Bella Hale: An American Werewolf in London-A Teen Wolf Fanfiction

CHAPTER 23: Nature

At that moment, Bella's head broke the surface. The current wouldn't let up. It was slamming her against more rocks; they beat against the center of her back sharply, rhythmically, pushing the water from her lungs. Her throat was too full of water to catch a breath. Somehow she stayed in one place, though the waves still heaved around her. Bella couldn't see anything but water everywhere.

"Breathe!" a voice, wild with anxiety, ordered.

"Grab him!" Another voice yelled, probably referring to Luke.

The waterfall pouring from her mouth didn't stop long enough for Bella to catch a breath. The black, icy water filled her chest, burning. The rock smacked into her back again, right between the shoulder blades, and another volley of water choked its way out of her lungs.

"Breathe, Hale! C'mon!" someone begged.

Black spots bloomed across Bella's vision, getting wider and wider, blocking out the light. The rock struck her again. The rock wasn't cold like the water; it was hot on her skin. Iit was someone's hand, trying to beat the water from her lungs. The iron bar that had dragged Bella from the sea was also... warm... Her head whirled, the black spots covered everything...

Was she dying again, then? It was only dark now,nothing worth looking at here. The sound of the crashing waves faded into the black and became quiet. And the pain. She was feeling intense pain. By why?

"Bella?" someone asked, his deep voice still tense, but not as wild as before. "Bells, can you hear me?"

Bella focused on the voice. She was certain that it was Ethan's voice.

"How long has she been unconscious?" someone else asked. Another male.

The voice that was not Ethan's shocked her, jarring her into a more focused awareness. Bella realized that she was still. There was no tug of the current on her. The surface under her was flat and motionless. It felt grainy against her bare arms.

"I don't know," Ethan reported, still frantic. His voice was very close. His hands brushed wet hair from her cheeks. "A few minutes? It didn't take long to tow both of them to the beach."

The quiet whooshing inside her ears was not the waves—it was the air moving in and out of her lungs again. But she was breathing and she was freezing. She could hear someone shouting Luke's name "Luke! Wake up, lad! Breath!"

"She's breathing. She'll come around. We should get the kids out of the cold, though. I don't like the color either of them are turning..." Bella recognized Jackson's voice this time.

"You think it's okay to move 'em?" Ethan questioned

They hesitated.

Bella tried to open her eyes. It took her a minute, but then she could see the dark, purple clouds, flinging the freezing rain down at her .

"Ethan?" Bella croaked.

Ethan's face blocked out the sky. "Oh!" he gasped, relief washing over his features. His eyes were wet from the rain. "Oh, Bella! Are you okay? Can you hear me? Do you hurt anywhere?"

"J-Just m-my throat," she stuttered, my lips quivering from the cold.

"Let's get you out of here, then," Ethan said. He slid his arms under me and lifted her without effort. Her head lolled over his arm. Bella stared vacantly back toward the furious water, beating the sand behind him.

"You got her?" she heard Jackson ask.

"Yeah, her place isn't too far from here. Let's get them both there. We'll have the others regroup there."