Page 33 of To Save a Vampire
“We need to find a better place to cross. The current is too strong here; we’d never make it across the width of the river.” He pauses, looking around at the three of us. “Well, you guys wouldn’t make it,” he says with a lopsided but arrogant smile.
Ky gives a chuckle, and I roll my eyes. My mother stays silent. Did she expect him to continue signing with her? It doesn’t exactly seem like top secret information to me.
“Let’s walk farther up, at least a mile. If we have to cross and the river isn’t any better up ahead, we will just have to devise a plan,” Ky says. The look in his dark eyes tells me he’s already considering different ideas.
We walk a few miles along the river’s edge. My eyes shift to Ripper every couple of minutes, worried the river might swallow the tiny dog up at any moment. The entire way, the water doesn’t slow nor narrow.
Ky gives a side glance to Asher. Asher clenches his jaw, and we all come to a stop.
“The farther up we go, the more backtracking we’ll have to do,” Ky says reasonably.
Ky loosens his straps on his backpack. Asher does the same, also adjusting the instrument that hangs from his back. The gesture holds my attention, and I’m once again curious of the wooden instrument, but he hasn’t brought it up. It just hangs there tugging at my curiosity, but never revealing anything.
“It’s shallower here. We could cross, if you think we can,” Asher says meeting Ky’s eyes.
My heart pounds in rhythm with the fast raging water. Fear washes into me, threatening to pull me under into a full-on anxiety attack. My eyes dart from Asher to Ky, waiting for a decision. I trust Ky. And Asher. More than I do myself, really. I can swim, poorly, but I can. Could I make it in that strong of a current? If I got swept away would I ever find the shore again? Doubtful.
I’ve gained a little muscle tone from all the running and our new cakeless diet, but my small body would be swept through the water like paper in the wind. I might very well die out here before the camp guards and the veil ever find us.
“I don’t think we have much of a choice,” Ky says, looking my mother’s slight frame up and down, his thoughts mirroring my own. “Keep your pack loose on your shoulders, should you fall.” He locks eyes with my mother before continuing. “Remove your backpack, ditch it, it’ll only drag you down. Once it’s off, if you get the chance to cling onto it, do it. It’ll keep your head above water for a short time.”
Asher nods in understanding. He shifts his stance closer to me. Like he’s already going to save me. His unintentional lack of confidence in me really helps my nerves. I wipe my palms on my jeans several times, but it doesn’t help.
I pick up Ripper, and Ky leans down to let me deposit the little dog into his backpack. I pet his head reassuringly and zip the bag up, hoping it’ll be enough to keep him safe, but Ky’s instruction to ditch the pack doesn’t hold much hope.
“Take small steps. The rocks will be slick. We’re all going to hold on to each other like a chain against the current,” he says slowly, resting his hand on the small of my mother’s back and guiding her closer to myself and Asher.
Ky takes my hand and places it behind my mother’s back, around her belt right next to his own hand. I try to will the sweat on my palm to dissolve so I can grip the leather tighter. My mother reaches behind my back and grabs onto my belt in the same manner. Asher stands on my other side and, after a short pause, he slides his hand down the small of my back and grabs onto my belt as well.
I understand the process and nervously but tightly hold onto Asher’s belt. The four of us stand, arms linked like we’re getting ready to take a bow on stage instead of walk to our drowning deaths. Asher gives me a small nod, and I try to take deep breaths as Ky leads our chain slowly into the water.
We take slow steps as instructed, walking at a slight angle. The weight of the river pushes against my knees and I feel my mother tighten her hold on me. Asher is impossibly close to me and I feel how tightly strung the muscles in his arm are against my side. All I hear, smell, and taste is the river. It threatens to consume my senses. The water is pulling at my limbs before I’m even halfway across.
I focus on my steps against the slick rocks. I look down at the white water that slams into my hips and stomach. The sight of the water makes my steps uneasy, and my heavy footsteps falter against a jagged rock.
Asher’s grip tightens against my side. His body leans toward me, his chin brushes against my hair. “Don’t look down,” he yells over the crashing current.
I obey immediately, my heart thrashing in my chest, my arms shivering from my nerves and the cold water, but they stay locked around my partners. I look up at the forest a few yards ahead of us. The limbs of trees tangle around each other in the thick woods. Almost there.
I take deep breaths through my nose, my chest heaving. Small steps. Don’t look down. Almost there. Something slams against my leg in the water and I scream in pain as my leg gives out and I release my hold on my mother and Asher.
I regret my mistake as soon as it’s made. My fingers slip against the leather of their belts to find my safety again, but it’s no use. My fingers flail through cool water, and my arms are pushed back away from them both. My mother doesn’t release me, but the weight of the river and me nearly pull her down. Her thin body is half submerged in the water. Her long blonde hair is wet and sticks to her terrified face. Water chokes down my throat and burns my nose as I fight for small breaths.
Ky holds strong to a thin tree that’s growing into the river from the side of the grassy bank. He holds himself up against the weight of my mother and me. His muscles strain against the pull of us. It only takes a few terrifying seconds to pass before I’m being pulled into Asher’s chest.
“Let go,” he yells to my mother. She’s failing to keep herself up; her neck is angled to keep above the water. I see pain and fear flash in her eyes as she looks from me to Asher. Her round eyes study my face quickly like it’s the last time she might ever see her only daughter. She takes a gasping breath.
Then she lets go of my hand.
The cool current washes over my body pulling me farther into the rapids, then my fingers dig instinctively into Asher’s shoulders as he pulls me tightly to him with one arm around my waist.
We’re unsteady. He tries to regain his footing, and Ky’s words echo like thunder through my mind,it’ll only drag you down. It slowly occurs to me that he needs to ditch me before I drown us both. As if reading my mind, his fingers dig into my hip. My hair clings to my face, and my clothes are drenched, only adding more weight to his task. I breathe in, moisture clinging to the air and filling my lungs.
It only takes a second for him to find his footing again, and I press the side of my face against his chest, wanting to hide my face, but afraid to look away from everything. Asher takes bigger steps now than we did as a group, his face set in determination.
I see Ky pulling my mother to the bank. She stumbles out onto the muddy ground, and he climbs out of the water behind her. It takes me a moment to realize we’re trailing farther downstream, away from them. My heart sinks deeper in my chest with every tree we pass. Ky runs along the bank, keeping pace with us. Asher’s feet never stumble; he doesn’t look down. His eyes stay focused on the bank ahead of us.
We’re only a few feet away now. Ky leans out to us, his hand held out for Asher. Asher visibly swallows, his jaw set tight. Then he lurches forward, extending his arm in front of himself. The river sweeps us up in an instant, carrying us like fish in a current, but Ky grabs Asher’s arm at the last second.
