Page 24 of Witch Please
“Oh, how lovely.” The demon crooned and four doors popped up in existence at once. “The moment you touch a door, all three of you will go through. Good luck.”
“Oh fuck!” I was already reaching for one of them thinking I’d check what’s behind it?
CHAPTER14
Water surrounded me from all sides. A dim light was blinking in and out of existence somewhere in the distance, but it was hard to tell if that was real or not. Leviathan’s voice droned on in my head, repeating that both my companions would be sucked in with me the moment I touched a door. Which meant they were stuck in the water too, and I needed to find them before it was too late, and goddess forbid one of them drowned.
Strong currents pulled on my limbs as I tried my best to turn around and search for River and Sissily. Teeth grinding, it took everything in me not to open my mouth and suck in water, my screaming lungs demanding I supply them with oxygen without delay. If I knew being dunked in water was an option, I would’ve taken a deep breath before I found myself in the middle of whatever it was, a lake, an ocean…but I didn’t. My heartbeat was drumming in my ears so loud it was fueling my panic more.
Shadows elongated at the corners of my vision, tormenting me with threats of something monstrous coming out of nowhere to snuff out my life. I had to find a way out so I could gulp much needed air before I drowned myself; so, pushing the fear aside, I decided the best way to go was up.
Legs kicking with all my strength, I forced my body to move faster than it wanted. The longer I surged upward, the darker the area around me became. A sinking suspicion that I was going in the wrong direction had me stopping, and as much as I couldn’t afford it, I was treading in the water so I could get my bearings. Much to my dislike, it only confirmed that I was not alone. When suddenly on my left everything turned pitch black, and I caught a sight of a snake-like body slithering away. It was twice the size of the width of my body and trepidation filled me so suddenly I almost tried to breathe.
My chest started hurting and my vision started blurring, so I did the opposite of what my brain was telling me to do, and I started swimming down. With a last-ditch effort to reach the surface, I gave it everything I got. My two companions and I were about to die in this cursed place too. While I worried about them and did my best to find them, I bet they were doing the same.
Maybe not River, since he was not aware of what was going on.
Which meant he could already be dead.
Anxiety was riding my ass like it was a race horse and the finish line was in sight, so I redoubled my efforts. A few spells crossed my mind where I could form a protection bubble that would, or could possibly save my life, but I didn’t have all the words. The water was tugging on my clothing and shoes slowing me down, and it was destroying my focus, too.
To my shock it was becoming lighter in the water surrounding me, and I pushed myself, grasping at the liquid as if I was trying to dig myself out of a sink hole. There was no finesse in my kicks or strokes, just a bone deep desperation for survival. Just when I thought I was going to pass out, my head broke the surface of the water.
My intake of air was so loud it echoed for a good minute in my ears. Coughing and splattering, I ended up swallowing a lot of the disgusting water that resulted in me nearly coughing out a lung. But blessed oxygen was filling my deprived body, so I was crying out with sheer happiness. Somehow, I was sure that the end was near, and I was about to meet the goddess up close and personal.
“Sissily.” The first attempt at calling out for her was pathetic at best. Not just that, but something wrapped around my ankle and tugged at my leg, so I ended up with a mouthful of water.
Hacking and flailing, I kicked angrily at whatever was trying to pull me under. Too exhausted to be afraid, I was either hoping to hurt it or make it angry enough to eat me and save me from my misery. Anything would do.
“River.” My rasp was sad, raw, and filled with anguish. I was one hundred percent sure all three of us were going to die here. “Sissily.” Treading water, I turned left and right seeing nothing but gray mist and churning water.
As I took a deep breath hoping to call out louder, the creature that took a liking to me wrapped around my right leg again and yanked me under the water. My lungs were placated with the supply of oxygen I provided them, unintentionally, during my previous struggle, so I was able to take a good look at my tormentor.
At that same second, I wished I hadn’t.
No wonder they say ignorance is a bliss.
The monster wasn’t a snake as my mind so kindly provided out of fear, initially. It was a mix between an octopus and a squid with twice the number of tentacles; it was wiggling them menacingly at my face. One of the said protrusions suddenly flicked out and slapped me so hard on the side of the face and neck I screamed underwater, emptying all the air from my lungs. Yeah, I knew it was a dumb thing to do the second I was done shrieking but that didn’t fix my breathing problem.
I panicked that I was going to drown, so I started frantically kicking and reaching for the surface. If I had stayed calm, I would’ve handled it better I guess, but tell that to my monkey brain. My brain needed oxygen and it wanted it now. So, I flailed like an idiot for a while as the octo-squid thingy tugged me back every time I made an inch of progress.
What was Hell’s obsession with kraken-like creatures anyway. It was beyond me.
The need to cry was in the back of my mind too, because at that point I was pretty sure there was a good chance that River was already dead. Fully awake, I nearly died a few times. There was no way he survived the changes his body was undergoing while he lay unconscious.At least, that was the thought processes I currently had. Why am I thinking this way? Is it the fact I had a monster trying to kill me, I swallowed a river, or that my anxiety is sky high because I am currently underwater fighting for my life?
My head finally broke the surface, and I sucked in a quick breath before I was pulled under. Renewed desperation raised my magic that was nowhere to be found while panic was clouding my thoughts and judgment. It was almost as if it was hiding while I was in the Underworld, and only making an appearance when it absolutely had too.
It should’ve been a hint, but who paid any attention to it?
I’ll give you a hint. Not me.
Annoyingly, the octo-squid thought I was a toy, and kept tugging at me, jarring my teeth together when it jerked me through the water while tightening its hold on my feet. Angry, tired, and depressed since I was sure I lost Sissily and River, I reached with my hand and latched onto one of the swirling tentacles. I released all my pent-up anger and sadness.
I electrocuted the cursed thing.
The body of the creature lit up as if I zapped it with a lightning bolt. I could’ve sworn I saw the spine bone at the center of its head like a blob. That would’ve been great if I didn’t do it to myself too; the water was a perfect conductor for the electric jolt. Teeth rattling, I was glued to the monster, both of us trembling from the force of the attack. Everything around me brightened, and through the seizure-like shaking I thought I saw two bodies floating in the distance ahead of me.
Octo-squid screeched so loud underwater that my ears popped, and warmth leaked from them. If I ended up alive but deaf from this ordeal, I was going to torture Leviathan one papercut at a time for at least a century. I didn’t get rid of one shortcoming when I stopped being a dud, so I could end up with another. But that was a worry for another time because the damn creature apparently had teeth.
