Ravenous (The Ravening 1)

Then suddenly I felt it, a rising up of the ocean floor beneath us. We began a steady ascent, swimming upward as we headed for land again. What were we going to do if they were awaiting us? Nothing, there would be nothing we could do. We couldn’t get to the guns, we wouldn’t have enough time to flee back into the sea, and even if we did, we wouldn’t have enough oxygen to remain hidden for much longer.

We had done all that we could, now all we could do was pray that luck stayed on our side. There was a shifting to the left; I followed easily along until I felt my head break water. I rose cautiously and pulled the mask slightly up as I surveyed the rocky shore. Cade was beside me, his midnight hair was matted against his forehead, and the water had plastered his shirt to his chest. He pressed closer to me as the air hit my wet hair and skin, causing me to shiver.

“This way,” Molly whispered.

We half swam/walked closer to the shore. The darkness was so complete that I couldn’t see if there was anything waiting for us. Molly pulled her flippers off and tossed them onto the shoreline. I tugged the flippers off and wiggled my toes in the sand as I took a brief second to enjoy the simple pleasure as the others ditched the flippers and tanks.

I could barely breathe as we scrambled forward. The shore was rocky and rough beneath my bare feet but there was no way I was stopping to dig shoes out of the bag on my back. Cade’s hand wrapped around my upper arm, I felt as if we were moving through quicksand as we slipped in the shifting sand.

We were almost to the tree line when illumination blazed over us. Everything seemed to slow around me; we were mired on the beach, trapped like rats beneath the glow. Everything around me was acute and vibrant. The air seemed to shimmer like the air above asphalt on a hot summer day. I felt as if I could reach out and touch every particle. In those, the final minutes of my life, I was completely connected to the world, and the people around me. I could hear and see everything, I could feel the energy of the earth, feel the life force that would forever connect me to the ones I loved. Though they had always seemed noiseless, I could almost hear the hum of the engines as one of the ships moved over us.

Then Cade was grabbing hold of me, wrapping his arms around me, and pulling me down beneath him. The earth rushed up to meet me; I spit and coughed as sand filled my nose and mouth. His hand in front of me was a deep bronze color in the dazzling light. I didn’t know what he was doing until I saw the knife. Then, the rope connecting me to Aiden was sliced.

Love bloomed in my chest as I realized that he had just freed my brother and sister. They would be able to make it, we never would. We were too far behind, too far away from the sanctuary of the trees.

“Cade…”

“I love you Bethany.”

A sob ripped from me as my fingers dug into the sand. His lips were warm against my cheek as he kissed me. I turned into him, savoring our last moments together, taking comfort in the solid strength he radiated. I tried to tell him that I loved him too, that I always had, and always would. The words stuck in my throat though, I couldn’t get them out.

“Bethany!” Abby’s scream echoed from the woods. Tears burned my eyes as I watched her struggling against Aiden’s restraining hold. “Bethany!” I knew that Aiden would keep her safe. Ever practical, ever stoic Aiden would save Abby because he knew there was no hope for me.

Then another light blazed forth. A moan of despair tore from me as it illuminated the woods. My siblings weren’t going to be able to escape either. They were as trapped as we were.

I was so caught up in my despair that I didn’t immediately recognize the noise that blazed out of the forest, erupted across the beach, and echoed through the night. Then, the sound pierced my foggy, distorted mind. I inhaled sharply, getting a mouthful of salty sand for my effort, but I didn’t care as gunshots continued to ring out across the beach. Far more gunshots than anything our supply of weapons could have achieved.

I lifted my head, wincing against the barrage of lights that burst from the woods. It wasn't another ship, but something else entirely. Cade was frozen above me, his muscles taut and rigid as they encompassed me. Then he was seizing hold of my arm and pulling me to my feet. “Stay low!”

I bent over as I labored through the sand sifting beneath my feet. I could barely see or hear anything over the gunshots and lights. Cade was grabbing for me when he tripped and fell. For a second I didn’t understand what had happened, Cade was always so graceful and sure. Then I felt the brusque tug of the rope still binding us.

I cried out as I was pulled roughly back and knocked off my feet. My fingers clawed uselessly at the beach, but there was nothing for me to grab hold of, nothing to stop my violent propulsion backward. I spun onto my back, horrified to find Cade halfway off the ground. One of those things was wrapped around his waist, tugging him into the air, and toward certain death.

A scream tore from my throat. I lunged at him, trying to grasp hold of his hands as we were pulled backward. My heart hammered, it wasn't my life and safety that I was concerned with anymore, but his. Another tentacle snaked toward me, but Cade was somehow able to turn and knock it away. I was tugged brusquely forward, lifted off the ground and awkwardly thrust back onto my feet. I stumbled and reached for Cade again, but he was getting further away from me.

“Cade!” I screamed. Jerked roughly forward, I was spun around before being slammed face down onto the beach as the rope joining us was pulled taut. The breath was knocked out of me, I could barely see as stars burst before my eyes. I strained to clear my vision as I fought to breathe again.

I was drug toward the shore by the rope binding us. Somehow I managed to flip onto my back once more. Grabbing hold of the rope I tried to dig my feet in, tried to get some kind of leverage as I fought to keep Cade from being torn away from me. My hands caught fire as the rope tore across my palms but I refused to let go.

My feet hit the water; I was plunged in up to my knees. For one brief, clarifying instant I knew true, and heart stopping dismay as my eyes met Cade's. “Cade.” His name was just a whisper on my lips, a breath that even I barely heard, but I knew that he somehow had.

I was jerked to my feet again as Cade cut the rope.

A scream of anguish swelled up my chest and tore out of me. “No!” I wailed as I fell into the ocean. I scrambled to my feet and crashed into the surf as I tried to catch Cade before he disappeared from sight.

“No! Caaaaade!!!!”

I was so focused on him that I didn’t see the other tentacle coming at me until it knocked me off my feet.