Saving You, Saving Me

Chapter 5

Adam whirled around. Jonah was stood in front of him, calmly staring at Adam like he was a particularly interesting kind of bug. His face held its usual arrogance and casual smugness, but his eyes told a different story. Swirling beneath the ocean blue was... Compassion? Adam shook it off. He must be reading things wrongly. Instead he focused on the questions burning in his mind. "Where did you come from? And what do you mean?"

Ignoring him, Jonah continued. "Nobody can defeat him alone. Especially you, you pathetic runt. You can't even run 500 metres!" He let out a short, malicious laugh.

"Don't be so cruel." Adam span around again, and he couldn't stop the gasp that escaped his mouth when he saw Red leaning calmly against a tree, Peri beside her.

Noticing his face, Red smiled. "What?" She asked innocently, mischief twinkling in her eyes. "You didn't seriously think we'd leave you, did you?"

But... How" he stammered.

"We hid in the trees. I wanted to test you, and congratulations, you passed!" Red smiled.

"What test?" He asked, puzzled.

Peri spoke up. "You didn't give up. Even when things seemed darkest, you picked yourself up and carried on. You're loyal, independent and strong."

Red smiled and nodded. "You have the makings of a real hero." Jonah's scowl only deepened at her words.

"Come on." Red stood up straight, and began to walk off into the forest once again. "We really do need to get back to base. They'll be sending out a search party!" Peri laughed, a cheerful, good natured laugh. . He began to jog after the others, realising he'd already to fallen behind.

They jogged for about 10 minutes, stopping occasionally when Red thought Adam needed a break. 'Man,' he thought. 'I need to get fit!' Finally, they stopped in front of a cluster of large boulders that resembled a pile of deer droppings.

"Now." Red turned to face him " Before we show you base, you must swear not to tell anyone anything about this place."

"I swear."

"Good." Without warning, Red ran and jumped over a bank about ten meters to the left of Adam. He gasped at her and looked around wildly in shock, but Peri and Jonah didn't act like it was anything unusual. In fact, they swiftly followed. Just before she reached the edge of the flat ground, Peri looked over her shoulder. "You coming?" Without waiting for an answer, she leapt over the side. Adam slowly walked to the edge of the bank. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "You can do this." He told himself, steeling his nerves. He jumped.

Screaming, (slightly less manly than he would like to think) Adam rolled down the bank. Twigs and sticks clawed at his skin. Sharp thorns dug into his hands and face. Bumping against the hard earth bruised his already sore body. Briefly, Adam glimpsed Peri, Red and Jonah waiting patiently at the bottom of the Sloan, before he plunged into murky black water.

The icy water seemed to freeze his blood. The oddly black water seeped into his mouth and nose, burning his insides. Luckily, Adam was a strong swimmer and he propelled himself towards the surface. Gasping for breath, he felt two strong arms grab him and pluck him from the strange river. Red and Peri were roaring with laughter. Even Jonah cracked a small smile. He looked better when he smiled, Adam thought.

" why didn't you warn me?" Adam whined.

"Sorry," Red chuckled. "I forgot I needed to. It just comes naturally now." Adam rolled his eyes, but he couldn't help but smile thanks to the others infectious laughter. Peri wiped her watery eyes. "Come on guys, we really should get in. We can get Adam some clean dry clothes." She looked at Red for assurance, who nodded as the last of her laughter died, and she led them down the riverside path.

"What is that river anyway? Why is the water black?" He asked.

"It's called the river of souls. They say that all the souls of evil beings are trapped there when they die. They say the water causes immense pain if it is drunk. I say if that story was true the only pain p is how full that river is, how many evil souls there are."

"Is that story true?" He asked, his voice hinting fear.

"No." She smiled. "The story is an old wives tale. We spread it when we set up base here, so no one would come near us.

They followed Red for about 100 metres, until she stopped infront of an old olive tree, with branches that reached out like gnarled hands across the water. She pressed a large knot, and a door opened in the tree that led to an endless black hole. Looking over her shoulder Red smiled mischievously at Adam. "Time to jump again."

And she plunged into the darkness.