Rot (A Monster’s Prey #3)
Chapter 1
The water was too close to the road.
Like it was ready to swallow us.
I leaned my sweaty face against the soothing cool glass of the window, watching the water that lined the bridge we were crossing. I felt the rhythmic thumping under my feet echoing against the metal.
The murky water below was littered with dark, twisted trees that reminded me of a fairytale I couldn’t remember anymore. Something shifted beneath the surface.
Something too big to be a fish.
The interstate dropped with a sudden slope that made my heart race. Once the bus settled, the water kissed the edge of the railing outside. The place grabbed me by the collar and yanked me closer.
The dark-green clouds churned above us, prepared to shove humans back down the food chain and into the depths below.
The emergency exit is right above you. That's why you picked this seat, I reminded myself.
Despite the air conditioner blowing against my ankles, people started whining about the humidity already accumulating. Half of them already wanted to throw in the towel to go home.
Good for them.
They had somewhere to go.
Home.
Where did one find that?
I rolled my eyes until the ligaments got a healthy stretch from the motion. These idiots weren’t going to make it the full month. I didn’t belong with these people.
Spoiled brats, the whole lot of them. The kind who thought slow wifi was the end of the world.
Here I was trying to figure out where I would stay for the remaining two months of summer, and a thought like that probably never crossed their minds. Someone in this world cared if they were warm and safe at night.
A high pitched haughty scoff came from across the aisle. “Not all of us get fieldwork every summer, Scholarship Kid. Excuse us for being so immature.”
My eyes slid over to the pretty and perfect Shannon Fredricks. Her cute little nose scrunched like she smelled something bad, and jealousy practically made her hazel eyes turn green.
The bus jolted over a bump, and my fingers dug painfully into the leather seat beneath me. My heart pounded against my chest.
She chuckled at my reaction. We’d had multiple classes together since freshman year of college. Seven years later, and she was still the same headache she’d been at eighteen. Topped off with the confidence of a person who’d never had to earn safety.
“My fieldwork has nothing to do with it,” I gritted out. The nights sleeping in the streets did.
“I’m sick of you getting all the best perks. Bouncing on Professor Gale has been quite profitable for you.” She studied the soft pink manicure on her nails, completely oblivious to the fact it would be ruined the second we stepped off the bus.
So would those coiffed blonde curls. I looked forward to watching them friz into a ball of poof. It might even be the highlight of the entire trip, to watch the mighty fall.
“Your ignorance is astounding.” I blinked at her. “You need to work harder.”
The road smoothed, and I realized we’d finally crossed the long bridge we’d been on for what felt like forever and exited the interstate.
Being on solid land didn’t stop the feeling that we would wash away though. The shoulder of the interstate was smaller, and the water creeped even closer to the bus.
A giant ripple vibrated the water’s surface as we crossed onto solid land, and it followed beside us as if the swamp had a life of its own. An icy finger of dread ran its sticky finger down my spine, as the irrational thought that it was after me set in.
I tried to shake off the sense that something was about to go wrong and blamed the sweat dripping down my back, for the feeling that a threat had rested its heavy hand on the back of my neck.
“Bitch,” Shannon gasped, completely unaware of the unease boiling inside me. “The entitlement.”
Right. I was the entitled one.
Loud pops snapped in my ears right as the bus fishtailed out of control. The sudden motion slammed my head into the window, sending a nauseating crack through my skull and threatening to make the granola bar, I’d recently eaten, come back up.
The other students screamed in alarm, as the shriek of the bus driver hitting the breaks as hard as they could, squealed over them. The foul stench of burned rubber filled my nose as the thick taste of metallic blood filled my mouth.
We careened to the right, tipping over. Glass shattered around us, and instead of the swamp out my window, dark gray asphalt covered the shattered hole. Tiny rocks flew around me like shards of shrapnel, pelting me in the face.
I closed my eyes, bracing for another impact.
But it never came.
Our sliding slowed until we came to a stop that almost felt intentional. The silence was deafening. My eyes snapped open as if the sudden loss of sound was an alarm of its own, screaming that something was wrong.
My face hovered inches over the swamp. My own reflection stared back at me with wide blue eyes that popped even against the brownish, green hue of the water, even when the rest of my features came across as blurred shapes.
My fingers moved with a mind of their own to touch the surface, and right before I made contact, my reflection disappeared.
Every inch of my body shook with the instinct to run.
The longer I stared at the water’s surface the harder I trembled, so I unclipped my seat belt to put some space between me and the sense that I made a horrible mistake coming here.
Shannon hovered over me, the seat belt holding her in place. She whimpered in fear, but she was fine from what I could tell.
I stood on shaky legs, stumbling to the emergency exit that was now to my left. The intense relief of escape made it easier to breathe as soon as I pushed the heavy door open.
The morning sun blared down the bus, sending shadows of the dangling people on the ground. The shadows reminded me of bodies hanging from branches, and that unease settled back in my stomach.
Leave.
“Talia! Help me!” Shannon screeched indignantly.
“Glad your mood hasn’t been injured.” I tore myself away from the door to help catch Shannon, when she released her seat belt. I stumbled under her weight and bonked my head against the side of the bus and my boot sank through the broken window.
Sharp glass ripped through the skin of my ankle like claws, as water wrapped around my foot and leg. If I didn’t know better, I’d say the swamp meant to pull me under.
Like this place would claim me, if I let it.