Ahead of the Darkness (13 page)

“Fine,” I spat out. I chewed my bottom lip while I scribbled down the address on a scrap of paper and handed it to Drew. “Don't be late.” I walked out of the staffroom.

“Cannae wait,” Drew yelled through the open door. I gave him a backward dismissive wave as he watched me leave. I was quietly dreading the morning to come.

~~~~~~

T
he clock read 7:47am, and I couldn't sit still. I had been pacing for the last twenty minutes and had hardly slept at all the night before, trying to decide what to wear, or how to cancel. I put it down to a mix of excitement and utter terror at getting in the water with Drew. Not to mention it would be bloody freezing.

I settled on wearing tight boy shorts and a tank top, quickly covering them up with my hoodie and sweats. It was too bloody cold, but they were the only things I could think to wear that wouldn't drag me under. Still, all I was really concerned about was what if I really couldn't swim?
I could drown, and then, then what? Drew would have to give me mouth-to-mouth?
The thought made me pause, and a small smile broke out on my face.

I had been lost in the fantasy of Drew's lips bringing me back to life when a soft rumbling sound shattered it. It increased in volume slightly, but stopped instantly outside Anne's house. Oh, God! I checked my phone for the time just as it changed to 8:00am, and rushed to the front door. I opened it and there was Drew, standing in one of those hoodied leather jackets and jeans. One hand was raised at the ready to knock, the other holding a helmet.

“Oh, no.”

“Good morning to ye, too. I’m not late, so what's got yer knickers in a bunch, now?”

“Let’s not talk about my knickers, shall we?”

“If you insist. Come on then, let's get a move on.”

“I am not getting on that.”

“On what? My bike? Ye cannae be serious, like.”

“I don't even like getting in cars, and you're trying to convince me to get on the back of your bike with you?
You
cannae be serious. You don’t even have a spare helmet.”

“I dinnae have time to get a spare. For now ye can wear mine, and I’ll get a spare for next time.” I scoffed at the
next time
.

“Ye dinnae swim, ye dinnae drive, and ye willnae ride on my bike?” I looked at him expectantly, waiting for the point. “Ye don't live at all. Stop faffing about, and let’s get a move on. Yer being daft.”

“Did you just call me stupid because I don't want to get on a death wagon?”

“Aye, yer being a right daft cow. Now put this on before I put it on ye.” He handed me his helmet and I stood there, flabbergasted, not moving fast enough. Drew grabbed my hand, tugging me towards the motorbike. He threw his leg over and settled on, kick-started it and waited for me. I took the outstretched helmet and put it roughly on my head.
Damn him.

“How ...”

“Aye, woman. Just throw ye leg over like I did, and we’ll be on our way.”

I tentatively tried to swing my leg over without holding on to Drew, but failed miserably, over swinging my leg, I almost missed completely. I gripped on to his shoulder so I didn’t fall on my arse. Drew helped steady me with one hand while I swung my leg over a second time and sat as far away from Drew on the vibrating bike as I could.

My heart raced a million miles per minute. Drew let go of the handlebars and put his hands behind my knees. Gripping them tight, he pulled. I slid in tightly behind him with a small gasp. His chest vibrated with his laughed as he placed my trembling hands securely around his middle. He left his hands on mine and stroked them softly until they stilled. It was the first time in more than a week we’d been even remotely that close, and I was furious with myself that I’d missed his scent and his touch.

“Aye, now that's better. Hold on tight. Ye dinnae want to fall off the back, mind.” I squeezed him even tighter as he revved the engine again and drove off, his laughter lost on the wind.

I should have enjoyed being pressed so close to Drew for twenty minutes straight. I would have, if I hadn’t been a bundle of nerves the whole time. I worked myself into a complete frenzy, my whole body shaking by the time I got off the bike. We hadn’t even gotten near the freezing water yet.
I couldn’t do this
, I told myself,
it’s crazy and I’m going to drown
, but then I saw Drew’s reassuring face, and I stupidly took his outstretched hand.
Damn that handsome face ...

He dumped our stuff on the sand and started to strip off his outer clothes. I watched as Drew removed his shoes, then pulled his jacket and shirt over his head in one go, but I quickly looked away before he saw me. Maybe this wouldn't be so bad. A half-naked wet Scot? Yeah, it could be worse. I chewed on my lip, remembering the fully-naked Scot I’d seen only the week earlier. Sure, it was brief, but that wasn’t something you forgot easily.

I distractedly removed my hoodie and shoes, taking them off slower than normal. I felt Drew's eyes on me, but when I turned, he looked instantly away. I smiled, quickly removing the last shoe.

“Ready?”

“As much as I ever will be. Just don't take advantage of me while I'm wet and venerable. I know where you live.”

“Come on, then.” He chuckled and took my hand, headed for the waterline. I gripped Drew’s hand tighter when the water reached my thighs and he gentle squeezed back. “I've got ye. We’ll make it fun ... play a little game.”

“W ... what did you say?” A sick sense of déjà vu had my muscles locking up, and my vision began to blur.

“Mia?” I tried to pull my hand free as I desperately tried to focus.

––––––––

“A
melia, are you listening? We're going to play a game”

“What game, Papa?”

“Let's show Maman how long you can hold your breath.” I clapped enthusiastically, jumping up and down on the spot

“Oh, I like games. How do we do that?”

“Like this, take a huge breath in.” He breathed in deep, puffing out his chest, and in a strained voice he spoke again. “And hold it. Don't breathe in or out for as long as possible. Now you try.”

I excitedly sucked in as much air as my little lungs could hold. My cheeks puffed out with the effort, and I laughed at the game, expelling all the air. Papa's eyes darkened.

“Now, we do it underwater.” And I was under, my head roughly pushed below the surface before I could take a breath in.

I started to panic, thrashing as what little air in my lungs came rushing out of my mouth and was quickly replaced with salty water.

I can't breathe, I can't breathe
.
The water burns. My eyes are stinging
... Please, Papa, let me up. I don't want to play anymore. I screamed in my head, afraid to open my mouth for fear of swallowing more yucky water.

The water continued to burn my eyes, and black dots clouded my vision. In the distance I could faintly hear noises. Voices, yes, it was voices. Loud, jumbled voices. One voice was getting louder and louder. Screaming ... What was it screaming? My eyes were getting so heavy, and I couldn't feel my legs anymore. Was I still kicking?

“Amelia!”
Hmm?

The burning in my lungs slowly faded, and I felt sleepy, so sleepy. I was tired ...
I ... I'll just ... rest, for a little while ...

––––––––

“A
melia!”
Maman?

“Mia?”
Mia?

“What?” I blinked a few times as my eyes refocused and found Drew’s gentle gaze. His warm hands held my face as his eyes flicked back and forth between mine. I pulled free and took a deep breath, the salt air clearing some of the haze.
It was a dream?

“Hey. Where did ye go? I was talking to ye, and then all of a sudden, ye just ... stopped. For a minute ... I thought I'd have to give ye mouth to mouth,” he said with an uneasy grin. I was still a little unsure of what had happened.

“I ... gee, don't looks so disappointed. If you're so desperate to kiss me, go on. Get it over with so we can get out of the water. I'm not drowning just so you can kiss me.”

He laughed, as much as he looked like he didn't want to. I smiled weakly, desperately trying to suppress the shudder that kept trying to break free, and hoping I deflected well enough. I just wanted out of the water, but Drew's squared his shoulders, looking resolved.

“Ye aren't giving up that easy. If it's the last thing I do, ye gonna learn to swim.”
Well, damn it.

“Fine.” We went a little deeper, the water now up to our midriffs.

“Let's try the breathing, alright?”

“I know how to breathe, Drew. In my nose, and out my mouth.” I demonstrated to prove my point, and inwardly cringed at how snarky I sounded, even to myself.

“Aye, but ye don't wanna be doing that in the water, mind. Ye'll breathe it in.”

“No shit, Sherlock.” I couldn’t seem to stop being a bitch.

“Smack talking doesnae suit ye. Now hold ye tongue or I'll bite it.”

“We both know that's an empty threat.” My heart rate spiked at the thought ... and he looked tempted to prove me wrong.

“Take a deep breath,” he moved on without comment, “duck ye head under the water, and exhale through ye nose. When ye run outta air, pop ye head back up.” I bit my lip and nodded, but I was less than confident.

“But, what if, what if the water goes up my nose?” I whispered. I sounded like a small child, but I was too panicked to care.

“Hold ye nose, love. Like this.” He pinched his nose and dropped under. It was silly, but I gasped. A second later he reappeared, shaking his head like a dog, spraying water all over me. I smiled as I tried to hide from the spray. He seemed to know just how to diffuse me. It was bizarre, to say the least, but I was a little grateful.

“Yer turn. Do you need me to hold ye hand?” And sweet Drew was gone. He was back to his usual self.

I scoffed at that offer. “No.”
But it might have been nice.

“One. Two.” I pinched my nose, and my pulse beat a million miles per minute. “Three!”

And I was under.

Oh God, oh God, breathe, no, don't breathe, just ... don't breathe.

So I counted. I counted to ten and that was enough. I broke the surface, and gasped for breathe.

“Ye did good. Just next time, breathe first, aye?”
Oh, yeah.

“Yeah, okay. Now what?”

“Now ye try holding yer breath for longer.”

“Really?”

“Aye. The fun comes later.”

I raised an eyebrow. The boys had clearly started to rub off on me. He smirked in return.

“How long can you hold your breath?”

“A while. Why? Ye want to challenge me?”

Do I?
“Always.”

He smiled, and shook his head.

“One. Don't forget to take a deep breath in. Three!” I sucked a huge breath in and we ducked under the cool water.

I watched a little in awe as tiny bibles left Drew's nose. His hair sort of hovered in the water. He looked so beautiful that I found it easier to be still, just staring at him. He wiggled his eyebrows at me and it took all my strength not to laugh, expelling all my air. I did, however, poke my tongue out at him. It wasn’t the smartest thing to do, as when I pulled it back in, it tasted like manky seawater, and I wrinkled my face up in disgust. Surprisingly, I still managed to hold the little breath I had left in. Drew, however, lost all control at my tongue poking or face pulling, I wasn’t sure which, probably both. He laughed heartily, expelling all his air in a great, big, gust, and had to go back up. I broke the surface to hear Drew coughing and spluttering.

“Ha! I won.” I’d be lying if it didn’t give me a little satisfaction that I sort-of won, by default but a win all the same.

“Ye’re a pisser. And ye didn’t win, ye cheated.”

“Oh, and you weren’t trying to cheat by wiggling your eyebrows at me? All’s fair in love and war, baby!”

“Which are we?” he asked softly, and my heart stuttered.

“Ah ... definitely war.” I tried to defuse the moment with a giant splash to his face.

“Oh, game on.” I squealed as Drew pelted me with wave after wave.

I tried to reciprocate but gave up shortly after, and dived under the water for some reprieve. He was relentless, but he stopped the instant he saw me duck under. I stayed under a little longer, waiting for the all clear, but Drew ducked under before I could resurface. He grabbed me around the waist, lifting me up and out of the water.

“Ye can swim!” He spun me around, looking all too excited, and I looked at him like he’d grown a second head.

“What are you on about?”

“Ye just dived under all by yerself, and were treading water.”

“I was what?”

“Aye, ye were moving yer feet under the water to stay in one spot. Treading water. Ye were swimming.” I just looked at Drew wide eyed and he laughed again.

“Now the fun really begins.” I looked at him, perplexed, but I saw it in his eyes a second before he dropped with me still secured in his arms.

I gasped, sucking in as much air as I could before we were submerged. I was sure he was trying to drown me, and I wiggled in his arms in protest, but he shook his head at me with a devilish grin on his face. I narrowed my eyes at him and he silently chuckled, while turning us in a circle.

I was starting to need air. The familiar panic was still present, just not as keen. I wrestled an arm free, and lightly pinched one of Drew’s nipples.

It worked. He instantly let go, and I broke the surface, trying not to fall back under in my fit of laughter. Drew was two seconds behind me with an incredulous expression. I splashed him hard in the face, and dove back under, kicking my legs to try and move away as fast as I could. I seemed to have remembered how to breathe underwater and not drown, but I hadn’t yet got the hang of the moving part. I didn’t get very far before Drew’s hands had wrapped around my ankles.

I struggled trying to get my legs free, but ended up turning myself around and almost kicking Drew in the face. Sadly, I missed, and he took the opportunity to grip my thighs tight, pulling me towards him. He pulled so forcefully that I crashed into him, and my tank top ended up around my armpits, throwing out all my equilibrium. I head-butted Drew as my body became vertical almost instantly, my legs wrapping securely around his waist as we broke the surface, laughing and rubbing our foreheads. It was as if the last week of distance between us had evaporated, and we looked at each other, still smiling.