I tried to stop it, but I couldn’t have my dad find out I spurned Katilia again. Dammit! One face for my victims, one for my friends. I was getting tired of this. I was splitting myself in half. I didn’t even know who was the real me anymore. The bully I was or the rational me that still felt something. I watched Myra’s body slam into the water like a cannonball and begin to sink. Sure, some of this was my fault, but it was never supposed to be life-threatening.

  “Shit! Ralf! Why did you let her fall!”

  “Not my fault she’s so heavy! Um, someone should go in after her.”

  “I’m not getting eaten by sharks,” Katilia screamed. That only left me. Great. How did I get into these messes in the first place?

  “You two are unbelievable. Move!” I yelled, climbing on the rails and balancing myself on them. I looked over my shoulder. “While I risk my life for the girl, you two get help. Something is dragging her down. If I get pinned for murder, so will you. I’ll make sure of it!”

  “Hell no!” Ralf ran away, almost tripping on the tail of his big bad wolf costume—some wolf, running with his tail between his legs. I rolled my eyes.

  “Daddy won’t let me go to jail!” Katilia screamed, following behind the cowardly wolf.

  “You unenlightened daddy’s girl. He won’t care. All he’ll see is you’re bringing his image down!” Lovely. I leaped into the water.

  I swam closer. Myra’s eyes were open, and all around her pupils, were the whites of the sclera. She was dead scared and running out of air. This probably was not how she planned to end her night.

  Neither did I. Katilia and Ralf wanted to scare her a little. The scaredy cats didn’t want to put her in the middle of sharks! I was going to kill Ralf and Katilia when I got us out.

  I signaled for her to swim to me, but she kept treading water ignoring me or too scared to move. I would have to go to her. The sharks milled about, not focusing on us. That was good. I swam to her and grabbed her arm. That seemed to snap her out of whatever stupor she was in. She glared at me and shrugged me off.

  I motioned toward the surface. She nodded and began swimming upward with me following closely behind. A brilliant violet fire erupted around us. I tucked her frame in mine–and banged into something.

  A giant violet bubble surrounded us. Then something jerked us forward. I hammered my hands on the force field or whatever this was. It didn’t give! We were pushed into an endless vast space before us. There was no oxygen and Myra fell unconscious, and I was getting dizzy. There was a bright light at the end of the tunnel. Was this Heaven? Or hell?

  We were spat out on a hillside and tumbled down. “Whoa!” I cried out and slammed into the largest pair of roots I’d ever seen—blue roots. I shook my head and tried rising to my feet, making it to my knees before collapsing back onto my stomach.

  I heard a noise like foghorns mixed with clinking silverware surround me, and softer sounds like chickens burrowing. An owl hooted nearby and I looked at the tree. It glinted like sapphire in the dimming sunlight. There was a tree somewhere in the Amazon with the same color, but it only grew a few feet in height—this was enormous!

  Where in the hell are we? I rose to my knees and managed to stay up.

  A breeze was blowing, bringing in scents that smelled like wet chickens or rodents,, and that loud sound again—squawking birds! The soil around my hands had felt warm and damp like soil, so maybe we weren’t too far from home. A rainforest?

  Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

  Myra groaned and rolled over, coughing out water. Her eyes were bloodshot. She shook her head and sat up, taking in her surroundings. Her eyes landed on me, and she glared. “W-Where are we?” she asked, getting to her feet.

  I had a more challenging time getting up and decided to stay on my knees for now. It was as if the gravity of wherever we were was pushing me down. I felt disoriented and sick to my stomach. “Beats me,” I said. I reached around and wrung the water from my cape bottom. “At least we aren’t shark bait.”

  “We wouldn’t have been shark bait if you didn’t hoist me up against the water!” She screamed. Well, at least she can fight back. That’s good. Who knows what else we were gonna confront here.

  “I wasn’t the one who dropped you,” I said, remembering the two cowards.

  “No, but you put me in the situation for it to happen!” she yelled. She looked seconds from slapping me.

  “Go ahead and slap me. It won’t fix our situation.”

  “It’ll make me feel so much better about it,” she muttered, passing me by and inspecting the tree.

  I finally got up to my feet and followed her. I felt like some newborn! My usual strength was gone, and I was a trembling mess. I noticed the shadows move, but I ignored them. I figured my shadow was moving.

  It was growing darker. The noises I had not yet become accustomed to hearing dropped to silence. I could hear my footsteps now. That wasn’t a good sign. I gripped Myra’s elbow and stopped her from taking another step.

  “Listen! What do you hear?” I asked her.

  She paused and listened. “N-Nothing. Silence.”

  “What does that usually mean, Myra” I whispered, searching for the threat, but couldn’t find anything. Then another shadow shifted.

  Myra gulped. “W-We’re being hunted?”

  “Move!” I yelled, grabbing her hand and running to a sunnier spot.

  A strange screech between a human and a bird cry sent shivers down my spine. Then the shadows moved to reveal a pitch-black pterodactyl with hellfire eyes and the most enormous stinger I’d ever seen on its tail.

  It dripped with something, poison? I did not want that thing getting into me. Lucky for us it seemed blinded by the sunlight.

  “H-how are we going to fight that thing?” Myra whispered shaking against me.

  I scoffed. “If you want to fight that thing, go ahead, but I’m running. You can come with me or stay,” I said watching the thing circling above.

  “I’m staying! The light is becoming dimmer. We have to at least ward it away!” she yelled, crossing her arms while I shrugged and took off running for another sunspot. There was one close to another tree.

  Myra screamed in frustration, but I didn’t care. I gave her a chance. She could fight that thing all she wanted! Sadly my movement caused the thing to react and go after me. Great. Myra probably thought I was luring it away from her!

  First, it’s sharks. Now it’s a pterodactyl. How do I get into these messes? It was a fast sucker too.

  One minute I was running. The next, I’m dodging that horrendous tail that stretched from only a few feet long to a mile long in seconds! I made it to the sunspot, but the sun was sinking past the horizon fast. There was only so much light left, and we had no form of light of our own.

  Myra ran towards me. Couldn’t she see there was nothing to light a fire with? Instead, she headed for the bird. She dodged the tail and rolled behind it before grasping its neck, and stabbing a sharp stick in its eye, causing it to wail and dissipate into shadows. Why didn’t I think of that?

  Huh?

  So, she wasn’t so useless after all. Apparently, I was dead wrong in assuming her weight would slow her down and she’d be useless. What is with this girl?

  “You can thank me,” she muttered, holding the sharp stick.

  “Thanks,” I replied, jumping off the root I had climbed to reach the sunspot.

  “N-nevermind,” she blushed probably due to adrenaline. She looked surprisingly cute like that. “We should try to... watch out!” she screamed, pushing me aside and getting caught in the pterodactyl’s claws.

  I scrambled back, but its tail wrapped around my leg and swept me up too. I glared at its eyes, which had changed to a kaleidoscope, and felt my soul start leaving me. I tried fighting, but I was gradually losing the battle. I saw Myra stretch out her hand and touch the creature’s head, and it disintegrated showing a human head instead, as if the bird were a disguise for a human. He seemed surprised and was staring at Myra with wonder.

  Then the transaction was over, and the monster was back. I was being filled with some substance, and I felt like a balloon waiting to pop. I felt too full. I was sick to my stomach and dizzy again. I heard the voice of a male in my head. Protect her, it said. I was too dizzy to disagree, and the thing dropped me to the ground while letting Myra go. It vanished into the shadows again, and I doubt it was coming back. I lay there while Myra seemed dazed.

  “Hey,” I groaned. “Snap out of it. We are still in danger!”

  Several people dressed in golden armor, carrying bows and staffs arrived, proving how right I was.

  We were vulnerable where we were lying, and I hoped these people weren’t hostile.

  My hopes seemed dashed as they drew their weapons on us. Two bows and two staffs.

  The odds were definitely against us, and I couldn’t do squat. I was too dizzy and tired. It felt like my soul was about to explode!

  I couldn’t fight them and glanced over at a spaced-out Myra. I knew she couldn’t either. I tried to stand, but my knees were too shaky, and the world was still spinning, so I laid down again and let them come closer.