161 Meters Down

The Bait

"It is decided then. I will be the bait," said Kristina. Though her voice kept on wavering, it was laced with determination as she stared up to meet a pair of widened black orbs.

"Have you lost your mind, woman?" 

Bubbles rapidly escaped his diving mask. Ripples escalated around Lucas and Kristina as he heaved and yelled at the same time – hands clasped around Kristina's shoulders. He was stopping the urge to shake the hell out of her, mindful about the shark swimming dangerously closer to them upon his sudden outburst.

Kristina took Lucas' hands from her shoulders. She held those hands tightly to show her conviction. Her silver eyes did not waver upon his glaring ones. 

"Listen, Lucas. If we stay here, we will end up losing the last of our oxygen and we will eventually become the shark's meal anyway; whereas if we risk that one percent chance to swim away from here, there is still a possibility to outsmart the great white."

"Fuck," muttered Lucas in resignation. He knew how right she was. Drawing a deep breath before he met her gaze again, he asked. "What is your plan? Let me hear it, every nitty-gritty part of the plan."

Relief flooded Kristina when Lucas finally supported her choice. There was no other choice anyway, but it still meant a lot for her to be supported by the only living person with her. She did not feel that lonely and that scared anymore...at least for now.

Kristina nodded, hands still holding Lucas as if she was drawing every ounce of bravery from him. "Listen and listen well, Lucas. Look there," Kristina turned her upper body behind her to point to the part where the water did not reach the ceiling while there was red illumination gleaming brightly around it.

"That... That is our safe path and that is our only safe path. The red light from the emergency light found atop the door is the key. Sharks are sensitive to red lights. Their senses will make them think that the source of red light is a flare and they fear flares because it rigs with the frequency around them. See that part? There is no ripple compared to what is surrounding us. It is because the shark did not swim there."

"So we cross that door and that fish will not be able to follow us?" Lucas' gaze was now transfixed on the looming shadow swimming around the submerged railings of the staircase.

A twelve-foot shadow lurked around their hunched forms, waiting for the perfect time to attack them when they least expected it. This thought alone made Lucas grit his teeth. He hated to be treated like some livestock for some oversized fish!

"Yes.... That is the theory. But theories have loopholes so it is still better to be vigilant," said Kristina.

Her gaze was now following the movement of the sharks, counting every turn of the apex predator in their midst – hoping to find a pattern that would be useful for them. 

She continued to the most important part. "The question is: how can we swim past the door without being eaten alive by the great white? That is when I come in, Lucas. I will be the bait while you swim to the door. Once you are past..."

"No. There is no way in hell that I will be swimming there alone while you play the Prince Charming. May I remind you with this one tiny weenie detail, woman. If you got eaten which is a big fat chance, I will be good as dead too! I don't know this fucking place like you do," hissed Lucas.

He wanted to tug his hair out but he couldn't which made him all the more irritable. Bait or not, he would become a dead man without Kristina!

"Screw that bait shit plan and let us do this my way." Lucas pointed to himself. "We swim together. May luck be our side for whoever the shark eats first then boom; we swim past the red light. Easy to comprehend than your heroic shenanigans, right?"

Kristina glanced at her oxygen meter and bit the insides of her cheek. She already chose before she even opened her mouth.

"Fine. On my word, we swim straight to that red light and never look back."

A knot lodged deep between Lucas' brows upon Kristina's immediate answer as if she was only pacifying him. But his train of thought was cut off when Kristina nudged him to swim first as they changed position. Upon the ripples they created, they had successfully drawn the attention of the twelve-foot great white shark to their midst. Just when Lucas was about to leave the premise of the railings that protected them, a wide set of jaws welcomed him.

"Watch it!" Kristina pulled Lucas' tank back to her, inching the latter away from the oval-shaped open mouth of the predator that aimed for Lucas's head.

Had she been late for a split second, the Russian mob leader would have been nothing but chunks of human flesh before her.

"Fucking fuck!" Lucas gripped the railings beside the as he leaned onto Kristina, his widened eyes focused on the tail that was leaving his vision line. As Kristina said, it swam in the opposite direction of the red illumination from the emergency light situated atop the door towards the Casino Royale.

Kristina refused to let go of Lucas' tank so she kept on holding it, totally scared of the fact that it might come back and succeed the second time around. But Kristina knew that it was quite impossible since a shark had one weakness with its body, it could not pivot as it pleased. Once it passed a certain point, it needed to circle back to pass that same point again.

"Wait for my word, Lucas. When I said go, then swim as fast as you can. Got it?"

Lucas released a staggering breath before he glanced behind him. "This is the only time that I will allow you to talk to me like that, woman."

'Whatever,' Kristina thought.

As soon as the cluster of darkness came back with vengeance, the seawater separated as its dorsal fin went straight toward them. To agitate it more, Kristina hit the railings behind her repeatedly. Ripple after ripple, vibration after vibration, Kristina willed the predatory animal towards them.

The railings grunted as they started to bend when the shark bit them again.

"Wait for it," whispered Kristina. Her hold against the tank of Lucas started to loosen. "Wait for it."

As soon as the tail turned against them, Kristina nudged Lucas forward as she whispered. "Go! Go! Go!"