Underground

20

Estelle
My phone rings for the 8th time in the last ten minutes, and once again, I hit ignore, even though August's calling.
"He seems worried." Logan says, looking over at me briefly, before moving her eyes to the road.
I shrug. "I don't know what he's so scared about."
"Probably doesn't trust my driving skills." Logan says, grinning.
I laugh. "So who's this guy we're meeting?"
"Everybody calls him Jon, but his real name is Titanios Osaras." Logan says. "He's like you, Pangaean and stuff."
"Really?" I ask, smiling.
"Yup." She says. "According to my friend, he's a dad to some guy named Arlin."
My smile fades. "What?"
"You know him?" She asks.
"He's the sole person who kicked me out." I say, suddenly aware of the tightness of my seat belt.
Then I remember the definition of Titanios. The one who has the power of life in their hands.
"Logan, turn around." I say, panicked.
She turns to me. "Why?"
"Listen to me and turn the heck around!" I yell.
"Estelle, calm down." She says, training her eyes on the highway.
I suddenly curl up into a ball, my breath picking up, tears flying from my eyes with no control. "Logan please!"
I felt the car swerve sideways, into the breakdown lane.
Logan hops out of her seat, coming to my side, popping the door open.
"Esty, you need to calm down." She says, crouching next to me.
I shy away from her, hiding my face.
"Estelle, c'mon, we don't have time for this, we need to go see him." She says.
"He's gonna kill me." I say. "He'll decide my fate, and I'll die."
"You're acting crazy." She says.
"I wanna go home, I wanna see Maverick." I mutter.
She sighs. "You know you can't go back, that is what you decided when you left."
I felt my throat tighten, and my erratic breathing turned to hyperventilating.
"Shoot." She says, pulling out her phone. "Hello?"
Then a pause, as the other side answers.
"She's terrified of you."
The other end answers.
"Here." She says, handing me the phone.
I reach out and grab it with shaky hands, pressing it to my ear. "Hello?"
"Estelle, calm down." His voice was husky and deep.
I try to calm my breathing. "Titanios, I want nothing to do with you." I say between breaths.
"That's fine, but your want doesn't suffice to a need." He says. "I need to see you."
I take a shaky breath out. "All you're gonna do is set a date for my death."
"I only do that to enemies." He says softly, almost soothing.
"I can't see you Titanios, I am unable to face you." I say shakily.
A long pause comes from the other side of the phone, stirring my nerves.
"Stop being a pansy and come see me." He says in a low voice.
"I'd rather be a pansy than dead." Then I drop the phone and bolt like an animal to the forests lining the highways.
***
Apparently, a cotton tee shirt and shorts is not primal camping gear, and neither is a half-death, no reception phone.
So to answer the question, yes, I did just dig three feet of my grave.
I wipe the tears off my face, trying to face the fact I was safe, but cold.
All I could feel was the stinging around my ankles of the dead, cold, wet leaves.
I was still running, letting the long straggly branches slice through my tee-shirt, leaving my shoulders and ribcage exposed to the dense air.
Eventually, I stumble a nice dry rock to sit and rest on, which is what I do, I plop down on the perfectly smooth rock and got get out my phone, to check the reception.
One bar. It wasn't optimal, but I will take all I can get.
Hesitantly, I tap on Jackson's contact, shooting him a quick text telling him my situation and how help was needed indeed.
Then I sit there, watching my cloudy exhales twirl in with the branches that looked like bones sticking out of a hand.
I take a deep breath, trying to erase all the doubts of everything.
I suddenly feel like crying, but I know the tears will freeze to my face and make me even colder.
My phone vibrates, notifying me that Jackson had texted back.
The text was short, stating 'omw' in all lowercase letters.
I smile softly, turning off my phone, wanting to go back to sitting and freezing, before my phone rings.
August.
I pick it up, trying to calm my breathing.
"Hello?" I could barely understand him, the reception was terrible.
"I've made a mistake." I say, scared.
A long moment of silence rings through the phone, making me think he hung up. "I can't understand you."
"I am in trouble." I say, pausing between each word, speaking them as clearly as possible.
Another pause, probably because of the reception. "How?"
"I bolted from Logan's car, I am lost." I say, again choppily.
Pause, then a soft: "I'm coming to get you, give me 10 minutes."
Then silence.
"Great." I mutter to myself, standing from the rock.
I suddenly remember reading a book like this. The book ended with her dying but she did get lost in a freezing forest. To stay warm the woman jumped around, to keep blood pumping through her veins.
So I start doing small little hops as I walk back to the way I came from.
"Estelle?" A voice yells, from a more shallow part of the forest.
The voice was recognizably Logan's so I kept my mouth shut tight.
Then the worst possible thing ever happens.
I trip into the cold wet leaves, my senses automatically trying to warm themselves up, making me in even more pain.
I yelp out, my small cry echoing through the trees.
"Estelle?" Another voice joins her, a stranger, she's probably called him from the road to help.
"Help!" I yell back, hoping they hear me.
I hear footsteps, then a thin man appears from the bushes, a small patch of stubble on his chin.
"I'm guessing you're Estelle."