Into the Water

"Let us go," the evil said. " We have work to do. "

Corky obediently took another step back.

Then suddenly, impulsively, courageously, she stopped. Raising both fists to the dark sky, she shut her eyes and uttered a howl of anguish.

And plunged off the cliff.

The fall was like a dream.

Was that her screaming all the way down?

She hit the water hard and instantly sank into the murky brown depths.

" I must live!" the evil protested.

But Corky dived toward the river bottom. The strong current swept her along. Down, down, down.

She started to choke. The thick muddy water poured into her open mouth. She tasted the grit, the sourness of it.

I'm choking. I'm going to die.

But I don't want to die.

I want to live!

I can't drown. I can't die!

I have to live! I have to!

But I can't. I have no choice.

I have made my choice.

To die!

She gasped in another mouthful of the thick, disgusting water.

And choked violently as she thrashed helplessly under the dark waters.

As she choked, the evil began to erupt from her mouth.

She thrashed blindly as the force flowed out of her, blasting the water, churning it, heating it with its evil.

Hotter.

The water grew hotter as Corky thrashed and choked.

Hotter.

Until the river boiled.

And still the evil poured out.

The evil flowed into the churning brown waters, protesting its fate, a howl of fury rising in Corky's ears, raging through the tossing waters.

Hotter.

The brown water bubbled and boiled up. Tall geysers erupted toward the black sky. Even hotter.

Corky writhed in pain as the water scalded her struggling body.

I'm dying—dying…

She felt suddenly light. The evil had departed.

And then heavier again. Heavy with the thick water that choked her, filling her lungs. " I'm drowning!"

She heard the evil spirit's startled cry. " I'm drowning!"

And then Corky drowned. She felt as if she were shrinking.

Shrinking until she was nothing but a tiny acorn floating in the water. Then a dot. A lifeless dot. She knew the evil spirit had shrunk too.

And knowing this, she died.

Chapter 24

Дата добавления: 2015-07-20