I just about had a heart attack when my entire chapter disappeared. XD

Thank god I saved everything so here it is. I hope you all like this one! Comment, follow, vote! Let me know what you think.

Much love and of course Merry Christmas!

*

A Dash of Water

Now my focus went to the island itself. I could of course already call for that boat but I probably wouldn't have much chance to explore this place again. Dev would be doubly vigilant to keep me away from here and I could imagine Matt actually physically stopping me should he catch me getting onto a boat headed for Sharkfell. I pursed my lips, come to think of it, that wasn't so bad a thought... I wouldn't mind clashing with him again.

The island interior was beautiful and impressive. From a distance it was intimidating with its black rock shores and huge towering volcano. That volcano hadn't been active for 20.000 years but it still inspired awe to look at.

A little inward I found a stream that meandered back to the coast and up slope towards the volcano and I followed that for a while. It brought me to a small lake with beautiful rock formations and I had fun looking around for a while and collecting small shiny rocks in pretty colors.

I thought they might be gems but if so I didn't think they were very expensive ones, not enough reason to make an entire island off limits and then hide that you owned it. Especially seemed unlikely because if those gems were worth something they'd be mining them and from the foundation web page I knew nothing had happened on Sharkfell for several generations.

An hour later I still hadn't found a reason to make this island off limits although I had found the guesthouse Jamie had mentioned. It was clean as far as I could tell from peering into the windows and rustically furnished but hadn't seen real inhabitants in quite some time. It was large enough by my estimate to house maybe a dozen people.

I called the boating company and the guy there said in hushed tones that he'd meet me on the beach, wait there for ten minutes if I wasn't around and then leave again. He seemed a little more uncomfortable about picking me up and insisted on more money and when I told him I would otherwise be stranded on the island he groaned and said he'd be there.

That left me with forty-five more minutes until he got here and a ten minute walk back to the beach. So I climbed up on a rock formation beside the water to get a better view at the island over the top of the trees. With my pockets full of pebbles it made a funny noise when I jumped or walked. The view was great but it wasn't high enough to see the beach and I kinda wished I could get a view at it and possibly see the shadows of the many reefs.

One moment I was appreciating the view, the next my foot slipped and some ground gave way and I was sliding into a crack in the earth. Darkness closed in around me and I went slipping and sliding down a rocky tube. I screamed and it echoed when I hit the bottom but I'd landed in sand which had cushioned my fall.

It was completely dark and terrified, heart pounding, I spend a moment just listening, hearing the drip of water, the sliding sound of dirt rolling in through that tube behind me. Dirt I'd displaced myself. When I heard nothing else I assessed my own injuries but I thought I was okay, except for some small scrapes and bruises I hadn't actually hurt myself.

Fishing out my phone I turned it to flashlight mode and was greeted with the sight of a small round chamber with a low ceiling, loose dirt floor and little else. Infinitely relieved there was no sign of animals or bugs I investigated the crack through which I'd fallen down into the cave but it was steep, slippery and too high for me to climb back out of it.

My phone had no signal, the rocks around me were clearly blocking it which gave me no option to call for aid. Somehow I had to get out of here on my own or I'd be forced to wait for a search party should that guy from the boat call for one if I wasn't there... Would he? Knowing Sharkfell was off limits?

"Damn... I screwed this up..." I said out loud but I send the flashlight on my phone around the small cave again to look for other options. A few moments later I found that one wall had another opening and when I crawled through it, it widened into a tunnel that went two ways. One was a dead end and the other curved and turned for quite some time before it suddenly opened up into a much bigger cavern.

I stumbled to a halt because the sight was just absolutely spectacular. A large circular hole in the ceiling high above allowed in natural sunlight and I thought, judging from the shape and size that this might be the center of what was once the vulcano. That light allowed me to see clearly that the cave had a pool in the center of clear blue water and shimmering smooth rocky ledges around it.

There was a sort of sandy beach ground with tiny pebbles and shells and the walls were smoothed and sort of undulated. It almost gave the impression of waves or flowing water and had me stare at the walls and then slide my fingers over them from sheer curiosity. It did however drive home that besides the tunnel I'd arrived from, there was no other way out and no way to climb the walls.

That left one other option, the pool of water. I turned to it and dropped to my knees on one of the smooth wide rocks at the edge. The water glowed blue and was smooth as glass and the pool was at least twenty feet across and roughly circular, with a tunnel sort of leading away from it right across from the tunnel leading into this cave. It was however a water tunnel and I had no way of knowing just how far of a swim it was to get out and where on the island I'd be once I'd done that. What with the reefs and the sharks it was quite the gamble to do such a thing...

A look at my phone told me forty five minutes had passed and then some which meant that if that boat guy had actually come to pick me up he'd probably left again by now. I cursed out loud and paced around the cave a few times. It was getting on in the day and I didn't much feel like being stuck here all night. No one would report me missing if boat guy didn't do it, not until I didn't turn up for school the next day and maybe not even then.

Shit, this was so dumb and all my fault. I should have just called my lift and waited out on the beach instead of nosing around on Sharkfell Island when I knew it was none of my business. Had mouthing off to Matt and Dev McLaren put them off my case entirely or where they going to check nothing had happened on their island?

I knew I couldn't really wait for help but the thought of sharks in the water had me hesitate for quite some time. I was a really strong swimmer though, even had my diving brevet and done extensive snorkeling on several different reefs. My father's job these past years had taken mom and me all over the world.

At last I decided standing around doing nothing wasn't helping and at least I should see how long that tunnel was. If twenty seconds in I still saw no exit it was probably not an option but there was only one way to find out. I paced around until I located a nice and dry spot near a wall where I put down my phone. Then I contemplated taking of my clothes for my first test swim but then decided against it. If I was lucky I saw the way out immediately, I didn't want to be forced to go back in just to get my clothes.

Testing the water I concluded that yes it was saltwater and it was actually quite a pleasant temperature. Which could mean two things, either the sun had hit this water long enough through the opening in the rocks above to heat it. Or it wasn't far through that tunnel and the water had heated outside the cave as well.

Not giving myself much more chance to contemplate it all I jumped straight in and treading water, cast one last look around the cave. From my much lower vantage point I could see even better how the walls of the cave had a subtle ripple effect. The rocks surrounding the pool seemed to almost glow and cast light ripples across the stone walls. It was beautiful and got even more stunning when a light beam from the setting sun suddenly fell exactly on a spot right above the tunnel entrance.

Almost like a small moon was set in the wall there the light glowed suddenly in a silver disk and reflected back down onto the pool and me in it. I stared, entranced and almost didn't notice the way the water swirled around me and had gone a silver with a million little rainbows woven in. Once I saw that I gasped, certain the phenomenon I was experiencing had to be one of the rarest things ever. Impossible.

The silver water flowed over me and had me so stunned that for a moment I forgot to tread water. I went under once completely and came spluttering back to the surface, wiping now soaked hair out of my eyes. Once I'd cleared my eyes I saw that the sun was sinking further and the miniature moon in the wall was now only half full, the effect on the water around me fading.

Only once it had all disappeared and the cave was filled with shadows did I start readying myself for a long underwater swim. Once outside I'd still have a little light left if I hurried now but inside the cave it was going dark. With an eerie blue light, reminiscent of a swimming pool almost, casting water ripples on the walls around me.

A last look at the beautiful and almost sacred cave and I dove down and swam straight into the tunnel. It was quite wide and had a sandy bottom all the way through. Coral growing on either side once I broke out of the tunnel and into the sea. The rows of coral reminded me almost of hedges leading to a door.

All in all the swim had taken a little more than twenty seconds, thirty if I counted the moment I looked around at the coral before breaking the surface. I'd seen fishes, all kinds of them but no sign of sharks.

Once I was treading water outside the cave I looked around carefully and saw that I was on the other side of the island which had curved in much further here, coming in closer to the vulcano. The nearest beach was probably a good five minute swim so I set out immediately, now that I wasn't tired yet. Once on it I'd probably have to hike across the island to get to beach without the reefs, the one where boats could land.

I tried not to think about that while I swam but I was really exhausted from swimming among the waves and the distance when I finally hit the shallows. Out of the water and soaked through and through I had to fight with myself to keep moving instead of collapsing in the sand. The wind was much colder now and the sun had really set, leaving me in the dark. If I sat still now I'd get cold much too quickly.

What I did do was pull off my top and squeeze out as much water as I could; then I put it back on and did the same for my shorts. It wasn't much of an improvement but would in the long run help me dry quicker. "Right, fire would be good now..." I muttered out loud to myself and cast about for driftwood or something. I'd done a survival course with my mom when I was fifteen once and learned to make fire with what was available. I might still be able to do that if I had a little patience.

"Or you could come with me?" said a low male voice and a flashlight flicked on. I nearly jumped out of my skin, my heart racing since the last thing I'd been expecting at that moment was another person.

*

Dun dun dun! Who do you think it is? ;-)

Much love,

Robin