The Trench

It was the absence of life that intrigued the research team. Hypoxic zones – commonly referred to as dead zones – weren’t a new or rare phenomenon in the vast depths of the ocean. In fact, they’ve only gotten larger and more frequent with the increase in pollution over the years. Mankind always was incapable of leaving well enough alone. As the quaint little nickname suggests, there wasn't much life in these places to begin with. The lack of oxygen wasn't exactly accommodating to most sea life. But even then, there were creatures that not only survived in dead zones but thrived in them; the vampire squid, some species of jellyfish. These fascinating little enigmas have adapted to a life of minimal oxygen and food. Proof that an ecosystem could survive even under the most dire circumstances. There was none of that in the trench. No life. No proof. No hope.

At least that’s what it seemed like on their radars and video feed. But technology could only do so much on its own. That’s exactly why Scott was there. He was one of the best at his job. If anyone could withstand the harsh conditions of a dead zone, it was him. He was much like the vampire squid and the jellyfish; an enigma that thrived in places where humans didn't naturally belong. Outfitted with the most advanced camera on his helmet, a handheld camera for anything he found remotely interesting, and a flashlight that promised to last several hours, he'd been more than prepared for this excursion.

But now that he was here, he wasn’t prepared for how lonely it would be. Isolated. Quiet. With no other movement around, the pressure weighed down on him from all sides. Scott was someone who knew pressure. He’d spent his whole life knowing that he had to succeed; to get the best grades, to be the best swimmer on his high school swim team, to have a good a career and a big house his family could brag about.

“Second place means there will always be someone better than you.” His father had told him and it stuck with him even after all these years. It was only in the ocean, with gallons of water bearing down on him that he felt truly weightless. But here, he wasn’t weightless. Here, the frigid water might as well have been lead; crushing him, curling around his body trying to suffocate him. To steal his life as well.

It was probably the darkness getting to him. The trench consumed light in a way he wasn’t used to. It wasn’t that he didn’t know how dark some parts of the ocean could be but the trench became dark too quickly, at altitudes it shouldn’t. He’d barely made it a few meters in before he was swallowed by a sea of black. His only saving grace – aside from his torch – was light provided by a small sliver of sky still in his sight. He craned his neck upwards to glance at it now and then to make sure it was still there. So long as he could see the surface, he could find his way back. So long as he could see the surface, he was safe.

He took a deep breath of filtered air and pushed forward. His fingers eventually grazed the side of the trench. It was jagged and rough to the touch. It almost hurt. No moss grew to soften the sharp edges. He snapped a quick picture of it and made his way across the wall, searching this way and that for anything interesting. After about an hour of nothing but swirling darkness and rocks as far as the eye could see, he deduced that this expedition was meaningless. He wondered briefly if the team had caught something on the footage he had missed. How ironic would it be to be swimming in this pit and still be ignorant of what it held? He'd only know when he made it back. He flickered his gaze upwards. The sky was still there.

The water gripped him tighter. He could bear it for a while longer. He still had thirty minutes left of oxygen and going back without anything to show for his efforts would be such a loss. The slightest ripple caught his attention, cutting through the pressure. It wasn’t the type of thing he would usually pay attention to but in the stillness, it might as well have slashed him through. He swerved his torch to where it had come from only to be met with the same empty void as before. He glanced up. Still safe.

The hairs on the back of his neck prickled but not from the frigid waters. There was a feeling running through him. Something familiar. Something uneasy. It was the feeling of being watched.

His body froze. He’d been down here for too long. It was messing with his head. He kept his eyes locked on that sliver of the sky as he swam faster than he had since high school. The searing gaze followed him from within the void and another disturbance in the water, stronger than the first, slashed its way across the ocean. Then came another, even stronger than that. His heartbeat was rapid. And another. His movements were getting sloppier, more frantic. Another. His vision blurred at the edges. Another. The limited air in his mask was growing thinner and thinner each second. Another and another and another until they attacked him relentlessly from all around!

But he didn’t stop moving. He could still see the sky, after all. It would all be alright so long as he swam towards the light.

A sudden torrent swept him up in its sadistic dance. He was reduced to tumbling seaweed in its clutches. The world spun and twisted and turned. The rush of the waves mocked him through the thin membrane of his suit. And what could he do? Being the best meant nothing now. He could best anyone that went against him but no man could best the sea.

When it ended there was nothing but whirling in his head and darkness in his vision. He whipped his head around franticly through the resistant pull of the water. Where was the sky? Where was the light? That streak of bright blue. His saving grace. His...

There!

He’d found it again, that small streak of sky that kept him hanging on through the brutality of the waves. His life. His proof. His hope. He pushed through the burn of his muscles, desperate to escape the lifeless trench. In his dazed state, he didn't notice that the ripples had stopped resisting and started pushing, that it was only getting darker the closer he got to the "sky" and that that same "sky" was pulling him in. He was about to find out why so many divers forgot which way up.