Unfortunately, things were not the way they were supposed to be. Yes, Howl was sitting on a lounge chair by the poolside, and yes, he had heard her calls. Yet, he for some reason was physically a child of 4 years in age. Certainly, he was seeing this situation with the eyes of a 16 year old lad, but as he held his hands out in front of him, he found the slightly chubbier fingers there instead of his usual graceful ones. For some strange reason, he was not startled in the slightest at this realization. It felt a bit nice to have such short hair again too. Long hair could feel rather heavy on occasion.
Despite the sweet siren's call, his feet did not move. He called out "Amelia, I can't." His voice even sounded younger, no longer even holding that small bit of masculinity in his voice that was his saving grace.
The girl turned to face him. "Stop being a baby, Howl! Get in the pool!" She sounded almost as if she was pouting, but he knew she was just a master of controlling her voice. She was no actress, but she probably could have been one if she really wanted to. Playfully, she splashed some water in the young teal-haired boy's direction.
Naturally, the boy winced. Howl and water did not get along. In fact, now that he thought about it, this situation seemed rather familiar. It was a bit ironic, but this swimming pool looked just like the one he had nearly drowned in as a child. His chubby fingers began to rub away the water as best as they could. His eyes eventually fixed themselves on the girl. Why did Amelia Wheaton have to be so lovely? He let out a deep sigh.
Her lips pressed down on her face, forming a frown. "You know," she uttered "Brandon wouldn't be afraid of the pool."
Howl's tone grew bitter, but sounded more childishly sulky as he offered only one word. "Sooo?" Brandon was an absolute unrefined neanderthal who couldn't appreciate real beauty. That, and Brandon had never nearly drowned.
It seemed as if the beautiful Amelia could sense his anger and loathing. She stepped out of the pool, water dripping down her body, and she began to walk towards him. Howl watched her steps, which almost seemed to hypnotize him. Her beautifully tanned arms reached out to him. Did she understand him? Did she finally understand his emotions? Perhaps he was clinging onto that last shred of hope, but he reached out for her, arms spread out in a fashion that almost seemed to read "pick me up."
The girl did as the young boy signaled, but it wasn't a kind or caring gesture. Her voice said in a low tone that was saturated with hate "You are such a girl." Her step grew rather purposeful as she made her way towards the deep end. She seemed to ignore the trembling of the child in her arms. She turned to him and looked him in the eye with a cold look in her eyes.
"I want you to die."
With that, she threw him into the pool.
With a large splash, the small boy began to flail around sinking. Water was thrown about, but all of his efforts to stay afloat seemed to fail him as he began to sink almost like a stone. While he tried to gasp for air, he managed to swallow mouthfuls of water. The teal haired boy attempted to cough up the water, but it only made the scenario that much worse. His lungs were soon enough burning, and everything began to grow dimmer. The last thing he saw was the distorted blur of pale gold and pale silver above the water.
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Despite having such a horrible dream, the teal-haired Hillworth-bound lad merely shot his eyes open at the end of the nightmare. There was no screaming. Perhaps he was subconsciously considerate of the fact other boys were still asleep. Regardless, his eyes glanced about wildly, as if trying to catch his bearings. Franz was still asleep, Howl could see his blonde hair on the opposite side of the room.
There had been no Amelia.
There had been no swimming pool.
As if he had been holding his breath due to the fear of water overwhelming him again, he finally gasped in some air into his burning lungs.
I really am such a girl.
