Chapter 9
nine
Rowyn Hale
Breathing
They left me standing here in the freezing cold. What am I supposed to do? Don’t cross the line. Okay, got it. Now what? I’m supposed to just stand here and freeze to death?
One thing I noticed was that Elliot was missing. I wonder where he was? Oh, that’s right, getting his dick sucked against a tree. Why couldn’t the others have done that tonight instead of bothering me. I should’ve known. Somehow I have an invisible target on my back. God, how can I be so stupid?
The wind picks up around me, causing me to shiver.
The forest is so silent, only hearing the whistle of the wind and the leaves rustling against their branches.
They’ll come back, right? I laugh to myself.
They wouldn’t just leave me here. They can’t be that cruel.
That’s when it dawns on me. Why would they come back for me?
This is just a game. A game to shut me up.
Why did I have to smirk at him? I could be safely in my warm dorm room right now, but no.
I’m out here in the middle of this clearing, and I don’t know which way to go to get out of here.
I don’t know what to do. I won’t step over the line but that doesn’t mean I won’t run in the opposite direction and pray to god it’s the right move to make.
A twig snaps, and I freeze, scanning the shadows around me.
“Whose there?” I yell, and another snap.
“This isn’t funny,” I shout, and another snap.
“Okay, I’m scared, are you happy now?” I whine as I see a shadow run past me.
I gasp, taking a step back. “I don’t want to play this game anymore.
You fucking win!” I yell, throwing my hands up in the air.
“No shit. You’ll never win,” a voice whispers behind me, and I whip around but don’t see a damn thing.
“Whatever, just…—”
“Awee, look at the helpless little rabbit,” the voice taunts.
“Kade… Grayson… This isn’t funny anymore. I’m tired. I’m cold. I’m over this,” I shout, looking all around me but I still see nothing.
“Funny, she thinks we’re those assholes,” another voice taunts, only this one is deeper.
“I’m intrigued,” the voice growls right behind me, and I jump. “Run, Scaredy Cat. Run,” he orders, and I take off into the forest, trying to steady my breathing but I’m too scared.
Weaving through the trees as they whip and smack every inch of my body makes me cry out.
The wind picks up again and cold air blankets me, causing my skin to litter with goosebumps.
My hair whirls around and into my face, blinding me for a second.
I really should’ve brought a hair tie, but who knew my night would end up like this?
Owls hoot in the distance as I trip over my feet and slide against the leaves.
I don’t know where I’m going but I keep moving.
My chest tightens the faster I move, and the longer I run, the colder it gets which only sends my lungs into overdrive.
“Rowynnnn…” a voice whispers from beside me, and I scream, looking in the direction it came from but it’s just too damn dark to see anything.
“Rowynnnn…” the voice taunts again, but this time I don’t scream.
I just keep moving forward as twigs whip against my ankles, making me wince.
A flash of moonlight creeps in overhead and the trees start to thin out.
Hell yes! But what I hear next has me nearly stopping in my tracks.
Is that… water?? I slow down and damn near slip on the leaves underneath my feet.
The closer I get, the louder the water sounds, as if it’s rushing down and along something.
As the trees diminish, the forest bottom turns into rock and sand. Shit. I went the wrong way. This has to be the cliff Misti told me about. The moonlight shines so brightly as the wind whistles against the cliff's edge. Fuck. I’ve got nowhere to go.
I hold my breath and look over the edge as my hair whips around, blinding me yet again.
I lift my tired arms and swipe my hair out of my face, but hands slam against my shoulders, and I scream, losing my footing.
Everything happens in slow motion as I fall over the cliff.
I close my eyes and think, ‘Well, this is it. It’s my time to die, and I’ll be with my parents sooner than anticipated.
’ All I hear is my name being shouted and screams echoing through the air.
Am I screaming? I don’t have enough time to think before my body is submerged into the freezing water.
The river thrashes me around as it rushes to go wherever it is that it leads to.
The frigid water immediately has my brain working into overdrive and my bones frozen on impact.
I try to use my legs to get my head above water but the current is so strong it just keeps rolling me around.
I don’t want to die yet. I don’t want to drown in the river at the school I just started.
I need to fight. I need to get some goddamn air.
Trying to swim my way up, I’m slammed into something hard, and I hold onto it and climb on top of whatever it is, and finally, I come up above water, heaving for air.
If only I was skinnier, then I’d be able to pull myself up more to get out of here.
My body feels so heavy as I shiver uncontrollably.
Fuck. I don’t know where I am or how I’m going to get back.
So, I lay here and just breathe, because there is absolutely nothing else I can do.
I just don’t want to die out here. That’s all that I keep thinking about.
No one will ever find me. Is that what they wanted?
To taunt me. Chase me and kill me in the river?
My brain is too frozen to form actual thoughts that make sense, so why bother trying.
If I make it out of here alive, we can figure that shit out later.
Right now, I just need to breathe, slow down my heart rate, and get warm.
But fate has other plans, when the object I’m currently holding onto for dear life begins to break. No! No! No!