"Finally..." Micha took a deep breath of the humid spring air and grabbed at the hem of his t-shirt. In a quick motion, he tugged it off and tossed it into the damp grass. "I can swim in peace." He smiled in thought and smoothed his hand over his binder. While the sun had just gone down across the lake, he wasn't quite sure if there were still prying eyes around the campsite or not. He shook his head, deciding against removing the binder for now. The last thing he needed was his friends or strangers commenting about his chest if they caught a glimpse of him surfacing.
Submerged in dark shadows and the vivid reds of the sunset, the lake yawned ahead like an ominous pool of ichor. It called to him, a sanctuary after a rough day. The water itself was frigid on Micha's skin as he waded out from the rocky beach. The cool spring air had his arms prickled with goose flesh and his heart thrumming in his chest. A late swim was just what he needed to clear his mind. The entire day had been filled with teasing and taunting from his friends, leaving him pent up and frustrated mentally and bodily.
Swimming always grounded Micha and allowed him to think beyond his own body. It became an escape over the years. The way the water hugged him in its icy grip left him weightless and euphoric. As the water reached the band of his binder, his breath caught in his chest from the shock of the cold. He pressed his hands over the fabric, as a blush spread across his face. He could feel his nipples harden against the fabric and create clear outlines. "Great... Now I can cut glass." He grumbled under his breath as he stood in place for a moment. He couldn't help shivering at this point as he tried to gather himself to take the full plunge into the dark waters.
"Fuck it." He took a sharp deep breath in and squatted down until the lake devoured him entirely. He shot back up within seconds with a gasp and a wild smile from the exhilarating cold. The shock of the dunk had his blood pumping and heart pounding in his chest -- a feeling of euphoria he chased. He barely even noticed his body begin to succumb to the cold with a numb tingle rippling across his skin as his hair stood on end.
Micha shook the nerves from his bones and stuffed his damp blue hair back from his face. This was exactly what he needed. The freezing cold was a perfect regulator after a day of tensing muscles and forced laughter. He pushed himself to wade deeper into the inky depths before finally kicking himself off the silt into the open water. He let his mind wander as his arms cut through the water's surface with clean practiced strokes. There was no distance goal for this swim, just the beauty of the open water flowing over his body and the night sky blinking down at him. Nothing could break him from the trance.
A creeping tendril slipped around his ankle and tugged at him. Lost in thought, he kicked it off while continuing forward as if it was nothing but a stray lake weed that had floated up from the depths. The thin tendril reached out again and latched more aggressively onto his calf and yanked with the force of a shark on a fishing line. Micha had no time to react to his attacker before he was plunged under the water and steadily drug deeper into the pitch.
He flailed and kicked blindly with his free leg in a desperate attempt to free himself. His arms flared out and clutched at the water around him, dragging it down around him to lift himself back to the surface. His heart leapt into his throat as he fought the heavy water swallowing him down. His lungs burned as the pressure of the water groped his muscles. Panic bubbled up from his core and forced his eyes open in the stinging lake water. Darkness devoured him, not even a wink of the stars floating on the surface could guide him at this depth.
A burst of bubbles escaped his lips, a silent scream swallowed by the frigid waters. The breath used fleeted from him in a crescendo towards the heavens. Nothing had prepared him for this. The crushing weight of being drowned by something lurking in the depths of his favored pastime. He could feel the slow drain of his energy in his bones as every movement became heavy and slowed.
The tendril multiplied and snagged Micha by the other ankle, wrapped upon itself thrice until his legs were held tight. Another lashed around his wrist and tugged him abruptly, rolling his body in the water until he couldn't understand which direction was up or down. His free hand clawed at the water in desperation as he expended what little of his energy he had left in a final attempt to free himself from the tight grip of his attacker. His time was running out. The pressure behind his eyes and the crushing weight in his chest were becoming unbearable.
His lungs burned as if stuffed with spent coals. The darkness that enveloped him became a dull grey in the corners of his vision. Every muscle in his body strained once more to save himself before the crushing weight of his fate left his arms heavy at his sides. This wasn't how his night was supposed to go. He just wanted a swim away from the judgement of others. He wanted to clear his mind. Fate had other plans to do so unfortunately.
The tendrils coiled up his legs as the prey gave in, enveloping him to pull and squeeze what little life Micha had left in his soul. All he could do was succumb to it and let the darkness swallow him whole. His mind fell into air deprived delusions as he was tugged into the depths. The last thing Micha swore he could feel were lips against his before he fell into nothingness.
----
Tumbled and heaved through sand, Micha unconsciously felt himself be drug from the crushing water. It felt as though he was reverberating outside his body, the motions of hands to his chest and lips to his faintly reached through the haze over his mind. The tendrils held him down, keeping his mind crashing under the waves even as something continued to pry him back to shore.