ECHO'S POV
My heart skipped about twelve beats. I could barely breath. I felt like I was still stuck in the van underwater.
I looked around all of us, making sure that Jet was telling the truth. I hope she wasn't.
When my eyes scanned over the last person of our group without scanning over Peyton, my eyes filled with tears.
I ran over to Uncle Ricky and buried my face in his shoulder as I started to cry. He put his hand on the back of my head and held me in his arms.
"It's ok", he said, trying to comfort me. "It's ok".
I raised my head from his shoulder. "But it's not ok", I said through tears. "He's gone forever, and we'll never see him again."
I rested my head back in Uncle Ricky's shoulder.
Everyone else stayed silent, grief clear on their faces.
Tears continued to roll down my face and onto Uncle Ricky's jacket, soaking it more than it already was.
"Echo", he whispered into my ear.
I raised my head from his arm and wiped away my tears. I then looked up at Uncle Ricky.
He looked back at me, his eyes showing mixed emotions. They gleamed with feelings I had never seen before, but somehow I knew what they all felt like.
Nobody spoke for awhile, letting a silence creep over the river bed.
After a long pause, Uncle Ricky closed his eyes and took a deep breath.
"I have something I need to tell you guys", he said.
UNCLE RICKY'S POV
"When I was around your age", I said, pointing at Echo,"my family and I went to California for our first ever vacation. It was me, my mom and dad, and my younger brother and sister. My brothers name was Aiden, and my sisters name was Lily."
I paused for a second, thinking over the events I was about to relive. I shook my head and continued.
"One day we all went down to the beach. We had never swam in the ocean before, so we didn't know about tide or currents or any of that. Aiden and Lily were out in the deep, diving over the waves that were coming in. My parents were sitting in the beach. I think they were asleep, but I couldn't tell because they both had sunglasses on. I was in the shallow, looking for sea shells and humming Superman by Five For Fighting."
"Who?", Serene asked.
"It's a band I used to like. Nothing more", I replied, my eyes starting to tear up. I took a deep breath before continuing.
"We were the only ones on the beach at the time, mainly because it was around midnight. The moon lit up the ocean floor, making it seem as if the sand was glowing. I was having no luck with the sea shells, so I decided to join Lily and Aiden. Right as I started making my way towards them, I heard a scream."
A tear ran down my cheek. I wiped it away and continued.
"I looked around to see where it had came from. When my eyes met the area where Aiden and Lily were, there was no one there. I ran over to where they had been playing, not caring about anything else. When I reached the area they had been, the water was up to my neck. I looked below in the water, hoping to see a sign of one of my siblings. Suddenly, something burst up from the water to my left. I turned to see my brother holding his arm, covered in blood. He started yelling something about a shark, but it was hard to make out what he was saying. I asked him where Lily was, hoping he knew. He told me... He told me that she got taken by the shark that had bit his arm, and that it took her down below the surface."
I few tears rolled down my cheek again, but I didn't bother to wipe them away this time.
"I started to look down at the ocean floor, frantically searching for my sister. I couldn't see anything through the dark red water that I was swimming in. But then something caught my eye. I saw a sparkle down in the sand, gleaming on the ocean floor. I reached my hand down in the water and grabbed the object tightly. When I brought it up to the surface, I knew instantly what it was. Lily's ring. This ring."
I held out my hand and showed the kids the sterling silver ring that rested on my finger. It had a golden oak leaf in the middle, with a silver outline.
"This was her ring", I said, gesturing towards the ring. "I never saw her again after that night. She's gone. This is all I have left of her."
"And your parents?", Jet asked. "What did they do?"
"I don't know", I replied. "When me and my brother walked up on shore, they were gone."
"Was your brother ok?", Hailey asked
I closed my eyes. "I don't know that either. That night, he ran away, and I haven't seen him since."
Everyone was silent, taking in what I had just told them.
"How did you live without them?", Echo asked.
"I learned to forget", I said. "Just like you'll have to learn to forget about Peyton".
Echo looked down at the ground, tears rolling down her cheeks.
"I can't", she said quietly. "I know I can't".
I sighed. "You'll have to. Otherwise, your life will become a living Hell".
Nobody said anything for awhile, letting the silence creep back over the river bed.
I wiped away my last remaining tears and made my way towards the water.
"What are doing?", Jasmine asked.
"I'm going to see if there's anything to salvage in the van", I said, diving into water.
"Why?", Camille asked.
I looked towards the kids.
"Because", I started. "We need away to survive out here."
Everyone nodded their understanding.
"And I'm not letting anyone else go", I said. "Not anymore.
