Chapter 1:
Thewaterwastooclose to the road.
Like it was ready to swallow us.
I leaned my sweaty face against the soothing cool glass of the window, watching the water that lined the bridge we were crossing. I felt the rhythmic thumping under my feet echoing against the metal.
The murky water below was littered with dark, twisted trees that reminded me of a fairytale I couldn’t remember anymore. Something shifted beneath the surface.
Something too big to be a fish.
The interstate dropped with a sudden slope that made my heart race. Once the bus settled, the water kissed the edge of the railing outside. The place grabbed me by the collar and yanked me closer.
The dark-green clouds churned above us, prepared to shove humans back down the food chain and into the depths below.
The emergency exit is right above you. That's why you picked this seat,I reminded myself.
Despite the air conditioner blowing against my ankles, people started whining about the humidity already accumulating. Half of them already wanted to throw in the towel to go home.
Good for them.
They had somewhere to go.
Home.
Where did one find that?
I rolled my eyes until the ligaments got a healthy stretch from the motion. These idiots weren’t going to make it the full month. I didn’t belong with these people.
Spoiled brats, the whole lot of them. The kind who thought slow wifi was the end of the world.
Here I was trying to figure out where I would stay for the remaining two months of summer, and a thought like that probably never crossed their minds. Someone in this world cared if they were warm and safe at night.
A high pitched haughty scoff came from across the aisle. “Not all of us get fieldwork every summer, Scholarship Kid. Excuse us for being so immature.”
My eyes slid over to the pretty and perfect Shannon Fredricks. Her cute little nose scrunched like she smelled something bad, and jealousy practically made her hazel eyes turn green.
The bus jolted over a bump, and my fingers dug painfully into the leather seat beneath me. My heart pounded against my chest.
She chuckled at my reaction. We’d had multiple classes together since freshman year of college. Seven years later, and she was still the same headache she’d been at eighteen. Topped off with the confidence of a person who’d never had to earn safety.
“My fieldwork has nothing to do with it,” I gritted out. The nights sleeping in the streets did.
“I’m sick of you getting all the best perks. Bouncing on Professor Gale has been quite profitable for you.” She studied the soft pink manicure on her nails, completely oblivious to the fact it would be ruined the second we stepped off the bus.
So would those coiffed blonde curls. I looked forward to watching them friz into a ball of poof. It might even be the highlight of the entire trip, to watch the mighty fall.
“Your ignorance is astounding.” I blinked at her. “You need to work harder.”
The road smoothed, and I realized we’d finally crossed the long bridge we’d been on for what felt like forever and exited the interstate.
Being on solid land didn’t stop the feeling that we would wash away though. The shoulder of the interstate was smaller, and the water creeped even closer to the bus.
A giant ripple vibrated the water’s surface as we crossed onto solid land, and it followed beside us as if the swamp had a life of its own. An icy finger of dread ran its sticky finger down my spine, as the irrational thought that it was after me set in.
I tried to shake off the sense that something was about to go wrong and blamed the sweat dripping down my back, for the feeling that a threat had rested its heavy hand on the back of my neck.
“Bitch,” Shannon gasped, completely unaware of the unease boiling inside me. “The entitlement.”
