(WHAT THE OCEAN RAKES )
Jake didn't move.
He couldn't.
Water.
There was water in his office.
Not flooding. Not pouring.
Just… there.
Spreading slowly across the polished floor like it had always belonged there.
"This isn't real," Jake said under his breath.
But his voice lacked conviction.
Because he could hear it.
Drip.
Drip.
Drip.
Not from the ceiling.
Not from the walls.
From nowhere.
And everywhere.
"You're running out of time, Jake."
Naida's voice remained calm.
Too calm.
Jake turned to her slowly.
"What did you do?"
Naida didn't react to the accusation.
"I didn't do anything," she said.
Jake laughed—short, sharp, disbelieving.
"Right. Water appears in my office, my business is collapsing overnight, I'm seeing things in my sleep—and you expect me to believe you have nothing to do with this?"
Naida stepped closer.
The water shifted with her.
As if it followed.
"You are seeing what has always been there," she said quietly.
"You're just no longer able to ignore it."
Jake clenched his fists.
"I don't ignore anything."
Naida's eyes held his.
"No," she replied softly.
"You buried it."
Something in those words hit deeper than he expected.
Jake looked away.
Just for a second.
But that was enough.
The room flickered.
For a brief moment—
His office was gone.
Water.
Endless.
Dark.
Silent.
Then—
Back.
Jake staggered slightly, catching himself on the desk.
His breathing was heavier now.
"Stop this," he said, his voice lower.
"Whatever this is—stop it."
Naida shook her head slowly.
"I can't."
Jake looked at her again.
"Can't… or won't?"
Naida's expression didn't change.
"This isn't something I control."
A pause.
"It's something that's been waiting."
Jake's jaw tightened.
"For what?"
Naida took one more step forward.
Now she stood directly in front of him.
Close.
Too close.
"For you."
Silence.
Heavy.
Unavoidable.
Jake stared at her.
Searching for something.
A lie.
A crack.
Anything that made this make sense.
But there was nothing.
Only truth.
And that unsettled him more than anything else.
"Why?" he asked finally.
Naida's gaze softened.
Just slightly.
"Because you left."
Jake exhaled sharply, frustration rising.
"We've been over this—I don't know you!"
Naida didn't argue.
Didn't raise her voice.
Didn't react at all.
"You don't remember," she said again.
And then—
She reached for him.
This time, Jake didn't pull away.
Her fingers touched his chest.
Right over his heart.
And the world shattered.
Not faded.
Not blurred.
Shattered.
Water rushed around him—
Violent.
Endless.
Suffocating.
He was no longer standing.
He was falling.
Falling into something deep.
Something ancient.
Something that knew him.
Memories.
But not his.
Or maybe—
They were.
A shore.
Not this one.
Older.
Wilder.
Untouched.
A man stood there.
Strong.
Unshaken.
Watching the sea like it was speaking to him.
Jake's breath caught.
Because—
That man…
Was him.
Not the same.
But the same.
"You promised."
The voice echoed.
Jake turned.
And saw her.
Naida.
But not as she was now.
Brighter.
Warmer.
Alive in a way that felt impossible now.
"You said you wouldn't leave," she continued.
The man—Jake—stepped closer to her.
"I won't," he said.
A lie.
The ocean roared behind them.
Louder.
Angrier.
"You don't understand what you're tied to," Naida said, fear creeping into her voice.
"I don't care," he replied.
"I choose you."
The sea surged.
Violent.
Possessive.
"You don't choose me," the ocean seemed to say.
"You belong to me."
Jake felt it.
That pull.
That same pull he had been feeling since the beginning.
Then—
Darkness.
Chains.
Cold.
Unforgiving.
Jake gasped—
Back in his office.
He collapsed to one knee, breathing hard.
"What… was that…"
Naida watched him quietly.
"You remember," she said.
Jake shook his head.
"No… no, that's not possible…"
But his voice betrayed him.
Because something inside him…
Recognized it.
"That wasn't me," he insisted.
Naida knelt in front of him.
Now their eyes were level.
"It was," she said gently.
Jake looked at her—
Really looked at her.
"You're not human," he said.
Naida didn't deny it.
"I was," she replied.
A pause.
"Until the ocean claimed me."
Jake's chest tightened.
"And you?" she continued.
Jake didn't answer.
Because deep down—
He already knew.
"You were never meant to leave," she said.
The room trembled.
The water rose higher now.
Up to his ankles.
Cold.
Real.
"My business…" Jake whispered.
"This is all connected, isn't it?"
Naida nodded.
"What you built on land…"
A pause.
"…was never truly yours."
Jake laughed weakly.
"So what—this is some kind of punishment?"
Naida's eyes darkened slightly.
"No," she said.
"It's a return."
The lights went out.
Darkness swallowed the room.
Only the sound of water remained.
Then—
A voice.
Not Naida's.
Deeper.
Older.
"You cannot divide what was bound."
Jake froze.
"What… is that…"
Naida stood slowly.
Her expression changed.
Serious now.
Focused.
"It's here," she said.
The water surged violently.
Climbing higher.
Faster.
Jake stood up quickly.
"What do you mean here?!"
Naida looked at him.
"The ocean doesn't wait forever."
The walls cracked.
Water burst through.
Not from outside—
From within.
Jake stumbled back as the office began to collapse into something else—
Something impossible.
The floor gave way beneath him.
And he fell.
This time—
He didn't wake up.
He hit water.
Hard.
Cold surrounded him instantly.
Pulling him down.
Deeper.
Jake struggled.
Fought.
Kicked upward.
But the deeper he sank—
The quieter it became.
Until—
He stopped fighting.
And in that silence—
He saw it.
A massive shadow beneath him.
Watching.
Waiting.
Ancient.
"You remember now."
Jake didn't speak.
Couldn't.
Because he did.
The deal.
The promise.
The choice.
He had chosen the land.
Chosen power.
Chosen control.
And abandoned what he was tied to.
Now—
It had come to collect.
Jake closed his eyes.
Then—
A hand grabbed his.
Warm.
He looked up.
Naida.
Not cold.
Not distant.
But real.
"Come back," she said.
Jake stared at her.
"I can't," he replied.
Naida shook her head.
"Yes, you can."
She pulled him upward.
Faster.
Light broke through the darkness.
Air returned to his lungs—
Jake gasped—
Back in the real world.
The office was gone.
The water was gone.
He was on the shore.
The same shore where it all began.
Night.
Silent.
Still.
Jake looked around slowly.
"What… happened?"
Naida stood beside him.
"It's over," she said.
Jake frowned.
"Over?"
Naida looked at the ocean.
"For now."
A long pause.
Jake looked down at his hands.
Then back at her.
"My business…"
Naida didn't answer immediately.
When she did—
Her voice was softer.
"You can rebuild that."
Jake let out a quiet breath.
"And this?" he asked.
Naida met his eyes.
"This…" she said.
"…you have to live with."
The waves moved gently now.
Peaceful.
As if nothing had happened.
But Jake knew better.
Because deep down—
He could still feel it.
The pull.
Not gone.
Just… waiting.
Jake looked at Naida one last time.
"Are you staying?" he asked.
Naida didn't answer right away.
Instead—
She stepped back.
Toward the water.
Jake's chest tightened.
"Naida…"
She smiled.
Soft.
Sad.
"I was never meant to stay," she said.
The water reached her feet.
Then her ankles.
Jake stepped forward instinctively.
"Wait—"
She shook her head.
"You remembered," she said.
"That was all I needed."
Jake stopped
.
Because he understood.
This was goodbye.
Naida's form began to fade—
Blending with the ocean behind her.
Until—
She was gone.
Only the waves remained.
Jake stood there.
Alone.
For the first time in his life—
Not in control.
Not powerful.
Not untouchable.
Just…
Human.
And as the ocean moved quietly before him—
One truth settled deep in his chest:
Some things are never truly yours.
They are only borrowed.
And eventually—
They come back to be claimed.
THE END 🌊