chapter 7
The next morning, Trinity woke up more refreshed than she had all week. The feeling put her in such a good mood that she decided to run some errands. Maybe when she was out, she would swing by and visit Joseph and Renée, her old foster parents. She quickly got ready and left before changing her mind.
She knew she had to go by the store first, because she never showed up empty handed. Of course, they were always persistent in telling her that she didn’t need to bring anything, but she couldn’t help it. They had spent so long taking care of her, and now, she tried to help them out whenever possible. She owed them so much. Without them, Nicci and she would never have gotten the chances they did in life and this was just her way of helping take care of them for a change.
The last time she came here it was with Renée, and Trinity had caught her eyeing a nice new purse. It wasn’t a designer brand and didn’t cost that much, but when Trinity mentioned that she get it, she started mumbling about the hot water heater and dishwasher needing fixed. Well today, Trinity decided to surprise her with it.
The next stop was the grocery side of the store. She knew she needed food for her place but decided to get it later. This trip was for Joseph and Renée and the children that were with them now.
Smiling a wicked grin, she reached the snack isle and walked up to the cookies. They hardly ever splurged on junk food; always claiming that it rots teeth. Trinity would always joke that their teeth were going to fall out anyway, so why not. That worked pretty well until the kids got older. Oh well, she thought as she placed the snacks in her cart; kids needed treats too. Smiling, she thought of the hardship of taking them home if they didn’t want to keep them. It was a win, win.
While she was browsing the shelves, a family entered the isle. It was hard not to notice them; kids were yelling, others were arguing, and one was…seeing how fast he could skip down the aisle? Man oh man, she thought. They had to have two carts. One held a little girl in the front area, and the other one held a toddler in the big part. Not only that, but there were two older boys walking next to the carts.
As she watched discreetly from the corner of her eye, she saw that all the children were scanning the shelves for their own snack. To top off the chaos, the man and woman were trying to hit each other with their carts, laughing and smiling at each other the whole time. What craziness! Except, it was also something she longed to have someday, a big family. She wanted the husband that looked at her with love in his eyes, and children that thought she was the most wonderful person in the world. There would never be a shortage of people that loved her, and she would never be alone in the world again.
She left the aisle with a sigh and two packages of fudge striped cookies.
Trinity was almost done shopping. Making her way to the produce section, she had to grab some fresh fruits and vegetables. This way she could make up for the sugar snacks by bringing healthy stuff as well.
By the time she was done, she had five full bags of food for them. She couldn’t wait to get out of the store. Walking towards the door, she braced herself to walk out into the…
Where was the rain? Holy cow! It had stopped raining. Was that the sun?
All Trinity could do was stop and stare. The goofy grin on her face matched the other people leaving and entering the store. After two weeks of dreary weather, she was afraid she had forgotten what the sun felt like on her skin. “Glorious!” She thought.
Their summer had been so dry and when it had started raining, the ground had been so hard and couldn’t soak up all the water fast enough. As a result, the river had flooded over at many locations. The whole city had been in an uproar, praying that the rain would stop before more damage occurred. Let’s just hope that this sun is a sign of better weather to come.
Trinity loved this; she got into her car and rolled down her window to let in the fresh air. Turning on her radio, she started driving to the place she used to call home.
When she pulled in the driveway, the house looked deserted. Their van was gone and all the shades in the windows were closed. Damn. She scolded herself for not calling first.
After unloading the car, she went up and knocked on the front door, just in case. When no one came, she placed the bags gently on the ground so she could grab the spare key. She would just put the stuff away, then get going.
When she stepped inside, she closed her eyes and took a deep breath in. The house had always smelled the same and was always comforting to her. It had a faint musty smell blended with a stronger aroma of homemade bread. It was the smell of home.
Trinity went to the kitchen to unload the groceries. When she was finished, she neatly put her surprise on the counter for Renée and wrote a note to both of them that said she was sorry she missed them, she would see them soon, she loved them, oh, and the cookies were in the cupboard. She smiled when she wrote the last part, picturing Renée shaking her head.
She was humming on her way back to her car. It’s amazing what a good night’s rest can do to a person. It could also be the weather, she thought, glancing at the sky. The sun was finally out making the temperature reach into the eighties. With the slight breeze, it was turning out to be a gorgeous day. Climbing into her car, she decided she wasn’t ready to go home yet.
Instead of heading straight home, she decided that she needed some sustenance. There was a new bakery that just opened up close to her house that she wanted to try out. She didn’t have to be anywhere at the moment, so she thought it was the perfect time. “Heck, I might even get Nicci something too. She feeds me enough.” Trinity flicked her lucky miniature troll doll hanging from her mirror. “What do ya think?”
As she was driving, she turned up the radio when a song came on that she hadn’t heard in a long time, and she couldn’t help but sing along. “Joseph Stalin, Malenkov, Nasser and Prokofiev, Rockefeller, Capinilla, Communist Bloc, Roy Cohn, Jos Parone, Taskanini Da Non, Dah Blah Blah, “Rock around the Clock.” She laughed at the fact that she still got tongue tied on the words after all these years trying to keep up with Billy.
Turning down the radio, Trinity concentrated on where she was. The bakery was a few miles away after the bridge that she was approaching. She was so close, she could practically taste the icing on her tongue when she thought of the sugary selection they would have.
Of course, the moment she thought about it, the traffic over the bridge turned into a standstill. It wasn’t a large bridge, just big enough to go over a break off from the north branch of the river. There was only one lane on either side and the bridge was close to five car lengths long. With cars on all three sides of her and the side of the bridge on the other, she was well and truly stuck.
“Ugh! Come on! What’s going on?” The bridge was full and both sides were at a complete stop. She craned her neck out the window, but couldn’t see what was going on.
All of the sudden, she heard a squeal from outside her car. “Ms. Bradshaw!! Hey, Ms. Bradshaw!!”
She turned her head in the direction she heard the yelling coming from and noticed two of her students waving frantically at her. They were on the opposite side of the bridge, but the cars were positioned in a way where they had a direct line of vision to her. As Trinity gave them a smile and waved, she was racking her brain to remember their names. She knew one was from her third period and the other from fourth. She could even remember where they sat, but she couldn’t think of their…
“Ah, Katie and…Jennifer” she mumbled to herself.
Satisfied by her acknowledgment, they returned their attention to each other and continued to bounce and sing. Ah, to be that carefree…
No cars were moving and it looked as if she was going to be there for a while. While she was waiting, she decided to call Nicci and see what she wanted. She put her phone on speaker when it started to ring and clipped it into its holder. After numerous rings, Nicci finally answered.
“Hey you.”
“So, I got a wild hair up my rear and decided to check out the bakery that just opened. I was gonna get you something. What would you like?” Trinity already knew what her friend would say.
“You don’t have to do that.”
Rolling her eyes at her oh so predictable friend, she replied back. “I know I don’t. You always feed me, and now it’s my turn. I’m in a good mood…it’s a nice day…the sun is ou-” Trinity looked out the window and she saw that clouds had rolled back in, and were slowly covering the sun again. The temperature started to slowly drop, but she refused to roll up her window just yet. “Okay, so, the sun was out.”
She heard chuckling on the other side of the phone. “Fine, whatever, what do the donuts look like?”
“I don’t know. I’m not there yet.”
“Oh! Where are you?”
Trinity craned her neck again to try and see what the holdup was. “Grrr…I am stuck on the Washington Bridge. No one’s moving.”
“That stinks. There’s no way to turn around and cross somewhere else?”
“No, I’m boxed in.” Trinity glanced at the river. “It is kind of disheartening to be stuck on a bridge with a raging river below me.”
“I thought you said you were on the Washington Bridge? There’s hardly anything to the river there; how can it be raging?”
She looked back down at the river and remembered what it looked like just a week ago and could understand why Nicci thought what she did. “It’s all the rain we’ve gotten. The water’s up and flowing fast.”
Trinity tried to get back to the sole reason why she had called. “Okay. Do you know what you want, food wise?
“No. You’ll have to call me when you get there to tell…”
The loud rumble outside her car made her interrupt her friend. “Whoa!!”
Just then, the bridge started to shake.
Malachi was standing and staring at the river…waiting; just like he had been for the past twenty minutes.
Finally Gideon said exactly what he was thinking. “What the hell are we doing here?”
Terah sighed before explaining herself again. “I don’t know exactly.” She looked over at Malachi but then glanced quickly away before continuing. “I just know that we’re supposed to be here, at this time.”
Everyone just sighed and went back to looking around and…waiting. No one was willing to question Terah when she thought they were supposed to be somewhere.
While everyone was looking everywhere else, he was looking at Terah. She had been acting strange ever since she had mentioned this to everyone; avoiding him and never making eye contact. He knew that she was hiding something and he vowed to find out what soon enough.
For now, he went back to observing his surroundings. They had come to a place by the river. It was a secluded area with trees sporadically placed in a large open area. The width of the river had increased dramatically, making it engulf trees that were once beside the water. The amounts of rainfall had also increased the speed of the current, thus increasing the danger. The looks were ominous, but it was not different from other places in the city.
Looking up, he watched as clouds drifted back over the sun. It was nice while it lasted, he thought. Along with the wind and rain, it was turning out to be another shitty day, weather wise.
Malachi looked over his right shoulder to the bridge they were near. He could see how the cars weren’t moving and saw the construction workers on either side. Already thinking that it was odd to have both sides stopped, he looked closer at what the men were doing.
After a few minutes of watching, he noticed the workers were leaving the bridge and convening on one side of the river, opposite of them. The workers started to walk parallel to the river in their direction. By this time, everyone on his team had zeroed in on the men and were waiting for something to happen.
Finally, the crew had walked the distance of the river and when they were directly across, turned their attention to the team. Slowly the construction crew parted to reveal a finer dressed man in the middle of them all. Malachi’s whole body stiffened. The man looked to be in his early thirties and was wearing a pinstripe suit that did nothing to disguise his build. All the while, he had a smirk on his face while he twirled the cane he was holding, staring at only Malachi the whole time
Everyone gave a collective gasp. “Who is that?” Tori asked in shock.
“Wow” was all Terah could manage to get out.
His four teammates all looked confused as to what was going on, but Malachi knew exactly who he was staring at. He had met him once before and knew he would never forget the man who had almost killed him years ago. “Azazel”
“What did you say?” Gemariah asked as if he couldn’t believe what he had heard.
“That’s Azazel.” Malachi said through gritted teeth as he unsheathed his sword. His entire team drew their weapons as well when they finally snapped to attention.
Gemariah stepped up to Malachi who wouldn’t take his eyes off the fallen one. “Are you ready for this?”
Malachi didn’t think he could get any more ready. “Oh yeah.”
“Well then…we got your back. Be careful.”
The moment Gemariah got done speaking, Azazel’s smirk widened into a full grin, as if he knew what was going through Malachi’s head and thought the idea was funny. He watched as Azazel’s hand came up and gave a mock salute.
At that moment, everyone’s attention was drawn to the bridge as a deep roar sounded from its direction. They watched as the areas where the bridge met land fell into the river once they were destroyed. In the next instant, the pillars holding up the bridge exploded, followed by the middle, which made the bridge crumble into the river. The screams could be heard from where they were standing when the bridge started to collapse.
When Malachi looked back over to where Azazel was, the area was empty. No! He was gone!! He knew he couldn’t let him get away, not when he had spent a few lifetimes searching for him and now was so close. He took a step in that direction but was stopped when Tori grabbed his arm.
“You can’t, Malachi! Not today, not now.” Pointing to where the bridge used to stand, she continued. “There are a lot of people there that will need you and your ability.”
He stared at the spot his great grandfather had just stood. He wanted more than anything to go after him. His inner demons were struggling with indecision, until Gemariah came over to him.
“Don’t give in man. This is your chance to prove you’re nothing like him. You have two choices; save or destroy. If you walk away from this, you will be letting people die that you could have helped. Pick the one that makes you a better man. You will find him again and get your chance. I promise!”
He knew everything Gemariah said was true, but it was still hard. Without saying a word, he squared his shoulders, sheathed his weapon, and turned in the direction of the bridge.
“Oh my God!!” Trinity threw her hands out to brace herself at the first shake.
“What? Rin! What’s going on?” Trinity could hear the panic in her friend’s voice from the phone.
She started looking around frantically for an explanation, and then there was a loud sound of an explosion. She quickly placed her hands over her ears, but it didn’t stop the now ringing sound coming from them.
Breathing heavy and starting to panic, she looked towards the car that held Katie and Jennifer. They were clearly scared and started to open their doors to get out when the section of the bridge in front of her car exploded. Dust and debris flew up in the air all the way across the bridge, successfully cutting it in half.
That’s when everything started happening at once. They were starting to fall. The bridge was actually collapsing!
She could hear Nicci yelling into the phone; wondering what was going on.
“The bridge…The bridge!!!” That was all Trinity got yelled out before she had to brace herself for impact. She didn’t know if she was going to hit water, or pieces of the bridge, but all she could do at his point was hold on. She squeezed her eyes shut and held her breath…
When she finally hit, it was mostly water. That didn’t mean it was a soft landing by any means, but she was still alive! Luckily she still had been wearing her seatbelt, but that didn’t stop her from getting knocked around a few times. The injury on the side of her head proved it.
There was a split second of stillness, after the car came to a rest upside down in the river. It was starting to sink, hood first, and she knew she had to act fast. She pulled herself out the window, but was immediately swept away by the water’s current.
Trinity struggled to keep her head above the water and thought she was going to drown a few different times. The current would drag her under, spin her every which way, and spit her back out. This happened a few times, and she knew she was losing a lot of energy fighting to stay afloat.
She saw a tree coming up and thought to make a grab for it. When the time came, she missed the branch she was trying for and the movement sent her spinning under water again. When she surfaced, Trinity blurrily saw another tree up ahead. She knew she didn’t have much more fight in her and this could possibly be her last chance.
She stretched and reached for the tree…she missed. At the last second her palm skimmed a small twig coming off a branch and she latched onto it for dear life. Grunting from trying to exert more energy than she had, she pulled herself up to the thicker branch and was able to maneuver herself to the trunk.
Trinity was trying frantically to catch her breath but was unsuccessful. Unbelievably, she made it! Then she started thinking about all the other people on the bridge and wondering how they were fairing. Turning her head the direction she came from, she strained her eyes trying to find anyone, but saw nothing. She noted there were no flashing lights and figured no one had arrived yet.
“What am I going to do?” she mumbled to herself. Should she try to swim to shore now that she had her bearings back or stay in the tree until someone finds her?
Trinity looked down at herself to judge the condition she was in. Her arms along with her hands were covered in small wounds from the tree and her entire body felt bruised. That was not including the massive headache she had from when her car fell. Overall, she didn’t think she was strong enough to make it to land.
As she waited there, she marveled in the absolute silence. She knew there was complete chaos just around the bend, but the sound of the rushing water masked everything else. After a few minutes had passed she heard something new, but couldn’t make out what it was. It sounded like… Oh God! Someone was screaming!
She looked everywhere, searching for the source, but saw nothing. At last, she saw a head…no two…go under the water. Other people were coming down the river! When they surfaced, the crying started again and she got a good look at them. It was the girls she had seen on the bridge.
Trinity yelled out, but they couldn’t hear her. They were about to pass her and she judged that they would be in grabbing distance. She gathered up the rest of her strength and started maneuvering to the other side of the tree. She would have only one chance, but she had to try.
When the girls got closer, Jennifer was the first one to see her. It looked like she was dragging but was still holding onto Katie with all her might. She started trying to swim with both of them toward the tree while gasping for breath.
Trinity climbed over to the farthest branch she could find and latched on with one hand while stretching out the rest of her body to try and catch them. The current was so strong that it kept trying to pull her away, but she was holding on too tight.
Finally the girls were close and Trinity knew she had stretched out far enough to try and catch them. She didn’t know what she was expecting, but it wasn’t the tremendous force of the impact they happened to be. When she caught them, the hit nearly made her lose her grip on the branch.
Jennifer was crying as she clung to her and Katie both. “Please help us, oh please! Katie is barely moving, and I am so tired. Please!”
“Jennifer!” Trinity snapped. She felt her grip slipping on the tree and needed the girl to move. “Focus! Pull both of you to the center of the tree and hold on.” She finished with a nod in the right direction. She might have been abrupt, but if Jennifer didn’t start moving, they would all be floating down the river again.
“Okay.” Jennifer’s voice was shaky, but at least she did as she was told. The girl used Trinity’s body to pull herself over and the whole time Trinity was praying her hand didn’t slip any more than it already had.
Once the girls had passed and were on the tree, she started to climb back as well.
Jennifer was talking a mile a minute and Trinity couldn’t keep up with everything she was saying. “Ms. Bradshaw, what happened? Could you please look at Katie, she’s really hurt? Are you okay? I saw you fall when we were falling. Our car landed on a piece of bridge in the water, but I saw your car upside down and halfway underwater. I thought you didn’t make it. Are you okay?”
Trinity knew she had to check out the other girl, but first cupped Jennifer’s face in her hand. “Shh…” When Jennifer looked at her, she told her, “We are going to be okay, but I need you to breathe.” She took a few deep breaths in and out until Jennifer copied what she was doing. After a couple minutes, Jennifer eventually calmed slightly down and Trinity moved over to the next girl.
Jennifer was right; Katie was barely moving, but what she didn’t know was that the girl was also barely breathing. Looking over Katie’s body, Trinity tried to pinpoint the exact cause, but it was hard because of the circumstances they were in. Admitting that she could do nothing else at this point, she made sure both girls were secure enough in the tree before she situated herself.
Jennifer’s shaking was starting to intensify and Trinity was getting worried that she was going into shock. She needed to get her mind focused on something else for a little bit. “Hey Jen, can you talk to me about something?”
Jennifer looked confused at her question.
Making her think it was for her benefit, she continued. “I don’t care what about. My nerves are on overdrive and I thought it might help to think of something else. Who knows, maybe it will make the time go faster.”
That was all it took and slowly Jennifer started talking. She told her about how Katie and she became friends in Kindergarten, all the while gently moving the hair from her friend’s face. She then went on to different topics while Trinity listened. Throughout the conversation, Trinity checked on Katie and occasionally adjusted all of their positions to make them more secure. Unfortunately for them, Trinity also noticed that the water had been slowly rising on the tree.
A good amount of time passed and no one had come for them or even acknowledged that they had been seen. Trinity could barely make out flashing lights in the distance. As she was looking at the path she had travelled from the bridge, she saw something was headed their way. Initially thinking it was a log, she was glad that it was nowhere near them, but at closer inspection, she saw that it was actually a person.
It was approaching too fast; she wouldn’t be able to make it in time! Trying anyway, Trinity quickly maneuvered down the tree again. When she grabbed on to the branch to stretch out, she got a closer look at the person and immediately felt like she would be sick. His lifeless eyes were open on a head that was barely attached to the body. Immediately recoiling, Trinity squeezed her eyes shut and turned away.
“Oh God! Is he…” Jennifer didn’t finish the question. She didn’t have to; Trinity knew what she meant by the catch in her voice.
“Don’t look! Just…look away.” Trinity was still fighting the bile rising in her throat as she slowly made her way back to the trunk.
They both were so preoccupied with their thoughts that they didn’t see the log coming towards them till it was too late. Jennifer was the first one to see it and yelled out a warning which made Trinity jerk around. In a moment’s panic, she tried to use a low branch to launch herself out of the water, but instead of the intended result, her ankle got lodged between two branches to successfully pin her in place.
Trinity watched as the large log approached and did the only thing she could think of. When it finally made it there, she tried to push it away from her but she wasn’t strong enough. It all happened so fast. She pushed out with both arms, but got spun around instead. The movement was so sudden, but the trapped ankle stayed where it had been, causing some damage. When she twisted, the log was shoved to the side, but not far enough. The long side slammed into Trinity’s back so hard that she felt something crack.
After the impact, the log made it around the tree, but Trinity still didn’t move. She hurt so badly! Staying very still, she tried to assess the situation. Pain, lots of it. When she struggled to take a deep breath in to calm herself, she knew there was some internal damage from the hit. Still trying to stay positive, she tried to pull herself up, but the pain shooting up her leg reminded her that she was well and truly stuck.
This wasn’t good. The water was still rising and she was low enough now that it wouldn’t be too long until she was completely underneath. Someone had to come, and quick.
“Ms. Bradshaw, are you okay? Do you need help back up?”
“I can’t. I’m stuck.” Trinity spoke calmly so not to upset Jennifer, but inside she was screaming at the situation.
Her tone did nothing to dispel the other girl’s fear, and Trinity could hear it in her voice. “What do you mean stuck?” She leaned down as far as she could without losing her grip on Katie. “Give me your hand; I’ll pull you up.”
Trinity tried, but when the girl pulled, the pain was unbearable. She cried out successfully making her chest hurt. “Stop! Stop!” She continued more quietly. “It’s no use. Just stay up there, take care of Katie and hold on.”
Crying and in full panic mode, Jennifer did as she was told. They were now back to waiting but this time it was in silence.
The water was now up to her neck, and Trinity was getting nervous. They still hadn’t seen anyone and her hopes of that changing before she went under were slim. She was still trying to figure out how long she would last under water when she could barely take in air above water.
Not a minute later, she spotted a female jogging down the side of the river. The first thing Trinity noticed was her fiery hair that had been pulled back. The second thing was that it looked as if she was going to run right past them.
“Jennifer!” The word was a whisper but somehow she heard. When the girl looked down at her with her tired eyes, Trinity pointed in the direction of the runner. “Yell!”
Looking up, Jennifer didn’t miss a beat. “Help!! Help us!!”
The woman’s head swung in their direction, and Trinity could tell the moment she spotted them. Her eyes narrowed and she took a step toward them.
“No! Don’t try; the current will take you. Go get help.” Trinity used all her strength in her vocal cords to get it loud enough for her to hear, but it looked like the woman wasn’t listening.
The woman took one slow step into the river. “No!!” Jennifer yelled, but the woman took another step.
Trinity couldn’t believe what she was seeing. A river that took anything and everything was letting this woman glide right towards them.
When she got there, Trinity and Jennifer were speechless. If she noticed, she didn’t let on. “Hi! I take it you guys want out of the water, huh?”
Trinity just nodded while Jennifer finally spoke up. “Oh, yes please.”
“Okay, my name is Terah.” She spoke as she observed the three of them. As if making up her mind, she suddenly grabbed Trinity’s arm. “I can take two at a time, let’s go.”
Trinity wasted no time in yanking her arm out of the others grasp. “No.” She nodded her head in the direction of the girls. “They go first. I want them both safe and one needs medical attention as soon as possible.”
Terah shook her head. “That’s not going to happen. You’re in worse shape than these two and I can come back right away for them.” She waved her hand in the direction of the girls.
“No!” Trinity snapped when Terah reached for her again then pointed to Jennifer. “She has had just about all that she can handle. I am not going to let you take me and leave her by herself for God knows what to happen. Now, I appreciate you coming for us, but you need to get them first…please.” The last word sounded more like a plea. They’re just kids, for crying out loud.
Terah pursed her lips but eventually relented. “Before I go, let me try to get you unstuck.”
“Only if you hurry.”
When Terah reached around her and pulled up, Trinity screamed out in pain. She didn’t know what hurt worse, her ankle or her back.
“Okay, let me check something out.” Terah slid down and grabbed above Trinity’s ankle where she was stuck. She gave a small twist that had Trinity about passed out. Trinity whimpered and tapped her rescuer to bring her back to the surface. “No more! It hurts too bad! Just get them to shore and come back for me.”
Terah wrapped one of her arms around Katie and signaled Jennifer to get on her back and hold on tight. She then looked back at Trinity once everyone was situated. “I don’t know how long I’ll be. If it takes too long… If I do this…” She paused and looked Trinity knowingly in the eyes. “…you know what might happen, don’t you?”
Trinity knew. She was already stretching to keep her mouth above water. It wouldn’t be too much longer till she went under. She wasn’t thinking about that right now though; she just wanted the girls safe.
“Yeah, I know. Thank you.” She said to Terah before looking back at Jennifer. “You listen to everything she tells you! Got it?”
Jennifer frantically nodded her head. “But wait! What about you?”
Trinity put on a false grin. “Don’t worry about me. I will be right behind you.”
With the reassurance, Jennifer tightened her grip on Terah’s shoulders.
Terah adjusted Katie and turned to leave but turned back to Trinity at the last minute. Her look was almost mournful when she spoke. “There are not many people like you anymore.” She then lifted her thumb to Trinity’s forehead and made the sign of the cross. “May God be with you, look over you, and protect you in all things.”
Trinity was not a religious person, not since her parents were murdered. That didn’t stop the warm sensation making her way through her body, ignited by Terah’s words. She didn’t feel as alone anymore, which was craziness when she thought about it.
They had been gone what felt like forever but in actuality, was probably only five minutes. The water was already covering her mouth and she was doing her best to breath in and out her nose; not so easy when it was already hard to breath.
The water was tickling the bottom of her nose, and she knew at any moment she would be holding her breath. She stretched as much as she could; wiggled her foot as much as she could and tried to get free. Nothing was working.
She tilted her head back to give herself a little more time. Trinity wished she could have told Nicci how much she means to her; that she is more of a sister than a friend. She wished she would have gotten to see Renée and Joseph one last time. She wasn’t ready to die!!
The water had finally reached the point where she had no choice. Taking one last deep breath, she ignored the pain it caused and held it in. She kept one arm stretched tall, above the water. If Terah did make it back, she wouldn’t have a problem finding her.
She had heard about people drowning before. She could just open her mouth, breath in, and let the water fill her lungs…make it quick. She could also just let the lack of oxygen make her pass out, and then the water would enter her lungs that way. Vaguely she wondered that if she did pass out, would Malachi be there? At least she wouldn’t be scared with him.
She was so weak. There was no way she could hold on any longer. She relaxed her whole body, and dropped her arm back into the water. It was time.
Malachi…
Listen guys, I need your help. There is a woman here; she’s stuck and about to be trapped underwater. Mal, she is injured pretty bad too, it might be best if you go.
Malachi was in the middle of helping heal a man with a head wound when he heard Terah project this to the team.
Sorry girlie, busy with someone else right now.
The other team members answered her with answers that sounded a lot like his. It was a big accident with much to do. He understood that.
Please! I can’t. She was watching over two teenagers and made me take them first, but I don’t think I can make it back to her in time.
The pleading in Terah’s projection swayed Malachi’s decision and he sighed.
Does she have five minutes?
Not much more than that I’m afraid.
Malachi worked fast. He had to do all his healing discreetly as not to cause any notice by the humans.
Finally finishing up, he stood and stretched. It had been a long day, and all the healing was wearing him down. He knew the woman Terah mentioned would probably have to be his last for the day. When he was done, he would resort back to the classic “search and save” and leave the healing to the humans.
He hoped she was worth it over someone else that might need his healing. He remembered what Terah had said about her forfeiting her chance at rescue for another and he figured that, alone, was worth it.
Okay, where is she?
Terah projected quickly.
She’s stuck in a tree around a bend on the south side of the bridge. Hurry!!
Malachi was on the shoreline where the bridge once was and was looking down the river. An aggravated growl slipped past when he couldn’t see past the bend and he had to move. He started to run a short ways down the bank of the river until he could. Scanning the area, he couldn’t find anybody in a tree.
He was about to ask Terah to be more specific when he noticed a pale hand on a tree. The rest of the body that was connected to that hand was under water. Shit! Now he knew why Terah sounded so urgent.
Malachi jumped into the river at the same time he saw the hand sink as well. He was strong enough to fight the current, and not be tossed around, which made a direct shot there easier.
Malachi…
The sound of his name startled him. He had been projecting with Terah and Tori so long, he knew their sound and signature feel and that wasn’t either of them. This voice was definitely female and felt warm, soothing even, but the two women he worked with were the only females he had ever been able to project with.
He would have to figure it out later, but for now, he was about to reach the tree. The woman had been under for so long now. Air! She needed air!
Malachi finally reached her and immediately grabbed onto her head to put his lips on hers. Man, they were cold. He hoped he wasn’t too late, and he pushed air into her lungs using his breath.
She gave a small jerk before she took her hands and grabbed onto his hair to hold him in place. Okay, not too late, he thought.
When he detached himself from her, he put his hands under her arms to lift up. Her hands, which were now on his arms, grabbed onto him with a fierce hold but soon nails were digging into his skin when he pulled.
Malachi surfaced for a quick breath of air, but immediately went back down. He ran his hands around her body, trying to find out what was caught. When he got to her leg, he felt that her foot was stuck in between two branches. At first, he tried to gently twist it out but this caused the woman to start kicking him and pushing at his shoulders. Didn’t she want to be free?
He felt her shaking get worse and realized she probably needed more air. He brought himself back up her body and once again held onto her while he pushed air into her lungs. Malachi could feel her body start to relax once more but when he moved to pull away, he was stopped when her arms wrapped around him. It actually felt like she was embracing him. In fact…she felt kind of like…
He stopped his thinking right there. This was not the time or the place for his imagination to run wild.
Going back down to her ankle, he tried to assess the situation again. The best thing for her would be maneuver her ankle out. He could break one of the branches, but he didn’t know what would happen to her when it snapped.
Yo man! What’s taking so long?
Of course Gemariah would be there. Things must have slowed down up top.
She’s stuck…just trying to get her out without hurting her.
She needs more air than what you can give her. Is she better alive or hurt?
Gemariah was right. When her body, once again started to shake, he knew something had to be done. Grabbing both branches at the bases so nothing would snap against her leg, he pulled them away from each other until he felt them crack.
He quickly wrapped an arm around her before propelling them out of the water using the tree. The moment they broke the surface, he felt relieved to hear her take a large deep breath in.
The woman felt so weak hanging in his arms. He turned her on her back so he could drag her to shore. Hooking one arm over her chest, he started to move. Moving sideways, he was now moving against the current and getting more tired by the moment. It had been a long day, and all the times he had to use his powers had slowly taken away from his energy.
When he finally reached land, he stood up and cradled her in his arms. After taking a moment to get his bearings and catch his breath, he finally started to move onto flatter land.
After everything, he wasn’t surprised it took him a minute to hear the screaming. Glancing around, he saw a small blonde haired woman running in his direction. It was the same woman he had seen earlier at the bridge describing someone she was looking for. At the time, he hadn’t given her much thought looking at how bad the destruction actually was.
“Oh God!! That’s her!! Help her…please!”
Malachi knelt down and gently laid the woman he was holding in front of him in the grass before looking back up at the screaming woman. She looked vaguely familiar to him, but he didn’t have time to think where he had seen her.
Before she could reach them, Gemariah grabbed her around the waist to keep her back. When she looked back and saw who was holding her she increased her struggles and started snapping. “What are you doing? Let me go you oaf!! I need to see my friend!!” When he didn’t let go, she yelled back at him. “Don’t you have anything better to do…like torment young children?”
Bing! That’s all it took to remember her. She was the tiny woman from outside the coffee shop.
Turning his attention back to the woman on the ground, he saw that there were many small lacerations on her arms and legs that needed his attention. This was okay. He could heal small injuries and not draw unnecessary attention to himself.
Malachi ran his hands over her arms, slowly improving the deeper scrapes and she moaned. He was trying to concentrate, but it was hard to ignore the yelling between the two next to him.
“Can you two move this someplace else please?”
After the question, he looked up to see Gemariah trying to drag her away, but the tiny thing was putting up a hell of a fight. Finally, she turned to Malachi and yelled out. “What are you doing? Help her!” Her face crumpled as more tears slid down her face. She sobbed. “Why isn’t she moving? Trinity!”
That name was what snapped him back to attention. It was not a common name and caused a sinking feeling in his gut. Swinging his head in the direction of the woman on the ground, he gently moved the hair away that was preventing him from seeing her face. She was pale and ragged looking from what she had endured, but he would still recognize her anywhere.
Her eyes slowly fluttered open, and he was knocked down with the force her violet eyes had on him. She slowly looked around, but he knew the moment she focused in on him. Smiling wide, she put her hand on his face and cupped his check. “It’s you!”
The statement came out as a whisper, but he understood it all the same.
A second after speaking, she went limp in his arms and panic, as he had never before felt, raced through him. “Shit!” Leaning down he grabbed her face and pushed her hair back again. “Trinity! Come on baby, wake up! Wake. Up!”
When she didn’t open her eyes again, he checked her pulse. It was so weak that he was surprised there was one at all. There had to be something else wrong with her; something he didn’t initially see.
Gemariah must have heard the concern in his voice, because he gave up on subduing the woman and came over while he was checking her over. “Mal, what’s going on?”
“It’s her! I don’t know how, but it’s her!”
“You’re not making any sense. Who’s her?”
Malachi ignored his friend’s question and started to check over her body. He couldn’t find anything wrong that would cause her to be in this bad of shape. Placing his hands on her chest, he knew he would have to look deeper. Not wasting any time, he stared down at Trinity while addressing Gemariah. “G, I need this area clear! Get her outta here!”
Not missing a beat, Gemariah stood up and moved over to the other woman that was now kneeling next to Trinity.
“I’m not going anywhere! She can’t be alone right now!!”
“She’s not alone, and I’m not leaving her.” Malachi snapped at her and was rewarded with two confused looks in his direction.
Obviously, not understanding Malachi’s concern didn’t stop Gemariah from following orders. Now standing over the other woman, his voice was stern. “This is not up for discussion. Get up and walk or I will carry you away myself.”
The woman stood up and went toe to toe with him in defiance, but Gemariah just picked her up and threw her over his shoulder. She was yelling, but at least the sound was moving away.
Malachi looked around to make sure he had the all clear. There were three different humans in the area, but all were occupied by members of his team. He closed his eyes and concentrated at blending their spirits. It was time to see what the main issue was.
When they finally connected, Malachi was thrown off by the feeling. It was different from all the other times he had done this. A warm sensation started at his chest and slowly started to travel through his body. He could not lose focus though, so he pushed the unique feeling aside for now.
Once his concentration was back, he could easily move through her body. The issue wasn’t hard to find. He quickly noticed that her rib cage near the back had been broken. If that wasn’t enough, the jagged edge of one was pushing on her lung and slowly slicing at it with every breath.
Malachi saw the ribs moving back in place before it actually happened and made sure they fused together correctly. Fixing the damage to her lung was simple after that, and he was done in a matter of minutes. Slowly, her pulse started to return to normal, and he felt her finally take a full breath.
When he felt the change in her, he let out the long breath himself that he was unaware he had been holding before smiling.
Malachi then navigated to her ankle. She was in so much pain while pinned under the water; he knew there was another injury there.
Sure-enough. When he got there, he found it was broken as well. Placing the bones back together, he was about to make it as good as new before he stopped himself.
As much as he wanted to heal her until no mark marred her skin, he knew he couldn’t. Other people would get suspicious if she came out without a scratch from what she had been through. Plus, other people had seen her. They had all seen her bruises and cuts.
After all was said and done, he left her with a sprained ankle, superficial scratches on her arms, and a few bruises. There had even been a head wound that he made considerably smaller. Hopefully, she wouldn’t even have to stay overnight in a hospital with the injuries.
While they were by themselves and she was still unconscious, he decided to take a few minutes to observe her. He didn’t understand any of this! Malachi ran his fingers through her hair and marveled at how it felt just as he remembered. He didn’t know how it happened, but he did know that she wouldn’t be getting rid of him till he figured it out.