𝐀𝐌𝐎𝐑𝐀✔️

THIRTEEN|IGNITE

When I was twelve, a group of boys from my street persuaded me to venture out into the wood with them, to the stream that lay deep beneath the rotting wood and sun dried leaves.

I almost died that day.
-Because I trusted too easily.
Because I believed everything that they said.

That it wasn't deep.
That's the current wasn't as strong as it looked.
That I was safe with them.

Strips of golden sun peaked through the branches above. The boys laughed amongst themselves, snickering and punching one another.

"Are you sure it's safe?" I asked, my voice shaking from the cold. My body quivering, crossing my arms in an attempt to find some sort of warmth in the evening chill. The sun was setting and a premature twilight began to fall over the wood.

"Amora, it's fine. Just do it!" One of them shouted, growing frustrated at my hesitance. I flinched slightly, turning to face the stream, flecks of foam flying into the air as the water crashed violently against the rocks.

I raised my foot about to step in, when a drawling voice stopped me.
-Adam.
His piercing blue eyes seared into my skin. He was the eldest of the group. A boy of fifteen.

"You can't go in with your clothes on." He smirked, "What would your Dad say if you came home soaking wet?...Take them off."

I thought about it for a moment, he had a point my father would be furious.
"Umm... I guess..."

I turned my back on the boys once more, pulling my white dress over my head and throwing it to the floor beside me.

Whistles and howls filled the air, all the boys erupting into a chorus of snarling laughs.

What was funny?
Did they think that I looked funny?

Scarlet embarrassment flushed in my cheeks, hot and horrid. Desperate to find a quick means of concealing my body I plunged into the river.

Expecting my feet to reach the bottom.
-But they didn't.

I kept sinking, the strong current pulling me into its grasp. The water was cold. So very cold. Stabbing me with it's icicle fingers and sharp stone teeth.
I gasped, expecting air but instead all I got was water, burning my throat and freezing my lungs. I tried to scream, but the sound was dismal and muffled my water.

My body crashed against the rocks as the current continued to drag my body downstream, ricocheting off of the rock walls. I felt the sharp stones bite into my skin, and I tried to open my eyes, but all I saw was black. Nothingness.
Hollow and empty.

I tried desperately to swim to the surface, my legs kicking and flailing. I was almost there, I could see the distorted light in the distance, but no matter how  hard I tried I never seemed to get any closer to the surface. It felt as though I had weights fastened around me feet, keeping my at the rivers floor.

My body grew weak and my legs became weary.
I couldn't continue to struggle.
The water began to slowly fill my lungs.

I was drowning.
And there was nothing I could do to save myself.
No one else would save me.
My head began to cloud and the weights at my feet seemed to drop as my body grew light.
It felt almost as though I were floating.
As though I could feel the steady beat of rain on my back.

But I couldn't.
Because I had drowned, in a small river in small town.
No one would even notice I was gone.
My mother was dead and my father certainly wouldn't notice.
He was to busy with his empty bottles and latest fix.

Then suddenly, I awoke from my slumber.
Strong fingers grasping at my shoulders, pulling me from the waters icy embrace.

I spluttered and coughed, emptying the water from my lungs into the cold hard ground.

Rain and as falling heavily around us.

I was alive.

That was how I met Daniel.
He he saved me. He always saves me.
He was only thirteen at the time when he pulled me from the river, saving my life.

-And ever since that day I had been in his debt.

***
Really enjoyed writing this chapter, I didn't have to struggle for ideas like I normally do
Anyways...
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