Oceans and Emeralds

Chapter 8

**Trigger Warning** This chapter contains violence that may be triggering to some readers**

When I wake up again Leah is laying on the floor next to the couch with a blanket covering her legs to her waist. I check the time. 9:30 "Leah," I whisper and slightly nudge her. She just lays on her back with her mouth slightly open. She's drooling. I don't know if I want to bother her. She looks so peaceful and relaxed. She should probably get home though. Her family is probably worried. "Leah," my voice is barely over a whisper and I poke her stomach lightly.

"Hm?" She raises her arm above her head, causing her face to be hidden in her bicep.

"What are you doing on the floor?" I ask.

"You kept punching my legs." She moves her arm to look at me. "What were you dreaming about?" I sit up and she sits on the couch next to me.

"I don't remember." Flashes fill my vision.

Flashes of me falling onto Leah's car and that woman. Kayla Rogers? I put my face in my hands. "It wasn't a dream was it?"

"Last night? No." Leah sounds calm but still a little angry about it. I would be angry if she were in my position.

"Fuck me," I whisper.

"We can go get food if you want?" she offers.

"No, I'm just gonna get a drink," I stand ignoring the sting in my back. "Want anything?"

"Water, sure," she follows me to the kitchen and I get us each a glass of water. As I'm putting the glass to my lips a sharp pain shoots through my lower back and the suddenness of it makes me drop the glass onto the counter with a crash.

"Shit, are you okay?" Leah gets to my side in seconds.

"Yeah. I'm fine," I nod and take a deep breath.

"I think you need to go to a doctor," she suggests.

"No, I'm fine," I protest.

"What happened? I heard something break." Arthur and Tammy come through the door that leads to the shop.

"It's nothing. I just dropped my cup," I wince slightly as I start picking up the bigger pieces of glass from the puddle on the counter. Maybe they didn't notice?

"Why are you wincing?" Arthur asks curiously. Fuck.

"It's nothing,"

"Yesterday she fell on the hood of my car and she says she's fine but keeps wincing. I think she needs a doctor." Leah steps in.

"Alright, can you drive them? I'm gonna clean up and meet you guys there," Arthur comes to the counter.

"Yeah," Leah nods.

"Guys, I'm fine. Really, it's just a bruise," I protest.

"Let me see it. You might be right, but it's better to be safe than sorry." Tammy waves me over. I take a step towards her and lift the hoodie and shirt I'm wearing so she can look at my lower back.

"Holy shit," Leah sounds shocked.

"You definitely need a doctor to look at that," I feel Tammy's finger brushing over some of it. I wince when she puts light pressure on it.

"Fine. But don't blame me when it's a waste of time," I give up.

"Deal, let's go." The three of us get in Leah's car and she starts driving. I can see the small dent in her hood from the backseat.

"So, what happened?" Tammy asks as we go into the forest area. The hospital isn't in this town so it'll take almost an hour to get there.

"Moe was showing us something and I was thinking about how much I love it and started flying," I explain. "When I tried going back down it was fine until I got around halfway down, then I just dropped. It felt like I was slammed into the hood though."

"You panicked?" She asks.

"Yeah, you know I'm scared of heights," I defend.

"Okay," Tammy nods. "I-" She's cut off when Leah slams on her broken brakes. They don't work so she uses the hand break and we all jerk slightly. My nose hits the back of Tammy's seat and as I look up I see someone run into the forest.

"Her again?" I hear Leah's question.

Kayla.

I quickly get out of the car and run towards where she disappeared. Tammy and Leah call after me and I ignore them and the pain in my back. I stumble as I go through the leafless trees covered in snow. As I reach a small clearing I stop and look around. I'm the only one here. That is until a doe and its fawn sprint by me as if something scared them. Following them, come birds, squirrels, chipmunks, and raccoons. Even some more deer. The squirrels and smaller animals start to climb me and scratch up my skin and clothes. They feel like a thousand little paper cuts. As the birds join the attack I fall to the snowy forest floor on my knees and put my face in my hands in an attempt to keep the animals from scratching my eyes.

"STOP!!" I scream as loud as I can and suddenly none of the animals move. The ones on me are frozen in place while birds stay in mid-air. I scramble away from the frozen animals and get all the ones attached to my clothes away from me as fast as I can. My breathing is heavy as I stare at the scene. All the attacking animals stopped in their place as if they are about to attack the ground where I just was.

"So you can do something," I hear the familiar voice but I don't see where it's coming from. "Don't bother looking for me. All you'll find is my voice. Now, listen to me. You have four days to figure out who I am, or you'll get hurt worse than what I've done to you already"

"That was you?" I ask as I look around.

"Oh, you flew by yourself. I just made sure you had a painful flight down," I can hear the smile in her voice. "I'll see you soon. River." Suddenly the animals all scurry away and I'm flung backward. My back hits a tree and it sends an unbearable amount of pain through my body. Almost a second later my body involuntarily floats to the middle of the clearing around ten feet off the ground. I start panicking as I plummet to the ground like I did yesterday. I can feel the icy snow hit me and I let out a yelp as I'm flung headfirst into a bush.

Finally, I get lifted higher than before and start falling until I stop abruptly only inches from the ground. I'm raised up a few feet before falling back onto the same spot I had fallen on yesterday. I lay in the snow, my body in too much pain to move. I'm barely able to reach my hand up to my cheek to wipe the feeling of wetness from my right temple. When I look at my hand it's covered in my crimson blood. "River!?" Leah calls.

"Holy shit! River!" Tammy and Leah are kneeling above me as I try to keep my eyes open.

I'm too tired. So I let myself fall asleep