Blossom's POV.
It was quiet.
Too quiet.
Not the comforting kind. The eerie, suffocating kind that settles right before something breaks. Then-gunshots. Dozens. Sharp and wild like a thunderstorm of lead crashing against the world outside this box.
I flinched, heart jumping into my throat.
Vincent...
I could feel it.
I couldn't hear his voice clearly, but something in me knew. It was his chaos out there-his storm.
I pressed my ear against the metal wall, breath hitching. My pulse thrummed in my neck. Footsteps. More gunshots. Yelling. Then-a creak. The container jolted. My balance shifted.
No.
No no no-
A loud clank hit above. The sound of something being released. The floor gave way beneath me, gravity yanked the box down with a vicious hunger, and I screamed as I was thrown against the side.
We were falling.
Into the ocean.
Into the black.
My stomach twisted. The moment the container hit the water, it shook-and then came the slow, inevitable tilt as the ocean swallowed it whole.
Cold seeped in first-icy fingers slipping through cracks like death's whisper. The water licked across the floor, inch by inch. Rising.
Faster than I thought it would.
I scrambled to my feet, chest heaving, legs wobbling from the impact. My hands banged against the metal walls. "NO! STOP!"
It kept rising.
Shin-deep.
Knee-deep.
I backed into a corner, eyes searching every bolt, every seam, anything. My hands searched wildly-anything that could be pried open or bent or kicked down.
But it was solid.
The container groaned, metal buckling under pressure. The air inside was wet and thick and wrong. My lungs ached already, like they knew what was coming.
"Vincent," I whispered, voice shaking.
Where are you?
My breath fogged up in the cold. I screamed again, fists hammering the steel above me. "I'M DOWN HERE!"
It echoed back at me like mockery.
Chest-deep.
The cold sank into my skin, my bones, my head. I slipped under and came back up gasping.
My teeth were chattering now.
Thoughts splintered.
Time bent.
There was no sky here. No stars. Just steel, salt, and panic.
I floated for a moment, arms flailing to stay above the water, then slipped again. This time longer.
When I broke the surface again, I sobbed-raw and feral. "You said you wouldn't let me fall, Vincent!"
The container lurched again. A final shift. Water rushed in from another breach. The last foot.
I tried to climb the walls.
They were slick. Smooth. Unforgiving.
"No... no no no..."
I slammed a fist against the ceiling. "I'm not dying in here."
But the water didn't care.
It met my chin.
Then my lips.
I tilted my head back, trying to sip air. Just a little more.
Just a little more-
---
The water had climbed to my neck.
My toes barely touched the floor now-barely scraped it-as I stood on tiptoes, craning my head to reach the thin layer of air left at the top.
I couldn't scream anymore.
There was no one to hear it.
The sound of my own heartbeat roared in my ears, too loud, too frantic. My arms slapped at the ceiling, my nails clawing at bolts, seams-anything. My breath came in ragged gasps now, panicked and shallow. My chest burned. My lips trembled above the waterline, begging for air that was running out.
I tilted my head back, pressing my mouth to the shrinking sliver of air just beneath the container's roof.
I took in one more gulp-then water swallowed my lips.
No. No.
I kicked off the floor, gasping, breaking the surface for half a second-then slipped again. There wasn't enough space left to breathe.
My body screamed at me.
Do something.
Think.
NOW.
My eyes darted in the dark, my brain clawing through every memory I had-every movie, every dumb documentary, every escape room Samantha dragged me to.
Metal weakens with cold.
Metal contracts under pressure.
My eyes landed on the small emergency light bolted to the ceiling-useless in the dark water, but attached with just four rusting bolts.
A chance.
I dove under.
My hands yanked at the light's base. One bolt gave. The next held tight. I screamed into the water, bubbles erupting from my mouth.
Two.
Three.
I banged it with my elbow. Again. Harder. The base cracked free. Something sharp sliced into my palm-I didn't care.
Beneath the light's casing, a slim bundle of wiring. My hand trembled as I pulled it loose. The copper was frayed, the plastic old.
But there-a charge.
I didn't think.
I pressed the wires to the smallest seam in the container's corner-the one I'd noticed earlier where sea spray had leaked through.
Sparks flew.
The water hissed, reacting violently. My hand jerked back, but the metal groaned, shifted.
A small fissure.
Go go go!
I drove my shoulder into it. Again. Again.
My lungs screamed.
Pain shot through my collarbone.
Then-with a sharp CRACK-the panel bent outward, and a rush of water tore through the breach, flooding faster than before.
I didn't wait.
I sucked in whatever tiny air pocket I could find, then slipped through the gash.
The sea punched me in the chest.
It dragged me into the dark, churning depths like a monster with arms. Cold slammed into my skin, forced its way up my nose, filled my ears.
I kicked.
My limbs were slow.
The current dragged at me, relentless.
My chest caved in on itself-I'd waited too long. I could feel my body giving up.
My eyes stung, searching wildly.
Up. I had to go up.
I reached for the surface, for something-anything. The water turned murkier. My vision blurred.
Spots filled my eyes.
My mouth opened involuntarily-and salt poured in.
No.
No.
I flailed.
The last of my strength poured into my legs.
But it wasn't enough.
A whisper inside me said this is it.