The Downward Spiral Book 1

Ch.11 Stuck Together

The water silenced everything.

All of my troubles and worries all just disappeared and melted away. I was relaxed and almost okay with sinking further down the freezing cold depths. It was like forgetting who I was, what was happening to the people around me, and even worse what I let happen to Lily and Ray.

But the silence was slowly eating away inside me the more I was submerged. Suddenly I was yanked out of the water roughly by my arm. The burst of fresh air hit my lungs so hard that I couldn't stop coughing

How long was I down there for?

My eyes focused on the woman earlier and she was dragging us in strokes, pulling us beneath the bridge.

"What are you doing?" I asked in between gagging mouthfuls of water.

"Taking us under the bridge. They won't be able to find us over there."

I was too tired to fight back or say anything. My mind was so restless and I just wanted this nightmare to end.

I wanted it to be normal again, back when I was playing concerts with my band mates and eating ramen and jalapeno cheese with my little brother.

How the hell could this have happened in a matter of two days?

As we paddled across, a few people from those creepy vans climbed down to the spot we were at before and were using flashlights to check the area. One of them scanned their lights over the slippers that I left behind.

I sighed softly with heavy eyes.

"You alright? The girl whispered as she eyed me cautiously. "You're a lot quieter than before."

"Yeah...just tired." I respond back softly.

We slowed down and hid in the shadow of the bridge. The sun had gone down for the day and night had taken over, and with the giant ramp over us, it was so dark that I could barely see her despite how close she was.

"What do you think should we do? Want to get some sleep and try again in a few hours?"

"No." I said too quickly. "Not until I find Ray. Aren't you worried about your little brat?" I shook my head. "Shit, sorry I meant sister...slip of the tongue."

Her face softened at my correction. "Yeah, it's just... no offense chica, but with the condition you're in, you're proving less useful to me by the minute. You sound like you're falling asleep. Maybe you should take a break."

"I'm fine, don't worry about me."

"She says as I dragged your ass through the water." She responded, rolling her eyes.

"You didn't have to do that for me." I snapped at first but then added, "but...thank you. I'm Sasha by the way."

Even in the dark, I could sense a smile on her lips. "Camila, or Cami for short. Glad to see you're not a total bitch."

"Only to the ones who hold a gun on me or my brother." I stated, flatly.

She shrugged. "Just protecting me and the misses. She's a damn handful at this age with all the shit going on but I'm doing what I can to keep her safe."

We were quiet for a moment before I asked softly, "With her taken like this, how do you feel now?"

She hung her head slightly. "To be honest, not so good but, I have faith in the Lord that he would keep her safe and that's what keeps me going. I'm the only person she can depend on right now until we find our way out of this mess."

"So you believe in him huh...?" I trailed off.

"And what, you don't?" She asked surprised.

"It's not that, it's just...I haven't really seen any evidence of one."