Carlos was underwater with a snorkel strapped tightly to his face. Beside him swam the redheaded girl, her movements calm and deliberate beneath the dark water.

Elizabeth.

Even underwater, there was something about her presence that made him feel as though she knew exactly where she was going.

Carlos looked around uncertainly. The water was dark enough that he could barely see more than a short distance in any direction. He motioned toward her with his hands, trying to communicate that he didn’t understand what she was looking for.

Elizabeth simply waved for him to follow her.

Carlos surfaced briefly to catch his breath before continuing forward. The air above the water felt cold against his face. He quickly adjusted the snorkel and looked around for Elizabeth.

He couldn’t see her anywhere.

A small wave of panic passed through him.

For a moment he considered calling out for her, but something deep down told him to keep moving forward. So he took another breath and slipped back beneath the surface.

The water around him felt vast and terrifying. Carlos kept swimming, trusting instinct more than sight at this point.

Then, gradually, something pale emerged from the darkness ahead of him.

A beluga whale.

Carlos immediately sensed that something was wrong.

The whale moved sluggishly through the water, clearly distressed somehow, and the sight of it filled him with a strange mixture of loss and duty.

Where was Elizabeth?

Carlos looked around again, searching the dark water for any sign of her.

Nothing.

The feeling of her absence weighed heavily on him now, yet somehow he also knew he couldn’t leave the whale like this.

Somehow, he had to help it.