The Understorey

Not now, Elliott.



“Get undressed,” he said, cutting the ties at her hands in one swift swipe of his blade, “but replace your gag. I can’t have you biting me. Your screams might be muffled but I think we’ll still be able to ruffle Elliott’s feathers.”



It sickened me to hear his thoughts, like the object of his torment wasn’t human, wasn’t Jules.



“No,” I said.



“Get undressed Julia or Elliott gets another bullet,” he threatened somberly.



She immediately bent to remove her boots.



Before she could move onto her coat he ordered her to remove her socks as well, “I didn’t say everything but your socks darlin’. It’s important to me that your feet are as cold as the rest of your body. Consider this punishment for earlier.”



She nodded and removed her socks. Even her socks were soaked in blood but I couldn’t locate the source, ultimately deciding she must have stepped in a bloody pool back at the cabin. She removed her coat and stood frozen, her eyes focused rigidly at the stone beneath my feet, afraid to remove her sweater or pants.



“Do you want an additional punishment other than the one that’s already coming your way Julia? I can make it worse for you, if you wish.”



The tears stained a clear path through the blood on her face. She raised her gaze into my eyes. She was afraid, not for herself, but for me. I could see the terror in them and feel it in her heart. I was hoping she wouldn’t have noticed the pool of blood growing at my feet. The blood swam down my arm and gathered at my fingertips. My entire sleeve was soaked red and my hand was slippery with the wet of it. I was losing so much I was swaying from the loss. I could barely keep my eyes focused, the room spun around me. I knew I didn’t have much time.



While she had been removing her boots, I slowly began to inch toward the bat without him noticing, too engrossed with his prey. I tried to take advantage of that but he only signaled with the barrel of the gun for me to move back to my original spot. I obeyed him. My eyes darted about the cave looking for anything that might aid me in stopping him but there was nothing. I had run out of options and time. I rallied the courage to attack when I felt he was sufficiently distracted. Jules removed her sweater and began to lift her camisole. Jesse’s eyes became and I knew that tiny lapse in concentration was going to be my only chance.



I lunged for him, darting slightly left anticipating the deafening shot that came from the gun the second I moved. Jules ducked, covering her ears, eyes wide with fear. The bullet missed me by mere inches and he re-aimed the gun to shoot again but it was too late. I was already on him and had pulled him back toward the waterfall’s edge.



We struggled over control of the gun and I watched Jules run for the bat. She couldn’t get a good angle on Jesse so instead knocked the gun from his hands and into the water. It was a fairer fight, at least, and despite my hurt shoulder the adrenaline pumping through me was able to give me the strength I needed to push my palm underneath his chin with tremendous force.



Part of his tongue had been resting on his bottom row of teeth and the force of my blow severed the tip, blood burst from between his lips. Jules attempted to pull his hair back to get him on the ground but he kicked backwards with enough force it knocked the wind from her small frame and she toppled onto the stone gasping for air.



I immediately left Jesse to help her and he used the opportunity to grab the bat I had brought. I cursed myself for bringing the ‘knife to the gun fight’ and darted at him to avoid Jules from being caught underneath the blow. As he brought the bat down I felt for the sidewall of the cave and used it to propel myself on top of him.



I felt helpless in the struggle, distracted by the labored breathing coming from Jules. By the way she struggled to breathe, I was certain he had broken a rib and that brought the rage to a new boiling point. I used the nitrous effect of it to, ironically, crack his jaw. He staggered at the pain of it and I used the time to reposition myself for an uppercut to the gut. This floored him and I dragged him toward the water.



I forced his head and shoulders through the waterfall but he grabbed my coat before I could release my grip and he took me over the edge with him. I heard Jules yell my name as we toppled over the steep edge into the chilling pitch black water, neither of us interested in the fight once we landed in its arctic temperature.



We were caught underneath the churning, tumbling water. It was too dark to know which way was up or which way was down. I only knew to fight against the current dragging and pulling me around like a rag doll in a washing machine. My lungs squeezed tightly in my chest, desperate for air. I felt myself losing consciousness and frantically fought against its determined attempts to pull me down.



Dark hands circled my ankles, dragging me down with all their might. I fought with everything in me, kicking my invisible assailant, picturing Julia at the surface of the water.



Eventually my head broke the surface and I screamed out in pain from the bullet wound in my arm before swallowing my first breath of air. I struggled to keep my head above water, being twisted and coiled through the numbing cold.



The temperature was paralyzing, my arms felt detached from my body. I couldn’t control them. I hit a calmer part of the rapids and began looking for Jesse but he was nowhere to be found. I tried as hard as I could, throwing my shot shoulder ahead of me and using all the strength I could to get to the shore before he fled and I was too late.



When I reached the embankment, there was no way in knowing where he had fled the water, if he had. My eyes scanned both sides of the riverbank but it was too dark. The water was so cold and I knew that the break in the rapids was the only feasible point to come out of. No one in their right mind would have been able to float further on their own accord, I thought before eerily reminding myself just how not right in the head he truly was.



I studied the shore further down the river and waited patiently in the debilitating cold. The snow was falling so thickly it would have immediately covered his tracks so I looked for movement only. I waited and waited but there was not a single sound, not a single movement other than the falling snowflakes floating to the earth.



My adrenaline began to dissipate, naturally reacting to the feeling that there was no immediate danger, from him at least. I fell to my knees in exhaustion.



The loss of blood, the cold, the water, it was all adding up to be more than I thought I could fight through. I needed to get to Jules. I needed to know she was okay. I could barely lift myself from the ground at that point, my body heavy with exhaustion. The deep snow wasn’t helping any. I felt like I was trying to catch my already unsteady footing on top of a cloud, my feet sinking further than I imagined possible. I stumbled repeatedly, my blood staining the pristine white snow and recording my pathetic progress.



About halfway to the waterfall, I spotted Jules looking for me. I called out to her and she hobbled to my side. She urged me up and helped me back to the fire inside the cave.



We both tumbled to the ground in fatigue of body and mind but mostly from relief. Relief that he was gone, probably drowned, relief from the heat of the fire, relief that we were both alive, somewhat alright and together. I removed my wet glove but instead of taking the shaking hand I offered her, Jules sat up and began to remove all my wet clothes.



“We have to get you out of these or you’ll get hypothermia,” she said through chattering teeth. “How’s your shoulder?”



“Fine,” I lied.



I pointed to her rib.



“I’m perfectly fine,” she lied. “I know your arm hurts but I think the cold is helping the bleeding.”



She removed all my wet clothes except for my boxers and laid them flat on the stone next to the fire so they could dry enough to get us out of there. She removed her jacket and laid it across my torso, yanked up her sweater and tore massive strips of her camisole off before lowering it back down.



“This is going to be painful my love,” she whispered. “Put your hand on my exposed skin and hopefully our current will dull the pain.”



I smiled crookedly at her and did as she asked. She began to wrap my bleeding wound. She was right, touching her helped tremendously or maybe it was that I was just so glad we were alive and together.



“I. Will. Never. Let. You. Out. Of. My. Sight. Again.” I managed to fight out through wires and a throbbing, shivering jaw.



“Don’t worry,” she said while working, “I won’t ever let you out of my sight again either. You’re not allowed more than a few feet from me at all times, you understand?” She asked, teary eyed.



She worked quietly.



After half an hour, when she felt my clothes were dry enough to walk through the snow, she carefully helped me dress. She had been uncomfortably quiet through that time, periodically checking on my wound. I gave her some space to let her grieve over the awful things that must have happened to her while I laid in that ridiculous hospital bed.



“I love you so much Elliott and when you were shot.......I..........,” she couldn’t finish.



I squeezed her arm with my good hand and gave her a reassuring smile. I reached for her face and delicately brushed my hand underneath her jaw. I started to bring her mouth to mine but she refused.



“Just a second,” she said. “I have to wash Jesse out of my mouth.”



I began to protest but she didn’t care. I knew if she could handle what she must have gone through with Jesse, the temperature of the water would be no challenge at all, so I let her do it.



She cupped her hands underneath a trickling stream of water leaking from a crack in the rock above, washed out her mouth and cleaned off her face. She leaned back over my body and I began where I left off.



I had never kissed Jules this way before. It was a kiss with a multitude of layers. Through that simple kiss I told her everything I wasn’t able to voice. I told her how much I loved her, how thankful I was for her, how thankful I was to her, and what she truly meant to me. I let her know the need I had for her, that my life was meaningless without her, the future that we were destined to have together and the overwhelming requisite to make her my wife.....as soon as possible.



She sat up in surprise.“Of course Elliott,” she smiled through watery eyes.



I smiled and waited for her to explain.



“Of course we’ll marry after graduation.”



My eyes began to match hers and I kissed her softly once more.



“But before we do that, we need to get out of here,” she winked.



She helped me put my coat back on and tied my boots for me and we edged our way up the embankment and followed the same line of trees up to Jesse’s parents’ cabin.



When it came into view Jules was too terrified to continue. I assured her they would find Jesse’s body soon. I guided her toward my truck and kissed her cheek in reassurance. She sighed in relief when she saw it. We brushed at least two feet of snow from the windshield and scraped the little amount of ice there was.



She wouldn’t let me drive, afraid I’d pass out from the loss of blood. She buckled me in and then herself and started the engine. I was glad she insisted on driving as I was already blacking in and out of consciousness. When it purred to life she sighed in relief and threw it in reverse, desperate to get as far away as possible as quickly as possible from anything remotely related to Jesse Thomas.