gold rush [the wilds, toni shalifoe]

chapter 24

Day Twenty-Three

"I know this is delicate, but we do need your account of what happened that day."

"Right."

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Toni thrased against Shelby and Fatin's grasp on her forearms, desperately wanting to lunge forward into the depths of the water where the three girls had vanished under. Her voice was already feeling raw from the screams and shouts that were leaving her mouth and fingernail indents were forming on her arms from the grip that Fatin and Shelby had on her.

Every so often they'd catch a glimpse of one of the girls - a glimpse of the three here and there - as the battled the strong waves. Every so often they'd notice the tainted red water that swirled around them. But the shouts from Rachel, Nora and Hunter didn't go away as the three girls screamed out in what Shelby would describe later as only a mix of pain, terror and an emotion of loss so intense that she didn't know how to describe it.

Hunter's blonde hair stuck out against Nora and Rachel's darker hair, making her a little easier to spot out of the three girls. Tony stopped thrashing against Fatin and Shelby as she accepted she wasn't a strong enough swimmer to go into the waves, but her voice continued to scream out the names of the three girls with everything that she had in her.

Nora and Hunter grappled at Rachel as the three girls finally regrouped, Hunter going to swing Rachel's arm around her shoulder to hold the girl up. She reached her hand into the water as they thrased against the waves, feeling around for rachel's arm before she finally allowed her eyes to focus on Rachel's arm - or rather what was left of it.

Hunter had tuned out the blood in the water at first, which is maybe why it took the girl so long to notice it. Mixing in with the blood that she hadn't realised was pouring from her and Nora, it almost looked like spilt paint but Hunted knew better - they all knew better. Nora grabbed Rachel just as another wave crashed into the three, sending them tumbling deeper into the depths of the ocean.

It was like she was tumbling head first through the water, and her eyes were getting more and more blurred as Hunter panicked, trying to find the surface of the water. Her arms were beginning to get weaker now, and she was starting to wonder if Rachel was going to bleed out in the water. No matter how much she pulled the water with her arms, it was as if she wasn't getting any closer to the surface of the water and just whenever she thought she was about to get her head out, another wave would send her tumbling through the waves again.

Hunter's thoughts all began to drift away as her arms moved slower. She just wished she had another chance to see Hudson.

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"We couldn't see them, you know," Toni continued, swallowing the lump in her throat as she recalled that day on the beach. "But we could hear them."

____

Fatin held Toni close to her as they all stood helpless, watching the waves for any sign of the girls. Rachel's head was the first to come into view as she screamed out for Nora - a scream that was so heartwrenching that it sent chills down the spines of the girls waiting on the grainy beach on the island. 

All of the girls watched as Nora broke the surface for the last time before the screams died down to just one set: Rachel's.

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"If I'm being honest, I can still hear them," Fatin murmured, eyes looking off into the distance. "It could have lasted a second."

"Or maybe an hour, I don't know," Toni recalled. "But then she was just..."