161 Meters Down

Poseidon Hotel's Heist

The toe-curling impact which made Kristina cough was followed by a scalding heat spreading from her stomach to every fiber of her being as she knelt on the yacht's floor. Curling from the burning veil of misery, cold sweat started to trickle rapidly around her forehead as she crouched. Kristina's hands held her stomach to prevent the tightening around it, but the pain never lessened.

The more energy she exerted to swallow her cries, the lighter her head was becoming.

Kristina, though her eyes were still open as her head hit the yacht's floor, could not see anything. Blurred legs started to surround her. She could not guess who was who. Their chattering was incoherent as the ringing of her ears muted them.

'Am I going to meet my little sister this soon? I don't have the gal to face her yet.' Kristina's lingering thoughts faded along with the last shred of pain whipping her body. And then...

...there was darkness.

"AUTHORITIES IN THE STATE OF YUCATAN said they had prepared 350 storm shelters and planned to open another 1,000 if necessary. Hurricane Lancel rapidly strengthened into a major Category Three storm on Saturday as it barreled towards Mexico, triggering warnings of significant flooding and mudslides.

The storm clocked maximum sustained winds of 120 miles (195 kilometers) per hour while approaching the coast of Yucatan, according to the US National Hurricane Center (NHC). Category Three is the third-highest of five levels on the Saffir-Simpson scale.

A hurricane warning was in effect for the coastline stretching from the coastal city of Yucatan to Cabo Rojo ahead of landfall expected during this night." 

The radio rang like an alarm clock for Kristina Miller, waking her up from her slumber even in the face of death. Her eyelids moved, the sound from the radio now at the back of her mind as she remembered what happened before she slept... more like, before she was put to sleep.

Stiff and numb, the two words that went straight to Kristina's mind as soon as she started to gain consciousness. She could not move her neck as if there was a boulder lying at her back. And tiny insect-like sensation was spreading across her bounded limbs.

As she cracked her gray eyes open, the cobwebs littering around her like a second skin and the dirt covering her frizzy hair were the last things that came to her mind. The first thing that struck her like a lightning bolt was the piece of cloth in between her lips and teeth, disabling her to cry for help.

'They are not done with me. Are they going to rape me before they make me fish food?' 

All the colors left in her face finally drained from her train of thought. If it was not for her gag, her teeth could have been gnashing each other. She tugged her bounded hands and ankles, but they were tightly knotted with a rope to the metal chair she was sitting on.

The light flickered above her. The radio was now playing a Mexican hit song.

'Where am I?' Kristina asked herself. 

She craned her neck but ended up with a huge wince on her face upon the stinging pain that followed. She suited herself by looking at what was before her.

Beyond the veil of darkness that was surrounding her, the hairs from her nape stood up. The buzzing sound of the electric fan was the only noise that could be heard inside the dingy room. With the piles of wooden crates which were still sealed and the swarming darkness of the wall to her left and south side, Kristina reckoned that she was dragged to the bottom of the Poseidon Hotel.