Dive In

Chapter 12

Turns out it's rather hard to find your way back home in a part of the forest you don't recognize, after running around in circles without a map. And the task gets even harder when the sky clouds in, and you begin to worry about the inevitable thunder storm brewing above your head, just waiting to make your day a little more miserable.

Ella had just passed the same crooked tree for what felt like the hundredth time, when the storm clouds above finally opened up and began releasing torrents of rain. The forest was quickly darkening as night fell around her. The rain chilled the air even further, and she could see her foggy breath on the air. In nothing but a thin summer dress, she could barely feel her toes or fingers anymore. She was chilled to the bone and felt wetter than she'd ever been, including when she was in the lake.

If only she could find the damn lake.

Thunder rolled through the twilight sky, rattling the ground beneath her feet. Ella was sure this had been the worst day of her life. It topped all the mom-less mother's days, flu days, or painful visit-your-aunt-six-times-removed days. What she would give to be sitting in a stuffy living room with tacky nicknacks all over the place, five cats on her lap and the distinctive smell of old people invading her nose. Anything was better than this.

Ella picked up a rock and threw it as hard as she could into the forest. She watched it land only a short distance away from her, at the feet of a... Oh dear god, what was that? A wolf? Ella squinted to see through the rain, pushing the hair from her eyes. It took a running start at her, and in disbelief Ella just stood there. After all the supernatural bullshit she'd survived today, a wolf be the one to end her.

A wolf.

It knocked Ella over, its large paws on her shoulders pinning her down. But instead of eating her face off like she thought it would, it began to lick her cheek. Ella pushed it off to see a very happy- but soggy- Topher.

“Topher!” she cried out in relief. She threw her arms around the German Sheppard, not caring if he smelt disgustingly of wet dog. Never had she been so happy to see him.

“You would not believe what I've been through today. I met the king of the Waterfolk, ate an apple that tasted like cotton candy, crawled through a tiny tunnel to get back to the surface and oh, I was attacked and nearly killed by a Shadowfolk to top it all off!” She ranted.

Topher just tilted his head to the side in confusion. He was after all, just a dog. He began tugging on her dress with his teeth, leading her down an overgrown path Ella hadn't noticed before. She crossed her fingers as she slowly stumbled after the dog, hoping that he knew the way home. As the trees she passed grew less and less familiar, she was relieved to be on a path that didn't take her in circles at least.

A violent gust of wind nipped at her bare skin, raising a new set of goosebumps on her arms. Topher had led her out onto the open lake, where there was no trees for protection from the elements. Rain pelted her skin so hard it stung, and she raised a shaky hand to shield her eyes. She could vaguely make out her Aunts cabin a ways down the shore, and her frozen lips melted into a smile.

She ran down the beach, Topher bounding along beside her. Her bare feet stuck in the sand, making it even harder on her tired muscles to run. It seemed even nature itself was fighting against her. She scrambled up the little hill in front of the cabin, tearing up weeds and grass as she went. Her eyes flew to were her aunts jeep was usually parked, and her heart began to race to see that it was still empty. She opened the front door and flung herself into the safety of the cabin, slamming it shut behind her and locking it tight. She tried to drag herself to the couch, but her legs gave out on the way there. She collapsed onto the floor, shaking violently and unable to move.