Sun Kissed

9. Pink Ghost (EDITED)

9. Pink Ghost

Sofi felt a little safer entering the jungle with the knowledge that Toni was not far off. She wasn't quite sure how she had convinced him to hold back from dicing up every animal he encountered like they were ingredients for some horrific salad.

"Dolphins aren't the only ones capable of shape-shifting," he told her. "Snakes, caiman, cats – pretty much anything can be an Encantado."

Sofi still needed him to check his bloodlust. She suggested that he run some reconnaissance. Population numbers, geographic range – stuff like that. He took the bait. That afternoon, Toni left with a new purpose and Sofi with some room to exhale.

Toni had his knife and his thirst for retribution, but Sofi had her own unfinished business. Amancio was still out there. Without Toni's permission, Sofi helped herself to the rain forest. She needed to find Amancio and make peace or war with him. She hadn't decided which.

And if he tries to hurt you again?

Whenever she remembered back to almost drowning, she would need to pause and catch her breath.

I'll scream for Toni, she insisted. Stupidly. As stupid as it was for her to walk blindly down dark forested paths towards her attacker.

As the jungle pressed in on her and sunlight suffocated behind the canopy, her thoughts evolved into more desperate, impossible noise.

If anything happens, Toni will hear me.

The tree shapes bled into the ground. Everything was a blur of green, darkness, and sweat.

Toni will hear me. He'll come.

The world at her back was wild, threatening. The mosquitos were relentless. She was lost. Couldn't retrace her steps even if she wanted to. All she had was the river.

Under the weight of the jungle heat, Sofi's head felt light. Her body had gone into auto-pilot. Once she reached a drop-off point, she let go of her shirt, shorts and shoes. Before she could talk herself out of it, she fell feet first in the shallows.

Underwater, Sofi gained clarity. When her toes kissed the muddy floor, self-preservation kicked in, jolting her to the surface. She fumbled with the mangrove roots until one became an anchor.

A number of horrific scenarios were possible in that moment. Caiman, constrictors, arapaima. The merciful, cooling water convinced Sofi that they were nothing more than catastrophic fantasies. She held onto her root and let her legs drift with the current. Plant detritus floated by. Her eyelids grew heavy.

Something sharp and pink flickered in her periphery, followed by a splash.

One of them!

Sofi's muscles spasmed as she tried to hoist herself out from under the cage of mangroves. She managed to clamber onto land, but not without swallowing some water. She didn't look back as she swept up her clothes and stole behind a barrier of green.

It was still hot and dark and now Sofi felt really dumb. Getting home before the sun completely disappeared seemed impossible. Sofi considered the thought of being consumed by a darkness that she wouldn't be able to wake from.

She slapped a mosquito on her thigh. Toni's name threatened to burst from her lips, but she bit her tongue at the memory of the unidentified pink presence that stalked her at the river. If there was any chance it was an Encantado, calling out for Toni would only signal the creature of her whereabouts.

Still in her underwear, Sofi sank to her heels and hugged her knees.

"Are you lost?"

Her eyes searched the trees in disbelief as she fumbled with her clothes.