“This was your brilliant idea?” Aisi howled in outrage. “Drag me away from my sister so we can jump to our deaths from here?”
Charlee ignored her, staring down as if mesmerized by the roiling water fifty feet below them. “I’ve made it this far before, but they always bring me back. I couldn’t escape. They are too strong, but they want her more than they want me. I can do this while they’re distracted. If I have to choose to die this way or spend the rest of my life feeding that beast while I waste away…” She took a deep breath and jumped.
Vance yelled in surprise and Aisi gasped as Charlee disappeared into the river. Her head popped up far downstream in the racing water. She bobbed up and down before the river turned a bend and pulled her out of their view.
Vance turned back to Aisi. “She’s right. This is the only way. We have to do this, and we have to do it now.” He turned to peer down the tunnel. Aisi glanced back as well, seeing an army of red-eyed shadows racing toward them.
“Vance, I can’t leave her,” Aisi bellowed, trying to yank free of his grasp. “I wasn’t about to take death lying down before we found her, but she’s been in there for years. I could stay with her and figure out how we—”
“Aisi, are you crazy?” he exploded. “Isn’t that the whole idea? I know he showed you what he plans to do,” Vance insisted, holding her hand tighter and drawing her close to keep her from running back down the tunnel. “You’re seriously going to walk back in there and give him exactly what he wants? He stole your sister! The only hope you have of getting her back is coming with me.”
“Vance, she’s alone,” Aisi cried, shivering with more than the predawn cold. “She’s been by herself down here for years, believing his lies, thinking we didn’t love her. I—”
“Aisi, think a little!” he yelled. “He turned her into a scared little zombie he can feed off. He will tell you the same lies and use you to get strong enough to….who knows what? The Aisi I know is too strong to give him what he wants.”
“You haven’t even known me twelve hours,” she spat, trying again to jerk her hands free. “You don’t know me at all. I owe my sister.”
“You owe it to your sister to fight him and get her back, not run back to the demon who stole her. You’ll only make him stronger! I’m going for it, and you’re coming with me.”
“No!”
With one last glance at the torrents foaming below them, Vance tightened his grip on her hand and jumped. Aisi tumbled unwillingly behind him, her feet slipping off the pebbly edge before falling off the thin lip of gray rock. He never let go until they smacked the water feet first and the force of impact wrenched her from his grasp.
The icy cold water pushed her down repeatedly, only thrusting her up long enough to gulp a quick, deep lungful of air before it shoved her down and held her captive again. She held her breath as long as she could, lights popping before her eyes and the pressure of oxygen-starved lungs making her nearly pass out. She hit the surface again just in time and gasped, desperately paddling and reaching for anything that might keep her head above water.
“Aisi!” she heard a voice yell. She turned the best she could and saw Vance dragging himself onto a large rock mid-river just downstream. She kicked against the powerful current and struggled to keep her head above water as she fought to get to him.
Vance grabbed a long branch rushing past, holding it out to her. Aisi was too far from the rock and too weak to swim in his direction. She almost missed him. With her last bit of strength, her head dipping again underwater, she stretched her hand out and reached blindly for the branch. Somehow her fingers found it and she grabbed as hard as she could. The black, mossy branch nearly slipped out of her fingers, but she dug in her nails and snagged a smaller branch extending out from the long stick that the water hadn’t yet stripped away. The river kept pulling at her but she heaved her other arm from the water, head still submerged, clinging with everything she had left in her while Vance tried to haul her out.
After what felt like hours, Aisi sat panting on the rock next to Vance. They had to crowd together, but the rock had enough room for the two of them to sit a few inches above the highest waves the bloated river tossed at them. They weren’t too far from the shore, but with the raging current she knew she’d be swept away if she tried to reach the bank.
She pulled her knees to her chin and rocked back and forth, trying to warm herself as the morning light broke through the mist. What little warmth the rising sun offered did nothing to burn off the chill settling in her soul. She’d left her sister, frightened and alone. Losing her once had been horrible. Losing her again was nearly unbearable. Why couldn’t she have stayed? Malus underestimated her. She would have proven Vance wrong, found a way out…wouldn’t she?
She sighed and rested her chin on her knees as she admitted she was lying to herself. Staying with Nakia wouldn’t have saved her. Staying would have meant the downfall of her family. She’d be another trophy, like the old man said.
The rock was just far enough from the gray cliffs and forest that the sun peeked mercifully at their little stone haven in the middle of a whitewater prison. She shuddered violently as water dripped from her hoodie. Vance wrapped his arms around her shoulder, rubbing her back to keep her warm, but his hands were nearly blue and she could feel him shaking next to her, too.
She put her hands into her pocket, trying to get warm, when she felt something. She pulled out the necklace and the little black book she didn’t realize she’d put in there. She must have shoved them back in there as they ran. They hadn’t really used the book and necklace at all, really…or had they? Maybe the real weapon was knowing people cared and she didn’t have to do it all by herself. She looked sideways at Vance, who held the head lamp and looked over at her with a crooked smile.
“You were right,” she spluttered through chattering teeth, looking over at Vance. “I can’t believe I wanted to stay. You…you saved me. Thank you.”
Vance shook his head. His elbows rested on his own knees, and he looked down. “Don’t thank me. I didn’t save anyone,” he said bitterly. “We’re in the middle of a river with no way out. Standing on the cliff is looking better and better.”
“I was ready to give up,” she coughed. “I was ready to give Malus whatever he wanted to get her back, and he never would have kept his promises. Staying in there would be worse than dying out here. If we look at the big picture, being stranded in the middle of a river during spring runoff is kind of better than getting stranded underground to become demonic fish food.”
Vance closed his eyes and shook his head, a smile of disbelief gracing his weary face. “Demonic fish food?” he repeated. “Really?” He burst out laughing.
“Yeah,” Aisi explained, “you know, like we are the little fishy flakes that—”
He pulled her to her feet and into his arms. They stood close, water lapping at their feet as they wrapped their arms around each other, forgetting for one blissful moment, as their lips met, that they were stuck in the middle of a raging river.
“We didn’t seal the portal,” Vance whispered through her hair.
Aisi pulled back and nodded grimly. “I know. I think this is round one.” The reality that this long, horrible night was only the start of something more, something worse, jolted through her. His tanned face paled. She could see in his eyes that it hit him at the same time, and he hugged her tighter.
“Hey! Hey!”
A voice from the banks caught their attention, and they broke apart. Aisi’s cheeks burned with embarrassment as she turned carefully on the rock to avoid slipping, trying to see who called them.
Charlee waved at them frantically, jumping up and down as she yelled. Her matted, dirty blonde hair hung in dripping clumps around her face, but she hopped as she gestured wildly at them. “I found help! Help is coming!” A few campers appeared behind her, one talking on a cell phone.
“Hold on! Stay where you are! We called the sheriff’s department!” a camper shouted
at them. “Help in on the way!”
“Stay where I am?” Aisi snorted. “Where am I gonna go?”
Vance grinned.
As she sighed in relief, her trembling stopped. Just behind the campers, two familiar faces beamed at them as the men approached the water’s edge. Father J emerged from the shadows of the trees lining the river bank holding two large, covered to-go cups of hot chocolate, and her dad held up a box of donuts. Leo popped up from behind them and looked ready to jump into the water to come get her. Big Billy handed his son the donuts to distract him, and Leo wasted no time shoving one in his mouth.
“How’d you get all the way over there, Aisi? You didn’t even wear your swimsuit, you weirdo!”
Aisi laughed. She didn’t need to ask how they knew where to find her. A vision flashed in her mind. She saw them as they held vigil all night in the humble apartment above the diner while Leo slept peacefully for the first time in a long time, free from the night terrors because Aisi was keeping them all busy. They waited for her, knowing the moment she hit the rocky ledge so they could come for her.
“Hey, Big Billy!” she called, hoping her voice carried over the rush of the water. Her dad cupped his hand to his ear to hear her better. She placed her hands by her mouth to make a crude megaphone before she bellowed, “I found her!”
At these words, her father sank to his knees. His clear voice suddenly filled her mind. She is alive?
Aisi nodded. He has her, but when I left, she was fighting.
His hands covered his face, and he wept with joy. The unexpected hope which flooded his soul rushed through her, too.
“So now…we wait,” Vance sighed.
“Pretty much,” she agreed.
She watched the buzz of activity on the shore, and she smiled ruefully at all the attention. Several more people joined Charlee, Father J, and Big Billy on the bank. They kept pointing, shaking their heads, and taking out their camera phones, probably to be the first to get rescue footage for the local news. She leaned against Vance, her shoulder brushing his. “You know what sucks? I am so going to be the topic of town gossip for this stunt for the next year. Think about the day I’ve had since yesterday morning: sabotaged test, running from the law, setting a house on fire, and ending up in the middle of the river after jumping a fifty foot cliff. People will think I went all psychotic.”
“It’s probably better than people knowing you went all psychic,” Vance pointed out.
She cocked her head thoughtfully to the side. “Good point. I wonder if Padelski will put me in jail for this?”
“Pretty sure he already has a room with my name on it,” he replied carelessly, shrugging.
Aisi looked at him thoughtfully. No guy had ever been all that interesting to her. She’d never been sure she was the kind of girl who could put herself out there for any guy, even if she did like him. Too many unknowns popped up in a relationship, too many things she couldn’t control. And yet…he got her. He believed in her. She reached down and took his hand, lacing her fingers with his.
“If I have to go to jail, you can be my cell mate.” She smiled up at him and rested her head against his shoulder.
Chapter 23 A Little Break
Aisi leaned forward on the counter of her dad’s diner, elbows on the hard surface with her face in her hands as she dreamily watched the world go by. The lunch rush was over. Leo strapped a couple of mop heads to his bare feet and cleaned the floors by taking a running start, skidding down the aisle between the counter and the booths. From where Aisi stood, she could see past the wires and metal of the street lights and phone poles to the lush hills beyond which basked in the blazing sun of early summer. The hills kicked off the barren brown of winter with burgeoning greens and blooming pinks. Apple blossom air wafted through the open front door despite the strong cooking smells coming from the diner.
A few people she knew walked by the diner’s windows, enjoying the gorgeous weather as they ran their errands along Main Street. A mother and daughter who looked strikingly similar strode past. The two of them paused just long enough to glance in the window. Charlee grinned and waved before moving on. Monica stared for a moment with an unreadable expression on her face. She offered a faint smile and a little wave before hurrying to catch up with her mom.
Aisi smiled back as a bright peal of laughter rang through the small dining room. Zinnia and Colby sat in the corner booth by the front door, snickering at some inside joke and holding hands as they shared another milkshake that would surely give him indigestion. Zinnia’s taste in clothes had become a bit subdued since she got together with Colby. At the moment she wore neon green skinny jeans and a white tee, although she pulled her platinum hair, faded to a subtle pink at the tips, into a wild topknot high on her head.
Zinnia caught Aisi’s eye and hopped up from her seat. She approached her friend, leaning on the counter as she mirrored Aisi’s position. “I think we need to get some fries to counter Colby’s lactose intolerance,” she said, glancing back at him with a grin. “He is a stinky beast if he only has milk. Can I make some?”
“You? Working a fry machine? Your mother would die of humiliation,” Aisi replied, eyes gleaming as she found her abandoned bleach-scented rag and started wiping counters again.
“And you know how I love to embarrass the matriarch,” Zinnia shrugged. “I live to bring shame to her distinguished name. So can I?”
“No. There’s nothing fun about playing with boiling oil,” Aisi pointed out. “It was a medieval torture method, you know.”
Zinnia pouted a bit. “I just hate coming here and having you make everything for me.”
“I won’t be making it,” Aisi smiled. She called over her shoulder, “Hey, Jorja, one order of extra-large fries to dine in.”
Her mom’s head poked up through the large window separating the kitchen from the dining area. Her long, thick red curls pulled away from her face in what had to be the world’s longest hair net. A black ball cap with ‘Big Billy’s Downhome Diner’ emblazoned in white embroidery sat askew over her freckled face. “Order in!” she called. Soon the hiss of frozen fries hitting hot oil and the delicious smell of frying potatoes filled the air.
Zinnia leaned in closer, her voice lowered to a whisper. “So your mom closed her fake fortune teller shop and is working here? Is this getting back together thing working?”
Aisi glanced back through the window. Her dad stood next to her mom, the heat and steam distorting her view of them as they leaned against each other. Her mom’s ball-capped head barely reached his massive shoulder as she rested her head against him. For a fleeting moment his hand skimmed hers, their fingers interwoven briefly before he went back to scrubbing the grill. Aisi was glad the sizzling of the oil kept their whispers from her. It seemed wrong to intrude on a private moment like that.
She turned back to Zinnia and shrugged. “I don’t know. I don’t want to ask. I guess if they have anything to say, they’ll let me know.” She leaned up to grab the plate her mom dropped with a clunk on the metal counter as she hollered, “order up!”
Aisi reached for a fry absentmindedly before she continued speaking with a full mouth. “She blamed my dad for Nakia’s disappearance. Now that she has reason to hope we can get her back, now that she knows everything, knows why it had to happen the way it did…”
“They’re getting all lovey dovey in the kitchen, huh?” Zinnia finished as she snatched a few fries. She carried the plate back to their table. Aisi left her rag on the counter and followed, plopping down on the bouncy bench across from Colby and Zinnia.
“Yeah, I think so,” Aisi said. “I want to be grossed out by all the smooching and stuff, because watching your parents kiss should be a total ugh, right? But it’s kind of nice. It almost feels like getting my family back could actually…I dunno…happen.” She took the ketchup bottle sitting at the edge of the table and poured some into a ramekin of mayo she’d brought with her, stirring it together with one of the longer fries from the plate. She po
pped the whole thing into her mouth while Colby stared at her in disgust.
“What are you doing?”
“Just making the world’s most amazing fry dip ever,” Zinnia said, dipping her own fries in the pinkish orange concoction. “So any word from Vance?”
Colby picked up his phone and scrolled through his recent messages. “Yeah. Just got a text. He should be back here in a few minutes. Crazy day with Father J.”
“I hope Father J works him hard and kicks his trash,” Aisi remarked, reaching for the plate again. “Not everyone is good enough to score an internship with someone like Father J.”
“Shouldn’t you be working or something?” Colby asked, possessively pulling the plate of fries closer to him. “Shouldn’t you be doing something other than eating my fries?”
Aisi laughed. “Still not used to small town living, are you? My next table, the Cutlers, will walk in at 4:30 on the dot for their nightly feast of Big Billy’s famous meat loaf and mashed potatoes. Same time, same order every single night. I can pick my nose until then if I want.”
Colby looked repulsed. He pulled back while simultaneously pushing the plate of fries away. “But you won’t, right?”
Aisi grinned and lifted her pointer finger to her nose, twisting it to make it look like she was digging for green gold in nostril canyon. Leo skidded by at that moment and hollered, “Aisi picks her nose! Aisi eats her boogers!”
“I do not, you annoying little scab!” she cried, grabbing him as he tried to slide back the other way. She pulled him into her lap and tickled him. His mop-head feet kicked wildly as he laughed and tried to escape. “Take it back or I tickle torture you!”
Psyched Page 17