My stomach sank. Back home, I’d curl under my comforter with a mug of tea, let the rain lull me to sleep.
Here, there was no refuge. Just this wild fury waiting to tear through us.
A cold drop struck my cheek. Then another. And another—tiny, stinging beads that blossomed into a full-blown downpour.
Caiden’s eyes widened. “Move!” His voice cracked the roar of wind and rain.
He plunged forward between the trunks, and I lunged after him, legs slick with mud. Rain plastered my hair to my face, drumming on my shoulders like a thousand impatient fingers.
The world became a blur of trembling branches and swirling leaves. Each footstep sank into soft earth, and I fought to keep pace.
“Caiden!” I yelled. My voice was swallowed by the storm. “Where—where do we go?”
He pivoted, rain streaking his features, and pointed. “There!” A cluster of thick pines and mature aspens leaned together, their branches interwoven like a cathedral vault. “Under that canopy!”
We scrambled through the storm, branches whipping at our skin, needles and leavesraining down.
Finally, we slammed against the rough bark of the largest pine. I pressed my back to its soaked trunk, the resin’s sharp tang cutting through the damp air.
Caiden collapsed beside me, chest heaving, eyes scanning the tempest.
“Why is this happening?” I gasped, voice trembling. “Why won’t it stop?”
He drew a shuddering breath, rain streaming off his brow. “I don’t know. But panicking won’t help.”
The storm raged on. I felt the anger bubbling up inside me, a response to the helplessness that threatened to consume us both. “You think I’m not trying? I’m doing my best to keep it together, just like you!”
Caiden scoffed, his hair whipping around his face like a wild animal from the harsh wind. His voice bellowed over the intensity of the downpour. “No. I don’t think you are trying. All you’ve done since we have been out here is complain. I’m sick of it!”
I stood my ground amidst the storm. “Yeah? News flash buddy, I never wanted to be stuck out here with you. Of course I’m going to complain, I’m trapped in the wilderness with the person I hate the most. I’m probably going to die out here with you. I have every right to be negative!”
The ferocity of my anger whirled as harshly as the storm, engraving a sense of adrenaline within me. It rained furiously, as if a vengeful deity was unleashing its fury upon us.
Darkness fell, a reflection of the turmoil that echoed within us, as the sky devoured the last silvers of light.
“I’m so sick of your damn victim mindset.” His words were raw with frustration, screaming alongside the howling wind.
“Maybe I wouldn’t have a victim mindset if you hadn’t made my life miserable. I never deserved that, and you are constantly shutting me down anytime I react to how you treated me.”
The sound of my voice rose higher and higher; Caiden and I were clashing into each other amidst the war of the storm. It was poetic in a way.
“You can’t blame me for that. I had no choice! You have no idea what I went through with my father. He practically beat it into me that I had to hate you. I was a terrible person, but we can’t changethe past.” His eyes held a darkness that seemed to engulf him, like a poisonous substance.
The darkness drenched me, until I was wrapped with his rage.
In the midst of our screaming, the world was collapsing. The trees were bent so low they looked as if they might uproot. Twigs were swirling around us, as though propelled by an unseen power.
The landscape was shrouded in a ruthless, rain-blurred veil, barely recognizable. Cracks of thunder roared above our heads.
"I can blame you," I said, my voice starting low before rising, "You were the one who tormented me. You had a choice, but you chose to be a monster. Just like your father."
He had a sudden, chilling change of expression. His face hardening like stone, as if overtaken by a brutal spirit. “I should have just left you to die by the water after our kayak fell down the waterfall. You have no fucking clue what it was like to be in my shoes. I’ve tried to be nice, but you are insufferable.”
The harsh words he spoke sliced through me. Suddenly, in his presence, I trembled with fear.
Before I could speak, a jab pierced my neck. A numbing sensation crawled over me, my body succumbing to being motionless. Consciousness began to slip in and out.
The rain appeared to melt. The last thing I saw before my eyelids shut was the image of Caiden running towards me. His lips were moving, and I thought I heard my name.
