Tangled in His Obsession (Seraphina)

The black car plunged into the water, and immediately the murky pond swallowed it whole, leaving no trace of the roof in sight. By the pond’s edge, the three men stood scattered, their gazes fixed on the nearly submerged vehicle, silently waiting.

The young man in the passenger seat was clearly pissed, kicking a stone on the ground with force.

The boss heard the noise and whipped his head around, “What the hell do you think you’re doing?”

“That woman promised us a billion!” the young man spat out, nearly losing his mind at the thought, “Why the hell did we have to kill her? We’re only getting a measly million out of this! A million versus a billion, can’t you do the math?”

The boss’ hand shot out, grabbing the young man by the collar, “A billion? Do you look like someone who’d ever see that kind of money? Even if you did get your hands on it, you think you’d be living to spend it?”

Fuming and unable to retaliate, the young man’s anger bubbled over, and he suddenly threw a punch at the boss’ face.

The boss hit the ground, his mouth bleeding, and after spitting out a mouthful of blood, he got up and the two scuffled viciously.

The driver, torn himself, didn’t intervene, just silently watched the pond that had swallowed the car.

Meanwhile, inside the car, Seraphina used the precious time before the cabin filled with water to desperately attempt an escape.

She first reached for the release button of the rear seat, folding it down and crawling into the trunk, trying to force open the lid to escape.

But no matter how hard she tried, the lock wouldn’t budge, the lid immovable.

Water began seeping into the trunk, and after what felt like an eternity, Seraphina gave up.

By the time she made it back into the cabin, the water had risen above the seats.

The December chill was biting, but Seraphina felt none of it.

Darkness enveloped her; she couldn’t see a thing, searching every nook and cranny of the car to no avail for something, anything, that could be of use.

but slam her fists against the locked doors and windows.

left undone, too many

efforts, the doors and windows remained

level rose, almost engulf her completely, Seraphina struggled for breath,

would fade to nothingness. But to leave without a word to those

upset her balance, forcing her to frantically grab at anything to stay afloat. Her hand found the driver’s seat, and with a sudden realization, she pulled with all her might,

her completely, she smashed it against the window

fighting. The driver, having had enough, was about to break it up when he noticed an

and then

blurring, but as she finally pried open the window, a sliver of clarity returned.

she couldn’t surface; to do so would

but she knew she had to tap into

as she pushed through the water, a

the surface in a desperate attempt to escape, but after only a gasp of air, the hand yanked

shake the grip. It seemed they were determined to drown

struggling, allowing herself to

grip on her ankle

but had no strength to

her, shooting up through the water’s

once quiet pond was now surrounded by

with the men on the shore, while others were

cradled the unconscious Seraphina

towel was thrust into his hands, and he wrapped it around her without

or worry, as he pressed on Seraphina’s

seemed like an eternity,