Matthew Silver and the Monster Hunters, Book One: The Darkest Waters

Chapter Ten

SilverCHAPTER TEN

I hit the waves pretty hard, even with a parachute. Not hard enough to break anything, but hard enough to send shockwaves of pain through my legs. At great enough speeds, hitting water is like hitting a brick wall. A common misconception about parachutes is that they always slow you down, but the reality is that you need to have a great distance between yourself and the ground in order to safely touch down. I’d seen kids snap their legs from trying to be daredevils by pulling their cord at the last second.

The water was icy like spring water. It was even worse, because it was a cool night. Even for early November, the waters of and around the Channel were always freezing. The cold was already starting to numb my legs and chest through my soaked clothes. I hoped they would be able to find me pretty quickly. I really wasn’t dressed for swimming in ice water.

I unhooked and untangled myself from the parachute, so the chute was floating freely in the waves. I swam into the middle of the floating canvas and began floating on my back. The parachute was a bright orange, so I’d be easier to spot by Search and Rescue planes or ships. It’d also discourage any predatory fish roaming the waters to take a bite out of me. To them, I probably looked like a giant bed of orange kelp. The crash had been pretty big, sending all kinds of disturbances into the water. I didn’t need to be stalked by any curious sharks.

The night passed by without a sign of help. I was getting a little thirsty, but I knew better than to drink the salt water. Drinking salt water can only hurt you and can make you go crazy. All I could do was just float there, miserably cold.

I was facing a new enemy. Its name was hypothermia. I was shivering so badly, I would’ve bit my tongue off, if I had tried talking. I couldn’t even paddle anymore. I was feeling really sluggish and clumsy from the cold and the constant shivers, but for those of you who don’t know, shivering is good. It showed that my heat regulation systems were still functioning. I could be scared when I stopped shivering. At the moment, there wasn’t much I could do to help myself but wait.

I shut my eyes and concentrated on a faraway place; somewhere peaceful, quiet, and calm. The more I thought about it, the more I could actually see it. It was like my imagination was coming to life.

Not until later would I realize that I was hallucinating.

It was kind of like any other sleep. Dreams and memories passed by me so rapidly that it was impossible to focus on the real and unreal. The only thing was that I didn’t mind being there. It was much nicer there than the real world. Warmer too.

While floating through the delusions, I came to a familiar memory from many years before. It was just my second year of being partners with Jay. I was twelve years old at the time.

I can’t explain how hallucinations work, but it really felt like I was re-experiencing everything. I could feel my excitement, see the past like it was the present, and hear all the sounds clearly—the sounds of battle!

Jay came at me from every side, spinning through the air gracefully with her long wooden Bō staff. I carried twin black Sai with red leather grips entwined upon the black metal of the handle. It was basically a wooden pole versus two triple-pointed daggers.

She was already at the top of her class in martial arts and was trying to help me raise my skills in mixed martial arts and Japanese sword fighting. Simply put: she was just beating the crap out of me and enjoying it. Probably too much.

She spun around, slashing the air, twirling the long stave at me from the left side and then the right side. Her Shōtōkan-RyūBōjutsu was good for fighting an enemy at a longer distance. The staff was meant to be an extension of one’s limbs; to fight the enemy at an arm’s length, because of the staff’s reach. She was very creative, keeping me on the defensive with an impressive battery of rapid spinning attacks. I backpedaled to avoid being smashed in the ribcage by a hefty jab from her.