Chapter 15: Breath

Time seemed to slow down as Cloe lost her balance and fell into the pool. As she plunged into the water she squeezed her eyes shut.

Opening her eyes she saw her hair trailing in front of her as she sank into the watery depths of the pool. Her vision was cloudy as she squeezed her eyes shut again.

When she opened her eyes she found herself staring up at the broad blue sky, there wasn't a single cloud in sight. Confused she bolted upright, scanning her surroundings she noticed that she was in a field full of blue roses.

Slowly got to her feet, her clothes were drenched and clung to her skin, she shivered.

She saw something move in the corner of her vision, turning to see what it was she spotted two figures not too far from her.

One was a little girl who looked oddly familiar and the other's back was facing her. Cloe approached them slowly.

The little girl was crying, the person with her crouched in front of her.

"Come now crying isn't going to help dear... I know it's hard but you have to learn to control it... Look at me." Cloe judged from the voice that the person was a woman, and based on how they were interacting Cloe doubted that they could see her.

"Just breath, don't let your emotions control you." the woman said tilting the girl's chin upward.

Cloe found herself taking in a breath she didn't know she needed.

The child took deep breaths. "Good." the woman cooed stroking the girl's head.

"Was that so bad?" she asked when the girl stopped crying.

The little girl comically shook her head.

The women laughed, the sound rippled out across the field, it was like music.

Cloe closed her eyes listening to the sound.

When she opened her eyes again she was standing at the bottom of the pool, her hair was floating about her face.

Her immediate reaction was panic that she was going to drown, but then she realized that she was breathing. She stood frozen in shock. Looking about she saw that she was in the deep area of the pool, spotting a ladder she tried to make her way over to it but her movements were slowed by the water. In defeat, she stopped. The key floated in front of her, it was glowing as it had on the night at the oasis.

Taking a hold of it she noted that it felt hot against her skin.

Jump

Cloe didn't know where that thought came from but decided that with all the crazy things happening she might as well give it a try.

Crouching into a squatting position she jumped. She didn't even have time to react as she was propelled from the bottom of the pool at lightning speed. Breaking the surface she felt the weight of the water fall away from her body, but she kept going, the glass ceiling above the pool got closer by the second.

Suddenly she stopped in mid-air. Her heart was beating so hard he thought it would jump out of her chest. She was breathing heavily. Looking down she saw that she was high above the pool and Derek was standing by the pool looking up at her. She began to descend slowly in the direction of the poolside until her feet touched the floor.

She was drenched, breathing heavily and shivering. Her knees wobbled.

Derek looked down at her. Weren't you going to stop? You would have gone straight through the roof if I hadn't stopped you." he asked confused.

Cloe didn't respond she was too shaken up to utter any words.

"Hey, are you ok?" he asked stepping closer, she almost backed away but caught herself in time when she remembered that was the reason she fell into the pool in the first place. She sidestepped him and walked toward the door grabbing a towel on her way out.

She made her way to the kitchen as she walked in she was greeted by warmth and the sweet aroma of toast filled her nostrils. Spotting the chef she greeted him good morning and made her way over to the fridge. Grabbing a bottle of water she turned and almost bumped into Derek. She attempted to sidestep him again but he grabbed her upper arm, she dropped the bottle.

"Let me go," she yelled trying to get her arm out of his grip.

"Not until you tell me what happened," he said tightening his grip.

She looked up at him, his expression was unreadable.

"Seriously!" she yelled.

"I almost drowned thanks to you!"

"But you didn't," he stated bluntly.

Her free hand flew to her mouth.

"Did you want me to?" she asked quietly.

"Stop beating around the bush, what happened?" he asked letting go of her arm. She could tell that he was annoyed.

Even though she had the towel wrapped around her she shivered, a small puddle was beginning to form at her feet.

He sighed "Go get changed and meet me back at the pool." he said as he crouched and picked up the bottle of water she had dropped. He rested it on the counter and then left.

She looked over at the chef who didn't even seem bothered by what had taken place as he went about what he was doing.

Turning she made her way to her room and locked the door behind her. She quickly changed and sat by the glass wall, looking out over the oasis.

Her thoughts were all jumbled as she tried to process what had happened. She was still trembling even though she had changed. Rubbing her arms she tried to warm herself up. Out of everything that happened Derek shocked her the most. She was picking up a trend where one minute he's fine and the next he's giving off a sinister vibe. She wasn't sure if she could trust him, if anything she was scared of him, but she sure as hell wasn't going to let him know that.

After she had spent a few more minutes gathering her thoughts, she willed herself to get up. She had to face him even if she didn't want to.