Sacred Flame: His Enemy, His Mate (BL)-Chapter 51: Fear

Kain Locke

The water was freezing, shocking my body as it rushed in through the shattered windshield. My breath hitched, my lungs tightening as icy waves swallowed everything.

I tried to move, but my seatbelt held me in place. My fingers fumbled with the buckle, hands shaking from both the cold and the adrenaline still surging through my veins.

"Kael!" I called the man who slumped on top of my body. His limbs have now softened, maybe he couldn’t hear me due to the water coming in from every angle of the car. But,

He wasn’t moving... even if he didn’t want to talk to me, or if he didn’t want to say anything or answer my call, at least I should feel him moving and struggling right? And that’s exactly the problem because he isn’t moving.

My stomach dropped as I heaved a loud breath, my trembling hand wanting to push him off my chest, but he wasn’t only heavy, I still have the seatbelt on as well, so I strained myself just enough to push him off me by raising my chest with much difficulty.

He finally slumped against the driver’s seat, his head tilted at an unnatural angle, and now I pushed him I could see dark liquid mixing with the water around him. Blood. His blood.

Shit. He was injured!

I reached for him, shaking his shoulder. "Kael! Wake up!"

No response. His breathing was shallow, his face so pale like a white piece of paper.

Something must have hit him during the crash. Something definitely hit him when he jumped on me!

I have no idea why, but seeing him like that invoked something within me... fear..

Yes, the unexplainable panic clawed up my throat as the car sank fast.

Water had already risen past my waist, and soon it would reach our heads and we’ll sink to the bottom If I didn’t act now.

However, how am I going to act? What do I do now when he’s unconscious? What do I do to get him out of this water so he can be treated when time is not by our sides, because every passing minute sinks us even deeper down the water.

I forced my fingers to steady and pressed the seat belt release. It didn’t budge.

"Come on, come on," I muttered, yanking at it again but the damn thing that worked perfectly when I was buckling it was now jammed!

Dammit!! Fucking dammit!

I twisted my body quickly, searching the half-submerged car for anything sharp like a blade or anything, but there was nothing, even a gun hasn’t felt so useless until now,

I grind my teeth together, bending as I searched around, and at long last, my hands landed on the shattered remains of the dashboard, fingers closing around a jagged piece of metal.

I gritted my teeth, ignoring the sting as the sharp edge bit into my palm, and began sawing at the strap hurriedly, then finally, it snapped.

But just as I moved to hold him, the car swayed again, going deeper and Kael’s body slumped forward.

I barely had time to catch him before the water surged higher, reaching my chest, numbing my limbs all together.

However, now wasn’t the time to check or care about his injuries, or mine. No time to think. Because the first thing I had to be sure of was to get out of this water. I can think about other things after that.

I hooked an arm under his, dragging his unconscious body toward the window. The pressure of the water outside kept the door shut tight. There was only one way out.

And that’s up.

I braced myself and kicked at the cracked windshield. Once. Twice. Thrice...

The fifth kick was able to send shards of glass scattering into the water and thankfully, the current slowed it down so we were able to escape being scraped or injured by one of it.

The car lurched. It was going down.

I sucked in a breath and pushed through the broken opening, dragging Kael with me. The moment we were free, the vehicle disappeared into the depths, swallowed by darkness.

My lungs burned as I kicked upward, the weight of Kael slowing me down. My arms ached, my legs screamed, but I didn’t stop.

Not until I broke through the surface, gasping for air.

Not until I held Kael’s face above the waves, his blood still warm against my fingers, he’s bleeding even faster now, I’ve gotta put pressure on it or he’ll bleed to death!

And that will be impossible, at least not here in the middle of the sea! Where the saltwater was now burning my throat, my arms already numb from exhaustion as I struggled to keep Kael’s head above the waves. His body was heavy, oh Lord , how could he weigh this much!? I questioned his dead weight against me,

I turned in every direction, but all I saw was dark water stretching endlessly. No boats. No shore. Nothing. And I wasn’t even sure whether the trailers were still out there, because the bridge was no longer in sight! Have we drifted far or what was happening?

Panic twisted in my gut. We couldn’t stay here. The cold was already seeping into my bones, making my movements sluggish. Kael was losing blood. If I didn’t do something fast, we’d both end up at the bottom of this damn ocean dead!

I was still wondering how to go about it when I saw something.

A flash of color in the distance. It wasn’t much, barely visible under the dim moonlight, but it was there. A tiny, desperate sliver of hope.

Although it was tiny, and there’s the likeness of it not being anything useful, I didn’t think. I just swam, dragging him along with me, a drowning man would clutch at a straw after all.

I pushed forward, dragging Kael with me. Every kick turning slower, weaker, like the sea was trying to pull us under. But I wouldn’t let it. I just couldn’t.

And at long last, I reached it, my fingers latched onto the flimsy plastic, it was an inflatable canoe. Or what used to be one. It was deflated, barely floating, probably lost from some kid playing too close to the shore.

It sure does look like a small canoe, but it wouldn’t be enough.

Still, I tried. Shoving Kael onto it with my trembling arms, but the moment I let go, the canoe dipped, then rolled, and Kael splashed back into the water.

"No, no, no--- fucking no!" I gritted my teeth, grabbing him again.

It was useless. As it wasn’t built to hold a grown man, let alone two of us.

And we were in the middle of nowhere. No land, no rescue, just endless water and this. I gulped emptily,

I couldn’t let this be it. I wouldn’t let this be it.

But what the hell was I supposed to do now? Unless I keep trying?

After two more trials, I tried again, slower this time and fortunately, it worked.

I lay him motionless on the canoe, his face was now pale under the moonlight. His blood had stopped mixing into the water, which meant either it had slowed or he was running out of it.

I let out a shaky breath, my whole body trembling from the cold. My arms felt like they were made of stone, my legs barely obeying me,

Instead of giving in, I dug in, forcing myself to move, pushing through the water, my breath coming out in short, painful gasps. My skin was burning from the icy grip of the sea, but I kept going.

Kael wasn’t breathing right. His body was too still. If I didn’t get him to shore soon—

I didn’t let myself finish that thought. I couldn’t bring myself to.

I kept swimming, each stroke a fight against the weight dragging me down. Time stretched, maybe blurred because I couldn’t tell if it was minutes or hours, but finally, I saw land,

Hope and relief hit me so hard I almost choked. And I have no idea if it was adrenaline, but I pushed harder, ignoring the screaming in my muscles, because all I had insight into was that area of dry land.

Then, finally, my feet hit something.

Sand.

A broken, desperate breath tore from my throat as I forced my body forward, dragging Kael out of the water with the last of my strength.

I collapsed onto the shore, my limbs refusing to move for a long moment.

And when I eventually forced myself up, taking in my surroundings.

The place was... it looked abandoned.

Wreckage was scattered around, broken wooden beams, rusted metal, pieces of what must have once been houses that now had leaves poking out through them, tall trees taking roots in the once small town left to rot.

People used to live here. That much was clear. But now?

It was nothing but ruins and I am in the middle of it with someone who needed medical attention more than anything at this moment.