Misty Creek (RPDR AU)

XIV

Aura fought for air, her hands grabbing at whatever she could as her body was dragged as if she was weightless. The water surrounding her was ice cold, numbing her skin and making it become harder to move and fight against it.

Her panic began to rise even more when it felt as if her arms were being physically held down. She had to strain every muscle in her body just to be able to move. The need for air overpowered everything as she tried her best to hold her breath.

Her body was slammed against a sharp rock that cut deep into her side. Aura yelped in pain, losing the rest of her breath. She coughed against the rushing water, arms flailing for something to grab onto.

Her fingers brushed against smooth stones. She scratched and grabbed at them feverishly, finally gripping onto one that jutted out from the others. She stopped her body from being pulled along, using the rest of her strength to fight against the ice cold water and pull herself up.

She gasped and coughed once her head broke the surface. The rushing water became faster, as if trying to pull her back in. But Aura raised one arm out of it and grabbed onto the long grass in front of her.

With a heave, Aura managed to free herself. She pulled herself away from the edge of the water before collapsing onto the ground with her eyes screwed shut, curling up in a fetal position as pain pulsed through her side. Blood spilled past her now soaking wet and ripped up school uniform and onto the grass.

As she caught her breath, Aura opened her eyes. She wasn't met by the dungeon walls. Instead she found herself at the creek.

The water had slowed down now, like it had no purpose anymore to go so fast. It was dark and quiet, and the air around her felt heavy.

Aura finally raised her head after she had stopped heaving for air. "What the fuck..." She whispered to herself.

She had only ever been to the creek once, and that was during her freshman year. Her and Jax had heard weird rumors about it and wanted to check it out for themselves, but something had scared them off. They hadn't been back since. This was not the way Aura expected to come back to it.

But she didn't recognize the area she was in. Based on the downward slope the water was running down, she could tell she was far upstream. The large towers of the school were nowhere in sight like they usually were. She had a feeling she was far away from it. She had absolutely no explanation for how she could've gone from the dungeons to all the way out here.

Aura pulled herself up onto her feet, but the pain in her side immediately made her fall back down onto her knees. She hissed, holding her side before looking down at her hands. They were soaked in her own blood.

She did her absolute best not to panic as she pulled her sweater off. She tied it tight against her side to attempt to stop some of the bleeding, but she wasn't sure how successful that was going to be.

Once it was tied around her, she struggled to stand up again. She stumbled to her feet, focusing on Amethyst and Amethyst only as she started following the creek. She shivered heavily, the pain making it harder to breathe with every step she took. She didn't know how she ended up here, but she knew she needed to get back to Amethyst.

As she walked, she couldn't shake off the feeling that she was being watched. The running water of the creek almost matched her pace exactly, and it terrified her.

----

It was the first time Marcia left campus. For some reason, the scared feeling and nervousness she got while she was there faded away the closer they got to the small town that Anetra had mentioned before.

The other girl was busy driving, but her hand lingered on Marcia's leg. Her thumb would rub soothing circles into her skin every now and then, making Marcia relax as she gazed out the window. The mist faded as they got farther away, and with it so did most of her worries.