Peace and quiet. Far from the misery of the boarding school or the sharp stones of the woods you were fleeing through, there's nothing around you except for the sounds of trickling water and the pulse of your blood in your ears. For the first time in days, nothing is bothering you.
Nothing, of course, except that you're in over your head in a pit of quicksand with no hope of escape. The supersaturated sands have hardened around you like cement, making struggle nearly impossible. Yet at the same time, you can feel your body continuing to slowly sink even deeper. The pressure at the top of your head increases as the pit closes up over you, like the earth itself is pressing a hand on you to force you down. Degree by degree, your skin cools in the deep water, your swimsuit soaks in the dark mud, and your breath...
You can't breathe. It's obvious, but the longer you're down here the harder it is to ignore. It starts as building pressure in your chest, like any other time you've held your breath for whatever reason. This is where you'd eventually get uncomfortable and take a breath, but... perhaps it IS an option, just not one you'd choose. You wouldn't give up, would you?
Pressure starts to become pain, a burning sensation deep in your lungs. Your body is warning you of what's coming, begging you to change it, but you can't exactly argue with hundreds of tons of quicksand, can you? By reflex, you clench your eyes tighter and scrunch your ab muscles, delaying the inevitable by fractions of a second. You even try to clench your fists, though the rock-hard earth surrounding you doesn't permit that small show of strength.
"NNK."
A sudden stabbing sensation in your stomach jolts your body forward! Your subconscious is trying to force you to take a breath, unaware of your situation, perhaps assuming this is all a big misunderstanding. Silt starts to seep into the corners of your mouth. A few small bubbles escape and rise to the surface, seen by nobody. A second stabbing pain, then a third! You'd always assumed drowning was a quiet and painless death-
No, you can't think about that word.
You can't breathe. Your hands tingle, your feet tingle, your lips tingle. You can't breathe. The lack of oxygen is causing your body to go numb. You can't breathe.
The pressure under your soles increases slightly. Did you... hit the bottom? Maybe you can-
"G-GGK."
Dank water is forcing its way into your mouth, between the spaces in your teeth. You need to do something. You need to do anything! You push with your arms, you try to lift your legs, but if you couldn't move near the surface, what hope do you have to move now? As you strain, the effort pushes a thin stream of bubbles out of you. Perhaps if-
"GLGLGLB-HURK!"
No! After countless minutes of resisting the suffocating sands around you, your body surrenders and inhales. What should be the best breath of your life is only more dark, thick, grainy mud...
"GLB-HURK! LB-HURK! GAK-HURK!"
You try to spit it out, but where would the mud even go except back into your mouth? It flows down your throat and invades your lungs, seemingly mocking you in your last moments. The last few scraps of stale air float up and away as you fruitlessly attempt to thrash with your weakening limbs. A slight wobble and bubbling at the surface of the riverbed is the only evidence that anything is happening.
"Glp..."
You feel cold, you feel numb, and soon you feel nothing at all.
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
You're thinking. If you weren't alive, you wouldn't be able to think, would you?
It's so dark, even with your eyes open. You can move- you can MOVE! The swimsuit is gone, along with the horrible metal device under it. W-where are you? Is this... good?