Above the water, the woods hummed with life as if nothing had changed. The waterfall's steady roar, the crickets' persistent calls, and the wind blowing through the trees created a perfect mask for the scene. In addition, fireflies blinked like tiny lanterns, their soft glow flickering like falling stars on Earth.
Below the water was a different story. Unconscious and completely still to the aquatic life, Kai's body was an unknown object. Her slow descent caused some fish to be wary and quick to react. They scattered in a burst of motion, vanishing into the dark corners of the pond. But others, intrigued by the disturbance, swam cautiously toward her. Using darker, muted colors on their backs, they changed their position and behavior to avoid detection.
Kai's body floated halfway down when her head bumped against some rocks below the waterfall, waking her up. Though Jessica and Taylor were sure she was dead because they had drowned her, Kai had only fainted. As consciousness tiptoed back into her awareness, Kai's first instinct manifested in the tender gesture of rubbing the back of her head to coax the remnants of clarity from the haze. Blinking away the residual fog, her gaze wandered across the surroundings, gradually piecing together reality but ignoring that she was breathing normally while underwater. Once Kai realized her situation, she instantly began to hold her breath and panic, trying to swim back up, but the weight of the rocks held her down. Without using a rope, Taylor planned to use Kai's jacket to sink her. He placed her feet through the sleeves of her jacket, knowing it wouldn't come off unless someone pulled them out. He then zipped up the jacket and put huge rocks inside, letting her sink with the jacket's collar pointing downwards. It was sufficient enough for him because she was thought to be dead and never to be found.
Kai's nimble fingers navigated the zipper of her jacket, and its metallic rasp sent small vibrations through the water. However, the zipper was stuck; with a determination that transcended the weight of the rocks pressing against her, she tugged fervently. Each pull of the zipper was a desperate bid for liberation. As the struggle unfolded, a swift movement in her peripheral vision teased the edges of her mind, reminding her she wasn't in the water alone. Her senses heightened; she worked with an enthusiasm that mirrored her racing heartbeat, the urgency intensifying as her lungs, deprived of air, threatened to betray her effort. Holding her breath with an almost superhuman resolve, Kai teetered on the brink of unconsciousness once again, the boundary between survival and surrender becoming increasingly precarious. In the moment, as the specter of faintness loomed, the zipper budged just enough for the large rocks to begin falling out. Kai wasted no time in surging toward the surface; her emergence and strength almost propelled her straight out of the water.
Drenched and shivering, Kai quickly swam through the water to the welcoming embrace of the shore. The cold night wind blowing against every inch of her body immediately summoned chill bumps. Chest pains throbbed as she coughed and turned on her back to catch her breath. Kai began kicking her feet against each other, a process of freeing her feet from the jacket, each motion echoing pain throughout her tired body. With a long and uncertain path ahead, Kai began her journey, the moonlight casting formless shadows on her lone figure.
The frigid breeze clung to her light attire as her drenched body left behind a trace of footprints through the darkness. Taylor had taken her clothes to get rid of them, leaving her with wet undergarments and a drenched jacket, which served as a cloak of vulnerability against the night. Only the stars served as a silent witness to her journey home.
In the peaceful ambiance, the moon dared to be absent, slacking on its job to serve as a personal spot, sharing its radiance with Kai wherever she moved. Kai's mind became an echoing chamber, vivid fragments of the moments before, during, and after the incident. Starting with a stupid kiss, the two working in unusual sync, and the spectral lady dressed in black. Every fragment evades Kai's attempts to grasp the unreachable details. As the cold breeze whispered through the shadows, Kai's journey through the nocturnal became a debate with memories. Did she die? Was that lady an angel here to take her away, or was that a moment she remembered about her biological mother? She couldn't tell. The walk home grew short; she didn't notice, but before she knew it, she was home.
"Kai Sierra Dean, it's one in the morning! What is wrong with you? I was worried sick! You're usually in bed by eight." Her mother, Sarah, expressed anger but was happy to finally see her daughter come home. As Kai approached the porch, the lights revealed what was hidden. Sarah could see Kai's soaked undergarments and her jacket were drenched. "Oh, my baby, what happened? What happened to your clothes?" shouted Kai's mother.
"They tried to kill me, Mom," Kai whimpered.
"What? Who?!"
"We were... k.k.k...kissing, and they started to p... their hands in each other's shorts, she... started to moan, and I backed away", Kai explained with her words breaking.
"James, call the police!" Sarah shouted with urgency. She quickly met Kai at the steps, wrapping her arms around Kai's shoulders. "Honey, listen, I know you're scared and tired. However, you will have to be clearer than that."
Kai took in deep breaths, trying to calm herself and brace against the shivering cold. "They both jumped me in the water, and" she paused to take another breath. "And I thought I had drowned because I don't remember anything but being at the bottom of the waterfall with rocks tied to my feet."
Kai's cold, shivering words hung in the air like an electric charge, crackling with an intensity that left her mother stunned and breathless. "Oh my god," she uttered, retreating with a hand clasped over her mouth as if trying to shield herself from the narrative unraveling before her. The weight of disbelief and doubt cast sadness and anger over Sarah's face.
The arrival of law enforcement with their flashing red and blue lights pierced the dark atmosphere, their presence amplifying the situation. The Sheriff's vehicle, as he stepped out accompanied by his son, stood out conspicuously among the trio of cars. The son, an underlying accomplice to the haunting report, was the same individual who had drowned Kai, Taylor. Taylor had heard that his father was going to the Dean's house, so he wanted to tag along in hopes of controlling the situation even more. The last thing he was expecting was to find Kai outside of the place where he had left her. Immediately, their eyes locked in a mutual gaze, a momentary suspension of time that echoed with unspoken fears.
There was a hushed silence, broken only by the slamming car doors outside the house and not the silent profanity that escaped Taylor's mouth. "What in the fuu?" he muttered, the shock and realization etched across his face, a perfect introduction to the unexpected situation.
Taylor wasn't a doctor, but for the amount of time she was submerged, he knew for a fact she should have been dead. As for Kai, her mind was like a kaleidoscope; Taylor's face flickered like fleeting embers, each moment etched with memorable intensity. They terrified each other at that moment, both taking a step backward.
In the recesses of her memory, expressions of fear and anger danced upon Kai's face, vivid fragments of the harrowing encounter that played out beneath the surface. Yet, while observing the emotions etched on Kai's features, Taylor grappled with confusion. Her hair, still damp from the ordeal, clung to the outlines of her resilience. He continued to observe her, piecing clues; there were no visible scratches or bruises to bear witness to a life-and-death struggle. An observation he pinned in his mind.
The Sheriff noticed Taylor's backward step and placed his hand on his shoulder before Taylor could retreat. They were the first to approach the porch as the other officers stayed back. "Good evening, folks. If you don't mind, I'll talk to you first and then to your daughter. With your consent, of course. I know she is eighteen, but she is still in school, so I'll need your okay. This here is my boy, Taylor. He goes to the same school and maybe having a friend or someone to talk to until this is solved-"
"No! Kai interrupted, backing away slowly."
"Sweety, what's wrong?" Sarah inquired, her hands instinctively finding their place on Kai's shoulders before she could retreat. Kai, leaning in, shared a whisper that transformed the warmth in her mother's gaze into a piercing intensity. Her eyes, once tender, now bore into Taylor with an unyielding focus. "Your son was the one who tried to hurt my daughter!" Sarah shouted her words, uttering a potent mixture of accusation and anguish, a sudden eruption that caught the eyes and interest of the officers in the back.
With his hands raised in a gesture of placation and his gaze sweeping across the assembled faces, the Sheriff intervened, his voice a measured attempt to diffuse the mounting tension. "Hold on now. Let's not jump to conclusions, okay? It's dark, and from what I can see, your daughter doesn't look hurt," he stated, his words weaving a tale of caution and reason.
"Don't you dare call my daughter a liar!" James said, stepping off the porch. Stopping the conversation with the Sheriff to put his daughter's safety first, he turned to Kai, "Go in the house, sweety, get out of those wet clothes." As Sarah and Kai returned to the house, James focused on the Sheriff and his no-good son, "Back to you, is it true, young man? Did you put your hands on my daughter? Don't lie," James roared!
With a sinister smile, Taylor responded, "Yes, I accidentally pushed her into the water." He needed no acknowledgment; what he wanted was to draw everyone's attention to his confession. It was now time for him to manipulate the situation as he came to do. His face changed to a more sincere look, and his voice trembled to show worry. "We were only playing, but once I saw the current was too strong, I got scared and ran to ask the others for help. However, when I came back, she was gone. I...I figured Jessica had helped her, and she was okay, Dad, I swear. That's why I tagged along to check on her when you told me you were coming here."
"Accidentally, my ass. As much as I want justice and for you to rot in jail, I know your father is the Sheriff, and I doubt you'll even be in there for a day. I tell you what, you put your hands on my daughter again. She will have every right to defend herself and put you on your ass. Even worse, let me tell you this, you little punk, if I catch you-"
"Okay," the Sheriff said, moving James's finger and stepping before his son. "Let's not throw empty threats around," he declared, placing one hand on his holster as the other grabbed his handcuffs.
"That girl, the one he named Jessica. I sure hope to hear something back from her, and her story better be the same as my daughter's," James added. "Or we're going to see how empty threats get filled," he said, backing away.
The Sheriff turned towards his crew, quickly flashing a smile before speaking to his son, "Damnit, send a message to this Jessica." The Sheriff whispered to his son before saying the rest of their conversation out loud. "Okay, I'm heading over to Jessica; I need two of you to ride around and check for teens past curfew. Then I need someone to accompany me and radio the station and let them know. There are no more parties, and no one is out past ten o'clock." The Sheriff switched to his son again, speaking out loud to give the image of an angry, disappointed father. "Damnit, and I swear on my mother and your grandmother, if there is anything else I need to know that you're leaving me out on, it won't be a good image for either of us."
"Relax, that's it. Don't worry about Jessica. I'll talk to her and make sure she's home."
The Sheriff cleared his throat as he turned to James and spoke, "Okay, I suggest everybody stay in the house until this mess clears. I might be back tomorrow once I find out what's going on. Mr. Dean, have a good night, and I'll see you around. Tell Sarah I'm sorry about all this, and if my boy is wrong, he'll make it right." Lifting his hand and making an invisible circle with his index finger, he wrapped up the situation, moving it to Jessica's. "Let's go, everybody, heading to Jessica's house."
Upon arriving at Jessica's house, she and her parents begin to walk out, for she had already received a heads-up. "Sorry to be arriving so late, folks. We have a matter that happened sometime yesterday involving your daughter, my son, and another person," The Sheriff spoke.
"There was no need to get my parents involved. It was me, " Jessica bravely stated, revealing herself.
Taylor looked at his father with a slight smirk on his face. When he took another glance at Jessica as she walked towards the car, Taylor's smirk changed to confusion because Jessica's nose wasn't broken, not even scarred. As Jessica looked over at Taylor, he smiled back, even as he took in the observation, pinning it in his mind. He knew she would do and say anything to impress him.
"You are confessing that you did that to Ms. Dean?" The Sheriff asked.
"Before you answer that, what happened to your nose? Wasn't it broken?" Taylor intervened.
"I'm not sure what happened to my nose; by the time I got home and looked in the mirror, it was fine. It hurt so bad. Maybe I just thought Kai had broken it, and maybe you saw me at a weird angle, and it looked crooked. Same thing for my eye; see, it's not swollen. She got a punch that packs power but doesn't actually do damage," Jessica laughed. "As for the confession, I sure did and would do it again. The cunt hit me in the nose," Jessica confessed.
"Okay, hold that thought. We'll take you to the station to record that confession," said the Sheriff.
Once in the car, the Sheriff and his son huddled with Jessica. Now that no one else could hear, "Listen, this is the plan. We will take you down to the station, and we'd be grateful if you would stick to her hitting you in the nose, and the fight got a little out of hand. I'll hold you in jail for about two days."
"You finally get to earn your stripes. Now that's hot," Taylor chimed in, deftly manipulating Jessica, causing a sly smile to play on her lips.
"Listen and stop fooling around, now, while you're in jail. We'll talk to Ms.Kai Dean so she won't press charges or add anything extra to the situation. Don't worry. Within those two days, I'll take good care of you, private cell; I'll bring you food, so you don't have to eat the slop, a nice bed, TV, and Wi-Fi. Whatever you need to make those two days as unnoticeable as possible. Hell, if you want a nail tech and a personal massage therapist, you got it."
"Oh, have Taylor buy me that skin product to use while I'm there. I don't know what brand the Kai uses, so he'll have to find out. That way, when I get out, my skin will be unbelievable. Get that, and you have a deal," Jessica blurted.
"Yeah, sure. Taylor, whatever she is talking about, ensure you're on it. Anyway, this is all between us; I'll let your parents know there is nothing to worry about. Once everything gets handled with Kai, then you're home free," the Sheriff continued, his words laying the groundwork in the confined space of the car.
True to the orchestrated plan, the pieces fell into place with a chilling precision. Jessica's confession was obtained and shared around the station, Taylor's name was cleared at the moment, and the only thing left was Kai herself. A glimpse of the power and manipulation that Taylor and his father possessed. The Sheriff also promptly informed Jessica's confused parents of her temporary holding. Cloaking the rest of the plan and only adding the forked path, which depended on the uncertainty of whether Kai would choose to press charges in the morning. However, the night wasn't over yet; the Sheriff and his son, bound by a web of secrecy, convened for a conversation in the calm stillness of the night.
"What the hell were you thinking yesterday, boy? You shouldn't be involved in stuff like that."
Taylor turned to look at his father, "Really, I'm not trying to hear that from someone like you. You raised me like this, remember."
"Yeah, but I didn't raise you to be this darn sloppy," the Sheriff bellowed, his frustration finding a physical outlet in hitting the steering wheel, nearly breaking it.
"That's the thing I wasn't. I was thorough. I tied rocks to Kai's feet and left her to sink to the bottom. Even before then, I struggled to hold her down for about five minutes. Five minutes of bobbing up and down, trying to gasp for air. Do you know how much water she swallowed? Kai's lungs should be filled. As I gathered everything, my clothing, her clothing, and gathered the rocks, we saw her floating on the surface, completely gone, with no heartbeat. There is no way. "
"I call bull, five minutes of swallowing water, huh? So she's some Olympic-free diver? What, she got a... a Guinness record for drinking the most water while holding her breath. Is that what you're telling me? She did all that and still managed to fool you by holding her breath for up to an hour. Another good actress for the mermaid movie, let's audition her. What a Joke!"
"No, there's no way." Taylor continued trying to think out what had happened and convince his father. "You're playing around; she was dead! What's more, when I kissed her, it made every cell in my body feel weird. The same thing happened when Jessica kissed her. Also, her body was like it had the most expensive product of oil or makeup, the way her skin shone. That is what Jessica wants, but I'm not even sure that was a product.
As the Sheriff's interest in the story grew, the slow drive came to a complete stop. The Sheriff put the car in park and leaned over in his seat, ready to get details. "What exactly happened there? I need the full story because that's not what you said at first. Now, kissing, rubbing oil on each other, and bodies feeling weird. I don't know what kind of freak fantasy you kids got going, but you are starting early, don't you think?"
"Besides the fact! And don't be dramatic; nobody said anything about rubbing oil on another. What matters now is what I'm telling you. Jessica's nose was broken; Kai broke it! It wasn't a weird or wrong angle. Her eye and nose were like an abstract face painting, where the artist didn't exactly know what direction they were going when they started. God, was that girl strong." As Taylor began thinking about it, he wasn't sure how he managed to hold her down, seeing Kai's strength, but of course, he didn't know that Jessica helped. "Anyway," He continued. "You saw her. Jessica looked way better than ever. Her body looked flourished, or was I the only person paying attention? Night routines don't get that good."
"Yeah, I can tell because you look like crap. Maybe it's because I see you every day, but I noticed the knot on your head even if your hair tries to cover it. So, what did Jessica do differently?"
"I don't..." Taylor pauses as he thinks back and remembers all the information pinned in his head. Both girls seemed in good condition as if nothing had ever happened. "Was it the water?" he thought. No, if that were the case, he too would look flourished as well. The only time he felt something similar to Jessica was when he, too, kissed Kai. He then remembered Jessica, after her nose had been broken, was playing around and kissed Kai again, trying to catch Taylor's attention by being spontaneous. Could that be it? Is that why her skin looked good? Does Kai have healing powers? Taylor knew that it sounded stupid and bizarre, but it would explain why Jessica's nose could be fixed after the second kiss. He began to correct his posture and turn toward his father. "This is going to sound weird, but I think she has the power to heal. I mean, when Jessica kissed her dead body-"
The Sheriff spits out his coffee, "Well, I'll be this sounds better than my younger days. You know how to throw one heck of a freaky party, boy. That has to come from your mother's side of the family. I always like that about her-"
"Can you not? I don't need to know what my mother does."
"Hey, it's your call, but you're missing one good story. Go ahead and finish yours. I need the full story. This is getting juicy."
"Pay attention. Jeez, do I have to spell it out for you? If that girl can really heal people with a kiss, or however she does it, and we capture her, imagine the money flowing in, charging people to have a good time and be cured.
"You know you always did think outside the box, but powers. Don't you think that's one hell of a stretch? Never in the history of humanity has there been a human with powers. Sure, the government has secrets, but something like humans having powers is something you can't always cover up. There would've been at least one slip-up, maybe a child developing powers early and having an outbreak."
"Exactly, listen to what you just said. It can't always be covered up, and we might have just found one of those times."
The Sheriff smiled as he wiped the coffee off his dashboard with an old towel. "So, let me say this if you are right, and oh boy, I hope you are. We are witnessing a one-in-a-lifetime opportunity, a government slipped up, perhaps a science experiment, or a supernatural entity, and we are going to take full advantage. Man, my hands are starting to itch now." Just then, the Sheriff's eyes reflected a spark of admiration, and his chest swelled with pride. "You know, when I saw how scrawny you were coming out of your momma, I thought to myself. This boy can't be my legacy. There's no way this boy can make me rich by playing sports. No, wrestling is not considered a sport for a man." The Sheriff quickly added, pausing his loving speech to dishonor his son simultaneously. "The thought of that is shameful: two men, sweating, grabbing on each other, grinding and twisting. Giving me goosebumps just thinking about it, but it joys me to know I was only half right. Today, you opened my eyes; you are my legacy son."
"You're annoying!"
Taking charge of the plan, the Sheriff and Taylor were ready to show how often they commit more crime than justice. "About the plan, we're moving tonight. We are not waiting for Kai in the morning. If she never shows up, then we won't have anything to worry about anyway, " the Sheriff stated, shifting the car out of park and into drive.