With water running down her face and eyes blinking every time a drop ran into them, she looked more beautiful than ever. Here, on the bridge, would be a romantic moment, if there was not the sense of doom ahead.
“I can’t,” Michael said reluctantly. “I can’t put you in danger.”
“We can’t see you if you go. And you can hardly walk. Those crutches-”
“Will do fine,” he said. “I need you two to stay here and watch out if She comes a different way.”
“No,” she responded with a serious expression. “I’m going.”
Christian ran up, and pulled out a pocket knife from his backpack. “Take this. If she’s dangerous... well, you know.” Michael thanked him, and looked over to see Crystal still staring at him, begging to let her go.
“I’m still going.”
She took a step closer to him, and he leant over closer to the side of the bridge, where the only thing between him and falling below was a few feet-high wall of stones, acting as a railing.
“What’re you doing?” she asked, frantically reaching out to grab him.
“Come closer and I’ll jump over.” Would he really? No, never. It was way too high. But in her confused, emotional state she did not know that.
“What? No!”
“I will.”
“Crystal,” Christian said, coming up behind her, “let’s stay back here. It’s okay.”
She looked desperately at Michael, who was still leaning heavily against the edge. “I will.”
“Michael…”
“Go, Crystal.”
She looked at him, with tears in her eyes and feeling betrayed, before turning away to stand with Christian.
“I’m sorry,” Michael said, voice cracking. Trying to compose himself, he turned his back to his two friends and stared at the wall of trees in front of him.
“What if I just run after you?” asked Crystal, choking on her tears.
“You’ll regret it.” Michael shook his head and gave her the sternest look he could muster.
She says hello. He says hello. All three say hello.
“It’s okay, Lilly,” he whispered to himself.
He could picture her, with that curly, red hair flying all over the place while he spun her around. That dreadfully cute smile he could never say no to. Her little giggles floating through the air like music. It had been so long since he saw her, so long since he talked to her.
Do you want to find these three? You will have to search the trees. If you know where you should go, nobody call tell you no.
He could imagine Brandon, sitting with him, playing video games, or talking somewhere peaceful, just talking. Running around Hardy and Marcy, causing mischief and loving every second of it; being friends for the rest of their lives, growing old and having grandchildren and still enjoying the Donkey Kong games. It had been so long since he saw him, so long since he talked to him.
She says goodbye. He says goodbye. All three say goodbye.
Opening the pocket knife with one hand, he stood in front of the trees, which glared down at him from the tallest branches, telling him to leave before trouble began. He could turn back now, and learn to deal with the sorrow. He could make new friends and eventually forget this horrific summer. Life would be different, but he would be alive. It would be something new, but it would be his.
Don’t let them die.
Swallowing the fear, his heart pounded at his chest, telling him to turn back. His breaths raced out, telling him to speed away, while his lungs banged like drums, commanding him to march back home. But underneath it all, in his mind, he saw Brandon and Lilly, reaching out their hands. Brandon was holding Grace, who looked terrified, and he also looked afraid. Lilly was crying, making a sound so heartbreaking he had to swallow again, trying to gather his nerves.
Then he jumped into the trees, knife raised in the air.
“Is he gonna be okay?” Crystal asked her brother, tears streaming down her cheeks while rain pounded all around her, picking up the intensity.
“I’m sure he will,” Christian assured her. “I’m sure he will.”
28. Flies
“Nothing,” Michael said, returning out of the trees.
Crystal leapt with joy and ran towards him, wrapping herself around his frame. Christian looked on, unsurprised. He was getting more used to the random shows of affection from her. What a strange sister he had.
“I found some weird wooden poles sticking out of the ground,” Michael said.
“Like at the cornfield?” Christian asked.
“No, these weren’t in a circle. Just random.”
“So what now?” Crystal asked, looking up at Michael. If her brother was not there, she might have kissed him right then and there, on this bridge in the pouring rain.
“We go under,” Michael answered gravely.
“Which side you wanna go on?” Christian asked.
“Whichever you choose, man. You’re first in,” Michael added with a smile.
It only took them a short amount of time to reach the riverbank. Michael had so much adrenaline pumping through him, he was going to leave the crutches behind, but Crystal insisted he take them, even though they got stuck many times in the mud and slowed him down.
“Back in the water,” Christian muttered as he led the way. “Back in the stupid water.”
They stayed close to the stone bridge, creeping down a sloping plain of land into the river, which seemed more freezing than either of the times before. Soon, they were up to their chests in the water, with rain pouring down in buckets onto their heads.
“I can’t breathe,” Crystal sputtered as the river picked up speed and became more choppy, splashing up onto her neck and in her mouth. With water flying onto her from both directions, she was struggling, just like the others, to stay above the surging tide.
“Hold on,” Michael shouted over the surprisingly noisy rapids. “Just get under the bridge.”
A few feet ahead of them, the water had risen enough to where it touched the moss curtains, which glistened with either rain droplets or slime, perhaps both. It was too thick and compact to see through, so Michael took the lead and grabbed both of his friend’s hands, pulling them, along with him, through the mess and under the shelter of the stone bridge.
“Michael…” Christian said, his voice faltering as he beheld the sight all around him. Crystal gasped, nearly fainting, while Michael stared in absolute horror.
Away from the rain, his eyes adjusted quickly to the grim darkness, and saw the belly of the stone bridge, where words were written hundreds, maybe thousands, of times. The stone extended farther than seemed possible, appearing like a tunnel into an entirely different world. No moss curtain hung at the opposite end, just a clear picture of the forest, with rain pelting every inch of it. All along the stones, random words and phrases were legible, some carved into the stone surface, some spraypainted, some written in other, unguessable substances. This was not normal graffiti, though. It was purposeful.
My bridge is the best bridge is my bridge is the best bridge is my bridge is the…
Walk and run and skip and jump and sit and crawl and hide and bump...
Where’s the monster under the bed? Why’s the monster got your head?
Don’t check the closet... Don’t check the closet... Don’t check the…
Amidst all of these words, though, was something else terrifying. It was worse, and the type of something you only find in nightmares.
Tied with rope to the sides of the stone, like some kind of insect caught in a spider’s web, were three, barely recognizable people. Unconscious, with heads hanging limply against the stone, their arms and feet were bound together, and rope twirled around their entire body below the neck, like they had been put in a cocoon. Calm and motionless, they could have been mistaken for sleeping. Grace, Brandon, and Lilly.
“Michael,” Crystal said, putting a hand on his shoulder.
“They’re... tied up,” Christian said, sti
ll standing near the curtain of moss and staring around open-mouthed, “like flies in a web.”
“Don’t call my sister a fly!” Michael shouted, wheeling around. “Don’t you ever-”
“I didn’t mean it like-”
“I don’t care!”
Christian put his hands up defensively, backing away. “Sorry, man…”
Michael was about to shout something else at him, but Crystal hugged her arms around one of his. “Hey, Michael.”
Heaving with anger, he turned away from Christian to face her. Looking at Crystal, he tried to calm down. “What?” he asked sharply.
“I think you might be able to reach her.”
“Lilly?” Crystal nodded her head. “What about the crutches?”
“I... forget about them. Just try.”
Crystal and him walked towards the other end of the bridge, through what felt like a tunnel that might collapse on them any moment. Michael was not worried about that, though. He was anxious to see Lilly closer, and even more so to free her from the horrible way she was tied up. If he could reach her, he could free all three of them. Best part was, the lady was nowhere in sight.
“Can you reach?” Crystal asked when he stood under Lilly’s form, hanging above him against the wall.
“Almost,” he said, standing on the tips of his toes, while his injured ankle floated carelessly in the water, for the first time in a while not feeling terribly hurt.
“Michael!” he heard Christian yell.
His first thought was something terrible was going to happen, and that the lady was walking up behind him, prepared to kill him and Crystal. His second thought was that Christian had discovered something and the three people on the wall were dead, or something else like that. When he turned to face Christian, he found neither of these was correct.
Christian stood rigidly stiff, afraid to move a muscle or even twitch because the knife being pressed to his throat would cut in. Behind him, holding the knife, was the lady with long, gray hair, smiling wickedly at the two of them.
Michael grabbed Crystal, who tried to run forward through the chest-high water. He held her back while the lady stared directly into his eyes.
“What do you want?” he shouted to her, his voice echoing off the walls and amplifying it.
He waited for an answer, but got none. Instead, She winked at him, flexing her fingers on the knife ever so gently. Christian winced as it drew blood.
“No!” Michael yelled. “Take me instead! Trade-”
But she did not listen. Instead, she drew the knife with one quick thrust across Christian’s throat. He crumpled to the ground as Crystal screamed kicking Michael with her foot and wading through the water, anger flashing in her eyes.
“You witch!” she roared. “You filthy, child-taking witch!”
Pointing one crooked, gnarled finger at them, the lady hoarsely called, “This will crumble. Save your friends. Time is gone.”
At the same moment that she backed away, concealing herself behind the moss curtain, a large stone fell into the water, splashing everywhere and causing ripples to come rushing at Michael. Crystal was still shouting towards the lady, who was already gone, though she refused to believe that. She wanted revenge. She wanted her brother. She wanted to kill.
“Crystal!” Michael snapped, calling after her. “Come back!”
“I’m gonna kill her! She can’t-”
“Crystal!” he yelled more forcefully. She turned around to face him, and he saw that same wild, enraged flame in her eyes he had himself felt not even a week ago when Brandon was taken. “I know it hurts,” he said compassionately, while water splashed down onto them again as a gigantic rock fell. “I know you want to kill her. But we have to save the others.”
“No,” she screeched. “I want-”
“Crystal,” he said, silencing her. “I need your help. I can’t do this alone.”
“I need to-”
“Crystal, I love you!”
Her eyes widened, and she tried to mumble something, but no words came out. More river water soared onto them like a wave, but they hardly felt it. Crystal’s eyes softened slightly, and instead of anger they showed grief and fear.
“Help me,” pleaded Michael.
She nodded.
Michael surged his legs, and even though it pained him beyond belief, he dug both ankles into the ground. On land, it would not have held him, but in the water it was manageable. Crystal saw who he was racing towards and followed, twice as quickly.
By the time she got there, Michael had leapt up and grabbed onto Lilly, who still hung motionlessly. Drawing out the pocket knife, he used it to saw at the ropes, until they were just hanging by a thread. After one last incision, he and Lilly fell in a bundle to the water, where they splashed simultaneously with another enormous rock that fell down the tunnel. Soaring back up, he erupted from the water with Lilly in his arms.
“Take her,” he gasped.
Grace’s lifeless form was only a few feet to the side, so he trudged over quickly and jumped up to grab onto her. While he was trying to cut the ropes, his hand slipped and he fell with a splash into the water, where his ankle smashed against the mud and rocks below the water’s surface.
With a choked scream, he raised himself up and took one last leap, gaining hold of Grace just barely. While his fingers were slipping, he cut the last rope, and fell down to the river again, not bashing his ankle at least. Grace fell down on top of him, and he stood up again, panting.
Crystal took Grace in one arm, showing extraordinary strength he did not know she had, and he saw Lilly was beginning to wake up from whatever drug had been used on her. Picking his sister up, he cradled her in his arms for a few seconds.
“Bubby?”
He felt hot tears melt from his eyes and travel down his cheeks. Lilly looked up at him, her curly hair soaked and dirt clinging to her face, but when she smiled that was all he saw. Despite the fragile bones and stretched skin from lack of nutrition, he thought in that moment she was the prettiest girl of any age in the world.
“Bubby, what’s going on?”
“I love you, Lilly,” he choked, his voice failing him. She buried her head in his chest, and Michael rocked her, before another large rock dangerously close fell and broke the scene. Lilly giggled as the wave splashed her, but Michael said, “I need you to go with Crystal.”
“Who’s that?”
“Her,” he said, pointing to Crystal, who was looking like a mixture of every emotion possible.
“Why?”
“Just trust me, Lilly. I’ll be right behind you.”
“Wait, Bubby.”
“What?”
She looked up at him and kissed him on the cheek. “I love you, Bubby.” Then she hopped over to Crystal, who caught her with a heave and took off towards the near end of the bridge, where there was no curtain.
Michael turned around and faced the other, dark end. Far that way, Brandon was still tied up. It was a risk, but one he had to take.
Rocks smashed down from above like comets as he gave up walking and tried to swim. It was quicker, but more painful, and soon he was out of breath. Standing up to try and calm his racing lungs, he realized he was getting close to the end of the stone cage he found himself in. A sudden, cracking noise from up above alerted him to the danger, and his heightened senses told him to jump.
With cat-like reflexes he leapt to the side, avoiding the smashing boulder that came hurling down only a foot to his right. Smashing up against the wall, the wave bumped his head and as a result he hit the rough stones a second time. Flashing lights blinded him momentarily, but afraid to waste time he pressed on, only half-seeing everything.
By the time he got to Brandon, his life-long friend was awake and thrashing around, with the bridge crumbling all around him. Michael leapt up and grabbed onto his arm, bringing up the knife and slicing at the ropes. One by one, they split in two, and he left them hanging while he and Brandon eventually went tumbling to the wa
ter.
Sputtering and dripping with water, Brandon asked, “What’s going on?”
“I’ll tell you later. Follow me.”
While boulders and rocks fell down all around them, Michael and Brandon trudged and swam through the water, eventually making their way near the end. Christian was left behind, to the regret of Michael, but he was certainly already dead, and although it would have made Crystal exhilarated, it was more important to get out of this mess alive.
“Well, that was something,” Brandon heaved as they neared the end of the tunnel.
Michael shrieked behind him, and Brandon turned just in time to see the large rock falling, Michael frantically swimming, and then hear the life-ending crunch as Michael’s body went under, trampled by the rocks.
“No!” Brandon screamed, whipping around.
The momentum of the boulder carried him away from Michael. Another bunch of them fell, and the waves leapt over him, pushing his flailing body away and out from beneath the bridge. With the water still around him, Brandon felt his head slam against a rock, and the world went blank for a minute while lights flashed all around, blocking his vision. Despite the brilliant colors all around, he heard a low, rumbling roar and felt an enormous wave carry him. Floating under the water, everything seemed to stand still and time had never moved so slow.
When his face broke the surface of the water and felt air once again, everything kicked back into regular speed. His vision returned, and standing up in the water, he found it came to about his chest, but waves would carry it over into his mouth.
The first thing he noticed was that the bridge had caved in, leaving a strangely empty hole where the stone structure once had stood. Next, he saw Crystal running over towards the water, leaving Lilly and Grace on the shore, where they stared unknowingly at what had just happened, shocked into silence by the enormous event.
“Michael,” Brandon whispered, seeing Crystal frantically looking around in the water and avoiding rocks that came tumbling down from the large pile. “Michael!” he shouted louder, quickly going in the same direction.
Crystal looked up and saw him, first looking shocked and staring at him. Then she ran in his direction, her face contorted with anger, and tears streaming down her cheeks.
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