The Axelridge Series Book 4 Griff's Red Card

(Chapter song ‘Astronaut In The Ocean’ by Masked Wolf, ‘Galway Girl' by Ed Sheeran)

GRIFFIN

“Oof…Watch it.” I growl as Jax pushes my oxygen tank on my back, almost spilling me off the edge of the boat.

“Griffin, why are you here? You hate the water.” Jax chuckles.

On the deck of a large, white fishing boat, we're preparing to dive down to survey the crack.

I turn to him as I buckle myself up. “I don’t hate the water. I hate drowning.” I tighten straps and do up my wet suit to my neck.

“Right and since you did, you’ve never stepped close to the lake. So why now?” He crosses his arms.

“I need to see this crack.” I mumble as I glance at the water. I take a deep breath and let it out slowly.

I’m not afraid of it. I’m not. It’s just the last time I was in it, I was paralyzed and sinking to the bottom. So, I’m…nervous.

“It won't happen again.” Jax leans to me.

I suck in a breath as he breaks my gaze to the lapping water. “I know.” I look to him nervously and swallow.

“Griff. Stay on the boat.” He advises.

Just behind him, Ivy unpacks cameras and checks them over. Her wet suit is only pulled up to her waist and her white bikini top, is enough of a distraction to make me forget the fear of being swallowed by the lake.

I guess I was staring because Jax follows my eyes then turns back. “Really?”

My eyes meet his and my lips fall. “What?”

“Oh, you know, risking your sanity and the safety of the dive because of a girl.” I smirks.

“What?” I scowl and pick up my regulator mask. I look it over as I avoid his stare. “Yer batty if ya think that. Naw, mate. I’m just here to solve this. I’m not mental over a stunner. Forget that, right now. I’m here because I have to be.”

“Stunner?” He crosses his arms and raises a brow.

I narrow my eyes. “Knock it off, ya? Ya know what I mean.”

I push past him and collect my flippers.

He follows me. “Griff, I’m not knocking you. I think it’s good that she’s inspiring you to face your fear.”

I whip around to him. “I don’t have fears.” I growl quietly.

He shakes his head as he chuckles. “Ok, man. Just keep your head in the game, ok.” He places a hand on my shoulder. “Relax. You don’t have to prove anything. Trust me.” He glances at Ivy then back to me. “A girl like that isn’t going to care if you back out. Don’t stress yourself.”

I shove his hand off. “I can do this.” I grit.

“Ok. If you feel like you can’t, give me the word, alright?” He leans to my eyes.

My eyes flick to the lake and I nod as I blow out a shaky breath.

He claps my neck. “There’s no lycans down there. Remember that.” He says.

“I know.” I can feel myself tremble just a little bit.

“Are we going or what?!” Marcus yells from the edge of the boat. He puts his mask on and flips over the edge. A large splash is heard shortly after.

We walk to the edge to see him pop up and shake the water out of his hair. “Come on!” He yells and fixes his mask.

“Calm yer knickers. We're coming.” I wave him off and walk to Ivy.

She stands and pulls her wet suit up. She puts her arms in and my eyes fall to her bikini top. “You…done this before, ya?” I ask as I follow her zipper up.

She smiles. “Yeah, once or twice.”

She’s not wearing her glasses and I feel like I’m seeing her for the first time. Her eyes meet with mine and I feel my heart stutter a bit. Stunner isn’t even the right word.

I clear my throat as I watch her pull her black hair up into a ponytail. My mouth waters as my eyes wander to her long neck. “Good, cuz I ain’t watching yer back.” I say as I check my gear for the hundredth time making sure there’s nothing wrong with it.

“I don’t need you to, Griffin. I’ve had lots of training.” She grins and picks up her oxygen tank.

“Uh, here…let me just…” I walk around her and help her with her tank.

“Thanks.” She breaths as she buckles up.

“No problem. They’re…kind of heavy.” I mumble and back off.

“Are you ok?” She adjusts her flippers and stands.

I attach a camera to my belt and give her a half smile. “I’m grand, lass.”

“You seem nervous.” She folds her arms and looks me over. “Are you…nervous?”

“What? Naw, lass. Just looking forward to seeing this.” I give her a half smile as I lie through my teeth.

“Oh. Good.” She smiles then walks to the edge.

I follow her and my heart stops as she sits on the edge of the boat. “Ye be careful, ya?” I motion my hand to her.

“Always.” She puts her mask on and flips over the edge. She splashes in the lake and joins Marcus.

More splashes come from down the edge as Finn, Jax and Noah all flip into the water.

“Griff!” Finn calls out as he pushes the water out of his hair.

I look down into the dark water. Flashes of myself struggling to hold my breath hit my mind.

“Come on, lad. You can do this. You can do anything.” I whisper as I turn around and sit on the edge.

I feel the fear enter my body as I put on my mask and internally prepare myself.

“We won’t wait for you.”

I glance up at Adam who’s shirtless with no gear. He grins and jumps off the boat. Must be nice to be already dead.

“Alright. I’m coming.” I growl and feel myself fall.

My heart stops as the water surrounds me. My memories are my enemy as I’m surrounded by a cloud of bubbles. A bit of panic fills me as I get my bearings.

I swim for the surface and break it.

“Ok. Keep Comms open and keep an eye on each other. Don’t wander off and don’t touch anything.” Finn instructs before going under.

We all follow and Adam swims around us all. He takes the lead as we swim to the bottom of the lake.

It’s dark as night the deeper we go. Silt and algae cover the rocks and driftwood on the bottom. It’s mysterious and can seem beautiful, but only to those who don’t appreciate what this place can do.

I know all to well.

It wasn’t that long ago when Vinnie severed my spine. I felt helpless as he drove his blade over and over again into my back, slicing my cord into several pieces. I was done. He finished the job by throwing me over the edge of the south bridge.

I remember how calm it was as I floated to the bottom. I remember the pain in my chest as I held my breath. I remember my mind screaming at my limbs to kick and them not responding.

I remember the cloud of blood surrounding my body and the landing. That’s when it ended. My arse hit the lake bed and my mouth opened. My fight was lost. I felt the water enter my lungs and it was over.

They tell me I was clinically dead for 20 minutes. I was left in total black. I don’t know why I survived, but I kick myself for letting it happen. I paid dearly for my mistake. 16 hours of spinal surgery and confined to a wheelchair for a year was my price. My wolf was weakened severely by shards of silver embedded in my spinal cord. Once they were able to remove them, only then did I get my life back.

It's why I am the way I am. I can’t make mistakes. They cost too much. I have to be hundred percent or nothing at all. I also can’t trust anyone else to do things for me. If, by the slim chance, I do fuck up, I don’t want anyone around me that will suffer the consequences.

‘OK. Coming up on Section F.’ Ivy informs.

I swim down to the tall, cylindrical water filter. It’s as tall as single story house. I swim circles around its grey, steel exterior. It looks like a miniature silo with wings out on the sides facing the open lake in various spots. I can feel the water being pulled in as I swim around them.

At the bottom is a panel. I stop and read it. It shows the rate of flow through it and the percentage of pollution in parts per million. I look to the bed. There’s a large pipe connected to the bottom of it.

‘Ivy. Where’s this pipe going off to?’

I look to the group and Ivy stops. ‘We can talk about it after, Griff. Come on.’

I give the filter another look before swimming off. If it’s doing what she says, I can only imagine what change something like that could do to the lake. I can’t help but be impressed.

My flippers slowly push me through the water. Tiny particles in the water float around me as I follow the group around the wall. It’s a different feeling being in control. Jax may be right on that.

I feel myself relax as I join the others.

‘Coming up on the crack.’

We follow the large rock pillar and I see it. Though it’s not red.

‘Is this another one?’ I ask as my respirator releases my carbon dioxide.

‘No. This is the same one.’ Ivy responds.

‘It doesn’t look the same as on the video.’ Finn says as he swims close to it.

I scan the rock wall up and down. I see fresh rock has crumbled on the bottom. ‘It’s opening wider.’

‘There’s so many things I can say right now.’ Marcus chuckles.

‘Really?’ Jax responds harshly.

‘What? You can’t look at that crack and not think the same thing. Don’t lie.’ Marcus slowly kicks, treading water and motions a hand to the wall.

Jax swims to him. ‘OK. You are not allowed to speak for the rest of the trip.’

‘Wha..’

‘EH! WHAT DID I SAY?’ Jax growls.

‘But…’

‘Eh…’

‘Fine.’ Marcus scowls and crosses his arms.

Jax looks him over. ‘Good. Now, let’s go see what’s in the giant pus…I mean crack.’ He does a double take and swims off as Marcus burst into laughter.

‘You’re both eejits.’ I groan as I swim to the entrance with the image Marcus just created in my head.

I glance at Ivy and it almost looks like she blushing.

‘They be pigs. Don't pay them no mind, lass.’ I smile.

‘Hey, you oink just as bad as the rest of us.’ Noah says with snark.

I narrow my eyes at him as he swims by.

‘It's ok. Some of my brothers are worse.’ She chuckles and heads to the crack.

‘Still. Lads need to remember there’s a lady present.’ I eye the guys with a disapproving look.

‘Uh, sorry.’ Marcus chuckles nervously.

‘OK. Get to work, guys.’ Finn orders.

As much as Ivy annoys me, I don’t like her being exposed to the randy behavior of my friends. I feel like I need to protect her with all these males around and I’m starting to question why I would even care about that. She can’t be a stranger to lads and their talk with 7 brothers at home, but it feels different somehow.

We all float around the bottom of the crack which has definitely eroded more. You can get your upper half in there easily.

Finn is snapping photos and Jax is inspecting the rock. ‘It’s weird. It’s almost like the rock has a disease. It’s being broken down like it’s poisoned or something, but that’s impossible.’

‘Look at the sand.’ Marcus points to sand pours out of the cracks base. It’s black and looks like it’s oozing out.

Finn swims down with Ivy. They pick up handfuls. ‘What the hell?’

Ivy drops it and it sprays out in a black cloud around her. ‘If I didn’t know any better, it like the lake bed has cancer.’

‘You’re kidding.’ I swim down to her.

‘Look. The rocks all look like they have tumors.’ She points to the grey rocks with black growths all over them.

Finn touches one and it breaks off with a chunk of the rock. It smashes into little pieces as it hits the rocks below. ‘That’s not normal.’ He looks at me wide eyed.

‘Aye. Something not right here. This is barmy. I’ve never seen the likes of it.’ I carefully try to see inside. It’s dark, but there’s something glowing white inside.

The waters current slowly carries our carbon dioxide bubbles away as we all surround the crack and inspect it. The black tumors seem to thin at the top which means whatever’s causing it, started at the bottom.

‘There's something. Just there.’ I point to the glow and Finn joins my side.

‘What is that?’ He swims in further.

‘I-I don’t think you should…’ Ivy starts.

I hold up a hand. ‘Steady, lass. The men got this.’ I turn back to Finn.

‘Griff, I really think…’

‘Ivy, we're fine.’ I interrupt.

‘I can’t reach it. Can you?’ Finn pulls his arm out.

‘I’ll give it a lash.'

I position myself in such a way that allows my tank to fit in the rock as I reach into the hole.

I look back. ‘Ya got a torch?’

‘Torch?’ Finn questions.

‘Here.’ Ivy hands me a flashlight.

‘Thanks, love.’ I mutter and turn it on. I shine it into the hole. ‘Bejesus. It’s all hollowed out!’

‘What is?’ Finn asks.

‘The entire center. It's dug out. A sinkhole like this would take half the city!’ I say with amazement in my voice.

‘Let me see.’

I switch with Finn. ‘Holy shit!’

‘We gotta fill it, mate. This won’t stand.’ I advise.

‘I agree.' He pulls back. ‘Let’s get back and figure this out. I need this taken care of right away.’

‘I just need to grab that…’ I break off some rock to make room.

‘Hang on. Jax, Noah.’

The guys start breaking rocks off, widening the hole to allow us to swim in.

‘Guys, I really think this is a bad idea.’ Ivy protests.

‘Lass, quit being a nervous Nell. We know what we're doing.’ I respond.

‘No, you don’t.’ She says.

‘Ivy, politely shut your gab.’ I say sternly.

‘I think I can fit.’ Jax breaks a few more rocks and swims through the crack.

‘Craic.' I grin.

‘Story?’ Finn questions.

‘Good.’ Jax responds. ‘They use craic for everything.’

Finn looks at me and I nod with a grin. ‘You guys are weird.’ He chuckles and swims in.

‘Aye, but I bet my keks ye want to be one.’ I say.

‘Not bleeding likely.’ He says as he looks back.

I swim into the hole. ‘See! Ya be craic already.’ I laugh.

Noah, Ivy and Marcus swim in behind us and we spread out.

‘The life is thick as drunkards on a bend in here.’ I look in awe at all the fish in here.

‘I bet they’ve been cloned.’ Marcus says as he reaches for a trout and ten swim away from him.

‘Probably.’ Finn says.

I swim down to the white glow. ‘Hello.’ I reach the lake bed and swipe the silt off an odd oval stone. It’s rough and white light is pulsing in the cracks. ‘Ye look banjaxed, ye do. C’mere.’

I dig it out and lift it up to my eyes. ‘Sweet Mary and Joseph.’ I breathe as the light fills my eyes. I feel a weird energy from it.

‘What’s that?’ Finn asks as they all swim around me.

‘Not sure, yet.’ I whisper. I feel like I’m being pulled to it.

The rock’s pulse seems to quicken. I cock my head as the light glows and starts take on a pinkish hue. ‘What are ya on about?’

‘Griff…’

I look up and my friends are all backing off.

‘What…’

Just as I say that the space fills with a brilliant red light. I have to shield my eyes, but I can’t drop it.

‘GRIFF!’

I hear Ivy yell, but it’s drowned out by my own screams.

My body feels like it’s on fire. I see large bubbles under my wet suit start to grow and shrink on my arms.

My cries are joined by everyone else’s. The water starts to boil as I grip the rock harder.

The light grows brighter to an almost blinding light.

Fish scramble for safety as I feel myself being torn apart.

Just when I think I can’t hang on, there’s a giant explosion followed by a small earthquake. Rocks fall off the walls and the water swirls around the cave.

I’m thrown to the floor and the rock in my hand slowly turns white.

‘What the fuck?’

‘I feel like shit.’

‘What happened?’

‘Oh my god…’

I lift my eyes and I’m face to face with my own face. He’s struggling to breathe then lets go. His mouth opens and he breathes water. I watch in horror as I watch myself drown.

‘NO! CRIST, NO!’

I shove my clone away and swim, but didn’t realize where I was. In my panic, I swim right into the rock wall and knock my fool self out.

****

“Griffin…”

The sound of my name seems to carry my mind through a cloud of fog.

“Griffin, wake up.”

The soft voice sounds like an angel singing as I slowly reach reality and open my eyes. My eyes move from the darkness to light and I let out a little groan.

“Hey, Griffin.”

I focus on a beautiful smile. I feel my lips raise as I focus more and meet gorgeous blue eyes.

“Hi'ya. You’re a sight.” I say hoarsely as my head throbs.

She’s all wet and her cheeks are flushed with a pretty pink color. “I’m a mess.” She chuckles. “How are you?”

I look around and try to sit up. “Where am I?”

“At Finns. We pulled you out. You hit your head.” She reaches up and I wince.

“Ah…” I grab her hand off my head. She feels very warm, but I’m probably still cold. I feel wet and there’s a strange static sensation running over me. “Got myself a good egg.” I feel it and lay on the pillow.

“I’m sorry.” She says from a chair at the side of the bed.

“Not yer fault, lass. I made a right mess.” I chuckle quietly. “Must a been a right Holy show.” I take a breath and try to absorb the pain.

She crosses her arms on her knee. “Is the great Griffin Ford admitting he made a mistake?”

I roll my eye to her. “Aye. Ye best not breathe a word.” I point to her.

She giggles. “I’m glad you’re ok.”

“Thanks.” I pick at the blanket that’s pulled up to my stomach.

“Griff…I wanted to ask you about something you said back there when I gave you the flashlight…” She starts.

“Fancy a joke?” I smile.

Her brow cinches. “Um…ok.”

“An Irishman and Scotsman walk into a bar. As they walk in, the Irishman proclaims loudly, “Drinks for the house, on me!”

The next day, the headlines read Scottish ventriloquist found pummeled to death behind bar." I grin with a wink.

She laughs and shakes her head. “That was funny.”

“Yer too kind. Just don’t repeat it around McDonald.” I warn.

“Who’s McDonald?” She asks.

“My Scottish keeper.” I laugh.

“Oh.” She nods with a giggle. “Probably not a good idea.”

“Listen here, lass.” My lips fall as I find her eyes. “I want to apologize for not heeding ya. Ya tried telling me, I just got a head on me…”

“Griffin, don’t worry about. I’m really just glad you’re ok.” She grabs my hand. “I was kind of scared for you.”

“Scared for me? I was bleeding terrified!” I laugh then groan. “Ah…my feckin’ head!” I hold my forehead and wince.

She laughs and I can’t help but chuckle with her.

I know what she wanted to talk about. I called her love. It means nothing in Ireland, really. Lots of lads call lovely lasses ‘Love'. Here in America, I keep forgetting that it can have a stronger meaning. A meaning that could get me in trouble if I don’t mean it. So, I think it’s best to avoid it altogether.

At least, for now.