The Afterlife: Chap 9 Cold

Time seemed to slow as I whipped around to see what had touched me. Only a few feet ahead of me, I saw myself standing next to Alex and Matt. I watched myself crying out as the demons approached. It looked like someone had put the scene on slow motion.

Demons were walking around and through me as they jumped and crawled at the “me” that I was seeing. Alex and Matt tried to fight them off, but they only fell to their knees. I looked around and there were demons that looked like normal humans, but their eyes seemed to glow a pale gray color.

Time slowed as I turned to look at the angels that had approached. They stood at the edge of the trees, watching the scene with blank looks. All but one. Samuel stood smiling at me. The real me.  

“What is it?” Alex asked in a worried tone and everything I had seen cleared. The monsters were gone and all I could see was the night forest. I took in a deep breath and looked at Alex. My expression must have terrified him because he began to stand.

I jumped up to my feet and looked around. The forest was still. Deathly still. 

“We need to go. Now,” I said in a shaky voice.

“What happened?” Matt asked, walking up to me.

“Get up!” I yelled at Alex, tugging at his arms. He stood and I grabbed both Alex and Matt’s arms, tugging them away from the direction that I saw the demons. “We need to get to the truck,” I said, pleadingly.

“It’s this way,” Alex replied. He began going back the way we came and I nearly cried.

“Alex, they’re coming for us that way!” I nearly screamed. The vision was too real to be fake. Alex and Matt both looked at me as if I was senile. Answering my hysterics, rustling of leaves came ahead of us. Alex snatched my hand and off we went. Matt brought up the back while Alex jumped over dead trees and dodged tree branches. Matt wasn’t as successful as I heard him continuously cussing under his breath as branches swatted his face.

Wings flapped overhead of us, but Alex didn’t slow down. An awful smell came to my nose. It was like smelling a dead animal that had baked in the sun for two weeks.

I looked up and saw the red eyes peering down at me. The creature was black without details which was more frightening than having details.

Yelling and effortful screams came from behind us, but when I turned to look, Alex threw his arm around my waist and pulled me to him.

“Hold your breath!” Alex yelled and when I looked forward, Alex pushed me forward with him off of a cliff. We all yelled as we flew down toward the dark water that came rushing up at us. I plugged my nose just in time as water ran into my not-yet-closed mouth.

Sometime when we jumped, Alex and I let go of each other. Ice water engulfed me and I let go of my nose to start swimming. A leg hit me from somewhere and the water was suddenly pushing me down stream. I kicked and pushed, but the water became rough and hard to swim in. My skin was blistering with the cold, making my skin numb and hard to move.

My hand surfaced, but my head didn’t make it up. Rocks rushed past me, making me hit my back and feet against them. Finally, I pushed hard and managed to come up for a quick breath and then I fell back under again.

I put my hands ahead of me just in time as I came hurtling towards a large boulder. My elbows buckled against the force and I went chest first into the stone. What little breath I had was knocked out of me. I crawled up the rock and tried to cling onto it as I coughed, but my fingers were starting to lose grip. I wheezed and sputtered, putting my arms around the rock to haul myself up on it.

“We’re coming!” Matt yelled. I tried to look, but when I moved, the water pushed me with just enough force that made my fingers slip on the accumulated grime of the stone. I reached out and tried to kick, but it wasn’t enough.

A dark shape came from the air and jumped onto the rock. I yelled out, but warm hands wrapped around my wet fingers.

“It’s okay,” Alex yelled over the water. I looked at him and his body was soaking wet, but him being warm confused me.

His strong arms pulled me up and onto the rock. My breath came out in wisps of white in the cold night air, my teeth chattering so hard that if I could completely feel them, it would have hurt. The wind was really strong and it made me want to get back into the water. I looked up at Alex and saw that his eyes were strikingly dark. He pulled me into an embrace. “I’m sorry,” Alex whispered over and over again. The heat of his body felt so good.

“F-f-f-for w-w-what,” I asked.

“We need to go now!” Matt yelled. I looked over at him and he was looking up. Alex and I followed his gaze, but Alex was already pulling my head back down to look at him.

“I know you don’t want to, but we have to get back in the water,” Alex whispered. He signaled Matt to come over. Matt slowly made his way over the rocks and water to get to us. I bit my lip and looked at Alex.

“We won’t stay in it long, I promise, but that’s the only way I can keep you from danger,” Alex whispered. Matt sat down on a rock near us. I looked up and saw dark figures looking down at us from the cliff as well as dark monsters that flew up above us.

Alex pulled my head back down to him.

“Hang onto my hand and don’t let go,” Alex whispered. He kissed the top of my head and signaled Matt to jump in. With a splash, Matt went down stream, head bobbing while looking back at us. I thought I saw a flash of anger cross over his face, but it was quickly gone. He began to swim downstream with the current.

“Hold your breath,” Alex said and I did. We went flopping into the water, but it wasn’t as bad as it was at first. Alex’s hand was wrapped tightly around mine and I was positive that iron couldn’t break his grip. I kicked along the ground to try and catch up speed with the current. Alex forced my head above water and I spat water out of my mouth. I gasped in the cold water and looked up.

The creatures were catching distance between the waterfall and us. Alex pulled me along, keeping us from hitting rocks and dead trees. One of the creatures was descending to the water. It let out a shriek that sounded like a bird that had been run over a couple of times. It swooped down and was beginning to tread above the water. It was coming straight for us.

I gasped and my foot slipped on the grimy river bed. I fell underwater and I was suddenly knocking Alex over. What if Matt didn’t hear the bird? I thought really hard to try and tell Alex.

Matt! I screamed in my head, hoping Alex might hear.

I pushed up and as soon as my head surfaced, I screamed for Matt. Alex jerked me underwater again and held my head under his chin. I tried to push myself up, but he wouldn’t let me. Alex pressed his fingers to my forehead and his face was the only thing I could see.

“You have to stay under,” Alex said. Another vision was trying to force its way into my mind, but I fought it off. I had to warn Alex about Matt.

“Alex! Matt-” I started to say, but the vision was quickly cut off.

The large bird was beginning to grab at me through the water. Alex let go of me and I was suddenly swimming with the current alone. I sucked in water without meaning to and my eyes flew open. All I could see was black.

I forced myself up. My foot connected with the right rock and my head reached air. I choked up water while trying to scream for Alex. I looked around, trying to rub the water out of my eyes and my back connected with a hard boulder. I yelled out and grasped onto the rock. The weight of my clothes forced me down.

“Alex!” I screamed, my voice starting to go hoarse. I looked behind me to see where Alex was, but there was only water that I had already swum in. The demons that were coming after me were gone and all that was left was large trees. I turned around and couldn’t see Matt either. “Matt!”

Nothing. I was completely alone. All that I could hear was the trickling of water. Tears started to form in my eyes. I gasped for air through hiccups and shivered at the same time.

“Alex!” I screamed harder. Goosebumps formed on my arms and I tried to rub them away with my freezing fingers. I almost felt tired. I fell back on the rock and looked up at the sky. Instead of dark figures flying in the night, stars sparkled luminously against the dark blue. There wasn’t a cloud in sight. It was starting to become hard to think. I took a deep breath.

I have to find Matt, I thought to myself. I pulled a leg over the rock and into the water I fell. It didn’t suck the breath out of me, mostly because I didn’t get air before I fell in. I reached up out of the water for anything, but nothing came to my hand. I was going to die.

I let myself float in the water. It felt so peaceful. A tree’s bark rubbed against my hand that was floating ahead of me. I curled my fingers and could almost feel something that might have been leaves. I moved my body and my side connected with the tree. I was too cold to feel the sting of rough bark rubbed against me that might have made me bleed.

I pulled myself up and I sucked in fresh air. My breathing wasn’t as labored as it was earlier. I gripped onto the bark with as much pressure as I could, which apparently wasn’t much because I was slowly slipping. I was so tired.

The most comfortable warm came over me. A hand came to rest over mine and I looked up. My vision was starting to go, but I could make out a pale light against the darkness. I then smiled.

“Alex,” I whispered. The figure said something, but I couldn’t hear it. Instead, I closed my eyes. I’ll see him when I wake up.

Reviews

[Alex Thomas]

This chapter was really descriptive. The beginning is a bit confusing, but the rest of the chapter has great flow. The quick pace was perfect for this chapter. The ending doesn't leave the reader completely assured that Madison is safe...Great job.