Grishma (Necoh Saga) (5 page)

Ah! That smile made her knees feel like jelly!

“Yeah, let me show you where it is.”

After helping her up, Brooklyn realized her foot already felt ten times better. She was even able to bear weight on it.

As if he was reading her mind, Ryder asked, “How’s your foot feeling?”

“A lot better. That medicine is amazing,” she said.

The bathroom reminded her of an ancient Greek aqueduct. There was more or less a seat with a hole and running water flowing beneath. There was even a sink with clean running water you could pump from a different underground stream. At least Brooklyn hoped it was a different stream.

Brooklyn left the bathroom and managed to find her way to the kitchen, where Ryder was preparing breakfast.

After taking a look at her foot and applying new medicine to the wound, Ryder wrapped it in a clean bandage and served breakfast.

“Yum, this is delicious!” proclaimed Brooklyn. “What is it?”

“Lera berries with fresh cream and homemade bread,” replied Ryder. “If you’d like, we can go pick some today. That is, if your foot is feeling up to it.”

“Do they grow underground?” asked Brooklyn with a confused look on her face.

“No, silly, we would have to go up to the surface,” said Ryder with a smile.

His teeth are perfect,
she thought as she tried not to stare.

“Does that sound good?” he asked.

“Yup, I would love to see what Necoh looks like on the surface,” replied Brooklyn.

After they finished eating she helped Ryder clean up the kitchen. Their hands touched while they were washing the dishes. Brooklyn inhaled sharply. Her hand tingled where his had brushed against hers.

Ryder went to find Brooklyn a pair of shoes while she put the dishes away on open shelves.

When he returned, he handed her a pair of leather shoes that had been well worn. Remembering that they probably belonged to his mother, Brooklyn simply thanked him and slipped them on. She had to loosen one to fit over her bandaged foot.

After enough twists and turns to qualify as a maze, Brooklyn and Ryder reached the surface. Although they were under the cover of dense brush and foliage, the natural light still felt blinding. It took her several minutes before her eyes adjusted and she was able to take in her surroundings.

“Wow,” Brooklyn gasped. “It’s beautiful.” As she looked around she saw exotic looking plants and flowers that were vibrant blue, green, purple, and pretty much any color you could imagine. Large ferns easily stretched twenty feet above their heads. “Ryder, this is amazing.”

He grinned. “Come on, let’s get some lera berries and I can show you a little bit more of Necoh.”

They didn’t have to walk far to get to the lera berries. Ryder set down two wooden buckets he had been carrying. “Let’s see if we can fill these.”

Ryder and Brooklyn got to work picking the sweet, tangy lera berries by the handful. Within minutes, Brooklyn had already filled a quarter of her bucket.

“You must really like living here, it’s so peaceful and beautiful,” murmured Brooklyn.

“Well, it’s different, and I don’t have to put up with Jocelyn and her pretentious family,” replied Ryder. After a moment he added, “It must be nice to have a break from your brother and that asshole Kai,” he added.

His words shook Brooklyn. In all of the craziness she had completely forgotten about Kai and Parker. Her heart ached just thinking about the two of them together. Brooklyn turned her back and fumed as she continued to pick berries.
Why would he bring that up? Is he trying to be an asshole?

Realizing he had done something wrong, Ryder called out, “Seriously, why do you even care about a loser like him?”

“Can we just please drop it?” she snapped.

“Um, yeah, sure, sorry. I just didn’t think you would be into someone like that,” he retorted.

Ugh! I wish he would just shut up!
Brooklyn focused on the task at hand.

Several more minutes passed before either of them spoke. Finally Ryder turned to apologize. “Look, Brooklyn, I’m really sorry. It’s just that—” but before he could finish, he realized she wasn’t where he had left her. She was gone. His heart began to race and sweat dampened his brow.

“Brooklyn? Brooklyn! Where are you?” he yelled frantically. He searched for her high and low but he couldn’t find her anywhere. He began to fan out and search a larger area. That’s when he found her, sitting next to a pond, with her head in her hands, sobbing.

He felt terrible. Her tear-streaked face reminded him of when his little sister Brianna would cry. “Brooklyn, hey, Brooklyn—look, I’m really sorry! I was just being an ass, please, stop crying.”

She looked up at him, but before she could utter a single word, a horrifying shriek filled the air. Her hands slammed to cover her ears to protect herself from the deafening sound. She felt blood trickling through her fingers as she attempted to run to Ryder.

Before she had made it two steps she felt something grab at her legs. She tripped and crashed to the ground. Pain shot through her injured foot and up through her arm. As she attempted to get up, it was as if her nightmares were coming true. That’s when she felt Grishma’s hot, repulsive breath on the back of her neck.

Brooklyn was too terrified to attempt to turn and face her attacker.
So this is what it’s like to die…
she thought.

“Brooklyn!” she could hear Ryder’s pleading and frantic cries, but it was too late. She knew it was over.

As she felt Grishma inhale deeply she could only guess what was coming next. She weakly attempted to cover her ears as it unleashed the worst sound she had ever heard. As the pain overcame her senses she looked out to see Ryder charging them, then everything went black.

Adrenaline coursed through Ryder’s veins as he ran toward Grishma. He couldn’t let it take someone else away from him!

He frantically searched the forest floor for some type of weapon. Finally, his eyes landed on a large rock with several sharp points. He picked it up and hurled it at the monster’s head.

Grishma ducked out of the way and laughed. “Is that all you’ve got, boy?”

“Damn you! Leave her alone!” he screamed as he picked up another rock and threw it.

The beast roared as the rock made direct contact with her jaw.

He sprinted toward Brooklyn’s limp body, but before he could get close enough, the gruesome monster snatched her up and raced into the woods.

Ryder attempted to follow them for several miles. However, the task soon became pointless as Ryder lost its track in the thick foliage.

He sat down and buried his head in his hands. “How the hell could I let this happen again?” he yelled. Tears of frustration and anger filled his eyes, causing his voice to choke. He pounded his fists into the damp dirt and screamed out in pain.

Chapter Five

“L
et go of me!” Brooklyn
screamed as she desperately tried to free herself from Grishma’s razor sharp claws.

“Ouch!” Thin leafy tree branches snagged Brooklyn’s clothing and swatted her in the head as the beast sprinted through the thick foliage.

How can I escape? Where is it taking me?
Brooklyn’s mind flooded with questions of survival as she frantically scanned her surroundings, hoping for some type of escape route.

Is that a river?
Brooklyn strained her eyes to see through the gradually thinning forest. Sure enough, a substantial, quickly flowing body of water was directly in front of them.

Dusk was approaching by the time they reached the muddy banks of the river. Grishma dumped Brooklyn on the ground with a
thud
. She pretended to be unconscious as the hideous beast inspected her. It was all she could do to keep from throwing up as it breathed directly on her face.
Yuck! And I thought coffee breath was bad. This is the worst smell ever!

After Grishma left to drink some water from the river, Brooklyn surveyed the area around her and an escape plan began to formulate in her mind.
If I can just make it to the river, the current might be fast enough to carry me away before Grishma can even react!

She waited for the beast to return and settle on the ground a few feet away. Bile was creeping up her throat. She tried hard to keep it down. After a short time, the beast appeared to be sleeping.
This is my chance!
Silently, Brooklyn crawled commando style toward the edge of the river.

Almost there, just a few more feet, keep going! I’m going to make it!

That’s when it happened. Her foot caught on an exposed tree root and made the smallest of sounds. Grishma instantly snapped its ginormous head around and zeroed in on Brooklyn as she was approaching the fast moving murky water.

Before the wretched beast could open its deadly jaws and release a bloodcurdling scream, Brooklyn hurled herself into the water.

Brooklyn gasped as her body entered the river. The water was so frighteningly cold her limbs struggled to keep her afloat.

From the corner of her eyes, she could see Grishma racing down the shoreline. Luckily, the gruesome beast appeared to avoid entering the fast flowing water.

I’ve got to get to the other side,
she thought, paddling hard to the shore only a few feet away. “I’m going to make it!” she screamed.

Then something happened. The water’s already frigid temperatures dropped further and every laborious kick of her legs got heavier, like she was swimming through slush. She reached out to the shrubs. Her fingers grazed the leaves. She needed to find the strength to close her hands around the branches. Her teeth chattered and her hands were blue.
Just a little closer!

Suddenly, something brushed up against her leg. Brooklyn began to thrash and flail in the water. She kicked her legs wildly, trying to move away from whatever just touched her. Now the branches were behind her and completely out of reach. The current sucked her further down the river. Her head bobbed below the surface. She gasped for air, but water took its place and she choked.

Something tugged her under.
I’m going to drown! I’m going to die here in Necoh!
If she weren’t already underwater, tears would have flowed down her face. Her emotions made her chest heave and more water rushed up her nose. One final surge of adrenaline coursed through her body, giving her the willpower to reach the surface again. When her head finally burst through the surface, she gasped desperately for air.

Before she could think about death any further, she felt another more powerful tug. This time, she forced her eyes open to view her attacker.

A large blue tentacle wrapped itself around her leg and began to squeeze. Squinting to see what the tentacle was attached to was a huge mistake.

A muted scream escaped Brooklyn’s lips as the creature resembling a horrifying mix of a sea serpent and some type of squid tugged her under the frigid water.

The bluish-black creature was as long as a school bus and at least ten tentacles extended from its elongated body. Its head was shaped like a large pumpkin, the kind Brooklyn used to carve for Halloween when she was a little girl.

Checking on its prey, the snake-like beast turned its head around to inspect her. Additional tentacles poked and prodded her and its yellow eyes glared at her. She knew she only had seconds left until her air supply was fully depleted.

Damn it! What can I do?
Then, an idea popped into her head. She had always been a huge Animal Planet fan and she remembered watching a show during Shark Week that gave pointers to individuals who were being attacked by a shark.
Play dead! No wait—that was if a bear was attacking you. Oh yeah, if a shark was attacking you, you were supposed to poke it in the eyes!

Using her last bit of energy, she thrust her fingers toward the monster’s bright yellow eyes.

A loud hiss erupted from the creature’s mouth and it instantly released Brooklyn from its grasp.

Yes! It worked!

Without hesitating a second longer, she swam to the surface and sucked in air. It had never felt so good to breathe! After filling her lungs with much-needed oxygen, Brooklyn glanced at her surroundings. The woods had thinned and she was quickly approaching a clearing.