𝐂𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 [𝐏𝐉𝐎 𝐗 𝐇𝐏]

x: mysterious girl

act two , chapter ten 

mysterious girl

 ARIANA WOULD LOVE to say she had some deep revelation on her way down, that she came to terms with her own mortality, laughed in the face of death, et cetera.

The truth? Her only thought was: Aaaaggghhhhh. Also murdering Percy was floating in the back of her mind.

The river raced toward her at the speed of a truck. Wind ripped the breath from her lungs. Steeples and skyscrapers and bridges tumbled in and out of her vision. She could feel Percy holding on to her, as she was gripping on to him.

And then: Flaaa-boooom!

A whiteout of bubbles. She sank through the murk, sure that she was about to end up embedded in a hundred feet of mud and lost forever.

But the impact with the water hadn't hurt. She felt the water slowly swallow her. She was falling slowly now, bubbles trickling up through her fingers. She settled on the river bottom soundlessly. A catfish the size of Hagrid lurched away into the gloom. Clouds of silt and disgusting garbage—beer bottles, old shoes, plastic bags—swirled up all around her.

At that point, she realized a few things: first, she had not been flattened into a pancake. She had not been barbecued. She was alive, which was good.

Second realisation : she was alone. She looked through the murkiness of the water, and couldn't make out the boy who fell in with her. All she had was the rubbish.

Then she figured out she couldn't breathe.

A wave of panic shot through her as she realized she could not get any air into her lungs. With the remaining strength she had, she pushed through the water and swam towards the surface. Her head broke the water as she inhaled a breath of air.

She desperately swam towards the surface, dragging her injured leg behind her. She managed to pull herself out of the water.

A block away, every emergency vehicle in St. Louis was surrounding the Arch. Police helicopters circled overhead. The crowd of onlookers reminded her of Times Square on New Year's Eve.