The Getaway

Chapter 3: The Ocean

"COLE! WHERE ARE YOU?!?! COLE!!!!" I screamed out over the sound of the crashing waves. I immediately thought the worst had happened when he was nowhere to be seen. Cole was the only one who actually knew what to do- like this wasn't the first time this had happened- but I guess he must not have known what to do this time.

How did everything go from being so perfect and amazing to this mess that I'm in now just like that? I thought we were in the desert to relax. Stranded on a small boat that doesn't look like it can take much more of a beating from the waves is not relaxing or calming in any way shape or form! In the midst of my panic, I remembered Cole saying something about how could not only end up where you can relax, but also where you need to be or to get you out of danger. Well, it has failed to get me out of danger. It must be that I'm needed here. But why?

Time continues to go by and my hope continues to diminish as there is still no sight of Cole- or land for that matter- anywhere and the waves are getting bigger and stronger. I'm struggling to hold onto the boat and not be tossed into the dark sea that looks as if it will swallow me up the first chance it gets. Just as the last little speck of my hope is about to be violently pulled apart by a wave, I see something black just barely above the wave that just passed. As the wave continued to move away, I could see it was Cole! He was alive!

"Cole! Over here!" I yelled, hoping he would hear me. He spun around the best he could in the raging water, and made it to the boat. The boat appeared to be falling apart. I don't know if it was from the waves or if it was already like that to begin with. The thought of either situation made me feel even more afraid of how long this boat would hold up.

"Are you okay?" I said to Cole hoping he could hear me over the water. 

"Yeah. I was not expecting a change that quick. Usually there's some kind of warning. Something must really be wrong." Cole replied in between heavy breaths. I don't know how that boy was able to keep his head above the waves trying to pull him under to the darkness waiting below to devour him.

If there is something really wrong, then why are we the only ones out here with no sight of land for miles? All of this is leaving me with so many questions- and afraid that I'm going to die- but I'll admit, I sadly prefer this over my drunk mother and now being homeless. Well, I might as well make the most of this. I'm starting to think that I really should live up to the phrase 'Always live life to the fullest, because you never know how soon it will be taken from you.'

While I was deep in thought about the whole situation, the storm that had been forming- which I also had been completely oblivious to while I was daydreaming- has picked up and is becoming a full blown hurricane. Maybe this is why we were needed here. But yet again, what could we do about it? We're just two teenagers that somehow ended up here. I still don't know how this all works, but I think I'll ask Cole about that when we're not in a deadly situation.

"Alex! Hold on to-" That was all I heard from Cole before the small boat had finally had enough and broke into pieces in the storm, sending us plummeting into the icy cold water. Everything was happening so fast. I couldn't find my way back up to the surface. So this is how I'll die, I thought right before I blacked out. It also felt like a strong arm was being wrapped around my waist. What the heck?

**********

"Alex! Wake up! Come on, don't leave me now!" I heard a faint voice saying. They sounded far away, but I recognized that voice. It was Cole. I forced my eyes open. I was drifting on one of the remnants of the boat. It must have been Cole who saved me as I blacked out.

As my vision became clearer, I could see Cole right beside me. He was so close that I could feel his breath against my face. The storm had appeared to be gone. I couldn't have been out that long.

"Cole, what happened to the storm? There is no way I was out that long and lived through all that." I said looking at him with a look of pure confusion.

"It's okay, you'll know how soon enough." Cole replied. Now I am left with even more questions racing through my mind then I did before. Did Cole get the storm to subside? It's not really possible, is it? With the recent events that have occurred, I'm not really sure what is possible and what's not anymore.

Just with the thoughts of Cole knowing how we keep getting to these strange places and is capable of stopping a hurricane, I start to wonder not how, but what. What is Cole? If he can do all this, I'm almost 100% sure he's not human.

I am pulled out of my thoughts again by Cole. " There's an island up ahead! The hurricane was heading straight for it." His face lit up as if he has just had a little aha moment. " That's why we were sent here!" 

"What do you mean that's why we were sent here?" I look at him even more confused then I was before. " Every time you open up your mouth, I'm left with even more questions, including if I have completely lost my mind!"

Cole looked like he wasn't even paying attention to a single word I have said when he begins to shout. "Wait! I recognize this island. We weren't just supposed to save it, you are supposed to be brought here. That's why I'm still with you!" Well it is now obvious he was in fact not listening to me, but at least I might get some answers while I'm here.

"What's so special about this island?" I asked as we got closer to the mass of land. "It looks deserted."

"Trust me, it is certainly not deserted." He says matter-of-factly. "Now everything will become more clear once you meet everyone else."

"Everyone else? Are there others like you?" If they are all powerful enough to stop that hurricane, then the fact that there are more of them terrifies me.

Cole pulls me out of the terrifying thought as he says, " Well yes like me, but also like you. Now I know why I was sent to the park you were at." He turns to look straight at me and I start to feel as though his icy blue eyes are penetrating my dull gray ones again to see into my soul. "You're one of us, and you never knew it."

"What do you mean like you?!" I say probably louder than I should have as the remnant of the boat that had brought us to the small island crashes into the sand.

"Everything will be revealed soon." Cole says while he stands up and begins to walk away from the wooden piece that kept us afloat and heads for the break in the plants and trees that cover most of the island.