Unmasked | Book 1 in "Dark Descendants" (Editing)

Chapter 39

~Rose

Water.

Clear. Reflective.

Deadly.

Right now the water was calm, as it usually is as it takes the lives of thousands of people everyday. Through the illusion, splashes of light cut across the liquid irregularities in the surface. Only a few small rays of light actually penetrated through the water and lit up the darkness below. The rest, though, was a stormy, deadly deep blue. This was what I saw before, gasping in mouthfuls of fresh air, I broke through the surface.

Wet hair stuck to my face and I whipped my head around frantically, searching for my companion.

"Abby!" I called out into the silence. The bridge was far away into the distance, and I feared maybe she was too.

"Abby!"

It was dark. Too dark to see much of anything underneath. The created illusion of the regular day and night cycle didn't help either, despite it being about afternoon. I couldn't concentrate enough to not see through it.

An idea struck me and I looked down at the amulet. Adrianna said it glowed, right? What were the words again...?

"Ad vitam," I commanded. And waited. Waited for something to happen. "Any day, now."

Seconds later, a soft glow lit up my surroundings. The gem's illumination sent green darts of light; dim but enough to make out everything. I dived back in.

The light seemed brighter now, cutting through the dark waters as easy as a hot knife would to butter. Something at the back of my mind drove me to direct my gaze to my left. I almost gasped in surprise before swimming towards the dark figure slowly sinking to the river-bed. It had rained a lot, the water level was higher than usual. Before I could clasp Abby's outstretched hands, I hit a sudden wall.

Fear collapsed me. Fear for Abby's life.

Swimming up to the surface, I swallowed a shaky mouthful of air before reaching out in front of me, palm out, in search of the exact same thing to confirm my suspicions. My hand came into contact with the familiar glass wall.

With a mixture of fury and terror, I swung my closed fist at the wall. Water lapped at the invisible screen, showing me exactly how long it really was when I tilted my head to my right-hand side. Magic seemed to swarm from it.

"Adrianna!" I shouted, placing my hand flat against the wall. "I know you're here! Come out of hiding, you coward, so I can save my friend from drowning!" Only the sound of water slushing against the solid wall met my ears. I sunk back into the water, sliding my hand down until Abby's sinking figure came into view. 

I stared sadly at her, both hands pressed against the wall. I watched as a dark figure floated past her. I looked on in confusion as it drifted towards me, on the other side of the glass.

Stay away from the glass.

It's face caught the dim glow of the amulet. Was that...Fallon?

You don't know what's there.

I shouldn't stay here. Fallon slowly raised his hand to mine, placing it flat against the wall, against my hand. 

Stay away from the glass!

This happened before. Didn't it?

"I don't know what's lurking," I started slowly, water seeping into my mouth. "On the other side of the glass."

I pushed off the surface and kicked my legs, bringing myself back up to break through the sheets of dark water. This time, I didn't breathe. I only looked around me, an eerie calm blanketed me.