Oh. My. Gosh. I am SO SO sorry, people. I totally jumped off the face of the earth for a while. Well, it's been REALLY, REALLY hectic here in Lovela-land - still is, actually - and I let this fall to the wayside in the hopes that I would be able to keep up with school - which, amazingly enough, actually worked! But it's exam time again, and, in my slightly twisted mind, that means UPDATING STUFF! So, here you go, I know it's really short, but at least it's something after... what, almost a year? SO sorry about that. Enjoy!
Chapter 19: A Little Bit of Sanity
It had been a while- I was still down there, trying to get out. I was having trouble getting out of the coffin. I knew that I could most certainly tunnel through the clay and topsoil and such once I was out of the wood, but I couldn't get out. You see, getting out meant that I had to somehow open the top of the coffin- which was about 6 feet under the ground, being pressed upon by more than 6 feet of clay and topsoil, not including atmospheric pressure. There was no way that I was going to be able to open that lid without help from something that could tunnel just enough that I could open the lid enough for me to be free among the clay.
Who in their right mind would actually dig me up now, was the question. I might be able to somehow shout for help, or let loose a torrent of feelings for Jasper or something- I knew by now that Edward couldn't hear me and Alice couldn't see me, so the only one who could actually detect me would be Jasper. Or perhaps some other vampire with a gift of detecting, like Demetri.
But Demetri would never help me right now- I bet the entire Volturi was informed of my demise, and was celebrating, or maybe mourning the lost chance to bring me over to their side.
Ugh.
Then, I heard a thunk at the lid of the coffin. There was something there, like an animal of some sort.
"HELLO?" I whispered, but it sounded deafening to my ears; they were used to absolute silence by now.
I heard the strange noise again. This time, I discerned a sort of scraping noise under the 'thunk'.
Was I being saved? Or was the noise simply a figment of my imagination, a sound that my brain decided I needed to hear.
I decided that I was being saved- it seemed more conducive to staying at least a little sane in a world gone completely mad.
Another thunk- this time the scraping was clear- something was making a space on the top of the coffin. I shoved at the lid...
And it gave. I took a little time to keep myself from crying with relief- it was terrifying, being buried alive. And now there was hope that I wouldn't slowly suffocate in this dark prison.
I shoved at the lid again, and it gave upwards with a grating sound that normally would have set my teeth on edge, but I was too busy being thrilled that I wouldn't die- not that I hadn't done that before, but this time was different.
I stared up at the narrow tunnel that shot straight up for two or three feet before gradually turning to the left- of course, whatever had created this tunnel for me knew that it probably wouldn't be good if I emerged in the middle of a graveyard. No, if I knew Edward and Alice, they'd probably still be there- and perhaps Jacob.
Of course, I could just be being egotistical, that they would stay that long after my actual funeral.
I crawled carefully up the tunnel- I didn't want to snag my clothes on the rough-hewn sides of the passageway, wasting time in this dark, dank place getting unstuck. That would be an absolute nightmare- almost as bad as actually getting buried.
It took forever to get out into the air. Hours, it felt like, but it was probably a much shorter time span. But it was still a pretty long time, steadily climbing up the dark, dank tunnel that smelled lightly like a mixture of honey and wet fur. Dog, maybe?
By the time I finally could smell fresh air, I was definitely tired enough to collapse, except for the fact that the tunnel was much too small for me to actually go to sleep; it was much too cramped, and the walls were too slimy for me to be remotely comfortable. But the fresh air…
It smelled heavenly. I couldn't remember anything smelling half as good as it. Well, maybe Edward. Or Jacob. God, those two were going to really confuse me when I finally actually found them.
And then, it hit me. No, I didn't have an epiphany. It was the fresh, cold air of the outdoors.
YES! I was out of that coffin, finally! I could feel some of the moving spirit that used to be in me floating around in these trees, but I had absolutely NO inclination to find it and let it back in again.
So I looked around me, trying to find a single landmark that might tell me where I was, and what it was that let me out of there.
Nothing. Nothing but trees, wind, and the occasional bird or woodland creature that was common to the woods of Washington State. Crap.
Where was I?