Chapter 13- She Doesn't Fall: part one

This is it. I hope you're ready.

Standard disclaimer and such. Now, let's begin!

Ally's POV

I draw back and not once do my eyes break their gaze with Austin's. And why would I look away? I had to be in control here. Like, the jerk drove my car into quicksand. And as I am thinking this right now, I feel the car drop a little lower. At this, my anger only intensifies. And sadly, I no longer feel guilty. Austin had changed me. I could barely handle all those months and endless comments from him and now, all my anger has come out. I was just afraid that I would never be the same. This thought weighed me down and I frowned.

Suddenly, the car dropped again and this time, I grabbed hold of the sides of the chair for balance. I quickly turned my head to look out my window and my eyes grew wide when I saw that the ground was closer than before. Right now, I wouldn't care if all the paparazzi in the world came and Austin fainted from fright. I just wanted to get out of this situation.

Then, I heard a window slide down and I turned just in time to see Austin let go of the button when the window was fully opened. Does he want to fill the inside of my car too? I think bitterly. Austin pokes his head out the window and looks around. Then, he comes back in and I roll my eyes at what he says next.

"Ally, do you trust me?" I scoff at his utterly ridiculous question and narrow my eyes at him.

"Considering you drove my car and it is now sinking in quicksand, what do you think?" I say, trying to keep my anger down because honestly, even if I was beyond mad, shouting would be an irresponsible thing to do right now. But, it almost seemed like Austin wanted to push my buttons.

"I think you do trust me, even if you don't want to show it," the blond says with a smirk. I just roll my eyes again but then Austin completely surprises me when he jumps up and sticks half of his body out the open window. I gasp when Austin's huge action causes the car to sink again and I scramble to open my window too. This is a bad idea I think to myself when the window rolls all the way down with a click. I knew I shouldn't have been following him but really, I had to admit that in my moment of indecision on what I should do, I just let my body do whatever it wanted. And it seemed like it wanted to get me killed.

I draw in a shaky breath as I grip onto the side of the car. I steady one of my feet onto the window frame and then my other. My whole body is shaking with nervousness as I push upwards and try to suction my hands onto the roof of my car. Suddenly, a warm hand reaches down and grasps mine. Immediately, tingles shoot up and down my arm and through my body. I gasp at the feeling and then in a blink of an eye, I am standing on top of my sinking car.

"Thanks," I mumble, as I quickly pull my hand out of Austin's. Fortunately, he doesn't seem to think much of it. Then why am I? I wonder with full confusion.

"See! I knew you trusted me," Austin beams. I sigh and then occupy myself by scanning our situation. Obviously, my car was still slowly sinking. But, that wasn't the problem. Austin had gotten us out of the car, but we needed to get away from it and the quicksand. So, we need something…

"There, that huge branch!" Austin exclaims, looking at a rather large tree branch on the side of the road. It was quite far but we could reach it. The only problem was that it looked kind of unstable, just sitting on an angle there.

"Um, I don't know-," I start, while noticing all the bark was almost gone. The branch must be old and about to die.

"Ally, its fine. Let's just go," he says while shuffling to the hood of my car. I hesitate and then follow suit, glancing repeatedly to the ground, alarmed that I could just dip my foot and it would be completely covered in the wet sand.

I shake away those negative thoughts and just stand on the hood, observing Austin make his way to the branch. First, he puts one foot on the branch and it looks like he is attempting the splits. Then, with effort, Austin pushes forward and now, his entire body is not touching the car. Instead, he was balancing on the branch, still halfway away from the dry road.

"Okay Ally, now, do what I just did and follow me," Austin shouts without turning around. My eyes widen and I furiously shake my head, even though he couldn't see me. But, in the end, I am getting ready to put my foot on the stick. Unfortunately, not because I was incredibly courageous. It was because of the fact that the mud was now starting to crawl onto the hood. I suck in a breath and then feel a moment of lightness as I am in the air and then, I land on the piece of wood with a thud. I steady myself and then look straight to see Austin staring at me proudly. I just look away and proceed to move one foot in front of the other. After a couple of seconds, I look up to see Austin at the very end of the branch. He then takes a giant step and he lands on the dry, safe ground. I hear him sigh and that only makes me more anxious to get away from this sand, because I am now more than half way across the branch.

"Damn it," I hear Austin whisper. I whip my head up and see him holding his cell phone to the sky. My guess was that he was trying to find a signal. And, I was correct.

"Ally, you're doing fine. I'm just going to head down the road a little and see if I can get a signal. Is that okay?" And, at this exact moment, is where I shape everything. I thought that since Austin made it so easily across, I wouldn't have a problem either. I was too proud and thought that I could make it and when I got there, Austin would've already called someone for help. And that is one of my largest mistakes ever. But I didn't know that when I had answered him.

"Ya, sure. I'm almost there," I reply as I re- focus my attention to my feet. I hear Austin quickly say an "okay" and then his loud footsteps retreat farther away down the deserted road and I am left by myself. Everything is quiet as every step I take brings me back to safety. Then, my body vibrates and the branch shakes. I barely have time to process what is going on before Austin appears again.

"Ally, I called Dez. He should be here- Ally! Behind you!" Austin suddenly changes the topic and his eyes widen to an alarming size. He quickly raises his hand and points to something behind me. I waste no time before I whirl around and then I gasp.

Austin's POV

I grin as I put my cellphone back into my pocket. I had finally gotten a signal and I called Dez. He was just in the middle of watching a… Zalien marathon? Anyway, as soon as I explained to him what our situation was, I gave Dez the directions and he claimed that he was on his way. After he hung up, the smile had appeared on my face. Dez was actually a great guy. I wonder how Dez and Ally became friends anyway. The thought of Ally and suddenly, I was running. I mean, even if she was still mad at me, and honestly, I couldn't blame her, I can't stop caring. So, I run back to the opening where Ally is and I see that she is only a couple feet to the end of the branch, and back to the safety of the road. I instantly feel relieved.

"Ally, I called Dez. He should be here-," I start and then, something catches my eye and I abruptly stop talking.

"Ally! Behind you!" I suddenly shout to her, while pointing at the object. Directly, behind Ally was Delilah but the car was only one factor that was causing me to worry. The other was that she was sinking… fast. The quicksand had now captured her up to her roof. And I knew exactly what that meant. When the car completely sunk, it would create a massive air bubble that would cause the wet quicksand to ripple. And the large movement on the surface would cause the branch to…

Ally, seemed to realize this too for she sped up her pace. But, I could tell that she was having some trouble. The branch was now shaking because each time the car sunk lower, it pushed out a wave of sand that hit the branch. Ally's face was knit in concentration while she tried to focus on her footing and her speed. I couldn't take it, just standing here waiting. I ran up to her, and that was my first mistake.

I made it to the head of the branch and I looked out to Ally. She was trembling as each wave struck her off balance. Luckily, each time, she regained her position and kept on walking. But, it was taking too long. I am about to go and help her but, Ally seemed to understand my expression. She gasped.

"Austin, don't!" Ally shouted. "The branch-!" But, I didn't listen to her. Just seeing Ally so scared was making me do crazy things to protect her. And crazy also meant me acting stubborn and not listening to her. So, despite Ally's protests, I put all my weight onto the branch and this, is my second and largest mistake.

As soon as I am balanced on the branch, a loud roar is heard and I look behind Ally to see the last pink splotch of Delilah before it completely submerges. And just as I feared, the water rumbles and a huge bubble erupts to the surface before it fans out and crashes down in all directions. The branch we are standing on shakes violently and I finally comprehend what Ally meant. Between the waves and both of our weight, this old branch might not be able to handle it. Before I can turn around and jump off, a second noise fills the air and it is one that I was dreading. I look down and immediately see the wood crack and then it splits in half, splinters flying everywhere.

"No!" I scream as I dive down, as if I can grab both pieces and mend them back together. Suddenly, an ear splitting scream is heard and it is the scariest noise I have heard. The voice was filled with horror and pain. I forget about the branch and I look up to see… nothing. Ally. I scramble to my feet and scan the area. Everything has become still and silent. Then, an ever so small bubble appears to my left and I know, even without seeing, that it is Ally.

Ally's POV

I fly off the branch when it snaps and then, before I can make a sound, my back hits the quicksand and I sink. Austin! Austin! I think as I look at him. I see his shocked face as he tries to grab my side of the branch. I want to open my mouth and tell him that I am no longer on the branch but my muscles were frozen. That also explained why I couldn't move my arms to reach for something. Well, at least if I wasn't moving, I would stay afloat longer. That thought didn't help me though. Instead, my mind was going into overdrive thinking. More specifically, about Austin.

I feel my body shake with the branch as I struggle to stay balanced. It was so hard though. It was like walking on a tight rope during a wind storm. I feel my limbs start to go numb and I know that I have been overusing my muscles. Almost there I encourage myself. Suddenly, the branch tilts forward and I look up to see Austin. His expression was grim yet determined. His eyes were focused on the branch and suddenly, as if I could read his thoughts, I knew what he was going to do. I gasped.

"Austin, don't!" I shout to him frantically. But, he didn't seem to be listening. So, I tried again.

"The branch- it can't handle all this weight and the current!" I scream, hoping Austin would listen to me. Sadly, I don't think he does and just when he puts all his weight onto his side of the branch, the quicksand bubbles up behind me and then it comes to meet the branch. I cry out in fright and I see Austin's eyes widen. The impact of the sand knocks into the branch and because there was weight on my side and on Austin's, our piece of wood snaps and it sends me toppling into the gunk.

So, here I was now, slowly sinking in quicksand, wanting my last thoughts to be on family, love and my life but instead, I'm thinking of how idiotic Austin was. I mean, I had specifically told him not to go on the branch. But, he completely ignores me at a time like this and look where we ended up because of that.

I hadn't realizes how long I had been trapped in my thoughts but when I was pulled out of it, my chin was already touching the dirty sand. I let my eyes travel to the sky, wanting the clear sky and my tranquility to be my last memory. Goodbye, I think, before my head submerges and the quicksand takes me.

To be continued…

So, this is part one. The next chapter will be it. I hope you are all prepared.

Till next time.