The Monster

Chapter 9

I saw the waterfall that went over the cliff. Men were standing around with their guns out. I refused to let my emotions show while my heart pounded ridiculously loud. The man made me stand near the edge of the cliff. I didn't like where this was going. I peered over the edge and saw the water crashing on sharp rocks along with rotting corpses from people either being thrown over the edge or throwing themselves over the edge to their death. I scrunched up my nose at the faint smell of the corpses. I looked back to the men. The man from earlier pulled out a silver gun and I was un-cuffed.

"Oh no. Silver. I'm gonna die," I deadpanned, "I'm not a werewolf!" He smirked and pulled the trigger. I felt an intense pain in the abdomen. I cried out and dropped to my knees. I put a hand over the wound, only for it to be slick with warm, sticky blood within seconds. Two men roughly pulled me to my feet. I was hunched over with my hands pressed against the wound, trying to slow the blood flowing and soaking my shirt.

"We know. We infused the bullet with all kinds of amazing chemicals that prevent your fairytale-like body tissue regeneration from happening so quickly. You'll have that wound for a while. PS, we added a wonderful chemical that when mixed with salt water makes you completely immobile. Good-bye Novia," he said, "If the rocks don't kill you, you'll drown for sure." The men shoved me off the cliff. I saw droplets of blood fly from my abdomen. My hair was flying in my face. The smell of gunpowder and blood fresh in my nose. I watched the edge of the cliff shrink as I fell farther and farther away. The wind roared in my ears. The blue sky I thought I saw turned to an ominous, grey, stormy color that made me think that it was for my death today. My eyes stung with tears. I was going to die.

Slap!

I crashed into the water and I couldn't move. My back hurt from hitting the water at full-force. I sunk below the surface while the cold salt water stung my eyes and the wound. I was able to hold my breath, but for how long? Soon enough, my lungs would give out and I'd drown. I saw small air bubbles spastically float to the surface along with a dark trail of red blood tinting the water. I felt my body gently land on the sand that flew up around me and settle down.

I couldn't do it. I couldn't hold my breath. I let out the breath I was holding and watched the bigger air bubbles float away. I involuntarily took in a breath, which resulted in my lungs flooding with salt water, making them burn. My surroundings dimmed. At first, I thought the sky was getting dark, but it was my vision. I'm going to die.

Splash!

A dark figure dove into the water. Bubbles floated up again. I felt warm, strong arms wrap around my limp body and push off the sandy bottom. We rose to the surface and I was pulled to shore where I was carried further up the beach in a man's arms, completely limp. My hair stuck to my face and dragged in the sand. Whoever was carrying me, placed me in front of them and placed their fist on my diaphragm. They push in and up, forcing me to cough. Water spewed from my mouth. They continued the action until I coughed and took deep breaths. They let go of me and I felt on my hands and knees. I pushed my hair out of my face and tried to catch my breath. I looked down at my stomach. I was still bleeding pretty bad. I looked behind me and saw Andrew. I pressed on the wound and grimaced.

"Bullet wound," I said. He pulled his black shirt over his head and wrung out the water. He handed it to me. I took it gratefully and pressed it against the wound.

"Let me see," he said after a few minutes. I lifted up my shirt so he could see the wound. He looked at my back and breathed a sigh of relief.

"What?" I asked.

"It didn't go all the way through. It's not even that deep. It's just a few centimeters deep. It's not deep enough to affect any of your internal organs, but if I try, I might be able to get it out," he said.

"Maybe when it's not-. Ow!" I yelped when Andrew shoved me on my back and held me down with his forearm.

"Hold still," he snapped. He shoved his fingers in the wound, making me grimace and squirm. After a few excruciatingly painful minutes, he pulled out a small metal ball.

"What is this? The Revolutionary War?" I muttered, "Who uses round bullets anymore?" Andrew let me go and I sat up.

"We need to steal some supplies from a drugstore," he mused. I shook my head.

"I maybe have been imprisoned for most of my life, but I don't condone stealing," I said.

"You're a freaking fugitive. Where are we going to get money?" he asked. I shrugged.

"I don't-Ooh!" I stood up and paced back and forth in thought. It was a habit when I was deep in thought.

"Nov-."

"Shut up!" I snapped, holding my hand out to him. I looked at the sand. Xavier told me about a bank account or some safe at the lab.

"Tell me, did they tear down Xavier's lab?" I asked waving my hand at Andrew.

"I don't think so. They wanted to study his observations, but they're working on decoding the journals," he said. I squealed with glee.

"Where are we now?" I asked. He shrugged.

"I don't know. Somewhere in Northern California." I nodded slowly.

"Okay, Xavier's lab is in Oregon. I don't know the name of the place but I know the location," I said, "If we can somehow rent a car and drive, we could get there within a few days. Is there any way we can get a car?" He shrugged.

"I don't know. Probably. We can steal one." I frowned.

"Okay. Fine." He sighed.

"You know what? We should just steal a first aid kit from a pharmacy instead of coming up with this complex plan that involves stealing a car to get to money." I groaned.

"Fine! But we need to steal sunglasses so people don't recognize me. You'll have to do that." He nodded.

"Let's get going." He stood up and we climbed up the cliff easily. We walked to the nearest town.

"Oh!" Andrew cried. I jumped.

"What?" I asked, "Do I want to know?" He chuckled as he pulled a brown leather wallet out of his back pocket.

"I forgot about my wallet. I used to steal people's wallets and take their money. I have a thousand dollars in here," he said. I rolled my eyes.

"You just remembered?" I asked. He nodded and rubbed the back of his neck.

"Yeah."

"Go buy me sunglasses and a hoodie. Then I can go and buy myself some clothes and a backpack," I said. He shoved his wallet back in his pocket.

"See ya later." He walked off and I waited for him for a while.