Within

EIGHT

My muscles were cold and sore when I woke up the next day. I heard hazy birdsong and the rustling of leaves. I got up slowly, rubbing my eyes and dusting off the dirt from my dress. I saw Lawrie putting out the fire with water.

Water.

'Hey. You found water!' I said slowly.

'Uh, yeah... there's a river down there, walk straight and can't miss it.' Lawrie pointed towards a cluster of trees. I looked at him sceptically. 'What? You expect an entourage as well?' His face was stone, hard and cold. I took no notice of the snarky comment and went through the trees.

I almost jumped out of my skin when something furry nuzzled my ankle. It was only Felix though. 'Good morning.' I said, picking him up and dusting him off.

Sure enough, after a short walk, I saw a wide ribbon of crystal clear water. It was flowing silently over rocks. I wasn't sure if the sparkles I could see on the bottom were the reflections of the sun, or something more real. But looking closer, I could make out a city, tiny buildings the same colour as the water, with tiny people swimming around. I was smiling, unable to believe it. This world was more magical than I thought.

Suddenly, a roar came from behind me.

'Hadley! We need to go!' Lawrie shouted, running up to me, grabbing my wrist and tugging me along as he ran. When I looked back, I could see a bear, huge, ferocious, teeth the size of daggers. My heart just about leapt out of my ribcage. It was gaining on us, just about able to swipe us with his claws. We were running for ages. I didn't look back, because I felt the bear's breath on my neck. That was enough to make me run faster.

Out of nowhere, Lawrie stopped, releasing the grip on my wrist. It left a red mark and hurt, but I tried not to care. Felix was squirming in my hold, miaowing and digging his claws into whatever he could. In front of us, there was another bear, just as large, just as scary. He swiped at us, like the bear behind us. One missed me by millimetres, but the other scratched Lawrie's arm. He waved it off like it was nothing. The attacks kept coming, and the bears were closer. Behind us, almost a solid wall of trees was nearing, and Lawrie saw that too because before I knew it, he grabbed me and hauled me up, onto higher and higher branches. The bears were clawing at the tree, rocking it side to side. We jumped onto another tree, adrenalin and fear making me almost miss the branch. We ran along the thick branches until we found a waterfall, gushing water almost drowning out the sounds of the bears, but not the fear in my heart. We couldn't see the bears through the thick canopy.

Lawrie climbed the rock wall to the top, and I had no choice but to follow. It was hard, the rocks slippery. Felix was on my shoulders, clinging on for dear life with his sharp claws.

By the time I reached the top, Lawrie was sprawled on the ground, panting. He sat up, and for just a second I could see sheer fear in his eyes. But the next second, they were black holes, showing nothing.

We were both panting. My wrist and back were in pain. I could hardly breathe. Felix retracted his claws and hopped down from my neck. The cat nuzzled my hand as if to say sorry.

'Where did they come from?' I asked, 'The bears.'

Lawrie rolled his eyes. 'The forest. Didn't they teach where ever you came from that bears live in forests, and that you should run away from them?'

The comment started a fire inside, made me annoyed, frustrated. Even when we just ran away from bears, he still managed to say something sarcastic.

But I was cool again when I saw Lawrie wince, and look at his arm, fingers sticky with blood. He swore under his breath. My eyes widened. I didn't expect the bear claws to do that much damage.