Why had she done that? Of all the stupid, irrational, hare-brained things she could have done, she chose the stupidest, most irrational, most hare-brained option. Maybe she had just assumed that, regardless of personal history and the competition they were currently in, the others would help her. She had overestimated their character and underestimated their desire to win, and now she was paying the price. Well, she and the scrawny boy that was now dangling from her arm off the side of the mountain.
"Don't drop me! Don't drop me! Please! Don't dro-!"
"For goodness sake, I'm not going to drop you!" Regardless of her continued reassurances, the boy wriggled and screamed that she pull him up. Blocking out his shrieks, Virginia thought back to how she had ended up in this situation.
After the strange animal ran off, Virginia ran forward to where she thought the scream had originated. As she got closer, more screams followed the first, except now unintelligible words accompanied the ear piercing shrieks. Breaking through the tree line, Virginia stopped for a moment, taking in the view. She was at the edge of a cliff, and she was a whole lot higher than she previously thought. The second thing that registered in her mind was the several people gathered at the edge. Three of them were familiar; Lucy, Henry, and Regina. The fourth was a young boy that Virginia didn't recognize. The boy was leaning down, apparently trying to grab the screamer, Charlotte, as Henry kept hold his feet. Lucy and Regina stood by, trying to calm down Charlotte.
"Don't worry Charlotte! They're coming down to get you!"
"Yeah! You'll be fine!" Charlotte either didn't hear them or she didn't care as she continued to scream. Virginia walk forward, none of them noticing her.
"Gotcha!" The boy shouted triumphantly. A moment later Henry had pulled both boy and Charlotte back over the edge, a large scowl on his sweaty face.
"Oh goodness Charlotte, are you alright?!"
"Oh you poor little sweetie!" Lucy and Regina rushed forward to bring a sobbing Charlotte away from the edge, mothering over her ripped dress and flyaway curls. Henry and the strange boy grinned at each other, but Virginia noticed something they didn't. They were resting on the edge of the cliff, and the dirt underneath their feet was beginning to crumble. Rushing forward without thinking, she shoved Henry away from the edge and tried to grab for the boy, but before she could pull him away the soil fell out from underneath of them, and they disappeared from view. Grabbing wildly, Virginia was able to grasp a large rock and keep her hold on the boy, barely.
"Henry! Henry, help us!" Virginia yelled wildly. His head appeared over the edge. He reached down to grab hold of Virginia, but no matter how he stretched or reached, he couldn't even brush her hand with his fingertips.
"Go get one of the other girls and hold them over the edge so they can grab us!" Virginia shouted up at him. He nodded and disappeared again. Over the next few minutes she could hear the sounds of an argument, and then silence.
"Hello?" Virginia asked after a few seconds. Only an empty, mocking stillness followed. She nearly screamed in frustration. Had they seriously abandoned her and this boy? Why? So they could get a head start on the competition? They could've at least helped the kid up; if he weren't there she could probably crawl back up on her own. But for now they were stuck.
Virginia groaned to herself and felt a headache coming on. The boy still wriggled and thrashed beneath her, desperately trying to find purchase on the smooth cliff-side they hung from.
First part of the sixth chapter. Will upload second part soon, so don't fret!
~RavenMoon33
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The Dragon Academy
FantasyVirgnia was just a normal girl with a stereotypical stepmother, bullies, and an odd birthmark. When she was born, her real mother died, and when she was young, her father disappeared, leaving her to the mercy of her stepmother and the village bullie...
