Chapter 360
Clementine:
I had a lot running through my head, but I knew that in that moment I had to get out and face the monster.
Slaying it was as important as keeping the tapes safe.
It felt like a huge discovery to me. I moved fast through the passage and found a spot under a heavy rock.
It seemed like the right place to hide the tapes or maybe the only spot where I could hide them.
I set the tapes there and pushed smaller stones over them to make sure they were covered.
My hands were shaking terribly, but I forced myself to leave and hurry back toward the entrance of the cave.
Once I stepped out from behind the waterfall, the cold hit my face again.
There was no time to think about what I had discovered.
I jumped into the water and swam hard toward the center of the river.
However, the moment I reached the open space, I saw several crusaders already in the water.
“Clementine!” Haiden lifted his head to take a deep breath and also called for me.
I realized they had been searching for me.
Their faces held visible fear until his eyes landed on me.
“I’m fine,” I called out, trying to keep my voice steady.
“I was only taking a short break,” I added as I waved my hand in the water.
Haiden swam toward me.
“What is going on? Where were you? You had us so worried,” he questioned.
We were both in the water now.
“I’m fine, I’m fine, don’t worry,” I repeated, giving him a reassuring look.
“But where is Mira?” I asked as the memory of what had happened to her returned.
“We had to rush her to the car. Ian, Renee, Sebastian and Troy are giving her aid,” he explained, and I began to think about who was left behind.
That meant Yorick, Joshua, Oriana, Haiden and I were the ones still here to fight the monster.
“And where is the monster?” I asked in confusion because it had kept moving in and out of the water, causing the flood to form, yet the water seemed strangely calm now.
“No idea,” Haiden responded.
There was tension in his voice.
His cheeks were turning red from the cold, and I felt as if I was going to lose my limbs.
“It went deep into the water, probably a little too deep this time,” Haiden explained.
“Oh God. When it comes out now, it is going to drag a lot of water with it,” I remarked, and Haiden began to nod.
However, I suddenly remembered the hall, the tapes, the cameras, everything.
My eyes moved on their own as I searched for any cameras around.
I even looked along the cliffs and up at the sky. Maybe they were watching us here too.
“What are you looking up there?” Haiden interrupted my thoughts, making me turn to him.
“The monster is in the water,” he remarked with a strained smile.
“No, I was just checking the storm,” I replied, giving him the simplest excuse I could think of.
“Let’s get out of the water first,” Haiden suggested, and I began to follow him.
We swam together to the bank.
Haiden climbed out first, then turned and offered me his hand.
I moved toward the same spot behind him and took it.
However, the moment I reached the shallow edge, the water erupted behind me.
This time the monster changed its pattern. It did not make a sound or wait.
Instead, it swung its tail across the surface in a strong arc.
Before I could get away from it, the tail struck me. My body flew backward into the water.
In those few moments of being thrown back, my eyes met Haiden’s, then Yorick’s, and then Joshua’s.
Shock spread across their faces, and I could already tell they feared what was about to happen to me.
In the next second, the monster dragged me under.
Everything went dark around me for a moment.
Water rushed into my ears.
As I sank and drifted downward with my face turned up, I saw three people jump into the water after me.
The monster swung its tail again under the surface, trying to reach Haiden and Yorick.
However, the two grabbed hold of the tail instantly.
The monster then waved its tail up and down, trying to shake them off.
This time it was reacting too much to our actions and not simply following a pattern.
However, there was someone else who reached me faster. It was Joshua.
I tried to move toward him, but pain stabbed through my stomach.
I looked down and saw a deep cut. The scale from the tail had sliced across my abdomen.
Blood spread through the water, turning it darker in color.
The scale had failed to lodge inside me as it had lodged in Mira, which was why I was free falling in the water.
But I could not swim. My legs felt weak. I assumed I was losing blood too quickly, and the cold water was numbing my body.
That was when I felt an arm wrap around my waist.
Joshua dragged me upward, kicking his legs faster and harder.
As soon as we broke the surface, I sucked in air and held onto Joshua’s shoulder to steady myself.
He kept his arm around me, making sure I remained above the water.
He pulled me toward the edge and made sure I climbed onto the ground first.
The moment my knees touched the ground, I reached for the bow and arrow I had dropped earlier.
I grabbed an arrow, lifted it, turned around and aimed straight at the monster’s eye.
Water dripped from my body, my hair and my arms.
My hands were freezing, yet they were steady.
“Everyone duck!” I screamed, because the monster was only a few inches out of the water and Haiden and Yorick were too close to its face.
They lowered their heads into the water, and I released the arrow, striking the monster in the eye.