Amaranthine and Other Stories Read Online Free Page B

stick.
    Eva walked cautiously along the edge of the pool, right towards the end. She read the sign DEEP END – DEPTH 5m - as if to reassure herself that this was the right place. She stared into the water, watching tiny waves form on the surface.
    The bottom appeared so close yet so far. It glittered in the light, inviting her, calling her. She wasn't the strongest swimmer but did not fear water.
    She waved to Sophie and took a deep breath, diving into the pool with eyes open, swimming ever deeper towards the bottom. She held her nose and equalized her ears. The pressure surprised her, even at 5 metres.
    Eva glided effortlessly along the bottom of the pool, looking in all directions and eager to find Sophie's mysterious friend. The filthy drain she noticed last week caught her attention again. She could no longer see any hair floating from it but decided to take a closer look anyway.
    She swam towards it, running her fingers over the smooth surface of the opening. Eva gazed into it for a few seconds when she heard a feeble whisper behind her. She flipped around towards the sound, her long
Rapunzel
hair floating all around. Eva regretted not tying it up. The water revealed nothing but blurry images of children's legs.
    The temperature of the pool dropped and soon she would run out of air. Eva began to surface but an invisible force yanked her hair from behind. Her heart hammered as she desperately struggled to turn around, realizing that her long hair must've got entangled in the drain. Panic kicked in. She could not breathe. She could not swim. She could not escape. She could only scream, and scream she did, although it wasn't really a scream but more of a yelp. Eva watched bubbles slip out from her mouth as she struggled to free herself. The water turned murkier and darkness swallowed all.

    As instructed, Sophie sat on the bench, smiling and humming. She watched the minutes pass on the enormous clock above the pool. How long has it been now? Ten minutes? Maybe more?
    A lifeguard noticed Sophie at last from his little tower. He climbed down and sat next to her.
    “Hello, are you okay?”
    “Yes, thank you,” replied Sophie, like a good girl.
    “A young girl like you should be accompanied by an adult at all times, you know? We don't want any drowning accidents. Where's your mother?”
    “My mother's dead,” answered Sophie, gazing at the clock and wondering if Morgen had succeeded.

Eucalyptus Grove
    “We plotted the ceremony for six weeks,” I confessed, avoiding the detective's judgemental glare and listening to his porcine snorts. With one hand, he rubbed his shiny forehead. With the other, his meaty fingers clutched the pen—scribbling with hectic strokes. “Go on, boy, tell me exactly what happened that night.”
    And so I did. I'd undergone a recent spiritual rebirth. I was a Christian now and had to confess my sins, right?
    The three of us revered heavy metal, satanic bands in particular. James's basement was our chapel and we headbanged in there religiously after school. Cradle of Filth, Behemoth, Slayer, Dimmu Borgir—you name it. We worshipped the lyrics and basked in the subliminal darkness they invoked. We even dabbled in music ourselves. James pestered me and Randy to help him with the ritual. He claimed it would benefit our own band.
    “How exactly?” Randy asked.
    Postmortem
blasted in the background as James lit a bowl of meth, his face disappearing in a cloud of blinding smoke.
    “Think about it! We'd receive power from the Devil! He'd help us play the guitar even better! We'd gain more craziness to go professional, know what I mean?”
    I didn't, but the speculation caught my curiosity.
    “I marked the grave last night so you two douches are still up for it, yeah?” James said.
    I took a blow of meth and relaxed, letting the ecstasy rush through my head—dominating the senses.
    “Yeah, let's do it tonight. You got the equipment, right?” Randy said.
    “Sure, sure.” I nodded.

    Under the