Halloween Night

Chapter 4

"Ah, shit!" Sheena swore as her other heel broke, the busty girl almost falling as it gave way. The other one had broken almost as soon as she'd started running after that horrible noise and she had fallen that time, tumbling through the brush. She'd scrambled to her feet and lunged back into motion, running downhill and into the woods out of the clearing. Going downhill had not been the greatest move either, the ridge sloped sharply soon onto the trail she'd taken, and she had actually plunged off of the thin track in the woods, unable to stop her forward momentum. By the time she'd been able to halt herself, she had lost total track of which way the clearing or the trail had been. She felt like such an idiot! She was furious and frightened and overall disappointed. She was going to seduce Greg tonight, finally get him away from that bitch, and now it was all ruined.

She leaned down to fully snap the heel off and sighed. And these shoes were ruined too. Of course, if she got lost and starved, that wouldn't be such a big deal. She wished she had a better sense of direction. The dark haired and voluptuous co-ed kept moving through the dark forest, walking as carefully as she could. She'd heard a wolf howl some time ago, and then again, and some other far off noises but most importantly she heard water. Water meant a river or a stream, and if she knew anything from Greg making her watch Survivorman with him, water always led to people.

So she'd kept moving towards the sound of running water and hoping in vain to find one of the others. She was worried about herself, sure, but she was more worried about them. What if Sarah lost her glasses? What if Ally fell and twisted her ankle or something? What if Greg was hurt and needed help? She was even worried about Regina. Not as much, no, but she didn't want anything really bad to happen to the other girl. Something that was bad in a minor way would be all right though; that sea cow comment had been really mean. But, no, that wasn't fair of her. She wanted them all to be safe.

The sound of the rushing water was getting clearer and louder; she had to be close. Her eyes had gotten somewhat adjusted to the gloom but it was still hard to see much of anything in the blackness of the woods at night. She started to move a little faster, since running water would also mean a break in the canopy and she'd be able to see again.

Her foot came down on nothing and the fell forward before she could even try to stop herself, too surprised to even really scream, just a sharp yelp as she tumbled through the air. She had a brief glimpse of something flat and black and moving under her before she hit the river's surface. Cold like she'd never felt before pierced her and made her lungs seem to shrivel in her body, her breath no longer enough. She managed a brief scream, her arms flailing and splashing the cold water as she tried to stay afloat. No, no, no! She didn't know how to swim! Despite her mad thrashing, she sank beneath the surface, her eyes bulging in her pretty face, her lips pressed together and trying not to scream again, to hold the little air she had left.

The cold of the water stabbed into her like daggers of ice, her muscles stiffening and groaning in protest as she tried to move them to propel herself up again. If she could just get to the surface, lunge close enough to shore to stand! She struggled and strained, managing only to keep herself from sinking further. God, her lungs were burning! Don't panic; keep fighting. Don't die like this! God, help her, save her, someone, anyone!

She felt something move beneath her; not the flow of water or a rock rearing up but a living thing moving and brushing against her. The realization couldn't cut through the fear of drowning, just adding a bit more fuel and pushing her closer to total panic. Then an arm went about her waist and she felt a strong body against her; suddenly she was shooting up towards the surface of the water. The night air felt colder than the water had on her skin as she was lifted out if it and she took in a huge gulp of air. Her rescuer had taken them at a diagonal through the water, carrying them towards a nearby grassy bank while surfacing. A second arm went about her and she noticed now that both of them felt warm but not soft or smooth, they were harder than skin and had a strange texture that reminded her of fine scales.