Chapter 7 Elegance in Human Form #3
How had we just escaped that foggy forest in total darkness without so much as a scratch? And the hallucinations—was it the mist?
I didn’t have time to dwell as the sound of rushing water drew my attention. Before us, a river crashed and sprayed as a rapid current rushed past. We followed the water, a thick mist up ahead.
“Is that a waterfall?” I asked.
Isabella followed me as I walked along the bank. I could almost see through the mist now.
“Oh, damn,” Isabella muttered.
I stopped, finally seeing it.
A thundering waterfall was gushing down the mountain.
“How’s the surface not frozen?” I asked. “It’s below freezing. You’d think the entire river would be frozen solid, it’s cold enough!”
“Yeah, really,” Cody said. “Hey. Look.”
I followed his gaze through the mist. Lights glowed in the distance, dotted across the mountains and valley below.
From this height, I could see a grand castle with towers that soared into the sky.
It rested on one of the lower summits. Not far were the dotted lights of a village and other buildings nestled in the landscape.
“That’s it,” Isabella said. “Nightfall.”
My chest tightened as I stared at the castle, still a great distance away. Would it hold the answers I was looking for? Crushing the thought, I turned to Isabella.
“Yeah, but how do we get there?”
“You jump.”
Commander Everson’s voice made my spine stiffen. Where the hell did he come from? And what did he say?
“You can’t be serious,” I deadpanned.
“It is the only way in. One that all of us took—all but the Aurkai,” he said. “Come with me.”
I glanced at Isabella, who raised her eyebrow in uncertainty, then to Cody, who shrugged and had ‘what the hell’ written all over his face.
Sighing, I followed Everson, listening to Isabella mutter something about insanity under her breath.
The raging water roared as we neared the cliff edge, where it barreled toward its descent.
“This is the way forward,” Everson said, spreading his arms wide as he turned to face us.
I stood at the cliffside and stared at the dark water as it surged from the mountainside. Mist shrouded the water column, keeping the bottom from view. There was no way this was a survivable fall.
“This is madness,” Isabella said. “Are you seriously trying to tell us you jumped off this thing? And survived?”
Everson ignored her and walked to the water’s edge.
He crossed several stones rising above the water.
They formed a path across the river to the center of the waterfall.
There, at the edge, a large stone jutted out at a sharp, pointed angle.
It was a natural dais that looked straight out of a horror film where sacrificial ceremonies were held.
Everson stood there, the water rushing around him, and glanced at us.
“I’ll see you at the bottom.”
The air stilled, the sound muted, and as if in slow motion… he fell.
I stared at the place where he’d been standing, my body rigid with disbelief.
“Is he dead?” Cody whispered.
I stood there, my jaw slack, finally mustering the courage to move enough to see down into the thick mist clouding the falling water.
“None of this makes any sense,” I said. “This water should be frozen. Everything else is. Why is it flowing? This is all wrong.”
“Can’t you feel it?” came a soft, unfamiliar voice.
I turned, seeing the small, brown-haired girl from earlier—Skylar.
“Feel what?” I asked.
“The pressure,” she said. “Usually, at such high altitudes like this, the pressure is lower, but it’s like the opposite’s true here.
It’s much higher. We’ve finally reached a point where the pressure is high enough that the temperature would need to be even lower for a river of this size to freeze.
You probably didn’t notice it because it’s been increasing bit by bit ever since we woke up alone in the wilderness. ”
I stared at the flowing water. She was right. Now that she’d said it, I noticed it. I’d attributed it to the extreme conditions before, but everything had gradually gotten heavier.
“But it’s not about altitude; it’s been increasing the closer we’ve come—" I paused and looked up at the glowing castle.
“To Nightfall,” Skylar finished.
What were they hiding? A chill crept up my spine.
“I’ll do it,” I said, stepping onto the first stone.
“Anna,” Cody said, grabbing my arm.
I turned to him sharply. “I have to know. I can’t turn back now. I understand if you do, but I’m going.”
He sighed, his hand slipping away.
“Yeah, you’re right,” he said. “But let me go first. If we’re all going to die, I’d rather get it over with.”
I watched him for a moment but finally stepped aside.
“I can’t believe you guys are considering this,” Isabella said.
I couldn’t believe it either. My stomach was twisting violently. Then, Isabella’s voice made me remember something.
“Didn’t you say your dad worked here?” I asked. “Surely he wouldn’t let you come if he thought you were going to die?”
She put her finger to her lip and looked up in thought, and I marveled at how authentic she was being about it.
“I guess not, but what if he doesn’t know about this stuff?” she asked.
I squinted one eye. “What did Everson say? Everyone enters Nightfall this way—except for the R-Kai, or whoever he was talking about. Everyone else who enters Nightfall comes by the falls. Besides, why would they go through all this trouble for us to die at the bottom of a waterfall?”
Isabella nodded, a look of determination setting into her features. “Okay.”
One of the others, still hanging back, was listening to us, shaking her head. It was the girl with the long braid. “You guys are crazy. But I’m coming.”
“Riya, no way,” a tall, lanky guy behind her said. “Come with us. We’re going to scale down the cliffside and get out of here. This is insane.”
Riya faced them. “You could die going down that cliffside, too. You heard them—there’s something special about this place. We made it this far! We can do it. Come with me.”
He laughed sardonically and turned away. Several of the others followed him, but four stepped forward.
“I thought you’d chicken out, Eli,” Riya taunted, addressing the guy who’d stepped forward with the other three.
“Hell naw,” Eli said. “I’m Captain America! I can do anything!”
Riya rolled her eyes. “Reece, are you sure you want to do this?”
A shorter girl with dark hair pulled into a ponytail raised her eyebrow and indignantly rested one hand on a hip.
“I didn’t come all this way for nothing,” she said.
“She’s right,” a stocky guy with a determined expression said. He slammed his fist into his hand. “We can do it.”
One by one, I watched as they made the decision to plummet into the falls below. The mist was too thick to see the bottom.
The last of the group stepped forward, his curly hair messy and face covered in dirt. “Yes, we’re all coming.”
I turned and saw Cody on the stone where Everson had stood. It was just the two of us. He smiled faintly.
“Ready?” he asked.
He was so calm—the total opposite of how I felt. Every nerve was searing with electricity, and my resolve was like a glass house in a hailstorm. What made Cody so brave? Were we all falling for some elaborate hoax? Were we being tricked into idiocy, like we were a bunch of lemmings?
I nodded and filled my lungs with air. There was no choice if I wanted the truth. This was their game, and all I could do was play along. Quiet fury coursed through my body.
They had all the power.
We were pawns.
My fists tightened. Cody gave me a slight smirk and touched his forehead like a salute.
“See you on the other side,” he said.
As his hand slipped to his side, he leaned into the falls, and the mist took him.
I stood at the top of the waterfall, staring into the misty darkness.
The water thundered past me on all sides, spraying me with the cool droplets.
I was the last one. No one wanted to be up here alone, so I waited.
I watched each recruit contemplate a decision that may end their lives.
Isabella was the last of them to go. She took the least amount of time.
As soon as she got to the stone that rose from the cliff’s edge, she glanced at me, gave me a nervous smile, and dove headfirst into the falling water.
Had my mom stood here? Why would someone risk their life to be a part of this place?
So many times in my life, I’d wanted an honest answer from her.
Like who my dad was. Why we never traveled.
Why it was so hard to convince her to let me go to the high school six miles from my house.
I wanted to know her. I wanted to know why she made the choices she made. Why she refused to tell me anything.
And why was she afraid?
I could feel it. There was no doubt. There was something to fear here.
Taking a deep breath, I leaned forward, and let the wind take me.