Deep Down

Waterfall

The singing of birds evaded my ears. All I could see is that harsh pink going through my shut eyelids. I lazily sat up and rubbed my eyes. A sharp pain shot up my back and to my neck, I cringed, bearing the pain. I forced myself to open my eyes and noticed that my leg was cold from the absence of the small child. I shook my head a little to wake myself up, I felt so out of it today, I wonder why? My eyes scanned for the others, and I found no one. The fire was out, when did they leave? Was I going crazy?

I slowly stood up, stretching out my stiff limbs. I started to wander around the woodland; trying to find any sign that they were here. My heart started to pick up speed, I had zero ideas on how to survive on my own, had they left me. This only led to my headache increasing. My breathing started to get heavy and pick up speed. I heard the sharp sound of twig snap, then the rustling of some shrubbery nearby. My eyes darted to the area where the noise was coming from, trying to detect what caused that to happen.

"Heyo!" Aiden came out and did a little hop, giving an innocent grin.

"Y-you scared me! You idiot!" I gave Aiden a small slap on the arm. "Why did you have to do it like that?!"

He let out a chuckle, "I could tell you were scared, your heartbeat was like BOOM BOOM BOOM! Why were you so scared anyway? You can easily take something down that is a potential threat."

He was right, I could easily defend myself... "Well you didn't have to do it like that," And how could hear my heartbeat? I'll ask him later.

"It's funnier that way!" He exclaimed.

"Ugh, whatever. Where's everyone else?" I asked.

"Dakota detected a waterfall not too far from here. We're all just getting a break before we head back out." The tall male informed me.

He grabbed my wrist and started to pull me along, leading me to where our little group on was. We went through many trees and I watched as squirrels and other wildlife scattered out of our way. Suddenly, a something sharp had pierced a decent sized cut down my leg, I looked down about to tell Aiden to slow down for a second so I could see if it was bad. Just as I opened my mouth, the cut was already almost healed. Huh, interesting.

Within a nice ten minutes, we heard the shouts of the others. We stopped after we were in front of the waterfall. Clearwater glistened, descending from the top of the mountain that the water was plunging into the small pond below. Trees surrounded the hidden oasis, birds sang, and small animals scurried about. Enormous trees covered with vines, connecting the together swayed in the gentle breeze. My eyes scanned about, absorbing it all. I've never seen anything this beautiful.

"Isn't it amazing? It's so relaxing, we'd live here if we could." He gazed at the sight before him.

Dakota was high on Vales' shoulder, both males had lacked a shirt. The young boy was loudly laughing, while Vale ran around. Every now and then the older of the two would pretend to throw Dakota into the water.

I watched as Devina dipped her toes in the glimmering lake, brown orbs scanning about the area. I wonder what was going through her mind right now? She could be thinking of just about anything. Interrupting my calm state of mind, I felt a pair of strong arms lift me up and throw me deep into the waters. My mind instantly went into a panicking state, bubbles formed around me from the impact. I heard a rowdy laugh as I surfaced. Blonde heavy hair clung to my face, and the clothes I had on were absolutely soaking wet. I swept the hair off my face, but a few strands remained. I wiped my hair and took a moment to catch my breath. As soon as I opened my eyes I found the source of the laughing and sent a piercing glare that way.

"Aiden! Did you seriously have to do that?!" I shouted his way.

"Yes, I did! You can't just gawk at it all day!" He shouted.

I heard chuckles from everyone as they watched the scene happen. Devina was covering her mouth with her left hand, trying to hide the fact that she was laughing. Vale and Dakota weren't even trying to hold it in.

"You are so annoying!" I said as I started to swim back to the shore. How was I supposed to get these clothes dry? I'll get a rash and get sick if I don't get these off of me. I walked past Aiden back into the woods, bumping my shoulder into him. I was clearly pissed off. Puffs of air came from me. I ignored the twigs poking at my feet from being barefoot and made my way deeper into the woods. Even though it was hot out, the clothes started to make my teeth shudder. I was finally calmed down and he had to go and do that. The hair that clung to me started to make me itch, and I just wanted to pull it off and scream at the top of my lungs in frustration.

I reached up and climb up a thick, rough, and dark brown tree. My hands grabbed ledges of the bark, lifting myself up as my legs pushed as supports. Soon a branch sturdy enough to hold my weight, I swung my leg over it and lifted myself so I was sitting on it, with my feet dangling on one side. I was getting so frustrated and I know that I can't do anything about it. I could feel my face start to sting, and my vision getting blurry. My breath got heavy and I closed my eyes trying to calm down.

I reminded myself that there is nothing I can do and that I just have to accept it. This hit me hard and I don't know why. I gripped the tree branch as hard as I could to let out some of my anger, and all of a sudden I heard the snap and rough tearing, my eyes quickly opened and I saw that I had made deep indents into the strong wood. I could see the layers of the bark, from the dark outside to the pale beige in the inside. I looked at my hands in curiosity, did I do that?

I covered my face with my hands, in wonder about what just happened. I heard the sound of twigs snapping and leaves crunching in fast steps. I ducked instinctively.

"Hailey? Are you here?" A heard a voice similar to Vale's calling for me, I leaped from the tree not caring about the pain from landing.

"I'm right here." Anyone could tell that I was still angry.

"Why did you run off so suddenly?"

"Frustrated, I needed a minute to myself."

"Here." He handed me the dry shirt that he must have grabbed on his way to look for me. He turned his head sideways and held it out waiting for me to take it.

"Thank you, Vale." I walked a minute or so until Vale was out of sight. I peeled off the shirt that clung to my skin and slipped on Vale's shirt.

I walked back to Vale to see him swinging back and forth on his feet. I walked up to him and gave him a hug, I needed one. I traced my fingers along the lines on this back, every now and then I'd feel the marks from past scars. His arms wrapped around my waist and it was the most relaxed I had ever been.