Author's Note
In celebration of Amazon Prime Video's newest series Panic, I am thrilled to be teaming up with Amazon Prime Video and Wattpad to write this exclusive chapter that puts my characters from this story into the world of Panic!
I hope this chapter intrigues and inspires you to learn more about Panic. Visit the #PanicWritingContest on Wattpad for the chance to put your creative writing chops to the test and learn more about the show!
To find out more about the contest, prizes, and how to enter, check out the #PanicWritingContest here: wattpad.com/AmazonPrimeVideo
Don't forget to watch the series premiere on May 28th, only on Amazon Prime Video, here: http://primevideo.com/
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Bare toes curled over the edge of jagged rock. I didn't want to think about the drop below. Seventy feet of empty air ending in a smooth sheen of water so dark you could have been plunging into a blackhole. I'd read that hitting the surface wrong from this high up was like landing on concrete. And if you survived the impact, there was always the rocks to either side of the target zone, curved upwards like fingers, beckoning jumpers into their waiting arms.
I squeezed my eyes shut, trying to rid the image from my mind. When I opened them again, Brae was hazy before me, partially obscured by panicked tears. I clutched his sandals as he took a deep breath, the muscles in his back rippling beneath the glow of the flare in his hand, its hissing barely audible over the cheers of the crowd waiting below.
I should have stayed down there with them. Would it have been easier to watch my best friend plummet into the water than see him vanish over the cliff's edge? They were both terrible choices. Perhaps I shouldn't have come at all. Could I have stayed home in front of the TV with Caleb and Noni, letting the not knowing gnaw away at my insides, my stomach a writhing nest of rats?
My hands shook, knocking the sandals together.
No. Being here to support Brae was better. If anything went wrong – not that anything was going to go wrong – I wanted to be nearby. Besides. Someone had to hold his shoes. Why did no one think about that part? Jumping into water in a pair of perfectly good shoes would ruin them. Leaving them at the top of a dark cliff in the middle of the night not much better.
Brae looked back at me, a small but confident smile on his face. He winked, then with a cry of exhilaration, he and his flare were gone.
The air escaped my lungs in a small gasp as his silver-streaked hair vanished from sight. Every muscle in my body clenched, my hands balled into fists around the straps of the sandals, so tight they were in danger of tearing. With the flare descending alongside my best friend, the clifftop was plunged into darkness. And with the darkness, came the not-quite silence of the night. The soft rustling of the wind through the plants behind me, the small buzz of nocturnal insects.
Then came the splash.
The cheer of the crowd.
I let my limbs relax and fresh air rush into my lungs. My legs felt wobbly and weak, but he had made it. The first challenge was complete.
A laugh from behind had my back stiffening once more.
"I thought competitors were meant to be the ones trying not to panic?" Roxy LeMarc looked me over beneath the glow of her flare. Her eyes flicked from my worn flip flops to my plain white maxi dress, then over my messy bun and she let out a small snort of derision. Roxy was wearing a red bikini so dark it could have been blood, splattered across the bare minimum of skin to show her tanned curves to their best advantage.
I didn't have an issue with the amount of skin she had on show. It just wasn't a look I'd ever replicate. I didn't even have enough of a chest to hold the top up, for a start. Besides, a bikini like that was designed to draw attention, and the thought of heads turning as I walked past, of eyes working slowly across every inch of my body, made me feel like my skin was crawling with insects. I shuddered.
"Well, aren't you going?" Roxy gestured towards the edge.
I laughed. She had to be joking. But her brows furrowed.
"Why are you up here, if you aren't planning to jump?"
"To support Brae and..." I waved his shoes weakly, suddenly feeling a bit stupid. No one else had come up to hold their friend's shoes.
Roxy threw back her head and laughed, her smile wolfish. She twirled the flare in her hands, letting the flames draw so close to her skin it looked as though they were dancing across it, a natural extension of her fiery reputation.
The air smelt of fire and smoke, a combination which made me think less of family barbecues and more of forest fires and burning buildings. My pulse raced, like a woodland creature whose flight-or-fight response had been triggered by the scent. If Roxy was a wolf, then I was a doe, prey beneath her predatory glare.
I should leave. Retreat down the mountain into the safety of the crowd below. But Roxy was still stood on the path, blocking my only escape. I glanced towards the cliff edge. Well, not the only route.
"Oh poor, sweet, little Jasmine. You have so much to learn." She walked past me towards the drop. The crowd below cheered when they saw her. In response, she lifted the flare so it would illuminate her face and blew them a kiss.
"Looks like my fans are waiting." She gave me a small shrug, but I could see the smirk beneath the shadows playing on her face. "But don't worry. While you take the long way back down, I'll be sure to keep poor, shoeless Brae company. In fact, I guess we're going to be spending a lot of time together this summer."
"What do you mean?" I hated the way my voice wobbled over the words. Hated more the way Roxy seized on it, the reflection of the flare dancing menacingly in her dark eyes.
"While we're competing. Lots of opportunities for us to get close. While you watch from the sidelines."
I scoffed, trying to sound more confident than I felt. Below us, the crowd were growing restless, ready for the next body to fall. "No one gets close in Panic. The idea is to win."
"Exactly." Roxy said the word with a feline purr. "And winning often comes with causalities. Getting close is the only way to inflict maximum damage." I chilled at her words, the warm summer wind ineffectual against the ice flooding my veins.
"Here." She tossed me the almost burnt out flare. "You can use it to get back down."
I dropped the shoes in a panic as my hands grabbed for the fire before it could land on my dress and turn me into a human bonfire.
Before I could begin to formulate a reply, Roxy shouted, "I am Roxanne LeMarc, and I am here to win this year's edition of Panic."
Without breaking eye contact with me, she arched backwards over the cliff and leapt, flipping gracefully into the darkness below.
This time, when I heard the splash and the roar of the crowd, my limbs didn't relax. Roxy was going to hurt Brae and, from the sidelines, there would be nothing I could do to stop her.
I looked from the flare in my hands to the edge of the cliff. I may not be able to help Brae from the spectators' crowd, but there was another way to keep him safe.
If I could do it.
I loved the water, but I didn't have a head for heights. I couldn't even jump off the high board at the local pool.
The flare began to splutter. It wouldn't last much longer.
Perhaps darkness would be easier. The key was not to think. Not to see. Not to feel. I could only act. I stepped forwards.
Before my brain could convince me otherwise, I approached the edge. There were a few gasps, whispers of surprise, but I pretended not to hear them. As the flare fizzed and died, I looked out into the darkness. "Jasmine Dystros" I squeaked, far too quiet for anyone below to make out.
I couldn't pretend I hadn't heard the laughter and looked down. Lit up by phone screens and torches, every kid I'd ever known stared back at me. I was too high to see their features, or make out who anybody was, but I knew they were there. Watching. Waiting for me to fail. What would Brae be thinking? Roxy would have made it to the edge already. I could picture her smirk, the expectation that I would stand here while the crowd jeered, panic, then turn back.
I cleared my throat. "Jasmine Dystros" I said, my voice stronger this time, carried down to disbelieving ears.
Then I closed my eyes and jumped.