The River

As usual, I was always the third wheel with my friend Heather and her boyfriend Sam. There is a canyon not far from where we lived and it only took about 15 minutes to get there. I had heard stories about this particular canyon, it was a place where people went to die. It was chosen because of how close it was to the city. There were many who chose to take their lives underneath the shade of the beautiful trees that grew in this canyon. My friend Chantel's uncle being one of them.

It was dusk, we drove up to the canyon to watch the stars. With our blankets and sleeping bags in tow, we drove. I sat in the back seat of the car, as the two in the front seats held hands. We were excited to see the stars from a higher elevation. We talked about our love for the stars and the moon and we just enjoyed spending time together as friends.

Then dusk seemed to bring a fog with it, a light mist filled the air. We parked the car next to a river that ran down the middle of the woods. The sound of the water invaded our thoughts as we settled ourselves in for an evening of stargazing. We laughed and talked about the fun things we had planned for the next day, how fun it was going to be to stare at the stars, and just how beautiful the water in the river looked as it was visible from where we were standing. I was grateful for these friends, they really made life fun. Heather had long blond hair and blue eyes, she was thin with a sharp-pointed nose. She was stunning, and she knew it. Sam was no exception, he was outstandingly beautiful. A term not easily used on a man, but nevertheless, he was perfect. Bright blue eyes, blonde hair, and the perfect tan. He really took care of himself, and it showed. I was no beauty, just an overweight mess with blonde hair and blue eyes. So hanging out with these two would make anyone feel a tad bit inadequate. However, they never seemed to make me feel like I was beneath them.

We laid out our blankets on a grassy hill not far from a gorgeous green spruce tree. We laughed about Heather's fear of scary things like spiders and ghosts. The sky grew darker, and cars were driving by honking and people were yelling crass jokes out of their vehicle windows. Most of the jokes we ignored and we focused our energy on watching the sky. As we laid out under the stars, you could still hear the water rushing downhill. Then out of the blue, a soft voice whispered loud enough for us to all hear. "Where are you?" it said. We looked at one another, surprise on our faces, and the reality that we all heard that same voice. Not one of us spoke, the silence in the air was thick. Finally, I spoke "That voice, where did it come from?" no one said anything. We waited, listening to hear the voice again. All there was, was silence and the sound of rushing water. A spooky feeling came over us for a bit, we stayed silent. "I'm not doing this," said Heather. "I'm not about to have nightmares all night, because of something we think we thought we heard". She was so matter-of-fact, trying to pretend like we all didn't hear it. As if her words were all that was needed. A loud thudding sound came drifting over the water, as if her words triggered it, we couldn't be sure. A drum started to beat and chanting began to echo through the trees. We couldn't make out the words, just the same repetitive voices saying the same thing over and over. Sam and I looked at each other, and our curiosity was peaked. Heather's curiosity was not peaked, and she begged us to leave. "Please you guys, we have to get out of here!"

"How can we possibly leave, why would we leave?" said Sam. He told her to go sit in the car, and both he and I adventured towards the river. I wasn't about to miss whatever this was. We had to know where this chanting was coming from.

The darkness began to creep in as the chanting grew louder. We were next to whatever it was, or we were just getting closer to whatever it was. "What do you think it is Sam?" I said. He shrugged his shoulders and held his finger to his lips in an effort to keep me quiet. As we walked, there were bushes next to the river, they were blocking our view from whatever was on the other side. He moved the bushes away, trying to peer into the forest to try to give himself a better view at whatever it was that was making the noise. I stood behind him, worry eminent on my face. Standing in the middle of the river were figures standing in a circle. The darkness made it seem as if they were just cloaked figures in dark black robes. We started walking around the bushes, to try and get a better look. "What are they doing?" I whispered. Sam turned and gave me a stern look, and put his finger again to his lips to urge me to silence myself. Without even a second to process what was happening, he grabbed my hand and propelled me towards them. I didn't stand a chance, they were there for me. The reality of what was going on came crashing down on me, along with the cold hard waves of the water. The figures grabbed at my clothing and held me under the water. I couldn't breathe, I couldn't call out for help. I forced my head above water to gasp for air and to see who my captors were. They had no faces, there was nothing but black. "Why had Sam thrown me at them?" I thought. "Was he working with them?" What was going on? I tried to call out but was again silenced as they finally forced me back into the water. Was I being sacrificed? How would I ever break free? Was I doomed? The questions kept coming into my mind with no hope for an answer. The fear I felt was strong and overwhelming. I had to break free, I had to get away, but how? Finally, the world around me started to turn black. I was losing my fight, the cold water was taking over and my strength was waning. I was done, I couldn't keep going. As my body lost strength, and I stopped resisting. I felt myself floating, no longer breathing, I was gone. No answers to what happened, or why Sam pushed me, or if he was working with these things. They weren't human, they weren't anything. Whatever they were, I was now their's. As my spirit left my body, one of the figures disappeared. I could see my body come back to life, only... I wasn't in my body. The blue eyes I once had were now dark, and whatever it was that took over my body. It was not there for anything good.