Stolen Serenity

"So very sore," Serenity mumbled as she pulled back the warm and inviting sheets and comforter on her bed. She fluffed up her pillows gently, the sound sending her off into an even deeper form of sleep deprivation. The window rattled from the force of the wind outdoors, perhaps a storm was approaching the island?

She shut her curtains partly, leaving a generous space between the two for moonlight to shine in. One of her habits from back home when she'd send off to sleep was to watch the moon slowly glide across the darkened sky. It was like a silent lullaby to her.

She carefully slipped her feet in underneath the sheets, trying not to wrinkle them too much so she could easily make up the bed when she woke. She snuggled down deep inside the warmth of the silk and let her head slowly sink into her pillow which was shining brightly in the moonlight.

As she turned towards the window, she noticed the moon was much bigger than it appeared to be in Genovesa. On her past island, the moon looked as if someone tossed a ball into the sky and it simply had gotten stuck in midair. But here, the moon looked as if you could reach out and touch it.

It was huge in size, she could barely see each of the edges in her window frame. It sparkled wildly in the starlight and the reflection shined beautifully off the water. She closed her eyes and began to drift off into a much needed sleep. A sleep that would be filled with dreams of a certain boy.

"So what do you want to do today, Serenity?" Sora asked as he slung his arm around her shoulder loosely, pulling her close.

"U-um..." Serenity stuttered as her face flushed. "Whatever you want to do, I guess."

"How about we go for a swim?" he ran to the ocean's edge and dipped his toes in carefully. "The water feels great!"

"I don't know..." Serenity trailed off, her thoughts returning to the previous night. "It doesn't look safe."

"Doesn't look safe?" Sora laughed wildly. "What's not safe about this water? It's crystal clear! You can see everything!"

Before Serenity could speak another word, Sora stripped off all of his clothing until he was down to a long pair of black swim trunks which she presumed he wore under his clothes on a regular basis.

He ran out into the water, the aqua water spraying everywhere behind him as if he were a dog digging furiously in the sand.

"Sora! Don't go too far!" Serenity called out to him, but she wasn't even sure if he had heard her because as she spoke he dived straight down underwater.

"Sora," she groaned as she pulled off her black sun dress, revealing a orchid two piece. She stepped towards the water and dipped her toe in as Sora had done, but it was freezing.

"Sora! I'm not going in!" she shivered as she moved backwards to the warmth of the sand. "It's too cold!"

Sora popped his head up from the water a ways off. He somehow must have heard her because he replied,

"Are you kidding? It's great! Come on!" he groaned, slightly annoyed. "Or are you a chicken?"

"I'm not a chicken!" Serenity called back to him as she stepped towards the water once more. Her feet were greeted with the chilling ocean's waves as she stood there, trying to look fearless.

"Well then what are you waiting for? Hurry up and jump i-" Sora suddenly was cut off as he was pulled under the water by his ankle. His arms flailed under the water's surface, causing water to fly into the air.

"Sora!" Serenity screamed as she ran into the water towards him. "Sora!"

Sora's head appeared above the current for a split second as he shouted, "Serenity!", but he was quickly pulled back under.

"Sora! Hold on, I'm coming!" she yelled back to him as she swam with all her might. Her arms felt as if they were going to pop off her shoulders because they were moving so fast, but she was somehow managing to pulled her way through the water with an unknown source of energy.

Serenity reached the spot where Sora had been pulled under. She frantically searched around her and tried to dive down to see if she could see him, but the water underneath seemed unreasonably dark. She swam back to the surface. Though on the way up to the surface the water swayed against her body which was making it difficult for her to swim, once her head broke through into the air, all was still. The water suddenly was as flat and calm as a sheet of glass. Nothing moved. Nothing.

"What?" she wondered to herself, bewildered. "How is this even...?"

She glanced around her body, the water below her was dark and deep, but everywhere else was crystal clear and shining in an aqua hue.

"Sora?" she wondered as she looked down below her again. This was the only possible place that he could be, wasn't it?

Before she had time to think, she was suddenly pulled underneath the water with no time to catch a breath of air. She began to madly choke on the water that rushed into her lungs.

She kicked and punched at the liquid that consumed her, but nothing worked. She was being pulled down further and further by invisible hands. Further and further into the darkness.

Serenity jumped up in bed, her heart pounding like a marching band's drum being rapped repeatedly to no end. She was covered in a cold sweat that ran down her chest and back, her hands trembling uncontrollably.

Her eyes flashed around the room as she slowly realized where she really was. Her bedroom looked the same as she had left it before she went to bed.

The only difference was that instead of the moonlight shining in for her to sleep, the blindingly bright sun hung overhead in the partly cloudy sky as the palms swayed in the breeze.

She swung her legs over the side of the bed as she ran her fingers through her hair. After a moment of recollecting her thoughts, she finally caught her breath.

Without a single word to say, she pulled a few clothes out of her nightstand and headed for the shower.