• The sand on the beach was hot, far hotter then the water was. It was partly because of this that Sophie had yet to come back from swimming. She was easy to see from her parents spot on their towels half way up the beach. Occasionally she would dive under the water to watch the braver fish that had gotten use to her being near the local reef. The fish were one other reason. But the real reason she hadn't came out the water yet, was because she felt far calmer in the water than she did on land. At home or school, she was moody, easily annoyed and violent. In the water however, she was able to thought things over for the rest of the week or so. She just liked being in the water.

    Taking in a deep breath, she dove under the water to touch the sandy bottom of the sea shelf just before the reef and the deeper waters. Flashes of colours swam past as all the little fish vanished into the reef, before reappearing as they weren't followed by her. This was why she loved diving. It gave her a freedom that she couldn't get anywhere else.Flying through the water with the glittering fish, she could truly feel alive. At least until she ran out of air, then she had to grudgingly float back up to the surface and take in that one huge gulp of air, before diving back down to the edge of the reef.

    Today was just the same as the others next to the reef, quiet, warm and surrounded by colour. Until the shadow passed over her. All the colour seemed to drain from around her as the fish scattered into the safety of the reef. Twisting her body to try and see what had caused the fish to vanish resulted in spotting the dull grey blob simply float past the edge of the reef, only a few feet away. Dimly, she was aware that it was a mako shark, one of the smartest sharks on the planet. Out of either fear or instinct, she never moved from where she was, despite the burning that was starting in her lungs.If it had any reason to kill her, it would do it in a flash.

    As the shark rose up in the water above her, Sophie let out a small air bubble to stop her lungs from hurting so much. She could tell that there were still people in the water, though they were rushing away from the shark fin that had poked above the waves. The Mako twitched towards the shore. Her lungs could take it no more . With a powerful kick, she rose sharply to the surface. The shark was between her and the shore, its fin moving up and down with the waves. A piercing scream came from the shore. Someone had spotted her still in the water. A large clamour came from the shore as all the men decided whether or not to try and rescue her.

    Taking another deep breath, she sunk beneath the water to keep better track of the Mako. She looked at it as it looked back with its cold, blank eyes. "Sizing me up“ Was all she could think of. As it swam in a circle around her, she followed it, twisting in the water to keep it in sight at all times. Almost as though it knew she could do nothing, it swam lazily up to her and bumped her leg with its snout, rough against her skin. Letting a bubble of air out to lessen the pressure on her lungs, the shark moved back about a pace before doing it again, this time into her arm. And then it disappeared into the murk of the deeper water just past the reef. Floating back to the surface, she gasped in some fresh air and turned back to the shore.

    Another scream came from the shore, the only reason that Sophie had any warning of the sharks return. Diving down she dodged the ragged fangs, but was smashed by the bulk of its scaly body, forcing the air from her lungs. Inhaling water, she saw the water go dark as her lungs filled with water. And then she breathed out, completely fine. The side of her neck felt itchy, and when she put a hand to it, she could feel slits just below her jaw. "Gills? What the hell is going on here?“ Not that it mattered that much right now. She could see the shark coming back round for a second attempt.

    Despite the Mako looming, Sophie felt calmer than ever. Looking back on it later, she would say that was something to do with adrenalin. In reality, it was her complete immersion in water. The shark was a meter away when there was a faint flash rippled through the water from her body. It dispersed before reaching the surface, but the waves just stopped. The Mako also slowed down, halting inches away from her. Not fully thinking why she was doing it, Sophie pushed her hand forward.

    The shark shuddered, before firing forward through the water, away from the shore and herself in a flurry of water. Raising her hand to shield her eyes, the shark followed the motion and launched out of the water and away. People from the beach reported seeing a shark leap more than three hundred feet through the air, landing more than what looked a mile away. A lot of other bizarre stories sprung up that day, all taken as hoaxes until the remains of the shark washed up a few days later, killed by the force it had hit the water.

    Sophie had also washed up, more than fifteen minutes after her mother had watched her get dragged away by the shark. The lifeguard that picked her up reported a large amount of water that came out of her lungs when she started coughing, though it didn't seem to give her any problems. Despite her assurance that she was fine, Sophie was still taken to the hospital. A few days into her time in hospital, a few people arrived to ask her questions. Normal questions, but ones that proved that they knew what had happened without letting on. "What did you feel under the water?" "Could you see the shark in the water?" "What happened?"

    The most disturbing question was asked by a younger woman, not much older than her, that turned up on the third day. "Can you do what I do?" Sophie looked up with her blue eyes into those of Kay, her copper-brown eyes almost red in the light. Just the look she gave Kay was enough for her to tell. "This makes two of us. I wonder how many more there are?"