Chapter 3

Kai's body floated halfway down when her head bumped against some rocks below the waterfall, waking her up. Though they were sure her body was dead because they drowned her, Kai had only fainted. As consciousness tiptoed back into her awareness, Kai's first instinct manifested in the tender gesture of rubbing her head as if to coax the remnants of clarity from the haze. Blinking away the residual fog, her gaze wandered across the surroundings, gradually piecing together the mosaic of reality but ignoring that she was breathing normally while underwater. Kai instantly began to hold her breath and panic, trying to swim back up, but the weight of the rocks held her down. Without using rope, Taylor planned to use Kai's jacket to sink her. He placed her feet through the sleeves of her jacket, knowing it wouldn't come off unless someone pulled them out. He then zipped up the jacket and put huge rocks inside, letting her sink with the jacket's collar pointing downwards. It was sufficient enough for him because she was thought to be dead and never to be found.

Kai's nimble fingers navigated the zipper of her jacket, the metallic rasp of it reverberating like a whispered symphony against the oppressive silence. With a determination that transcended the weight of the rocks pressing against her, she tugged fervently, each pull a desperate bid for liberation. As the struggle unfolded, a swift movement in her peripheral vision teased the edges of her mind, reminding her she wasn't in the water alone. Her senses heightened; she worked with an enthusiasm that mirrored her racing heartbeat, the urgency intensifying as her lungs, deprived of precious air, threatened to betray her resilience. Holding her breath with an almost superhuman resolve, Kai teetered on the brink of unconsciousness, the boundary between survival and surrender becoming increasingly precarious. In the penultimate moment, as the specter of faintness loomed, the rocks, like reluctant accomplices, yielded to her relentless efforts. Kai surged toward the surface, her trajectory propelled by the triumphant rhythm of emancipation. 

Cough Cough

 Drenched and shivering, Kai propelled herself through the water to the welcoming embrace of the shore. The complex process of freeing her feet from the jacket unfolded, each motion echoing pain throughout her tired body. With a long and uncertain path ahead, Kai began her journey, the moonlight casting formless shadows on her lone figure.

As her steps traced an uncertain path through the darkness, the frigid breeze clung to her scant attire — a mere undergarment and her jacket, a tattered cloak of vulnerability against the night. The solitude of the nocturnal landscape served as a silent witness to her journey.

In the peaceful ambiance, where only the moon dared to share its radiance, Kai's mind became an echoing chamber, resounding with the vivid fragments of the moments preceding her fainting spell. The spectral lady, dressed in black or a detailed outline, materialized in the moonlit tapestry, evading Kai's attempts to grasp the unreachable details. As the cold breeze whispered through the shadows, Kai's journey through the nocturnal realm became a dance with the unknown, a labyrinth of moonlit memories. Did she die? Was that lady an angel, here to take her away, or was that her biological mother? She couldn't tell. In the middle of thinking, she didn't notice, but before she knew it, she was home.

"Kai Amara Dean, what is wrong with you? I was worried sick! Her mother expressed, angered but happy to finally see her daughter come home. As Kai came closer to the porch the lights were able to reveal what was hidden. Her mother could see Kai's soaked undergarments and her jacket drenched. Oh, my baby, what happened? What happened to your clothes?" shouted Kai's mother.

"They tried to kill me, Mom," Kai whimpered.

"What? Who?"

"We were... k.k.k...kissing, and they started to p... their hands in each other's shorts, she... started to moan, and I backed away", Kai explained with her words breaking.

"James, call the police! Honey, listen you're scared and tired. However, you are going to have to be more clear than that."

"They both jumped me in the water and..., and I thought I had drowned because I don't remember anything but being at the bottom of the waterfall with rocks tied to my feet."

Kai's cold, shivering words hung in the air like an electric charge, crackling with an intensity that left her mother stunned and breathless. "Oh my god," she uttered, retreating with a hand clasped over her mouth as if trying to shield herself from the gravity of the narrative unraveling before her. The weight of disbelief and doubt hung heavy in the air, casting a palpable shadow over the room.

The arrival of law enforcement punctuated the atmosphere, their presence amplifying the gravity of Kai's disclosure. The Sheriff's vehicle, accompanied by his son, stood out conspicuously among the trio of cars. The son, an underlying accomplice to the haunting report, was the same individual who had drowned Kai. In an eerie tableau, their eyes locked in a mutual gaze, a momentary suspension of time that echoed with unspoken fears.

A hushed silence enveloped outside the house, shattered only by the profanity that escaped Taylor's mouth. "What the fudge," he muttered, the shock and realization etched across his face, a raw manifestation of the unexpected situation. Taylor wasn't a doctor, but for the amount of time she was submerged, he knew for a fact she should have been dead. In the kaleidoscope of Kai's mind, Taylor's visage flickered like fleeting embers, each moment etched with memorable intensity.

 In the recesses of her memory, expressions of fear and anger danced upon Kai's face, vivid fragments of the harrowing encounter that played out beneath the surface. Yet, while observing the emotions etched on Kai's features, Taylor grappled with profound confusion. Her hair, still damp from the ordeal, clung to the outlines of her resilience. In the aftermath, an eerie calm prevailed, for there were no visible scratches or bruises to bear witness to a life-and-death struggle.

"Good evening, folks. I'll have a word with your daughter, with your consent. I know she's 18, but she is still in school. This here is my boy Taylor. He goes to the same school and maybe having a friend or someone to talk to until this is solved-"

"No! Kai interrupted, backing away slowly."

"Sweety, what's wrong?" Kai's mother inquired, her hands instinctively finding their place on Kai's shoulders before she could retreat. Kai, leaning in, shared a whisper that transformed the warmth in her mother's gaze into a piercing intensity. Her eyes, once tender, now bore into Taylor with an unyielding focus. "Your son was the one who tried to hurt my daughter!" The words, uttered with a potent mixture of accusation and anguish, a sudden eruption creating family tension. 

 With his hands raised in a gesture of placation and his gaze sweeping across the assembled faces, the Sheriff intervened, his voice a measured attempt to diffuse the mounting tension. "Hold on now. Let's not jump to conclusions, okay? It's dark, and from what I can see, your daughter doesn't look hurt," he stated, his words weaving a delicate tale of caution and reason.

"Don't you dare call my daughter a liar! Go in the house, sweety, get out of those wet clothes. Back to you, is it true, young man? Did you put your hands on my daughter? Don't lie," Kai's Father roared.

With a sinister smile, Taylor responded, "Yes, I accidentally pushed her in the water. We were only playing, but once I saw the current was too strong, I got scared and ran to ask the others for help. However, when I came back, she was gone. I...I figured Jessica had helped her, and she was okay, Dad, I swear."

"Accidentally, my ass. I don't want you in jail because your father is the Sheriff, and I doubt you will be there long. I tell you what, you put your hands on my daughter again. She will have every right to defend herself and put you on your ass. Even worse, let me tell you this, you little punk if I catch you-" 

"Okay, let's not throw threats around," the Sheriff declared, placing one hand on his holster as the other grabbed his handcuffs.

"That girl, the one he named Jessica. I sure hope to hear something back from her, and it better be the same as my daughter's," Kai's father added, backing away.

The Sheriff turned towards his crew before speaking to his son, "Damnit, well, I'll be heading back towards her way, then get this solved. No more parties, and I swear on my mother and your grandmother, if there is anything else I need to know that you're leaving me out on, it won't be a good image on either of us."

"No, that's it, father."

"Okay, I suggest everybody stay in the house until this mess clears. I might be back tomorrow once I find out what's going on. Mr. Dean, have a good night, and I will see you around. Tell Sarah I'm sorry about all this, and if my boy is wrong, he'll make it right. Let's go, everybody heading to Jessica's house."

Upon arriving at Jessica's house, she and her parents begin to walk out, for she had already received a heads-up. "Sorry to be arriving so late, folks. We have a matter that happened sometime yesterday involving your daughter, my son, and another person."

"There was no need to get my parents involved. It was me, " Jessica bravely stated, revealing herself.

The Sheriff's son looked confused because Jessica's nose wasn't broken, not even scarred, even though he still smiled. He knew she would do and say anything to impress him.

"You are confessing that you did that to Ms. Dean?" The Sheriff asked, confused.

"Before you answer that, what happened to your nose? Wasn't it broken?" Taylor intervened.

"I'm not sure what happened to my nose, but as for the confession, I sure did, and I would do it again," Jessica confessed.

"Okay, hold that thought. We'll take you to the station to record that confession," said the Sheriff.

Once in the car, the Sheriff and his son huddled with Jessica. "Listen, this is the plan. We will take you down to the station, and we'd be grateful if you could agree to all the charges. I'll hold you in jail for about two days."

"You finally get to earn your stripes. Now that's hot," Taylor chimed in, deftly manipulating Jessica, causing a sly smile to play on her lips.

"Listen and stop fooling around, now, while you're in jail. We'll talk to Ms.Kai Dean, so she won't press charges when I ask her. Don't worry. Within those two days, I'll take good care of you, private cell; I'll bring you food so you don't have to eat the slop, a nice bed, TV, and wifi. Whatever you need to make those two days as unnoticeable as possible. Once that's handled with Kai, then you're home free," the Sheriff continued, his words laying the groundwork for a plan that unfolded in the confined space of the car. 

True to the orchestrated plan, the pieces fell into place with a chilling precision. Jessica's confession was obtained, a testament to the power and manipulation that unfolded in the shadows. The authorities promptly informed her bewildered parents of her detainment, cloaking the rest of the plan and only adding the forked path that depended on the uncertainty of whether Kai would choose to press charges in the morning.

As the wheels of justice turned, the Sheriff and his son, bound by a web of secrecy and familial ties, convened for a conversation in the calm stillness of the night. "What the hell were you thinking yesterday, boy? You shouldn't be involved in stuff like that."

"Really, I'm not trying to hear that from someone like you. You raised me like this, remember."

"Yeah, but I didn't raise you to be this darn sloppy," the Sheriff bellowed, his frustration finding a physical outlet in the forceful strike against the steering wheel. 

"That's the thing I wasn't. I was thorough. I tied rocks to Kai's feet and left her to sink at the bottom. Even before then, I held her down in the water for about fifteen minutes. As I gathered everything, we saw her floating on the surface, completely gone, with no heartbeat. There is no way. "

"I call bull, 15 mins, huh? So she's some Olympic medalist? What, she got a... a Guinness record of holding her breath. Is that what you're telling me? She held her breath for over an hour. Throughout you holding her down, watching her float, and tying her legs huh."