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.

slam her fists against the locked

was too much left undone, too many people she

efforts, the doors and windows remained

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

her end, all her grievances would fade to nothingness. But to leave

her balance, forcing her to frantically grab at anything to stay afloat. Her hand found the driver’s seat, and with a

the headrest, as the water engulfed her completely, she smashed

had enough, was about

narrowing in suspicion, and then he shouted,

pried open the window, a sliver of clarity returned. She

her 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 reserves

she pushed through the water, a hand suddenly grabbed

escape, but after only a

couldn’t shake the grip. It seemed they were determined to drown her

her thoughts fading, her body going limp. She stopped struggling,

the grip on

but had

shooting

was

with the men on the shore,

steely and composed, cradled the unconscious Seraphina to the

towel was thrust into his hands, and he wrapped

was ashen, whether from the cold or worry,

like an eternity, Seraphina violently