Lost

Chapter 22

This must be what death feels like. Don't die Ava, please don't die. Oh my gosh. I'm dying.

The jungle flashed by me and all I wanted to do was run back to that hole in the earth, climb down into it and curl up in the bottom. I was starving (I hadn't eaten in a day and a half) it was getting dark again, and I was completely exhausted. I stumbled in the growing dusk, my weak muscles shaking. The monster's snapping behind me was enough to urge me on. Kate led the way, her eyes glued to the map in the fading light. I couldn't quite remember how long ago we had started running again. I was in a daze now, my mind closing up, running on pure terror. I had already used up my adrenaline.

Suddenly, I found myself on the beach. I kept running, my feet kicking up sand. Kate kept going, a look of confusion crossing her face. We dashed into the pounding surf, paddling out to sea. It was where the map led us. Ahead, I saw Kate suddenly go under, as if something had pulled her feet out from under her. I paused, confused, but the angry roar of the beasts behind me, kept me going. One by one, my friends were pulled under, their hands flying up, letting out confused cries. I whipped around in bewilderment, only to see Irene and Isaac go under as well. On the beach, I saw a stooped figure staggering its way toward us. I couldn't quite make out who it was. Had one of us fallen behind? More importantly, why had none of my friends resurfaced yet? The beasts were loping towards me. Panic broke through my daze and I started stumbling forward again. Suddenly, a strong undercurrent pulled me down. Instead of landing on the bottom of the sandy surf, I kept falling, as if the ground didn't exist. Two hands grabbed mine and I risked opening my eyes. It was too blurry, the salt stinging my eyes. Suddenly, something was shoved over my head, something soft and silky. I took a much needed breath, my head encased in....a bubble? That didn't make much sense.

I turned to see who had grabbed my hands. They were two women, a length of chain cutting deep into one woman's ankles. She was beautiful. Silken blond hair swirled around her face and silvery scales covered her arms and legs. Her hands and feet were delicately webbed, clear, sparkling skin looping between her soft fingers and toes. The other woman had dark hair, just as long, and soft pink scales. Her ankles were tied tightly together with a length of sturdy rope. It cut into her shining skin, hauntingly marring her immense beauty. Neither of them had bubbles on their heads and I could see small gills flaring at their necks with every breath they took. Were these mermaids? I stared at them, thinking only of my shoulder length, frizzy brown hair, my imperfect skin and my blunt nose. They were so gorgeous, floating before me. They had a dreamlike quality to them, an unmatched sadness resting in their wide blue eyes. Soft white rags flowed around them. They weren't like the mermaids in stories. They didn't have tails. They weren't carefree or happy. They had wounds of a past life forever marring their ankles.

Ahead of me, I could see my friends being pulled down through the deep water, each looking equally ridiculous with bubbles on their heads. The two mermaids clasping my hands pulled me down, beckoning sweetly, sad smiles gracing their rosy lips. As they pulled me further and further down, silvery fish flitting about their bound feet, I could see something rising out of the dark waters. A cold current rushed past me, making my bubble wobble dangerously. I focused on the thing through the blue haze. Suddenly I saw it, clear as day. It was a skull, meeting my eyes with a shock. It was a monstrosity, it's dark eyes leering quietly out of the shadowy blue. I stared at it as the mermaids pulled me closer. After a moment, I finally understood. The skull was part of the island. The jungle was growing out of its head like hair, the lost ships surrounding it like a wreath. The mermaids were pulling me closer, their silky hands suddenly seeming dangerous. They were leading me toward one of the dark eyeholes. The skull grinned at me, as if it enjoyed my suffocating panic. The sweet mermaids seemed suddenly dangerous, their smiles evil and their touch forceful. But I didn't have the strength to fight. I drifted towards the skull, following the rest of my friends. I wondered if the mermaids would drag us to the bottom of this seemingly bottomless ocean so that our lungs could be flattened by the pressure of the water. Or would they pop our magical bubbles and hold us down until we drowned? I remembered from some of the stories I had heard, that mermaids enchant sailors with their beauty and their sweet songs only to drag them down to their deaths. We entered the eyehole and I got a glimpse of the leering skull one last time. Then, all at once, the two mermaids shoved me forward, propelling me with a power that most normal humans don't have. A light shone ahead in the eye socket of the skull. Suddenly, I broke through the water, my bubble popping, barely registering that several other mermaids had flicked past me. I spotted soft purple scales and bound feet trailing red blood. I shuddered. These were definitely not the stuff of fairytales. More importantly, it seemed that the water had suddenly ended. I turned slowly around to see a solid wall of water. This island kept revealing magical secrets that I never wanted to find out. In front of me, my friends clustered together, dripping on the dry stone floor. The light came from two tall candelabras dripping buttery looking wax down their sides. They were standing proudly on either side of a tall iron double door. Gears and locks covered the front of it, each a slightly different kind of iron. Some of the gears were tiny, barely bigger than the tip of my finger. Other gears were as huge as a dinner plate, their centers rusted. This was it.

The doors back to my mysterious life.