The Butterfly Girl: A Star is Born

The Deep End

[Apollo]

The next day, Apollo managed to wake up early enough to go out to the lake to practice, leaving Sophia a text just to let her know where he was. Knowing she has a tendency to sleep in, he wouldn't be worried about leaving her alone.

He packed up his gear, made a quick breakfast and headed out through the backyard, into the forest and down to the lake. As exhausting as it was to get up early in the morning just to do a couple laps, it was worth it. Much more than it was to get up for school every day. It was something he enjoyed doing. He liked being out in nature, he liked the chance to get out of the house for a while. Sure, the lake was colder in the morning, but after a while it felt kinda nice.

Apollo left his stuff next to a rock as he waded in, and once he could feel the sand turn to moss, he dove in and swam out as far as he wanted to. Speeding up and slowing down if necessary. He took a break when he needed to, but he always tried to push himself. A little each time.

He took a small break, thinking about which form he should practice next. He took a few deep breaths before diving back in, hoping to push himself a little more. While he was far from the bottom of the lake, something brushed against his foot, which made him twitch. But he was too focused to stop.

He swam out towards the middle of the lake, until something brushed across his leg, making him flinch. He paused temporarily to brush off the feeling with his hand. Could've been something that was floating around. When he was about to turn around and head back, he felt something flick against his ankle.

"Gah... what is that, is there something stuck on me?"

Apollo looked around and saw nothing, no bits of trash or floating algae of any sort. Could it have been a fish? There are a couple small fish that live in the lake, but they don't ever come close to the surface whenever Apollo swims. But he couldn't see anything beneath the surface. He breathed heavily for a moment before taking a deep breath, but before he could dive again, something suddenly wrapped around his left leg and he yelled. His shoulders were pulled underneath the surface and Apollo began to panic. He felt something wrap around his right arm and began tugging downwards. When his head was completely submerged, he tried looking down to see what had grabbed him. Whatever it was, it was practically the same color as the murky lake itself. He could hardly see. Apollo suddenly felt a sharp bite on his calf, making him shout through the water and lose air. He quickly closed his mouth and continued to struggle, but he realized he was losing feeling in his leg!

He began to grunt and choke. He didn't know what was happening or how to escape. He looked up at the surface of the lake, only able to watch as it was getting further and further away. He felt another bite on his arm and choked again, a burst of bubbles escaping his mouth.

He was beginning to lose feeling in all his limbs, unable to struggle, but still panicking. Even his own wings were beginning to fail him. He couldn't pull himself upwards.

He desperately hoped Sophia had decided to come meet him. That maybe she'd see him struggling and come get him out. Drowning in a lake would be really stupid and awful, and even worse if Sophia was still at home either still sleeping or playing video games all day!

Apollo held onto whatever air he had left, but he was desperate for a breath. His flailing turned to a struggle until it became nothing more than violent twitching.

He thought of Sophia once more as he opened his mouth.

Whatever light remained from the surface, Apollo saw a shadow fly across his vision. His eyes darted everywhere, but it rapidly turned to darkness.

Before he finally blacked out however, the tightening feeling around his arm and leg was suddenly released.

He flinched one final time as he continued to sink downwards.