Swimming is the best feeling in the world. Gliding through the water, feeling it wrap around me like a soft, sating blanket. When I'm in the swimming pool, the water feels bottomless. Endless, like there's a whole world beneath me.

This is where I feel most at home; in the pool. The house where I live is just that -- a house. My family is a mismatch of people: a stepdad, two stepbrothers and a half-sister. Add to that me and my mum, and the house is crowded all the bloody time. I am nobody there.

But when I'm in this pool, there is nothing in the world except me and the warm water on my skin.

I'm good at it, too. My specialty is the 50 meters breast crawl; my coach always said I'm quick to kick off and quick to tire, so the short distances are best for me. Last year I got second place in the girls section of the national championships. This year I'm going for gold.

I train every day, twice on weekdays. Before school and after school. Usually there's a whole team training along with me. The other swimming prodigies of my city. But they only train three mornings, rather than five. Which means I'm alone on Tuesdays and Thursdays. They gave me a key to the pool, so I can get in and train whenever I feel like it. I quite like it this way. I can do whatever I want on those days. The pool is mine, and mine alone. There is nobody to --

Wait, what is that?

I'm halfway through my lap, so I don't stop, but I can feel the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end. I am not alone. I'm not sure how I know this, but I do.

The rest of the way to the end of my lane feels endless, even though its barely 20 seconds. When I finally hit the side of the pool with my hand, I grab the edge and pull myself up, scanning my surroundings while I take my goggles off.

Everything is quiet. The pool is lit only by the TL lights, which I turned on myself. It's still dark outside, so there is no light coming in from outside through the high windows, near the ceiling. One of the lights near the showers flickers, but there is no other activity in the pool. Only the water ripples gently from my own movement.

With a sigh, I shake the feeling off and continue my laps. Another 300 meters and then I'll switch to backstroke.

I've barely swam two laps when I feel it again. This time, I don't wait until the end of the lane. Instead, I kick the water and dip my head up, not even bothering to remove my goggles this time. As soon as I turn my head towards the dressing rooms, I see it. Movement. A shadow disappearing around the corner.

I was right. Someone's in here with me. I could've sworn I'd locked the main door behind me. How did they get in?

Unnerved, I pull myself up onto the side of the pool and, dripping with water, make my way over to my towel. With my eyes still on the dressing room, I don't notice it until I already have the towel in my hand. I drop it again as if it's burned me.

There's writing on it. Letters, written in some red liquid. Paint? God, I hope it's paint.

Your turn, is what it says.

My turn? My turn for what?

Shivering, I wrap my arms around me and glance around again. This is ridiculous. I need to find whoever is doing this and kick them out of the building. Or I need to press the red button at the front desk to get security over here. Whichever comes first.

Clunk!

Ouch!

I gasp when my knee bumps into the solid door of the girls' dressing room. I pushed it open. Why didn't it open? With one hand on my knee, I grab the handle again and push, harder than before. The door stubbornly stays shut.

"What the hell?" My voice echoes through the empty swimming pool, but my eyes are still on the door. Is it stuck or something? It didn't seem stuck when I came through here on my way in. Why won't it open?

"Hey!" That person who was in here before, they must've been a cleaner or something, right? If I can just get their attention. "HEY! I'M IN HERE! THE DOOR IS STUCK, LET ME OUT!"

The only response I get, apart from the echoes of my own fists pounding on the door, is an eerie silence.

That's when the lights flicker out. A yelp escapes me and I whirl around, pushing my back against that same stubborn door. My heart bangs against my rib cage in the same rhythm that my fists did on the door just moments ago.

It takes a while for my eyes to get used to the sudden lack of bright TL light. The only light coming in is from the high windows on the left side of the pool, but since it's still dark outside, it doesn't help much. I find myself scanning the poolside again, looking for something, anything, that can either help me or tell me what on earth is going on. My eyes land on the towel once again; your turn.

What the hell is this?

With my bathing suit still dripping, I sneak over to the next door over; the boys' dressing room. I have to get out of here, no matter which dressing room I go through.

Clunk.

It's also locked.

"HELP!" I cry, rattling the door. "SOMEONE, HELP! I'M STUCK IN HERE!"

"I know you are."

I scream when a voice comes through the loudspeakers. Those things are mostly used to let swimmers know that the pool is about to close for the day. I've never heard it so early in the morning. "Hello?"

"Hello, Lily Windham," says the voice, cracking through the old, worn speakers.

He knows who I am. I struggle to place the voice, but the speakers warp it so much that I can't recognise it properly. I can hear it's male, though. "Who are you?" I shout towards the ceiling, as if he's hiding above it. "What do you want?"

"I want it to be your turn," is the only response I receive.

"What does that even mean?"

"How does it feel, Lily? Is the fear coursing through you yet? Don't worry if it isn't yet. It will, before I'm done with you."

My heart jumps into my throat. What is he planning to do with me? My voice cracks when I scream, "Let me go!"

"Oh, no, that's not going to happen." He laughs, actually laughs, through the loudspeaker. "You will get what you deserve. I promise you that."

What I deserve? I'm a teenager, what could I possibly have done to deserve this? Realising there's no point in asking, I run towards the fire exit, my feet slapping against the wet pool floor, and yank on the door handle, but even this one isn't budging. He's blocked the fire escape. How am I supposed to get out now?

"Do you remember, Lily, the first time you arrived in your new, high school class? I will never forget that day. A new group of people to befriend. A fresh start for everyone. But even on that very first day you showed me the kind of person you are. And it wasn't pretty."

He's in my class. The realisation hits me like a strong, ocean wave. If he was there on my very first day of high school, he's in my class. But who? And why would a classmate be doing this to me? All any one of us were doing that day, was try to make new friends. "What are you talking about? What did I do to you?"

"You don't remember what you did that day? Think carefully. It might just save your life."

Panic shoots through me. Save my life? What, is he planning on killing me? This possibility spurs me on to continue trying to find a way out. The windows... They're high up, but also fairly large. If I can find a way up, I could climb through. Or even just shout for help from up there. I run to the other side of the pool to the only walls with windows, but before I can get there, I slip on the wet pool floor.

"Ouch! Dammit!"

Blood immediately pools up out of the abrasion on my knee. The water makes it look even worse than it is, and the chlorine makes it sting horribly.

"See, what I remember from that day is the way you went over other people's backs to try and make yourself more popular. The way you offended and belittled those you deemed unworthy, for whatever reason, to try and become the queen bee on your very first day. And guess what? Teenagers are fucking stupid, so it worked. Aww, poor Lily. Does that hurt? It looks pretty bad, doesn't it? Well, karma is working hard today."

That got my attention off the stinging pain in my knee. He can see that I fell. That means he's watching me. But from where? My eyes flick back and forth through the pool until they land on the small camera in the corner, just beside the window. That must be it. Ignoring the pain, I push myself to my feet and grab the long stick the pool staff use to get the lane dividers back out of the pool. It's made of metal and just long enough for me to reach the camera. With one hard hit, I smash it off its hinges and watch its pieces fall to the floor with growing satisfaction.

There. Your turn.

"Oh, no, not the camera!"

There's an undertone of sarcasm in his voice that immediately wipes the grin from my face.

"Good thing I planted my own. One you're never going to find."

"Fuck!" I shout in frustration.

"I know, it sucks, right? You know what also sucked? The day you placed second in the national swimming championship."

The championship? He was there? That narrows down the possibilities tremendously. Let's see... What can I remember from that day?

There were a lot of people there, as the championship was held in our home town. I remember there were maybe a dozen people from school there to cheer me on, and a few who cheered on another contestant. The nerdy kids. Even back then I didn't understand why they showed up at all. Not for me, that's for sure. I remember one of them got pushed into the swimming pool, and when his friends stood up for him, they got it just as bad. Stupid kids. Anyway, they're useless. Harmless. Nothing to do with me.

Most of the ones who came cheering me on were girls, but the five boys who are mad about sports also showed up. Dean, Ray, Oliver, Elijah and Will. It must be one of them, right? They were watching me then, and one of them is watching me now. At that thought, I cross my arms over my chest. This swimming suit is perfect for hydrodynamics, but it's very tight. It makes me feel naked.

"You do remember, don't you? You got your big chance that day. With second place, your popularity sky-rocketed. I bet that memory drowns out all the bad things you did that day, doesn't it? Or maybe you just consciously ignore those bad memories."

"The bad things?" I call out. "What are you talking about? I didn't do anything!" What is this guy on about? Is he mad that I beat another girl in the competition or something?

"You genuinely don't remember. Unbelievable. You only focus on yourself, don't you? It's all about Lily in your little world. You don't give a damn how your actions affect those around you. As long as you're in the center of attention. As long as people notice you. You'd better think carefully, or you won't get out of here anytime soon."

"I don't know what you're talking about!" The pool walls echo back the desperation in my voice. "I really don't! Please, just let me go!"

"Let's try another one," he says through the speakers, completely ignoring my plea. "That party two weeks ago. Remember that? Of course you do. Everyone was looking at you, what with that tiny little skirt you were wearing. You must really like being watched."

I wrap my arms tighter around myself. I need to get out of here. Quick. But how? Maybe I could barge through one of the doors... "Go on then, what did I do wrong there?" I ask, more to keep him talking than anything else. When he's talking, at least I know what he's doing. When he's silent, I'm blind.

"Why don't you have a guess this time? I'm interested to see what you think the problem is."

"The problem is that you're a psychopathic twat!" I blurt out, but he just laughs a crackling laugh over the speakers.

The party... What could've happened at that party that's making this guy so mad? First things first: who was there? I remember seeing Elijah and Dean, all drunk and messing around. I think Oliver was there too? Definitely not Ray and Will, though. They had a football match elsewhere that weekend.

Elijah... Wait a minute! He tried to kiss me that night, but I rejected him. Could that be it? Is it him? I thought he was too drunk to even remember...

"Elijah?" There's no harm trying. "Is that you? You're not mad that I wouldn't kiss you, are you? That's just pathetic!"

The speaker bursts out in laughter. "That's the conclusion you come to? Incredible. Is that really all you remember from that night? Just you and your horrible little friends? You're even more self-centered than I thought. What about all the other people at the party, are they just invisible to you? No, Lily. Aside from Elijah being just as bad as you, this has nothing to do with him."

"Then, what?" I feel tears burn in my eyes, but I refuse to let them loose. At this point, anger is the only thing that keeps my legs upright. This guy is just messing with me. Trying to trick me into thinking the most horrible things about myself. Trying to make me feel like I'm the bad guy, even though he's the one keeping me locked in here against my will and threatening me every other sentence. "What does it have to do with then? Why don't you just tell me?"

"What would be the fun in that? I want to make you see how bad you are. I want to help you understand what kind of person you are, so that maybe, just maybe, you'll feel the tiniest sliver of regret. Or I'll just scare you senseless, that's perfectly fine with me as well."

A scream of pure frustration and disgust rumbles out of my throat. "Let me out, for fuck's sake!"

"Have mercy? Perhaps I would, if you'd ever shown me the same courtesy. Which brings us to my last clue. What do you remember from that scene in the school cafeteria last Friday?"

I can feel my jaw drop. What on earth is he getting at? I think back to what happened the previous Friday, but nothing stands out. There was some messing around, but nothing more than usual.

Wait! My eyes fling open. Oliver was dumped was his girlfriend that day. She did it very publicly, in the cafeteria, in front of everyone. I was the one who told the girl that Oliver was cheating on her, which... In all fairness, it might not have been completely honest. But Oliver had been the reason my own crush, Daniel, hadn't wanted to ask me out, by spreading some stupid rumour about me. So it was only fair!

"I get it!" I call out.

"I highly doubt that," says the voice through the speakers. "But go on."

"I know it's you, Oliver. But I swear I had nothing to do with your break-up!" He can't prove otherwise, and I'll stand by this statement until the end. Although hopefully it won't come that far...

"Oh, for crying out loud, you're still way off!"

What? How can I still be wrong? I was so sure that this was it. Is he lying to me? Is he just trying to get me to bring up all the worst things I've done, even though he actually doesn't know anything at all?

Is he even a classmate?

That's when I smell it. "Oh no..." I mutter, as I watch wisps of smoke curl out from underneath the dressing rooms door.

"How is this even possible?" he rants on. "How is it that your view of the world is so completely twisted, that it so completely revolves around you in that stupid little head of yours, that you can't face the truth even if it's going to kill you?"

Something's on fire. How the bloody hell did a swimming pool catch fire?

"You deserve what's coming for you. You deserve nothing better."

"Fire!" I barely hear him speak anymore as my mind tries to fathom the fact that, besides being locked inside of the swimming pool, I now also have to face a fire. "There's a fire! Let me out!"

"Well, of course there's a fire!" He shouts through the loudspeaker so loud it deafens me. "That's because I set it!"

My breath catches in my throat. He's the one who set this fire. He wants me dead. I push myself as far back against the wall as possible, as far away from the flames as I can. But it doesn't help. The fire itself might not do much inside the swimming pool area, what with all the water. But I once read that it isn't the flames that causes the most damage in these cases. It's the smoke. Smoke inhalation kills much quicker than fire.

I'm going to suffocate.

"You've got to let me out!" I beg. "Please! You don't have to do this. I'll... I'll change. That's what you want, right? I'll change, I promise. I'll work on becoming a better person. Just... Just please don't kill me!"

"How can you do that when you still don't even understand what you did?" he shouts. "What's it like, huh? Are you scared yet? Terrified? Then perhaps you finally feel like I have felt every single day for years, all because of you!"

The walls seem to tremble under his voice, but as the room begins to fill up with dark clouds of smoke, I barely hear what he's saying.

"I am not one of your stupid friends!" he screams. "I'm the one you called your friends' attention to last Friday, simply for walking past, and who got beaten up for it. I'm the one who got his nose broken by your drunk friends after you pointed at me at that party. I'm the one who was pushed into the pool on the day of your championship and held under for three full minutes, only because you told your friends I'd looked at you weirdly! You did all of this to me, Lily Windham, and more. That's why you deserve what's about to happen."

I'm not even listening to him anymore. All I know is I have to get out of here. He's going to let me die. If I want to live, I'm going to have to save myself. Like a headless chicken, I run back through the pool, yanking on every door that I come across. None of them budge for me.

"Fun fact," he says through the speakers, having apparently calmed down a little. "You don't happen to know where the pool staff keeps the chlorine supply, do you?"

My head snaps towards one of the doors. This one isn't metal, like the dressing room doors. It's a normal one, made of wood.

"Ah, so you do know. Then do you also know what happens when fire meets chlorine?" He chuckles. "Let me tell you, it's not pretty."

He's bluffing.

He must be bluffing. Chlorine explodes when it catches fire. He wouldn't risk it all blowing up on himself. And he must still be in the building, because the old speakers don't work remotely.

He's bluffing. Which means all I have to do is find a way out.

And he just unwittingly gave me an idea.

This door, the one leading to the supply closet, isn't made of metal. Which makes it easier to break through. It won't be easy, but if my other option is waiting to suffocate, then I'll take my chances. It will have another door on the other side of the closet, but that one only locks from the inside, because it's been broken for ages. This is my best option.

I'm going to break through that door.

I remember one of the pool guards complaining about this door. The lock jams a little, so the staff always have to tug on it every single time they open it. Because of this, it has a weak spot by the lock. He said that you'd only have to hit it in the right spot, and it'll break off easily. All you have to do is hit it hard enough in the right spot. That's exactly what I'm going to do.

With renewed energy, I grab the metal pool stick and return to the door. The speakers are silent. He must be watching me. I take hold of the stick like a spear over my shoulder, only with two hands. With as much force as I can muster, I ram into the door, just above the lock.

The door dents, but that's about all that happens. But, as a professional sports girl, I am not one to give up so easily. I ram the metal rod into the door again. And again. And again. Until finally, mercifully, the wood splinters.

Through the hole I've created, I can see the lock's mechanism is already bent. If I hit it right on the lock, perhaps...

"What on earth do you think you're doing?" comes the voice suddenly.

I raise my middle finger towards the pool, before grabbing the rod tightly once again.

"Didn't you hear me just now? Let me spell it out for you. Fire plus chlorine equals boom."

But I'm not listening. With a short run-up, I barge into the door, the stick first and then my shoulder. I can feel my shoulder crack, but the door does the same thing.

It's open.

An elated laugh escapes me. I'm out. I'm leaving this hell.

"Stop!" he shouts over the speaker. "I'm serious. Open that door and you'll blow this place up!"

"You're bluffing!" I shout over my shoulder, already making my way to the other side of the supply closet.

"That's a fire door!"

He sounds almost hysteric now, but it's all an act. I'm sure of it. There's smoke coming through the door, but even that could just be a trick. I'm getting out of here. I'm not staying here a second longer than necessary.

"Open it, and the fire will rush inside! See those cylinders? They will ex--"

BOOOMMM!

A/N Well... That got a bit dark, didn't it? XD Woops. Hope you enjoyed!

Round 4.2

Prompt: Write a sports story

Word count: 3880