Hawk Point *ON HOLD*

Chapter Eighteen: Starlight Stealing Girl

When the water hit her, Cif knew it was over.

She knew there was no point in fighting it. 

A wave attacks her, knocking her down, dragging the air from her  lungs. She can feel her lungs burning, screaming for air, crying out, as her legs and arms thrash around wildly; she is hoping and praying to get free from the clutches of the water.

She knows she has to stop moving, hold her limbs still so that she can float, but it is so hard not to fight. With the air leaving her, it feels like there is a heavy blanket over her. She can't breath and it is crushing, devestating and horrifying. Couldn't her life end another way?

It doesn't matter... soon it would all be over.

She can feel her heartbeat slowing down increasingly and she feels the panic fade away into numbness. She tries to breathe in, but when all she gets is water, her  mind slowly goes blank, her body being dragged down.

There is a splash above her and a dark, muddy form makes it's way downwards. A hand wraps around her wrist and the form pulls her towards the murky ground.

~~~~~~~

Cif hits packed earth, stumbles slightly, and feels a hand on her arm, steadying her. It is Aven, "Take it easy," he says, not letting her go.

She is soaking wet, rivulets of frigid water dripping down the back of her shirt, her damp hair clinging to her face and neck. Her drenched clothes feel as if they weigh tons.

Looking around, Cif sees that they are in a small, hollowed out cave, illuminated by small, glowing stalagmites. The sound of crashing water rumbles through the air, getting knocked from one stone wall to the other. A tangle of dangling vines decorate the ceiling above them: long, hairy tendrils that hang like dead snakes. Tree roots, Cif realizes dimly, they're underground. She shudders.

"Cold?" Aven inquires. He is soaking wet as well, his dark hair sticking to his cheeks and forehead. Water runs down from his his jeans and hair, making the white shirt he is wearing almost transparent. Cif can see the dark lines of his tattoos through it, swirling around his torso, his shoulders, and traveling to his arms.

"Fine," Cif looks away quickly. Water clings to her lashes, blurring her vision like tears.

"You don't look fine. You look terrible." Aven moves closer to her and she can feel the warmth of him through his wet clothes.

"I'm perfectly fi---" Cif's words dissolves into a fit of coughing. She raises her hand to cover her mouth. It comes away red. She whimpers.

Aven grabs her wrist, turning it over so that the pale, vulnerable flesh of her inner arm lies under the strange light of the glowing stones. Traceries of blue-green veins maps the inside of her skin, carrying poisoned blood through her body, to her heart.

"We have to go." Aven says.

Cif doesn't ask where. She is busy trying not to fall over. She can feel her legs buckle, the ground heaving up and down underneath her feet. "Aven," she says, and she crumples into him. He catches her as if he is used to catching fainting girls, as if he did it every day. Maybe he did. He swings her up into his arms, saying something indistinguishable in her ear. Cif tips her head back to look at him but she only sees darkness.

~~~~~~~

"Do you think she'll ever wake up?"

"You have to give her time. Demon poison is tough shit and she's a human. She can't fight that stuff off as easily as we can."