Violet

Chapter 27

           The water is freezing. My feet inside the heavy boots hurt from the cold. I shiver and try to be still but it isn't working. The lights flicker every now and then and the constant thundering of the water fills my ears. I smile at Josh then squint up the waterfall. Up above, I see the small figure of Brian climbing down with Fern on his back. His fingers must be killing him!

         Josh wades over next to me and smiles. He squints up the waterfall and we watch Brian come down slowly. When they're about fifteen feet above us Fern starts to slip. Her hand falls back and Brian begins to loose his footing. I scream but I don't hear my voice. An image of Fern crashing down and hitting her head on a rock fills my thoughts. She catches herself and Brian gains his footing again. I feel relief fill my heart and I watch them closely as they come down.

        Once they're a few feet away, Fern lets go of Brian and falls into Josh's arms. She smiles and shivers in the freezing cold. She extends her arms to me and I take her from Josh. Brian and Josh hug each other, like brothers. I look up to see the next figure coming down. One by one they climb down the slippery rope. After standing in the water for so long, I can no longer feel my feet. I move them and the only feeling is the pain that comes from kicking a rock in the dark water.

          Luke is crying loudly when he reaches the bottom. Even though I can't hear him, I imagine the screams coming from his tiny lungs. Fern is now standing in the water, which comes up to her shoulders. Her small hand clutching mine. When Conner reaches the bottom of the rope, I give him a hug with my free hand. We all look to Josh for instruction. Josh points down a long cave lined with the faint lights. We all shiver as we wade through the freezing water. The water moves slowly but gets faster as we get deeper into the tunnel.

          I grip Ferns hand tightly to make sure she doesn't fall when she slips every now and then. As we get deeper the thundering of the waterfall gets quieter. "We should get to the other side soon." George says. "There's no way the wall is much thicker." He's calmed Luke down and holds him sleeping above the water. He isn't wrapped in a blanket, in fact the poor thing isn't wearing a thing. Maybe it will help him be warmer. That way the cold water isn't sticking to his body.

         By now the water is rushing and it wraps around my legs, threatening to pull my feet up off the floor. Fern holds onto my arm with two hands and when she slips, it's all I can do to hold onto her and pull her back onto her feet. After a while, I realize the floor is sloping downward. The water gets shallower and easier to walk in. Then I slip. I don't know why, but I do. I fall, crashing into the water letting go of Fern's hand. I slide forward and struggle to stand back up.

          I feel a hand grab my pack and pull me up to my feet. I look up expecting to see Josh or Conner, but instead, I see Jonny. "Hey." He says.

           "Hey. Thanks." I say. He lets go of my pack leaving me standing in the cold water.

              "No problem." He shrugs. Fern takes my hand again and smiles up at me. I grin down at her then look up ahead down the tunnel. I see a faint light and grin over at Jonny.

             "Look! Down there!" I say.He glances up ahead and smiles. He grabs my free hand and begins to pull me down towards the light. I try to pull my hand from him, but his grip is firm. He pulls us into a run and we splash through the water towards the light. I keep trying to pull my hand from him, but it isn't working. I turn back to see the others behind us. They're beginning to walk at a quicker pace but not very fast.

            "Stop!" I say to Jonny. I try to pull my hand from him but he doesn't let go. "What are you doing?" I ask him. He stops and pulls me in front of him. Fern doesn't let go of my hand and I look down at her.

            "I could be so much better to you, Chris. Forget Josh." He says, taking my chin.

             I pull my face away from him. What? I yank my hand from him and step back. "What? No way. Leave me alone."

             "Do you know how hard it has been to stay away from you. You could be my girl, Chris. Remember the day we met? We really hit it off."

             "No we didn't."

            "Yeah we did. We're made for each other, Chris."

            "We have barely spoken to each other. I don't know you. You don't know me. Stay away from me. Hang out with Miniskirt. You two would make a great couple."

          "Miniskirt? Oh, Lucy. No we wouldn't. She likes Josh. But you're in her way. And Josh is in my way."

         "Do I look like I care? Stay away from me Jonny. This is so bizarre! Where did this come from?"

        "My feelings for you?"

       "You don't have feelings for me."

      "Yes I do." He says. He steps toward me and reaches for my hand again.

       "No you don't! Stay away from me." I put my hand on his chest and push as hard as I can.

           "I can't." He says, stepping closer. I glance behind him to where the others are. Conner has reached us and has his eyes locked on Jonny. He grabs Jonny's shoulders and pulls him away. He shoves him down into the water and turns to me.

            "You okay, Chris?" I nod and he turns back to Jonny, who has just broken through the surface of the water. "What was that, Jonny? When a lady asks you to stay away from her you do!" Conner yells at him.

             He pushes Jonny back under the water as Josh reaches us. Josh takes my shoulders and says, "What was that? Has he been bothering you or was this the first time?"

            "This was the first time. It was really weird."

           "We could hear your conversation echoing in the tunnel. That's really strange."

            "It was." I glance back down at Jonny who comes back up gasping for breath.

             "I won't let that happen again. I promise." Josh says hugging me.

             "It's not that big of a deal," I say. "I've been through worse." He steps back still holding onto my shoulders.

             "You have?" My mind starts to remind me of the one night, but I push the thought away. With that thought comes the image of the wall climber. I nod and Josh raises an eyebrow.

      Hey guys!!! I hope that was suspenseful. (thank you autocorrect for helping me spell suspenseful) You'll find out about her one night that haunts her in the next chapter, I think. Is it bad if you can't remember what happens in the next chapter of your own book? Anyway, Please comment if you're one of the one's that has been reading this when you're notified that I updated. I want to know who you are, because You literally make my day. I post the next chapter and my reads go up while I'm asleep. I love you guys. 

        I NEED A SHIP NAME FOR JOSH AND CHRIS!!!Please comment a ship name!! I would love you for that! And I would like to dedicate the last couple chapters to some people, but I can't without knowing who you are. I think I'm going to update the next chapter tomorrow. If you comment before then, I'll will dedicate a chapter to you! Now for the long process of editing this thing. 

Bye! ;)