She looked up and was greeted by the large wooden beam. She put her arms up to protect her face just in time. It pushed her down. Katie fought to escape from under its weight and barely managed. She floated there for a moment, looking down at the beam as it sunk far into the depths of the ocean. It hit the seafloor, sending up sand in a dust cloud and bits of seagrass and coral.
Katie inhaled more water, almost like a gulp, and swallowed it. She could feel the oxygen flood her lungs as she did so. She felt her neck; there wasn’t anything there to suggest that she had suddenly grown gills. With each gulp of water, air filled her lungs. That’s when she realized that she could breathe underwater.
Katie looked up again. She saw Cyrus swimming down towards her, frantically kicking his legs. She guessed that he had surfaced for air and then dove back down as quickly as he could. Tyson dove suddenly and he too was swimming quickly, both his arms and legs rushing to move him like a jet.
She smiled up at them and gave them two thumbs-up. “Hello,” she said, her voice clear as ever. “My name is Katie.”
Cheesy, she thought, but that was the first thing that she could think of saying. She laughed and spun around. She didn’t think she could speak underwater, so it was a joy when she found that she could.
Tyson and Cyrus stared at her, unbelieving, then they both swam back up to the surface. A couple of fish swam by. She greeted them, sort of hoping that she could speak with them, but only scared them away.
Katie swam up to the surface. Swimming itself was much easier now, and she was much faster than she had been before. It was like that water was just another part of her, obeying her every move.
When she surfaced, she saw Tyson and Cyrus waiting for her. They were both sitting on a large, dark gray chest. She looked around. They were definitely inside one of the main parts of the ship. The room was spacious and looked like a saloon. Before the crash, the room must have been filled with elaborate furniture and chandeliers. Now it was all a mess, everything was tossed to the side and broken.
“You can breathe underwater,” Tyson said. “How?”
Katie shrugged. “I don’t know. I thought I was going to drown, but when the water filled my lungs, I just felt, I don’t know, free. I was fine. I absorbed the oxygen somehow, and then I was breathing underwater.”
Cyrus laughed. “You had me scared there,” he said. “I thought for sure you would drown. Tyson shouted at me when he saw that I didn’t return with you and shoved me back under.”
Tyson laughed slightly and scratched the back of his head. “Yeah, I just didn’t want you to be a goner.”
“Well, I thought I was,” Katie replied. “But I guess all it takes is a near-death experience to bring out my abilities.”
“Sometimes it does,” said Cyrus. “But not all the time, so I don’t want you nearly dying every time you want to learn something new.”
Katie laughed. “Of course.”
They stayed silent for a bit, releasing the last bits of fear-induced adrenaline that was stored within them.
“Let’s get moving again,” Cyrus said. “We have to find this necklace before someone else does.”
“Or something,” Tyson said.
Katie and Cyrus looked at him.
“What? Who knows what could be lurking around in here?”
Katie pulled herself out of the water. She felt warm, not cold, nor too hot. She looked at Cyrus and Tyson, who both were shivering slightly. Tyson, shirtless, looked fitter than Katie had remembered him being. Cyrus’s clothes were drenched, as were Katie’s, but she wasn’t shivering.
There was a door to the far right of the room. The door was sliced and hanging off its hinges. Tyson tried to move it, but it wouldn’t budge. Katie was able to slip through the small gap between the door and the frame, and Tyson and Cyrus followed, both of whom struggled to squeeze through.
The room they entered must have been some sort of kitchen, Katie thought, judging by the silver equipment and dishes and pots scattered on the floor. Carefully making their way through, they reached the door at the other end.
The dining room was large and elaborate, complete with a red carpet designed with floral patterns of green and black. The room must have had at least a hundred tables in it or more. Most of the chandeliers had fallen and crashed onto the floor, littering it with small pieces of glass. Some still hung from the ceiling, eerie and dangerous, and swinging only slightly.
“So this wasn’t only a cargo ship,” Tyson said.
“No, I do believe this was a luxury liner, carrying only the most of precious cargo if any at all,” Cyrus answered.
They made their way across the room, carefully stepping around shattered glass and fragments of broken tables and chairs.
Katie was looking ahead at one of the doors that led out of the dining room. They weren’t far from it. Beyond them was a hallway that went to either side. She was wondering which way they should go when she saw a shadow move beyond it.
She stopped dead in her tracks. “Did you see that?”
Cyrus and Tyson stopped too. “No,” said Cyrus.
Tyson moved closer to Katie. “I did,” he said. He slowly walked past Katie. He looked back at Cyrus, who nodded. Tyson walked towards the door. He slowly pushed it open. There was nothing there. He looked down the hallway both sides. There was nothing.
“Looks clear to me,” he called out.
Katie and Cyrus
