When Water Finds Fire

Prologue

I don't remember much; only bits of the thoughts that had swirled through my head at the time-though these, too, weren't exactly clear. I vaguely remember two boys, and a girl, as well as a man, though I have no earlier memory of his intense blue eyes paired with messy, uncombed hair, which was continuously graying with passing time. I may not remember him, but I do remember thinking: He had seen me fall. He had tried to help me. The memory is a blur, but I'm good with that. Stranger or not, all I need to know is that I am okay at the moment. A very sharp-and very sudden-jolt had me shaking, thrashing, screaming in pain. Dark, cold shadows spread through my consciousness like a wildfire. Forming into claws that ripped and shredded at my memories, tearing through them like wet paper. Weak and defenseless; unable to fight, to resist. Only able to give in. I felt the same way as the shadows expanded, crashing through every barrier I tried to put up. The darkness tore through my mind relentlessly, and there was nothing I could do to stop it. The shadows of darkness haunted my thoughts, taking over every memory. Tears formed in my terrified eyes. I shook and shook as a haunting voice seethed through the shadows. Whispering of my weakness, taunting me with the truth. I'm sure it lasted only a few seconds, but it felt like an eternity. By the time it had ended, the only whole memories I had left were the ones I'd wanted to forget. My mind started towards those memories without my permission, forcing me to relive every painful detail that remained. It wasn't much, but it was far more than I ever wanted to remember.

An ear-splitting shriek. A scream. A shout. A wail. Then pain. Lots of pain. I remember a pair of shaking, trembling arms picking me up, cradling me like a baby. I remember hearing the sobs-likely from my parents-and feeling their cold tears land on my cheeks. I remember a hand holding mine, squeezing it tight. I remember a hug so rough, I thought I was being strangled. Then everything faded to black.

Chapter 1.

The last thing I expected to see when I woke up was a stranger towering over me.

"Oh, good, she's awake," he sighed, his voice echoing the relief painted on his face. I tried to ignore the shadows of former worry etched across his brow. And the bags under his eyes, so dark they could've been bruises. The man stood up straight and scratched his stubbly gray beard. I jumped, startled by the fact that I recognized his voice. Still, I couldn't place it. My mind twisted and wriggled, trying to free itself from the shadows which still seemed to cling to every thought. Even so, my mind ignored my instructions of silence, still fearful as it yelled; stranger danger! Stranger danger! The rational part of my brain simply reminded me that he may not be a stranger; I seemed to have met him at some point, but whether I trusted him or not, I did not know. I decided to trust him now. A few deep breaths and my panic faded. Slowly but surely, my breathing steadied and my head stopped spinning long enough for me to make sense of my twisted thoughts. Then, as my jumbled thoughts and memories crammed together, I remembered him.

I had been hiking with my mom, dad, and younger brother. We had been planning this hike for ages, years, it felt like. Since me and my best friend Paige had heard about the newest hike in northern Utah. We'd been planning to go together, her family and ours. But the day we were scheduled to go, her sister caught a cold. Their family didn't join us when we went to hike. Around two hours in, we made it to the river. It ran down a steep hill, leading to a low waterfall and a lake, where you could swim. But the path to the waterfall was slim, and it looked like it could result in serious injury. My parents didn't seem the most excited to take that path, and tried to convince us to just go back, but my brother and I had already started down. The path narrowed as we continued downwards, making it harder and harder to walk without toppling over. My mom and dad were still waiting at the top, looking down at us nervously. It wasn't far down, but our progress was slow as we were getting closer and closer to the bottom. We continued to make our way down, then the path took a sharp turn. Jack gripped the wall to keep himself steady as the path somehow became more narrow. I didn't notice. I took a step a bit too wide, my foot missing the path. I screamed as I fell, hitting rocks as I dropped to the floor. A gasp echoed from a small way from me as my head hit the edge of a rock. I gasped as a sharp pain shot through my body, and I trembled and shook. Blood leaked from my head, where I'd felt it hit the rock. The old man started towards me, grabbing my shoulders and shaking me slightly. He placed me carefully on the floor as my eyelids fluttered closed. He mumbled something I couldn't hear, then dashed back the way he came from. I heard voices and sobs and screams that likely came from my family. He reappeared a moment later with a large cloth in his hands, and he pressed in against my head, covering the wound and stopping the blood from gushing out. Some still leaked, but there was much less than before.