Flares in the Dark

1.05 | a boy of fear

TIME NEVER SLOWED AND IT SURE AS HELL NEVER STOPPED. Suddenly Liam was hit with this realisation and understood that all the descriptions of time by various authors in the books he had read were false.

Time never stopped.

Not for the president of the United States of America or the Queen of Britain, and it definitely didn't stop for Walter Stone or Liam Cross.

Walter's scream bounced off Liam's ears as he watched the boy fall. It took him a while to react, stunned into shock, he couldn't even breathe, let alone move.

The river still roared under them, ready to take Walter into its embrace and never let go. Even the bridge was holding its breath, an air of surrender around it, as if it had given up after trying to do its part and keep the children safe. The moss under Liam's feet smiled like a sly thief, it knew it was the culprit and it liked the fact.

The river was inviting, flowing with more gusto and force, preparing itself to receive Walter, a mere boy who didn't know what he was doing.

However, the river was disappointed.

Walter was still hanging on, somehow, to the mossy path, his hands barely holding on to the edge and his feet finding footholds instead of dragging him down limply. He was still shuddering and shaking. The hold of his hands wasn't strong and he could've slipped at any moment.

Another scream broke through the silence which had trapped them all in its spell. And finally, Liam broke out of his trance.

He moved quickly and efficiently, dropping down to his knees and grabbing hold of one of Walter's hands to catch him if he lost control. Chen grabbed hold of the other hand and Tom held on to the boy's shoulders.

Walter's feet pushed on the holds they had found and he used all his strength to help the boys pull him up. He felt his arms burn from holding on for so long and his head was spinning, barely making sense of what was going on around him, but his body knew what to do. He was in survival mode and somehow he knew that the boys wouldn't let him fall.

He trusted them with his life. Not that he and a choice in this situation, but to know that someone had his back was reassuring. It gave him hope and it gave him the courage to push himself further.

He would not allow himself to die. Not today.

His hands gripped on tighter to Liam and Chen, Tom was trying his best to keep his balance. Almost at the same moment, Walter pushed harder with his feet while the other boys pulled. He was lifted by a few inches onto the mossy ground.

But there was a problem. Walter's arms were drenched and Liam's hands were slipping. Desperation spread through the boys, Walter was still looking at them wig hope and trust. They couldn't give up on him. They wouldn't give up on him.

So even though he was slipping, they kept tugging and he knew to push. Till finally the river roared once again and sprayed them with the contemptuous water once again.

Walter slipped some more.

But they didn't give up. They could hear the sounds of cheering from below them, and some boys were even coming up to help. Their arms ached and burned, yet they didn't give up and kept pulling with all the strength they had left. Walter's legs gave out, but they still continued, knowing that they couldn't stop till he was out of harm's way.

After what seemed like hours, their efforts paid off and finally, Walter was laying on the ground, disoriented and shivering, but safe. Liam shuddered thinking of a possibility where they failed to save him and Walter fell, haunting eyes boring straight into Liam's.