Trevor stared at a clock in his office in Manhattan. It was 2:08 a.m. He looked at two contracts in front of him. One had the signature of an owner, Gary Valencia, of Valencia Power Systems Inc. To Trevor’s left was a page filled with Gary Valencia’s handwritten signature over and over again. Trevor hovered over another contract between Fairway Capital and Valencia Power Systems, an outline of the corporate share structure underneath. Trevor’s hand lined up on the signature line at the bottom, underneath Gary Valencia.
Suddenly, he was no longer in his office. He was in his car outside of Valencia Power Systems’ headquarters. He watched as men in suits conversed with eagerness and movers cleared out all of the office spaces. Gary Valencia stared onward as his place of business was taken over by Fairway Capital.
All of the men in suits were now laughing, encouraging Trevor to join in. His stomach was swirling, like he was on a boat riding the swells in the middle of the ocean.
Then… his father. He was walking down a dark alley. Trevor was there trying to warn him about something. He was in danger. The screams wouldn’t leave his mouth as the rain pelted down against the pavement, drowning out any audio. Two shadows appeared behind him with guns drawn. His dad staggered forward with frantic steps. Trevor wanted to shout, to warn him, but couldn’t.
Trevor shot up in bed and sprinted for the bathroom. He barely made it to the toilet in time. He vomited violently until his system was empty.
Erin knocked on the door gently. Her voice was soft and concerned. “Are you okay?”
Chapter Nine - Erin
The smell of coffee lured Erin out of her slumber. She opened her eyes, yawned, and stretched with an exhaling grunt.
“Good morning!” Trevor sounded rather chipper.
Then she remembered how bizarre last night was when Trevor suddenly fell ill. He was up vomiting for about an hour before returning back to bed.
She rose up in bed. “Are you feeling okay?”
“Like a million bucks. I don’t know what happened last night. Maybe something I ate.”
“I’m glad you feel better. What are you cooking for me, dear?” Her face sunk from the embarrassing attempt at a pet name.
“Sausage, eggs, toast. Over easy?”
“Yes, perfect. Thanks.”
“I’ve been giving some thought to our next find. Poseidon’s trident in the water is probably off of a shelf. That map has a layout of the depths around the perimeter ocean offshore. And by that cave thing under those ridges, there is a massive drop-off. I’m assuming this is where Stefan would have it hidden. An underwater treasure hunt would be all right. Don’t you think?”
“I’m not sure I like the sound of this.”
“Don’t even worry about it. I’ve got this one. You just put those little feet up and relax.”
He walked over with a plate and kissed her on the lips. She pulled away quickly in hopes that he didn’t catch any of her morning breath.
She was just about to say, “What climbed up your ass and shined so brightly?” but she refrained. There was no way she should spoil what was shaping up to be a great day. The eggs were cooked perfectly, the edges crispy, the yolk firm, running only a little.
Erin made sure she got her fill of breakfast, knowing that she’d need her energy for the scuba diving. She was already nervous.
Standing on the edge of the boat, she didn’t want to take the leap.
“You’ll be fine. Just remember you don’t have to go deep.” Trevor ran through the basics of her BCD one more time, highlighting the oxygen gauge, air release, and air fill, as well as the weights in her vest that she could ditch at any time to help her rise to the surface.
“And remember, just relax. Slow breaths. You’ll be fine.”
One by one, they each stepped in, leaving Erin last. She felt heavy and clunky in all of her gear. Finally, she stepped off and hit the water.
The water was warm enough that her wetsuit wasn’t needed. Stefan remained on the boat. Trevor and Ashton were both certified, so they took lead. “Okay, so we will end up settling along shore,” said Trevor. “You guys can hang out or take yourselves away from the cave across the shoreline. Ashton will lead, and I’ll need one person to stay and hang out on the shelf. Wait for me as I plummet into the darkness.” He winked. Erin liked that he was finally enjoying himself, but her nerves were worsening, teeth chattering even though she wasn’t cold.
Sinking underwater and taking that first breath was indescribable. Her breaths were quick and shorter than they should have been. After a couple minutes, she felt more comfortable, like being wrapped in a warm cocoon. Her breaths slowed, and she was now aware of her surroundings. All of the bright fish were gorgeous. She caught up with Trevor and grabbed his hand. His mouth managed to smile around the mouthpiece and he gave her the thumbs up. She gave it back.
They arrived at the bottom and played with the fish, reaching out to touch them, some patches of coral lined up just behind them. Up ahead, she could see the rocky walls of the cliff projecting down into the pitch-black. Ashton hand signaled that they were moving on, and Skye followed him as they swam the other direction.
Trevor swam up to Erin and pulled out her oxygen gauge, informing her to keep an eye on it and wait there for him. He then removed his mouthpiece, releasing bubbles upward toward the surface. That freaked her out. He kissed her on the cheek before putting the mouthpiece back in. After another thumbs up, he disappeared into the black.
Watching him sink into the pit was so surreal that she had forgotten she was underwater. Her eyes were fixated on the black hole that he had immersed himself into. Trying to distract herself with the pretty fish, she looked away from where he had disappeared. She spotted a clown fish and followed him. As she followed, it zigged and zagged over to the rocky ledge where she noticed the cave.
Erin released a touch more air from her BCD and lowered enough so that she could further explore. As she approached the cave, her breathing increased in pace. It was difficult to see. Moving cautiously into the black, she felt a resounding fear of being trapped there. Claustrophobia was another fun one added to her list of defects. She was now sucking in air savagely, getting ready to turn around, when she almost spit out her mouthpiece.
There was a body floating. This body did not have a scuba suit on.
It rose slowly and rotated. The face was exposed by a beam of light from the surface. The white flesh looked gooey, like his face could be wiped off with one swipe of the hand. She jolted back and heard her own muffled grunt into the mouthpiece.
Erin slashed around frantically before getting herself turned around. She kicked her feet hard toward the light, escaping the corpse.
You have to wait for Trevor.
Just as her feet stilled, a hand gripped tightly around her ankle pulling her back toward the dark cave. She tried to pull away, but it yanked her in with tremendous force, her ankle screaming in pain, her bone being crushed. She screamed and bit down on the rubber mouthpiece. It pulled her hard again. She was leaving the light from the surface, descending into the pit. Her mouthpiece slid out momentarily. As she repositioned the mouthpiece, she felt ocean water rush the back of her throat.
I’m going to drown.
There was no thinking clearly from there on. She kicked frantically. Everything was a blur except for the surface of the water, which was getting brighter and brighter. The distance appeared too far as her lungs screamed at her to breathe. No nightmare could match the pure instinct of trying to evade drowning.
She plunged through the surface, choking and gagging, trying not to swallow any more water. She attempted to call out to Stefan who was nearby, but no words came out at first. “H—” The water finally cleared from her throat, and she tilted back and screamed, “Help!”