After swimming up through the water Jane and I enter the cave safely, making me know she has done this many times before. I clutch my hands to my chest, trying to keep warm as Jane holds my arm. I hear her press against something above our heads and then before I can comprehend what she is doing a brightness blinds me.
The smell of dirt, leaves, and fresh air comes into my nostrils making me even more confused. I open my eyes to find that we are in fact standing in the forest. My mouth pops open in shock as my head turns to look at Jane. She wrings out her sopping wet shirt like nothing even happened. I take a glance around, see we are on a little hill, and recognize were I am. This must be where I was when I got sucked into the earth, and now only to be popped right back out the next morning.
I don't know what to do with myself now experiencing this for the first time. It was like we just teleported back here as if it was nothing out of the ordinary. I don't comprehend what just happened or how Jane managed to do it so effortlessly. When I was drowning I could have done the same thing but no, instead I have a fear of water now that is going to haunt me more than these other strange events have.
My whole body feels weak and so I look down at myself and make sure I am intact. My knees are shaking but other than that I can't move a muscle. Jane grips my arm tighter so I don't fall off balance and then gives me a second to compose myself before we continue on our way. It takes me a few minutes before I can follow Jane without feeling dizzy and out of breath but still, going through the woods is just as mentally draining as before.
I am completely paranoid one of those men will pop up out of no where and force me back to that wretched place. But so far we haven't come in contact with anybody and I would like to keep it that way. Though I would rather have anything strange happen before one of those men came to take me away again. I do refuse to tell myself we will go unharmed because truthfully anything is possible in a forest like this one, which is why I've begun to trek with a purpose. My ears strain but I force them to do so, keeping focus on any indication that a person or animal will be nearby.
Jane was leading the way until I began to walk ahead of her slightly with no sympathy about her falling behind. She says nothing, probably realizing how I'm extremely in need of getting away from the place I have such atrocious memories of. To anybody else the chirping of the Spring birds here may sound so inviting but for me it's like they are whole different creatures that see every odd phenomenon that occurs here. I've come across some of the most mysterious things here that I worry to find something worse.
Even though we go along a path, one that I would have never recognized if Jane didn't mention it, I still look over my shoulder and keep my eyes peeled. In this short amount of time we have gone far and safely as well. My body has become freezing cold but that's only because of the salt water still dripping down my skin. Suddenly I feel so inclined to ask Jane about the water being so abnormal in a place like this.
The two of us approach a field surrounded by shrubbery and trees as she answers my question, "Well I had never thought about that before, I guess it could be the sea water from home."
I'm about to speak but she adds, "Don't worry, I have spare cloths for the both of us in my trunk."
I look up from the ground finding two cars parked in the back of the field like it was a casual place for them to be. It takes another two or three minutes to get to them, and when we finally do Jane unlocks it with a key she had in her pocket. She pops the trunk and pulls out some cloths, then goes into the backseat to change first. I wait with my back against the trunk as I watch the tops of the trees sway in the breeze.
A sound catches my ears, a small thumping noise against the ground. It is a something I have heard before but can't put a finger on it quite yet. I keep my eyes out for a peculiar sight and almost instantly something out of the corner of my eye startles me. I turn before he can disappear, knowing full well that this white rabbit is the same one I met in these woods before. Without any hesitation I march right up to the pine tree he is hiding behind and meet his gaze.
ВИ ЧИТАЄТЕ
My Last Breath (Book one of The Portal Series)
ФентезіBOOK ONE: Having enough courage to run through the woods and away from the people who convinced me they were saving me was not how I believed I'd spend my day. Yet, there I went escaping from the only place I knew existed in the world. Being held ca...
