161 Meters Down

Never Look Back

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

As soon as Lucas heard the repetitive wording of Kristina along with the latter's insistent nudge, he took the cue and started to stroke against the stale waters. Before he could leave the premise of the railings that protected them, Lucas heard Kristina's feint parting words before he embarked into a torrential state.

Nice and slow yet firm and lengthy, Lucas did not bother to look back – he did not bother to look around him. He could be snatched by the shark's jaws right now and be completely defenseless, yet Lucas fixated his focus on the reddish part of the waters.

Kristina's words lingered at the back of his mind. "On my word, we swim straight to that red light and never look back."

And so, Lucas did not look back even when every fiber of his being was begging him to. Veins protruded around his neck and shoulders as he doubled his kicks and strokes.

Halfway to the red illumination, a sound almost made him stop had it not been for Kristina's stern words that ricocheted at the back of his mind like a broken player. "On my word, we swim straight to that red light and never look back."

It was the sound of the railings being continually hit. The first thought that came to his mind was the jaws of the fucking fish were able to destroy the railings – and so he continued.

 Lucas thought, 'It will only be a matter of time before that fish finds its way toward me and Kristina.'

Lucas swam some more. The cluster of red illumination grew bigger and bigger for him. With long strokes and firm kicks, Lucas bathed with the red gleam while submerged in the water. For a good moment, everything around him shone with the crimson sheen.

 He could see it all clearly. Right below the emergency light, floating debris of tableware and casino apparel around him as small fishes glided in between them. For a moment, Lucas was astonished that he stopped his rigorous swimming. 

On instinct, Lucas looked behind him to share what he was thinking.

"Kristina, I think we should take the red light as a precautionary measure against..." With widened eyes, Lucas was met by an eerie darkness behind him, for there was only the red light could cover.

 Looking in the direction where he came from, no woman was following him. Slowly, a knot resurfaced in between his bushy brows as he stared at the nothingness before him.

Kristina's ringing words echoed at the back of his mind. "Wait for my word, Lucas. When I said go, then swim as fast as you can. Got it?" 

... 

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

"What have you done, woman?" A wavering voice escaped from Lucas' parched lips. The pounding of his heart resonated with the faint thumping noise in the water. Like a heartbeat calling for its predator, the persistent sound continued.

Clank! Clank!

It continued in rhythm as if it was calling for the predator's attention. The ripples reached Lucas in waves, disturbing the stale waters around him.

"Fuck! That woman!" Lucas hissed under his breath. 

His knuckles were white as he clenched his fists, Lucas could not help but rain his mind with profanities as he thought of Kristina completely alone around the dingy metal railings while the twelve-foot great white shark lurked around her.

Upon realizing why Kristina did not swim along with him, the thought that she was still out there – in the darkness thumping against the metal railings – a flicker of hope stubbornly burned inside Lucas.

'Fuck! What should I do?' Lucas yelled in his restless mind. 

On cue, his gaze wandered around him. Seeking for something he did not know of, his head turned from the right to the left and up to down. His eyes were met with floating plastic bottles, wooden chairs, floating ceramics, and sinking metal tableware. 

"No. I need more. If it is not here then maybe." Lucas kicked forward while his arms stroked to lift himself up.

Lucas pulled his mask down to his chin, the red gleam of the emergency light was hovering two meters from his head as he inched his head from being submerged in seawater. With his chin above the calm waters, his gaze was frantically looking for something – anything!

'Over there!'

Lucas needed not any second thoughts for him to move on his own accord. With one thought occupying his frenzied mind, he swam away from the water. Gone were the delicate yet precise strokes he had mastered, ripples and splashes followed him. His head was still above the waters as he headed to the sturdy-looking wooden bar counter which was at least two feet above the water level. It was not the safety offered by the L-shaped bar counter that drew him in, it was the wall décor beyond it.

'A harpoon!'

Lucas was indeed useless against facts about the freaky fish, but there was one thing that he was useful at – he did not miss a target. Whether it was a gun or a blade, Lucas never missed.

As soon as he touched the smooth texture of the wooden bar counter, he immediately grabbed the edge of the bar with his right hand. A splash followed when his wet hand slipped from the edge of the bar which was half a meter above him. 

"Damn it!"

In his second attempt, Lucas reached for his left hand. A groan escaped from his tight lips before he lifted himself for his right hand to grip the edge of the bar counter. Though slippery upon contact, Lucas curled his fingers.

"H-Hey! Who... Who are you, man?" A voice pierced the silence of the dimly lighted Casino Royale followed by the splashing of the waters as Lucas finally lifted himself from the waters.

Lucas' grip now transferred to the inner edge of the bar counter as he anchored his right knee before the other. Not wasting time, he submerged himself again in the waters when he jumped inside the waters of the bar counter – his charcoal eyes remained fixated on the harpoon a meter before him.

"Are you a tourist? How did you come here? You are not from below, right?"

Upon Lucas' silence, while he continued to ignore the youngster's voice, a splash followed suit which made Lucas turn his attention to where the sound came from – the harpoon in his left hand. He inched himself above the bar counter again, only to see a brunette native young man swimming towards him with a wide grin painted on his bloodied chin.

A trail of blood followed the young Mexican hotel staff as he swam from the table he was on to the bar counter that Lucas was staying on.

"Fuck it! Go back, bastard!" Lucas did not need to be like Kristina to know that blood in shark-infested waters was bad news.

"Why?" The brunette frowned as he stopped swimming, his arms stroking against the dark waters to keep himself afloat while his feet continued to kick.

Tugging his hair from the subdued frustration, Lucas raised his left hand – the gleaming silver tip of the harpoon now pointed to the ashen hotel staff. 

"Fucking go back or you will be dead meat." Lucas' growled in anger as his emotionless eyes stared at the confused young man.

It was at this moment that a gasp resonated from the opposite side of the young hotel staff.

"Kristina!"