The Sonorous Timer

Chapter 81 - Deadly Strings

Luckily, the river wasn't too deep. Manu still jumped in after me though, of course. "I had full control," I said. "Sure you had," he snickered, flicking his head so that his hair moved away. "That right there is what I intended to do," I pointed to his hair. "Why are you starting a conversation in the cold water of a river?" he chuckled softly at my logic. "Right, er, I'll try to get up, but I keep failing at life," I said, moving closer to the grass. 

He watched me failing repeatedly at getting up from the water, but I kept trying. "Need help?" he offered. "No, I've got this," I answered a bit too confidently. Clearly, he was not prepared for me to fall back, neither was I. My bad luck caused him to fall back as well as myself. He was quick to get back up from the water though, and so was I. "Jeez, Elaine," he coughed, spitting out the water that got in his mouth. Both his and my hair was soaking wet now, and I could feel the water dripping from my nose. "Your makeup is running," he informed. "Great," I faked a smile.

After several failed attempts at getting back up, Manu decided to help me so that I wouldn't fall again. "I'm soaking wet. This won't be good for any trial," I complained, groaning as I lay down on the grass. "As am I," he sat down beside me. I didn't remain laying down for long, in fact, it only lasted for a brief moment before a thought crossed my mind. "Wait! Isaac's in the circle as well, Manu," I realized, my eyes expanding. "Oh, shit." 

We ran off to the club and entered soaking wet, completely ignoring the social standards. "What the hell?" Isaac stuttered at the sight of us. "You need to come with us," Manu reminded him. Quickly, Isaac made his way over to us. "What the hell have you guys been up to?" he frowned, sounding shocked. "Oh, you know, just casually hanging outside," I shrugged my shoulders. "I see," he nodded as if it was completely normal.

When we got out of the club, Isaac started asking questions. We answered vaguely since our intention was to get away from the club, not to answer questions. "What time is it?" Manu asked. Isaac moved his sight down to his watch - 11 pm. I brought up my phone and discovered that it wasn't broken from the water. "Manu, is your phone ruined?" I asked. "Nope, it is waterproof. So is my watch. Caleb, you know," he answered.

I woke up without remembering what had happened last night. Nothing new. Honestly, I only remember having a conversation with Isaac and Manu. I can't remember the dizzy feeling or anything, but feeling the headache now I presume I must've gone dizzy at some point. 

"Don't move," Manu said warningly. I opened my eyes to see an extreme amount of strings all over. "Are those like the one I tripped over once?" I asked in fear. "I believe so," Manu answered. I took a deep breath and felt my heartbeat quicken. Those are sharp enough to cut into your flesh all the way to your bones. "Don't stress yourself like that. We just have to come up with a plan," he said. I closed my eyes for some seconds, trying to take in the current situation. When I opened them I saw Manu's finger up against one of the strings. "What are you doing?" I gasped. "Only checking," he answered calmly. His finger started bleeding when his finger came in contact with the string, guaranteeing that they are dangerously sharp.

After a while of silence, Manu muttered something along the line: "I wish I was more flexible." I turned my head in his direction quickly. "I'm flexible," I told him. "How flexible?" he turned his head as well. "Flexible enough," I answered. Carefully, I looked for ways to sit up properly. I moved as slow as needed to avoid the ridiculously sharp strings. I could hear Manu cursing under his breath not far from me. He was still laying down, probably thinking of ways to get up himself. My face got dangerously close to one of the strings as I made my way up. I swallowed oddly at the sight of the razor-sharp string in front of me, trying not to move too quickly. I automatically imagined what it would feel like if I had moved closer, making my fingers tremble. Shivers ran down my spine at the thought of it cutting deep into my skin, making me feel sick and horrified.