Save Her by Abigail Osborne (novel books to read .txt) 📗

more people to observe and noise to quieten her thoughts. She needed that more than ever today, given the stress she had been under lately.

The lifeguard was waiting at the end of her lane and Flora watched in anticipation for the woman to be told off. Balance would be restored, until the next faux pas was committed. Flora slowed her speed so she could enjoy the uncomfortable conversation that was about to take place between the spotty lifeguard and the clueless pensioner.

Water.

She barely had time to acknowledge the hand on her head before she was thrust underneath the water. Cold, chlorine-tasting water filled her lungs and flooded her mouth and nose. Her blood pounded behind her eyes. She thrashed her arms and legs, but she couldn’t reach the surface. Terror like she had never felt before rose within her. Her lungs screamed in agony. An unseen force was holding her down. Bubbles clouded her vision. Help me. Her eyes searched desperately for someone to help. Was that a leg? All she could see was air bubbles and smudges of pink, white and splashes of colour. The chlorine burned her eyes and nose. An intense pain surged within her ribs. Her lungs were burning. She fought hard to resist the urge to open her mouth. Her legs began to tire from frantically kicking and fighting the insurmountable pressure keeping her held under the water.

Without warning the pressure from her head was gone and she was able to propel herself upwards. She broke through the surface and gulped in glorious mouthfuls of air.

Flora looked around, disorientated. She trod water wearily as she tried to stop hyperventilating, her eyes wild with fear, looking for the person who had held her under the water. There was no one there. The other swimmers were at the opposite end of the lane, no one seemed aware that anything had happened to her.

She groped for the side thankful she had chosen a lane at the edge of the pool. Her body and hands were shaking so much it took her two attempts to gain a proper grip. She clung to the wall and tried to wrap her mind around what had just happened. Her body felt heavy and her lungs, nose and throat still burned painfully. Coughs wracked her body as her lungs expelled the pool water she’d swallowed. She couldn’t hear anything above the hammering of her heart. Looking around again, she could see that the lady she had been swimming behind wasn’t that far away. It had felt like an age that she had been under the water when apparently it had only been a few seconds at most.

No one seemed to notice that anything was amiss. The wayward older lady was at the other end of the pool now, keeping to the rules this time and swimming on the right. All around her the water churned and lapped against her skin as people made their way up and down. Men in the fast lane tore their way through the water like a shark was chasing them. The orchestra of noise and splashes of the water echoed around the room, overwhelming her overwrought senses, when only moments ago, she’d embraced the noise and loved the atmosphere. She needed to get out, but she didn’t trust her ability to move.

Someone had been holding her under the water, stopping her from surfacing. She looked around, feeling vulnerable. Looking for… what was she looking for? Everyone in the lanes around her were focused on their task. No one was watching her. Were they? She met the eyes of a man who had stopped for a break next to her. He peered at her curiously. Was it him? she thought. Did he hold her under the water? Why was he looking at her?

‘You going, love?’ he asked, motioning to the lane.

Relief flooded through her. She must have looked like she was about to swim again and he was being polite and letting her go first. ‘No… No. You go,’ she stammered, her voice hoarse from the coughing.

Her body trembled uncontrollably. She had a desperate need to escape, to get somewhere safe. Unsteadily, she pulled herself along to the ladder at the end of the pool. She had an urge to run to the changing rooms, but she was still weak and shaky. It took two attempts just to summon enough energy to pull herself out of the water. Her body was heavy, like she was now made of stone. Timidly, Flora made her way back to her locker. Every step was difficult due to the heaviness of her limbs. Her side ached and her nose and throat still burned each time she took a breath. Nausea threatened with each step she took, her stomach rolling, repulsed by the pool water. There was a very real possibility she may vomit.

Paranoid, she felt the eyes of everyone in the pool boring into her back like pinpricks on her skin. She tried to make herself smaller, hunching her body in.

When she had grabbed her bag, fled to a changing room and locked the door, she slumped on the wooden bench and finally gave way to tears. She had been so scared. Had she imagined the hand on her head, like she’d imagined her cards disappearing? Was there something wrong with her? One minute she was staring at the back of an old lady’s head. The next minute, water was everywhere. She shuddered at the memory, reliving the pressure in her lungs, the desperation for air. She was sure there had been a hand on her head. But there was no one there when she came back up. Surely if there was someone holding her down under the water, someone would have noticed. Wouldn’t they? she wondered. Oh god, I am actually going insane.

The tears seemed to soothe her. With a shaky breath, she began to get changed and head back to Sam’s house. Fear was exhausting.

20

Sophie had been on the phone