Starlight blinded Nova's vision as cold smothered her entire being. A heavy weight pressed into her chest as she fell deeper and deeper into this nothingness, this piercing starlight. Drums thumped loudly around her.
Had she hit her head?
None of this made sense.
Yet she was conscious enough to remember falling into the lake. Nova's lungs constricted as she held her breath. It was brutally cold.
A cry tore from her throat as an unbearable pressure suddenly fell upon her. It was so intense it felt like her bones were grinding against each other, her eyes on the verge of popping. Light streaked like shooting stars at the edges of her vision, and she knew whatever this was… death was near.
Then, all at once, everything vanished. The starlight, the cold, the pressure, the weighty feeling dragging her down. It was gone.
Nova's lungs burned, screaming to breathe. She blinked wide-eyed; golden rays of light streamed through the water around her; the temperature had changed and—why the hell was she still floating about in deadly water?! Anything could be in here! And those men might throw spears at her!
Nova swam the short distance to the surface, her legs kicking rapidly like a crocodile might snap at them and the panic clawing at her chest from the lack of oxygen. She broke through the water's surface with a gasp and squinted from the sudden heat and bright light. She raised her arm to shade her eyes and frowned, utterly confused by the sudden sunlight.
Heart racing and breath heaving from the rush of air into her lungs, Nova's head whipped to the side, searching for the natives and Chad. They weren't there. They. Weren't. There.
She swam to the rocky edge where she'd fallen from and lifted herself up, careful to put her phone aside first. Goosebumps pimpled on her skin, and she wiped at her arms, feeling a little chilled like something wasn't quite right. She hadn't been under the water long enough for them to completely disappear nor for the sun to be high up in the sky.
"Am I … dead?" Nova touched her face. Like that was going to give her any proper answers!
A strange high-pitched whistling echoed overhead, cutting through her thoughts. It was almost flute-like, drifting through the wind. Nova froze at the haunting sound. That was not from any native.
Her head slowly lifted, and her breath caught in her throat. What. Is. THAT?
A shadow almost obstructed the sky. It was so quick, with wings almost the width of the lake and large golden talons. Razor. Sharp. Talons.
"Nope! I'm not dying twice or thrice today!" Nova whisper-shouted to herself in fear of attracting whatever that creature was. Brushing her hair aggressively from her eyes, she grabbed her phone, and on wobbly feet, she fled for cover.
Her ankle throbbed, and she stumbled a few times, but her target was in sight. Those damned caves where the flying rats were. It was on the way to the resort.
Nothing made any sense right now, but once she was at the resort and found Chad…
Chad, who accidentally pushed her...
Chad, who was with the natives who wanted to kill him…
Was Chad... Dead?
Another haunting whistle cry cut through her thoughts, making her skin pebble and her arms pump faster to hide in the one place she'd hate to be. The darkness of the cave fell over her, along with an eeriness.
It's just your imagination. It's just your fear of bats. They won't move.
Felipe said they won't leave their spots. It was sunlight still—somehow.
Nova cringed as she hunched her neck and avoided looking up. Hearing her heart pound so loudly, she was sure that something in the sky would suddenly appear and snatch her. Her body trembled, her breaths calming as she tried to calm her racing thoughts.
Nothing made sense. The lake. The daylight. Where did everyone go? What was that creature? Was she dead? Was this a dream?
Her heel caught on the rocky terrain, and she pitched forward, crashing to her hands and knees. Sharp pain flared as her skin scraped against the earth. Strands of short brown-and-blonde waves tumbled into her face, clinging to sweat-slicked cheeks.
"Ow," she breathed, a soft groan escaping her lips. Why am I always so clumsy?
The silence cracked as a voice, sharp as ice, croaky and far too close, echoed nearby. "Who dares disturb our rest?"
"Who is foolish enough to…" Another voice chuckled, low and jagged, the sound slicing like ice down her spine.
The laughter multiplied by more than a dozen as the creepiness made her breath halt.
"Mmm… I smell blood," another said, voice light and sing-song, sounding like some creepy doll from a horror movie.
Nova's breath halted. Those voices were coming from above her. Her lips trembled. No. No. No... This wasn't real. This was like some nightmare. As soon as she looked up, something would jump at her.
Run. Nova's gut screamed at her. Run, run, run! Listen to your instincts!
Did she? No. Because there wasn't someone screaming at her to not look up and get her ass out of there like one would at the TV screen. With short bursts of breath that she forced out to breathe, Nova couldn't stop herself from slowly tipping her head back at the first rustling sound of wings.
"Boo!"
Nova gasped at the bats hanging upside down. One fell from its position and flew towards her. A scream caught in her chest as she scrambled to her feet, grabbing her phone as she stumbled forward.
Cackling laughter echoed in the cave as the flapping bat wings grew louder and caused a wind to blow her locks back into her face. That wasn't possible?! She looked behind her as she stepped into the sunlight and screamed at the top of her lungs. The bat grew twenty times the size before transforming into a naked man with bat wings!
She fell onto her backside and kept scrambling backwards, clutching her phone for dear life as she stared at the man who bared his fangs at her but didn't come any closer. He remained in the shade of the caves.
"Come back!" Those creepy voices echoed behind him.
The man looked up at the sunlight and sighed. "Too bad. You smell divine."
Nova's face scrunched up. She was sure she smelt of sweat, lake water, and dirt. That wasn't the point!
"What are you?!" She cried out but didn't stop to find out as she turned to run away, looking over her shoulder as the bat man, yes 'Batman', stayed in his cave like the little nude weirdo.
He had fangs.
He was a huge freaking bat that turned into a man.
Turned. Into. A. Man. With FANGS.
No, this was some wild dream.
Nova's pace slowed after noting the bat didn't follow her.
"Now would be a good time to wake up." Before something else would pop out and actually catch up to her.
"No… If this was a dream…" Nova turned one of her hands over and stared at the scraped skin. "It wouldn't hurt." She pressed on the bloodied underlayer and hissed.
Wings flapping long and slow, followed by that haunting whistling call, made her groan. "No, really? Can't a girl have a break? I'm in heels!" She laughed as tears pricked at her eyes, having a bit of a deranged moment like any average girl. If she didn't laugh, then those tears would really start falling, and there really wasn't time to feel sorry for herself!
With renewed vigour and the persistent need to survive whatever hell this was, Nova started to move again, this time hiding among the trees. The creature swooped low, its speed far too quick and blurred for her to understand what it was. But she had this strange feeling that it was after her.
No, that was some main character syndrome-
Something landed on the tree high above her. It swayed, and leaves rustled as something hopped from branch to branch, the vibrations rumbling down the bark to her. Whatever it is, it's big and-
That whistling was closer now, and it drowned out the sound of a man's voice. "Stop! I just want to talk!"
Nope. Not today demon. Nova pushed away from the tree and gaped as another winged creature flew under the canopy, its golden talons outstretched. Nova hid behind another tree and gaped as it whizzed by.
The creature was a harpy eagle. No harpy eagle was that big.
Nova sprinted further through the dense trees, losing the large eagles and gradually started hearing the sound of monkeys high above and the sound of laughter and chatter. The distinctive sound of men, women and children.
She stopped like a spotlight had suddenly fallen on her. Eyes from the trees and bushes stared at her. Slowly, with her heart thumping louder, she spun around, taking in the sight of the natives scattered along the trees, in the bushes, on the ground. Many with spears. Capuchin monkeys among them had also stopped to stare at the outsider. The pale face.