Falling into the river wasn't as bad as I imagined. It was even worse! I had imagined the water to be like water in a bathtub, or perhaps a swimming pool. But no, the river was as wild as that mad bear had been when it's alive. After falling in to the water, the first thing that came to my mind was: HOLY COW, THIS WATER'S COLD!
The water pushed against my skin, giving me lots of goose bumps and I could feel my blood turn to ice. Everything seemed to stop, and all I could feel was the cold. Air burst from my lungs, and I sucked in a mouthful of ice cold water. That shook me out of my dizziness from the cold. I tried to swim, but my body won't respond. The cold was too powerful; nothing would listen to my command. Then, a current swept me off my feet and a floated to the surface. Air was sweet and delicious, but everything seemed to be spinning. Then, I noticed that it is not them that are spinning; the river's moving so fast that everything off-shore was a blur. No, I'm going to get swept down mountain if I don't stop soon! Trying to grab hold of something, no, fingers won't respond, yes, got something! No, just a piece of driftwood.
Driftwood's kind of useful, holding on to it like my life depends on it, well, my life DO depend on it a bit, floating, ouch! Bumped into rock, eyes blurry, ouch! Bumped into another rock, lots of rocks here, why am I spinning too? Oh no, it's a whirlpool! Is it a whirlpool? I don't know, spinning, spinning, ouch! Why are there so many rocks? Trying to hold tighter, but arms are too weak. Not a whirlpool, grabbing hold of roots, too slippery, fingers slipped, no! Rock breaks driftwood, drifting by self again, arms and legs like blocks of wood, no, I must survive! Grabbing for things, no, grabbed rock, too jagged, cuts finger, and falls back, yes, grabs grass! Holding on to grass, trying to climb, inching slowly, no! Grass tears off with roots in my hands, spinning in circles, ouch, what was that? No, must be a rock again, water, water, water's everywhere! Gasps for breath but chokes on water, ice water runs down throat, chokes again, vision blurs, out of the water, where am I? No more water, I'm free, air everywhere, but no ground either…my jeans are snagged on something.
Everything is upside down, is I upside down or is my brain wrong? Hears ripping sound, not good, falling, falling, falling, and crash! Impact knocks brain out of order for a few seconds, eyes back, and a small waterfall behind, branches with jean material caught on it…washed away, turning around and around. Although still cold, I could feel something warm on my legs. Blood? Maybe, or is it something else? Water turned kind of pinkish, must be blood, floating softly, like I don't exists, Drifting with my face facing the sky, it is morning now, the sun hurts my eyes badly… an airplane flies by, but I don't think anyone noticed me, I'm too far away; perhaps someone will find me? My body feels like it's frozen, if I don't get out soon, I'll die of coldness, the shore has some long weeds, maybe I can grab them? Fingers slip through like water, trying again and again, finally, got some! No use, don't have any energy. Holds on more weeds, holds on to them as tight as possible, no use, current gets stronger again, no, slipping away and rushing through the water again, losing vision, so sleepy and cold, no, must stay awake, no use, eye lids droop, a little nap won't hurt…
"Do you think she's awake?"
"No, I wonder how she got into that river. Perhaps she wanted to end her life?"
"No, I don't think so."
Who are these people, and where am I? My last memories were off drifting in the river, then falling asleep and nothing. I don't remember anything else, probably because I was asleep. Did someone find me and carried me back to Vampire Mountain, or did a human find me and bring me to the hospital? No, certainly not the hospital. What if they are vampire hunters? No, they're not; they would have killed me long ago. Then…who? I opened my eyes slowly, because every part of me ached like mad. It was dark, and I wasn't in the hospital, no. There were stalactites in the ceiling, and so I must be in some cave sort of thing. I felt around my mouth; my father had said to look if your tongue is cut off, because you can lose lots of blood that way. No, nothing in my mouth is broken other than the insides of my cheeks which were ripped to pieces by my teeth.
"Where…where am I?" I asked to the mysterious people who recued me.
"Birch, she's awake," someone called from my right. I tried to turn over, but something was holding me.
"Hello…where am I?" I snapped. I hate it when people ignore me, even if I'm in a very sticky situation. That often gets me in trouble, but a leopard can't change its spots, right?
"You're still on the mountain," a new voice said.
"Ok…I thought that I was in a hospital, that's all, and that I'm hallucinating." The first person laughed.
"Hear that, Birch? Even though she's wounded, she's still funny."
"Yes, sister, but we need to explain things to this young lady first. Can you move?" Birch said. I thought that he was talking to the lady, but no, he was talking to me.
"I don't know, I can talk, though," I told him, and tried to move. "Yeah, I can move all right, but I ache a lot." The lady, Birch's sister, laughed again.
"Ebony, stop laughing, we have to help her," Birch snapped.
"There's something tying me to this…thing, isn't it?" I asked.
"Yes, so you won't fall and impale yourself on the stalagmites below," Ebony said. Gulp, there are stalagmites below?
"Well, I think I can like, navigate well now," I told them.
"Ok, but don't rush to move, you'll fall," Birch said, and someone pushed something, which made another thing (hey, I can only see the ceiling, so don't blame me!) and finally I felt the straps fall loose. I could breathe more easily now, I sat up slowly and looked around my surroundings. It was a large cave, as large as the one we found those broken coffins in, but this one had stalagmites and stalactites throughout it, other than a few places where it's just smooth. There was lots of equipment lying around, and sitting on some foldable chairs were two people who look very different yet had resemblance to each other.
"Uh…who are you?" I asked them. Oops, I've just acted so dumb.
"I'm Ebony Tarragon, and this is my twin younger brother Birch Tarragon. We're hikers, just scaling this mountain, and we saw you lying on the bank so we took you into this cave where we're staying and nursed you back to life," Ebony said. Ebony wasn't much older than me, just in her twenties. I have no idea where they're from, because they both had English accents yet they look Vietnamese. Both of them had the same lush, black hair, high cheekbones and healthily tanned faces, and the same athletic built and strong muscles. I have a feeling that if in a hand combat, most humans would lose. The only things alive on this mountain that can hurt them would be the vampires, mad animals, and wolves.
"Thank…you," I said slowly, "I need to get to the top of the mountain, will you help me?" There were no rules saying that non-vampires can't use equipment, and I'm not exactly using them if they're just helping me, aren't I? I've always said that going through loopholes would save someone's life, and now it's saved mine.
"Sure," Ebony laughed, "we're trying to get over this mountain too; we'll just drop you off at the top. Mind you, I don't think anyone lives here!"
"You'd be surprised by the population there," I told her.
"Oi, sis, I think we better stay here for a bit, her leg isn't that well yet," Birch called from somewhere above.
"I'm fine," I told him, "I can still stand, walk and run!" To prove that, I walked around and ran. But after a few strides, my leg hurt so much that I had to stop and rest.
"I guess I can't run yet…" I told him, but I think I could walk fine! I tried jumping, but I couldn't do that either. Ebony had to rush up and grab me so that I won't impale myself on a stalagmite!
"Tough luck, you won't be able to jump past gaps or run when there's a mud slide, so we're staying until you're better," Birch said, "and by the mean time, you'll have to help with some chores!" I groaned; oh great, now I have to help again, even though I floated down the river! I helped when I'm human, when I'm with Mr. Crepsley, and when I'm in the cirque, and now I have to help…again!