Paradox (Unearthly Paradox Series Book 1)

Chapter 1

With my heart in my throat, I climbed over the railing. I wondered how on earth I had gotten myself into such a situation. A few days ago, I would've thought there would be no way in hell I would be standing on a bridge about to let go. But there I was, and there was no backing out.

"Stop being chicken shit and jump, Zara," Emily taunted.

My legs were shaking, and my heart was beating so fast I thought I was going to have a heart attack.

"If you don't jump now, I'm going to come over there and push you off myself!" she yelled.

The water looked to be fifty metres below rather than the ten metres I knew it to be. I turned to my left and saw the three girls I'd only met the day before. They had claimed to want to be my friends, but I had serious doubts after seeing the wicked grins on their faces. They looked as if they would be more than happy to rip my fingers off the rail and throw me off the bridge.

"I'll do it," I said, trying to save what little face I could. I was probably already going to be the joke of my new school, and I didn't want to be known as the girl who was too scared to do what the rest of the kids did for fun. "Bridge jumping. What the fuck," I muttered.

When Emily and Phoebe stepped toward me, I took a deep breath and jumped. I screamed all the way down until I plummeted into the warm, murky water, praying I wasn't going to land on a shark. Thanking God that I was still alive, I swam to the surface and inhaled deeply. The girls cheered.

Amy pointed to my right, where the boys were still in the shallow water after their jumps. "Now swim over there and get your ass back up here so we can jump together," she yelled, brushing her blond curls away from her face.

I started swimming the thirty metres back to shore. I hoped I wasn't going to get attacked by a bull shark, since they were known to swim the Gold Coast canals. Why on earth the other kids thought it was fun to jump off a bridge was beyond me. The kids at my old school in Sydney would never have dreamed of doing such a thing. Their idea of fun was doing coffee, going shopping, and hanging at each other's houses-not jumping into shark-infested waters. Okay, so maybe there really weren't sharks swimming everywhere, but the thought that there had been a couple of sightings a few miles away scared the crap out of me.

"For a minute there, I didn't think you would jump," Tyler said when I got close to the boys. He drifted toward me, making my heartbeat go crazy again.

What the Gold Coast had that Sydney lacked was seriously hot guys with their shirts off all the time. I couldn't believe what everyone wore, or I should say, didn't wear. Teenagers didn't care about being seen in their underwear, and the shops were always filled with girls wearing bikinis and guys in nothing but boardshorts.

Tyler stood, revealing his washboard stomach that was probably thanks to countless hours out in the surf. "So how was it?" he asked, brushing a lock of brown hair away from his eyes.

"How was what?" I mentally slapped myself for the way my mind went to jelly around him.

He gave me an easy smile that sent my stomach into a quivering mess. "The jump. How was the jump?"

"Um, yeah. It was good."

He chuckled. "Good, huh?"

"Yeah." I stood, the water coming halfway up my stomach. When I saw Tyler's eyes drop, I looked down at my chest and realised I could see my bra through my white sports uniform shirt. "Crap." I sank back into the water.

Tyler laughed. "Maybe next time remember to wear your swimmers if you're going to get embarrassed."

The four other boys drifted over and flanked Tyler. "There's no need to be shy around us," Alex said, sparking a sense of danger I'd never felt before.

All eyes were fixed on me, and it wasn't in a good way. I crossed my arms over my chest, stood, and quickly waded toward the shore.

Alex grabbed my arm as I tried to pass him. "Not so fast."

"Let go of me," I said, trying to rip my arm away.

"We only want to talk," he said, not letting go.

Adrenaline pumped through my body. I looked up, hoping to see the girls' faces hanging over the bridge. They had to be wondering where I was and what was taking me so long. But I realized we were a little under the bridge, and no one would be able to see us from up there. Crap! I had to think quickly. "The girls are waiting for me. How about you guys come up for another jump with us?"

An evil smirk crept across Tyler's face. "I don't think so. They're not up there anymore. They've gone back to school."

I didn't understand why they would leave without me, and I didn't want to stick around tying to find out why. I tried to jerk my arm away again. "Let go of me."

Alex dug his fingers into my arm as the boys began to form a circle around me. I started to panic.

"What are you doing?" I asked nervously.

Tyler's smile turned my blood cold. "I think you've already worked that one out."

I felt as if my breath had been punched out of me. "No," I murmured, shaking my head in disbelief.

Alex tripped me and pushed me under the surface. My mouth filled with water as I desperately tried to get a breath of air in before I was fully submerged. A moment later he brought me back up. My lungs felt as if they were on fire as I coughed up the water I'd taken in. As soon as I resurfaced, I felt hands grab at my wrists and ankles, pulling my legs to the surface.

"Please don't do this," I cried between spitting out mouthfuls of water.

Tyler moved to stand between my legs, running his hand up the inside of my calf.

"Leave me alone!" I yelled. I bucked futilely as he slipped his hand up my thigh and fingered the hem of my panties.

"Now we can do this the easy way, or we can do it the hard way."

I looked at each of the five boys, hoping to find a compassionate face, someone who would say, "That's enough," or that they were just messing around with me. But all I saw were cold, lustful eyes staring at my crotch.

"Please don't do this." I started to cry.

I thrashed hopelessly as Tyler ran his hands up my hips and grabbed the elastic of my panties. I was completely at his mercy, unable to get away. Tears streamed down my cheeks as I realised that my life was about to be changed forever. There was only one thing I could think of to do. I knew I would probably pay for it, but I had to try.

"Rape!" I screamed at the top of my lungs.

Alex slapped a hand over my mouth and shoved my face under the water.

I tried to kick my legs free and break the holdthey had on me, but my efforts were futile. The guys weren't letting go, and Iwas running out of air. I pushed my face up as high as I could, but it stillwasn't enough. My vision started to blur as darkness crept over me, a sense ofpeace settling my panicked state, until I could see no more. Then boom. Brightlights suddenly illuminated all my senses, then I blacked out.