side and Dale at the wheel. Unable to stop myself, my eyes wandered over to Alex, who drifted in the ocean, laughing with Bindi. His eyes caught mine, and he gave me a worried look. I shot him a small smile, implying that everything would be fine.

After rechecking my gauge, I put my goggles up and gave Dale and Aace the "OK" sign. With that, we plunged into the ocean. I felt a sense of loneliness, wishing that Alex was beside me. Even underwater, I could hear his laughter.

Aace and I submerged into the ocean, which was pleasantly calm. Beautiful coral reefs reached up towards me as schools of fish darted past. It was breathtaking. Aace and I advanced farther, exploring. Underwater caves loomed in front of us for miles. I pointed to them and nodded my head, indicating that I wanted to get closer. He nodded back and we traveled on. We weren't that far from the surface, maybe about 50 feet or so, but for some reason, I felt queasy. A bad feeling rose in the pit of my stomach. I shook it off, entranced by the beautiful structures.

I got close enough to touch them. They were covered in what looked like green moss and had a sparkly shine to it. I looked over at Aace who was 10 feet away from me, checking his gauges. We were down there for about a half an hour, and my tank was already half way empty. Soon, we would need to start our journey back to the surface.

About 10 minutes later, Aace pointed at his gauge and then back to the surface. I nodded and started my ascent. Suddenly, a pain in my right arm protested. A cloud of red surrounded my face. I was confused. Aace turned around and I could see his eyes get bigger. I was surrounded coldness. I could feel my body shiver, even though we were in warm water.

The red cloud was getting darker and bigger. I looked out to Aace for an explanation, but he frantically turned and headed toward the surface. I tried to follow him but found I couldn't move. I was too tired. A hand enclosed about my arm as panic rushed up inside of me.

A body, dressed in a black water suit, spun me around. He was holding a harpoon gun. My eyes widened and I tried to lash out at him, but my arm resisted. I looked over to find a harpoon protruding from it. I screamed, but underwater, not even my attacker could hear it. Bubbles erupted from around my regulator. I could see his cheeks rise up. He dragged my limp body down to the caves, a line of blood trailing sickeningly behind.

He then took out iron chains and proceeded to wrap them around my feet and wedge the other end into the rocks. Just in case I had the notion of escaping, which I could not because I was losing too much blood, he piled rocks around where the chain was trapped between the boulders. After his work was done, he fled, leaving me to die.

The panic in my brain reached a new height. I was crying, but my tears pooled in my goggles, obscuring my vision. There was so much red now. It was everywhere.

I looked down at my gauge, which was about 2 minutes away from reading empty. I could already tell it was harder to breathe. I desperately wished for Alex as I tried to yank my foot away from the chains. The wound in my arm started to burn unbearably in the salt water.

I could only fill my lungs halfway now. I knew I couldn't last longer.

So much red. It was everywhere.

Now there was black, on the edge of my vision, creeping in.

I could no longer breathe, my tank was empty.

I could no longer move.

I could no longer see.

I'm going to die.

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