DEMIS (A Clash With Lightning)

2

"Hello?" Jasmine called out. She was hoping—no, she was praying—that Hecate had not just abandoned her on a deserted island by herself. She looked around, and to her dismay, there was no sign of life to be seen along the shore.

The air was salty, and the breeze tickled her cheeks. If she weren't so afraid, she would be appreciating the scenery. The island was beautiful; the sand was pure white and soft underneath her shoes. The water was a clear blue, and the waves crashed against the sand softly.

Her survival instincts began to kick in. She needed to search for where Hecate went, and while she did that, she needed to find some sort of shelter and a source of water. It didn't go unnoticed by her that it was excruciatingly hot outside, and sweat was already forming in beads on her face and arms. She was going to be thirsty sooner rather than later.

She decided the best course of action would be to look around the island. She assumed that she and Hecate had just been separated, and that she was probably somewhere along the shoreline. She began her hike while shouting Hecate's name.

After what felt like hours of shouting and walking, Jasmine was exhausted. The sun seemed to be blaring down on her, and she felt dehydrated. The lack of water and the fact that she had been up since 3:00 a.m. was catching up to her quickly. She assumed it was noon now. That was when Jasmine decided to give up her search of the beach for the time being and seek water somewhere in the jungle.

As she approached the jungle, she bit her lip. What if she got lost and was never able to make it out? It would be easy to become trapped in the maze of trees and brush. After a moment of hesitation, she reminded herself that she needed to hydrate, and this was the only way she was going to find water. With newfound determination, she kept going forward.

Jasmine wasn't sure how long she had been walking. She was so dehydrated and overheated that she had lost her sense of orientation. Finally, she spotted a river flowing over a small hill covered by bushes. Hope filled her heart as she ran toward the river desperately. She fell to her knees, scooped the river water into her cupped hands, and drank greedily.

After having her fill, she lifted her head to see another figure across the river that appeared to be another woman. She rubbed her eyes to make sure she wasn't hallucinating. When the figure became clearer, she realized it was a girl around her age, also drinking from the water.

"Hey!" Jasmine shouted toward the girl.

The girl jumped back, clearly startled by the sudden noise and obviously not expecting to see another human out in the middle of nowhere. As Jasmine looked closer, she could see that the girl was wearing ordinary clothes that had been sullied by the jungle. Jasmine's heart fluttered at the thought of not being alone in this situation that Hecate had dragged her into. Maybe this mystery girl knew about Hecate too.

"Um, hi!" the girl called back. "Do you know where I can find some shelter?"

"I don't! Do you know where we are?" Jasmine shouted back over the crashing rapids.

"Sorry! I can't hear over the waves! We need to find a way to get across the river!" the girl shouted.

Jasmine looked at the crashing water and breathed deeply. Apparently, she was the daughter of Poseidon and had the power to control this water. She was determined to get across this river if it was the last thing she did. She was going to make these rapids her bitch.

She closed her eyes and concentrated really hard on the way the waves were moving, trying to imagine them calm and still. She huffed, eyes still closed, when she continued to hear the water crashing violently. Next, she tried imagining the water parting down the middle like the Red Sea. Again, no luck. When that didn't work, she concluded that she needed to be touching the water in order for it to work.

She took a step forward toward the water, feeling confident in her power. She took another deep breath, prepared to take full control over the river. Except the river was not in agreement with her plan. She stepped into the raging river.

And the harsh waters dragged her under.

Jasmine flailed her arms, trying to reach the surface, but wave after wave kept her down. Her body hit the bottom, where her chest, arms, and legs suffered cuts and bruises caused by the rocks. As her vision began to turn dark, she saw a hand reaching for her and dragging her to the surface.

When her head breached the water, she gasped for air, proud of herself for not inhaling the water. More importantly, she was grateful to the person whose arms she was in that had rescued her. She looked up to see another person her age hanging onto a branch for support. This wasn't the girl from earlier, though. This was a guy, and a very handsome one at that. His hair was blond, and his eyes were a striking blue. He looked down at her and smiled.

"Don't worry. I'm gonna get us out of here," he said confidently as he began pulling them to the shore and eventually out of danger.

Jasmine didn't say anything for a moment as she caught her breath and tried to calm her nerves from almost drowning. The man sat next to her in silence, allowing her the moment she needed.

After a few minutes, Jasmine let out a quiet, "Thank you for saving me."

"No problem," he said, and the same smile returned to his face. "I'll do anything to help out a pretty lady."

Jasmine raised her eyebrow at him, suddenly no longer finding him attractive.

"What?" He raised his hands innocently. "I'm a ladies' man. My name is Keith, but you can call me 'your knight in shining armor.'"

Jasmine chose to ignore his last statement since she had more important things to focus on. "So, Keith, please tell me you know Hecate."

Keith's eyes lit up. "Yes! Did she bring you here too?"

Relief hit Jasmine like a freight train as she felt her shoulders sag, tension she hadn't even realized was there melting away. On top of that, she was willing to bet money that the girl from the river had also been brought to the island by Hecate.

"We need to find the other girl," her voice held urgency. "She might need help as well."