Chapter 6
On Friday morning,
Linda woke up with the sudden urge to take an early swim in the ocean. She used
to swim every morning before work until her heavy workload interfered with the
one pleasure that she was able to afford. Swimming relaxed her and strengthened
her aching muscles. She felt that she deserved this one treat for herself, so
she put on her bathing suit and sprinted to the beach.
The beach was deserted,
except for a few birds searching for food on the shore. The sun, which had
risen a little while ago, was shining on the blue and green shimmering water.
The ocean was so clear that Linda was able to see the small fish swimming along
the bottom…below the deep water that she was swimming in. Oh no! She had swum too
far out, and was getting too close to the rocks below End House. She decided
that it was time for her to turn back, before she got washed out into the ocean
by the strong waves beating at the shore.
She turned to swim back in
and felt herself being forced
down beneath the water. Trying to remain afloat, she kicked and
thrashed her arms out, but something was holding her down. Kicking her legs
backward, she hit something hard; it felt like someone’s body. Then she was released. She looked down to see who or what was pulling her down and
saw a large person—wearing a wet suit and mask to cover up his
identity—swimming below her in the water.
To her utter dismay, she
realized that this person was coming at her again, hooking his arm around her
throat to choke her. She tried to kick behind her, but this time she couldn’t reach her attacker. She was beginning to suffocate from the lack of air…slowly losing consciousness. Then the hold on
her was slackened and she was able to gulp in shaky breaths of air. She was
lifted into someone’s strong arms and held tight as they swam together to
shore.
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