14: Sphere, 2

lo·cum te·nens
a temporary substitute, esp. for a doctor or member of the clergy.

Sphere, 1

In an instant, she felt her fear shatter under the pressure. It exploded like a frag grenade - the shrapnel remained, embedded, but incoherent, suddenly meaningless. A vague sort of senselessness washed over her. It wasn't that she had overcome the water. It was that for a moment, it had been suspended. Rationality was supplanted by fuck it, whatever.

Kailey sucked in air, then remembered belatedly that her lungs would last longer deflated, and exhaled again. She did this a few times, looking like she was hyperventilating, before she felt a playful tug at her ankle and succumbed to her whatever.

She pulled herself down, urging against her body's demand to float up. The water around her seemed to grow only chillier and thicker as she swam. She clammed her eyes tight and tried desperately not to think about it. Seconds passed, counted in arm movements. Time seemed to stretch out away from her, actions slowed, lungs beginning to burn for air. As she dove deeper she felt the telltale gut-hollowing-out sensation. Gravity was weakening. Closer! I can make it!

Abruptly, Kailey decided that it was too far. Mark had said it was only a few meters, but she had traveled at least four; she must have come at too shallow an angle. I can't do this. I'll try again, she told herself, knowing she wouldn't. She held on to calm, remembering, My air will save me. Stopping her arms at her sides, she waited for the power of buoyancy to thrust her back to the surface like a cork.

It didn't.

The sinker line!

Her eyes shot open. The fragments of fear dislodged, reassembling as panic. She felt it now, seeping in through all her orifices, inside her, replacing her, as if she wasn't even physically there. It would swallow her, crush her to nothing in its compacting stomach. She screamed bubbles, lashing out arms and legs, trying to vainly to fight the omnipresent foe. Water reached into her mouth, choking her.

Then something caught her leg. Suddenly she was dragged down, down, shutting her eyes to block it out. She felt the water thin only briefly, as gravity reduced to nothing and the pressure eased off. Then she broke into blinding light.