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.

reached her chest, she couldn’t help but slam her fists against the locked doors and windows. She had never

too much left undone, too many people she hadn’t loved. She couldn’t die

efforts, the doors and

level rose, almost engulf her completely, Seraphina struggled for

was her end, all her grievances would fade to nothingness. But to leave without a word

hand found the driver’s seat, and with a sudden realization, she

completely, she smashed it

water, the two men were still fighting. The driver, having had enough, was about to break it up when he noticed an unusual

narrowing in suspicion, and then

finally pried open the window, a sliver of clarity returned. She clambered through and into the

eyes, but she knew she couldn’t surface; to do so would mean being captured again. She swam blindly, hoping she was heading towards

but she knew she had to tap into her deepest

she pushed through the water, a hand suddenly grabbed her

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

last ounce of energy but couldn’t shake the grip.

crept into her mind, her thoughts fading, her body going limp. She stopped struggling, allowing herself to drift in

grip on

freedom but had no strength to

grabbed her, shooting

once quiet pond was now surrounded

the men on the shore, while others were dealing

steely and composed, cradled the unconscious Seraphina

was thrust into his hands, and he

or worry, as he pressed on

an eternity, Seraphina