Departure

Chapter 10: The Leap

Behind me was the glass door leading to the bedroom. I slowly turned my head.
Looking back I saw a seven foot tall man dressed in a black cloak. His face was muted by a black mask with slits in the eye, nose, and mouth areas. He stood at the frame of the door leading into the room. Looking past him were faint silhouettes of other dark bodies.
"If you want to save your skin, come with me." Amber urged.
This was all so sudden I didn't know how to react.
Amber studied the scenery below. Tops of trees and other buildings lie beneath our feet.
"There." She pointed.
Her finger led to a dumpster about 10 feet away and 15 feet under. It's lid was wide open, revealing the trash of the people loitering around the parking lot.
"We jump there. You ready?" She seconded.
"What? No, are you crazy?" I replied.
"Just trust me!" Amber urged.
I looked back at our friends in black. They seemed to be nearing us now, closing in on us like the doors of a dark labyrinth.
Amber grabbed my arm.
"I'm going to jump, with or without you. I suggest you come along though. I went through a hell of a lot of trouble to get here." She added.
I hesitated. I mean who wouldn't? A strange girl showing up out of nowhere, trying to get you to jump off a balcony into a dumpster below? And who were these masked men? It just doesn't make sense.
Ambers patience was waning.
"Ok big guy, suite yourself." She remarked. Amber lifted her leg over the railing, just as before. She took her second over, and the she disappeared into the parking lot below.
I ran to the edge, scanning the view. My eyes darted to the dumpster she pointed to. Amber wasn't anywhere to be seen. I didn't even see misplaced garbage. Weirder yet, I didn't even hear her impact.
My heart was racing. I turned back once more. The bodies were not walking toward me, they were hovering. Well, their feet weren't visible beneath their cloaks, but the routine kicks of cloth weren't occurring. Instead their clothes just sat perfectly still as they approached me.
"What the hell do you want?!" I screamed.
They just came getting closer.
Shit. Shit. Shit,
I had to make a decision fast, and I was pretty limited. Gripping the rail with my shaking hands, I hoisted half of my body over, sitting horseback style on the metal bar. Then, I carefully slipped both of my feet onto the concrete floor of the balcony. My arms were stuck to the bar behind me, and my body leaned over like a support beam of a bridge.
My head felt nauseous. I've always been afraid of heights. On the flight here, I never once looked out the window and had to much baby bottles of liquor to drink.
Oh well, here goes nothing.
I let go of the railing and leapt into the air. My stomach dropped as I was soaring. Looking down at my feet, I angled my body toward the dumpster. Hoping the plastic bags would soften my land, I came closer to my target.
I braced myself for impact.
But as I came into contact with the trash, I didn't. I didn't hit anything. My body continued to fall. The world around me went dark. The air got cooler. The sound of waves echoed. As I fell, seen light in the distance, lighting a tunnel that led to me. I looked down to see water of blacked blue and white. Before I could see anything else, I hit the waves.

Coldness shot all around me, pricking me like needles. Frantically, I swam upwards. The rushing waves tumbled me around. My nose filled with water, sending a horrible feeling through my sinuses. My arms flailed, pushing in all directions. My body seemed to be pushed down stream, away from the powerful waves. Finally, I was able to resurface.
As I came above water, my vision was a blur. The darkness of this place was a great contrast from the bright, sunlit day above.
My eyes adjusted to a spectacular sight.
An underground cavern with waterfalls all around. Light came from the various holes in the ceiling, from which water poured. I seemed to have come from the waterfall nearest me.
Where am I? How is this possible?
I set my thoughts aside and focused on getting to dry land. There was a risen platform to my left, about 30 feet or so away. I began to swim towards it. My body ached. With an enormous amount of effort and will power, I swam.
I reached the platform and pulled my body up onto it. As I lay there, like a carcass washed on up on the shoreline, a voice sounded from above me.
"Well, look who finally showed up. Seems you made the right choice." Amber said, towering over me.
"W-where...am I?" I choked out.
"Din's Cavern. Ain't she a beauty?" Amber replied.
"H-how?" I managed to say through my panting breath.
"You, my friend, just entered one of Amber Green's famous Telepoints."