When Night Falls (23 page)

Pym

I couldn’t get the feeling out of my mind. You know the
feeling where you think you’re being followed or watched? Well, it was happening to me right now. As I took my morning swim, on the same route I took every day, the feeling wouldn’t leave, like a black cloud hanging over. I was a natural swimmer. Rush always joked that I must have been a fish in my past life, and I’d say, “All the better to beat you.” I had won all of the races we had shared since I could remember.

Everyone here was expected to be a natural swimmer since the great floods covered the earth in 2012. The majority of the world’s population drowned, but a select few survived by clinging to floating debris. And that was how Aqua was born thirty years later. It was either
you learn to swim or die in our world.

You might be wondering what Aqua is. The City of Aqua
, pronounced
ag-wa
, was created from the debris of the Old World. It’s a floating city that sits somewhere in the Pacific Ocean. Although Aqua moves, the currents make it stay in one general area. You might also be wondering how we have survived for so long living in the middle of the ocean. Well, we have evolved. That’s where the natural ability for swimming comes in.

I
sped up, increasing the pace, feeling that something was not right. I flipped myself over and could see a dark shadow above, and then below. There were dark shadows all around. I was cornered. The hatch to my room was too far away. Out in the open, I was exposed. My father always drilled into me not to swim too far out into the open blue of the ocean, but I didn’t often listen. Now I was paying for it. The dark shadows moved closer, and I finally got a glimpse of what they were. Sharks. There were sharks all around me. Aqua has an abundance of all kinds of sharks, but they normally didn’t hurt us.

Something
was wrong.

This
wasn’t their normal behavior. They were circling me. Circling their prey. It wouldn’t be long before one of them had the guts to go for the kill. I try to swim down, but I know this is dangerous. Eventually, I’d need to come up for air. Our people could hold their breath for an average of fifteen minutes, but I held the record of twenty-five. Rush had reached twenty and was still trying to beat me. I turned back toward the city, toward the safety of my room, but the sharks were still circling me.

And then something
hit me. I was sent sideways and almost knocked unconscious. Black spots clouded my vision. The shark came at me again. This time, I saw teeth and a flash of a fin and a tail. I shut my eyes and waited for imminent death. But it never came. All I heard was the thrashing of water and the sounds of a struggle. I opened one eye and saw two sharks fighting. I didn’t know if the shark fighting the others off was one of the ones who had been circling me, or a newcomer. All I knew was that this new shark had saved my life, but now it was time for me to get out of there.

I swam as if my life depended on it.

I reached the round hatch in the floor of my room and pulled myself up. Everyone had one of these hatches in the ground floor of their apartment for quick access to the ocean. I unzipped my wetsuit as I reached for a towel. Luckily, I didn’t start to strip because someone had followed me right into my bedroom. I spun around and saw Rush standing in the middle of my floor, his dark hair dripping over his sapphire blue eyes. My heart did a somersault in my chest as I took him in. The sight of his wet suit pulled tight over his muscular body was doing unmentionable things to my insides. Looking at him made me forget all about my zipper, which was silly because I shouldn’t have been feeling these sorts of things for my best friend.

“Why can’t you knock first?”

“Sorry I seemed to have bypassed the “Pym is undressing” sign.”

“That’s because I don’t have one, perv.” I
said as I threw my towel at him. I saw his eyes devouring my nude back, so I poked my tongue out at him and climbed the winding stairs to my loft. I could feel his eyes on me each step of the way. Rush and I have had nothing going on sexually between us, although some have hinted of our unrequited sexual tension, but I don’t see the deal. Rush Rodgers was my best and only friend, and we had been since age six. Our fathers ran the Militia that governs our city, so our mothers raised us together. I turned back before opening the bathroom door. Rush was still standing there dripping in the middle of my living room.

“What do you want?” I
asked.

“You shouldn’t go out alone.”

I rolled my eyes. “You sound like my father. I don’t need someone else telling me what I can or cannot do.” I spun the wheel to unlock my bathroom and pushed it open. “Do you mind? I’m going to take a shower. I’ll meet you in the common room.” He was still standing there, still staring.

“Rush? Earth to Rush!”

“Yeah, yeah. I was just making sure you were okay. I’m glad you are. I’ll see you soon.”

I
smiled at him, heart fluttering in my chest. “See you soon.” I shut the door and turned on the shower.

*
**

The common room
was crowded at this time of day. It was lunchtime, and the sounds of chatter echoed off the iron walls, but I was accustomed to it now. I scanned the sea of heads for my family. I saw my little sister waving her arms above her head, beckoning me over. I smiled and looked around as I made my way over. I don’t see Rush anywhere.

“Hey
, silly Sage. Sit down or you’ll fall.”

“You’re here, Pymmy. They have your favorite today, chicken in pajamas.”

“Chicken in pajamas? Well, I’ll have to get some, won’t I?” I laughed. I loved my kid sister who, at six years old, idolized me. I practically had to raise Sage while my parents were off working. My mother and Rush’s mother were both nurses and worked long hours, while our fathers ran the government. Children were permitted to work as soon as they turned eighteen, no questions asked. It was the law. Lucky me, I had six more months of freedom. Rush had one.

“Pym, your father told me you were out swimming today in the Clearing? What did he tell you?”

“I know, Mom. But I’m a good swimmer, one of the best. I can look after myself.”

“He said
there have been a growing number of sharks lately. We just want you to be careful.”

“I will, Mom.”

Mom put down her fork and dabbed her lips with a napkin. “Well, I’m off to work. I need you to watch Sage tonight. Okay?”

“But I watch her every night. I was going to meet Rush and…”

“No protests. You can see Rush tomorrow.” My mother fixed me with a warning glare and left. I groaned in frustration. Why was I always left to be the babysitter? As I ate my lunch with Sage, I contemplated ways of getting rid of her so I could meet Rush. I glanced around the common room again but still couldn’t see him. Where was he? He said he would meet me here. If he wasn’t here, that only left one place he could be. I followed him there once, so I knew where it was. As soon as I could drop Sage off with her friend, I would head down there.

“Come on, eat up.”

“Mommy said you have to look after me.”

“No, you’re going over to Evan’s room for the night.”

“But…”

“No buts. It’ll be okay. I’ll come get you in a few hours.”

“Okay.” Sage swung her legs under the table as she finished eating her chicken. She was an easy kid to persuade, especially when I mentioned her best friend Evan, or chocolate.

After walking Sage to Evan’s and kissing her on the head, I decided to go in search of Rush, unbeknownst to what was about to happen.