Chapter 26

AMBER'S POV
My first instinct was to swim as I plunged into the water but then I remembered I wasn't going for a swim, I wasn't supposed to swim, I was just supposed to relax and let the water lead the way. The first five seconds were very calm, very still, I couldn't hear the water opening up to enclose me in a cold embrace. I couldn't hear Eve's taunts nor could I hear Pauline's laughs.
The cold water held me for a few more seconds as all the sounds returned with full force, the current was very strong and my body thrashed and clashed against the water. My brain was screaming for me to work my limbs, to move my hand, to swim, to do anything to survive but I didn't respond. I was tired of fighting and my body understood, my mind was the reluctant one.
'Amber!!!" My name floated to me through the heavy current but it made no sense that I was hearing my name over the water's heavy current.
'Amber!!!!!" The call was louder this time, like it was coming from very close to me. It sounded like a siren to me, mermaids couldn't possibly be in this little river, could they? I smiled as I felt the noise slowly drowning out, it was coming to an end. I closed my eyes and willed my body to ease up, switching off whatever survival instinct the brain had wired into my body. I wasn't going to fight.
'Swim, Amber! Stretch your arms, goddamit!" I thought mermen were more rare than mermaids, I couldn't discern if it was a female or a male but someone was definitely calling out to me. I knew how to swim, swimming was one of the things I learnt when I wanted to join the cheerleaders but I wasn't going to swim, not today.
Images of my children flashed before me as my body starting feeling limp, I was drowning and the alcohol was numbing me through the whole process. I saw Maddie's beautiful smile that was the exact replica of mine, Danny's slight frown that I had seen on their father for as long as I've known him, Frankie's irritated look whenever I pulled him into a hug and Mel's bright smile whenever she saw something she liked.
My children were the only reasons I had pushed myself till this point but here I was eager to end everything and leave them. Eve had been right, my life hadn't turned out the way I planned it, not in the slightest and it was all my doing. My mum had thrown me out of her house with my four months old pregnancy with nothing and nowhere to go but I had survived through it all regardless of the huge odds that were stacked up against me.
I knew what I was going to be against returning to Los Angeles but I did it anyways and my children along with Mel had helped me through the whole ordeal. Deciding to end my life was the most selfish thing I could have ever done but here I was doing it anyways.
I had to hold on much longer, this wasn't the end, I shouldn't be the end. I opened eyes and started flaring my hands. The current slammed against me as I struggled to gain balance, disturbing the process would hasten the process and so I was sinking faster than I was before. I tried to hold my breath but I couldn't, I was sinking deeper and deeper and the surface was getting fainter. I caught a glimpse of a shadow swimming down towards me as the world went black.
JAY'S POV
I watched in horror as Amber slid off the edge of the river and fell into the rushing water. The world was silent as I ran towards the edge of the river, I watched in total dismay as she hit the water with a dull thud and didn't surface afterwards.
Amber Swift was the captain of the cheerleaders back then so she most definitely knew how to swim and that gave me a little relief and I steadied myself and took a deep breath. For someone that knew how to swim, the river wasn't that much of a threat to them but I was still worried nonetheless.
I knew no one would intentionally jump into the river from such a height, she must have accidentally slipped off the edge as she sat on it. Something like that had happened to Daniel once before but I knew she was going to be alright as long as she swam to the end of the river.
But as I watched her closely, I noticed she wasn't making any attempt to save herself. I called out her name but either she couldn't hear over the water's strong and thrashing current or she wasn't paying attention to anything. I called out again and this time her hand moved upwards as if to bid a final goodbye as she started sinking.
Without thinking of the depth, I hurriedly removed my clothes and dove into the water. It was freezing cold and the current was so strong I had an inkling of why she wasn't swimming. I searched frantically around but there was no sign of her, my heart was racing from both and the whole activity.
I hadn't swam in a long time and my body was already getting sore as I swam a distance and kept on calling out to Amber. There was no response, I called out for help but I knew there wouldn't be anyone around. The hideout was a distance from the school and was even secluded, no one would come here this late but Amber had.
I dragged a huge gust of breath as I dove under the water, my eyes were burning as if they had been set on fire and my lungs felt like they had been filled to the brim with water. Ignoring the serious ache I was feeling, I thrust further and further, deep into the water in search of the cheerleader in a bid to try and undo the wrong that had been done to her by giving her a new lease on life. Even if she didn't want one.