Water of Hell

Chapter Five - Healed

ღNaidaღ

“And what do you think he meant by that?” I lowered my head to avoid our English teacher, Miss Wright’s question. I glanced down at the open book and tried to make sense of the poem. I should know this and normally I would be the first one to raise my hand and answer her questions. But not today. Today I was far too distracted by the pain of my leg. Although Abby had done a wonderful job nursing it, the pain hadn’t gone away. It was bearable but for some reason, it was stinging, and it was more than just annoying. I could hear the voices of the other students as they discussed the poem. I, however, was fighting back the tears. As the surrounding noise seemed to fade, I frowned as the sound of the waves crashing filled my ears. I could hear the rumble of the sea calling out to me and as I glanced up and over at the window, I could smell the salty air even though I was quite far from the harbor. I shook my head as I tried to force myself back into this moment. I looked around the classroom, but no one seemed to be paying any attention to me as they continued their discussion. The pain was getting stronger and I winched out in anguish. What is happening? The smell was overpowering, and the sound of the waves was making me feel dizzy. When the bell suddenly rang, it brought me back and I was breathing rather heavily as I glanced around me. Still, no one seemed to be paying any attention to me and I was grateful. I had no idea what had happened, but I hurried to put my books into my bag. I was one of the last to leave and I kept my head down in hopes of avoiding Miss Wright. As I stepped out into the crowded hallway, I breathed out a sigh of relief and made a beeline for the girl's bathroom. I shut and locked the door behind me and went straight over to the basins that lined one side of the wall. Looking at myself in the mirror, I was surprised to see how awful I looked. My normally rosy complexion was pale, and I had a soft shade of darkness under my eyes. My lips looked swollen and bruised and I was perspiring, the beads of sweat hang on my temples and I quickly turned on the tap. Splashing cold water onto my face, I tried to calm myself down enough to figure out what was going on. My hair was soaked against my skull and I reached into my bag for my hand towel. I dried my hair as best I could and ran a comb through it before pulling it back and tying it up in a simple ponytail. I looked myself over once more in the mirror, but I still looked like death. I shivered and a sharp pain rippled throughout my body.

“What is happening?” I groaned out as I fell to the floor. My shivers turned to hard shakes and all I could think about was not knocking myself out on the cold tiled floor. When it was over, I lay there, on the school’s bathroom floor, and cried. I could hear my mobile phone ringing somewhere, but I wasn’t ready or able to pull myself together to answer. As my body slowly started to relax and my breathing evened out, I pushed myself up and into a sitting position with my legs out in front of me. It was as if I had been in a grey moment and now everything was bright once again. I rubbed at my eyes before pushing myself up completely. Looking in the mirror I gasped as I saw I looked completely normal. My rosy complexion was back, my lips looked perky as usual and as I frowned, I had to wonder if I was losing my mind. As I started picking up my things, something hit me, and I paused. The pain in my leg was gone. I quickly unbuttoned my denim and pulled down my pants. I still couldn’t see it very clearly and so I scuffle around for my phone. Finding it, I sent Abby a text to meet me in the bathroom on the second floor near Miss Wright’s classroom. I didn’t wait for a response as I continued to try and see the wound.

“Naida?” Abby called out as she tried to enter the bathroom. I looked up at the door and remembered that I had locked it. I sped over quickly to unlock the door and pulled her inside before locking it once again. “What’s going on?” she asked as she took in the sight of me. I turned around, showing her my leg.

“Can you check my wound please?” I asked as I still tried to see it for myself.

“Sure, did you bring the kit with you?” she asked as she dropped her bag down on the floor. I nodded and she went through my bag until she pulled the kit out. I held onto my sweater as I felt her touch my leg softly. “This may hurt…” I heard her whisper, and I knew she was going to rip off the bandage.

“Do it fast,” I hissed out. Abby did exactly that and I flinched as I bit down on my lower lip to stop the scream from escaping. I felt her touching my leg and I kept waiting for the pain, but it never came. “How does it look?” I asked, worried as the silence grew. “Abby?” still I was met with silence. All I could hear was my own voice and her shallow breathing. “Abby?” I called out again, this time looking over my shoulder. I could see the top of her head and that’s it. I felt her fingers lightly graze against the back of my leg and once again I waited for the pain and once again there was none. “ABBY!” I shouted out and finally, I got a reaction. Abby sprung up and I turned to face her, she looked pale and I wondered if she had whatever I had. Where we sick?

“Naida…” she whispered. “Naida…”

“What? What? What?”

“It’s…it’s…g-gone…” I frowned as I watched my best friend try to speak. She wasn’t making any sense and I quickly pulled up my pants.

“What?” I repeated.

“Your…l-leg…it’s…” her voice trailed off as she looked up at me, our eyes connecting and all I could see was fear.

“What’s wrong with my leg, Abby?” I pushed as I took a step toward her. Abby stepped back and I paused. “What the hell?”

“Naida! Your leg!” she said, her voice rising slightly. “It’s gone!” she added. I knew that in about two seconds she was going to get hysterical and I reached out and grabbed her arm, pulling her to me.

“What’s gone?” I asked her.

“It’s hea-healed!” she managed to say and as I looked at her, I couldn’t help it, I just started to laugh. This seemed to snap her out of it, and she pulled away from me roughly. “I’m serious, Naida, your wound is completely healed,” I stopped laughing and I could literally feel the blood drain from my face.

“What did you say?”

“You heard me,”

“But how?”

“I have no idea,” she said. “Take off your pants,” I did what she said and turned around. I didn’t hear anything for a moment and then she spoke again. “Ok, zip-up,”

“What is it?” I asked as I pulled my pants back up.

“Where’s your phone?” she asked, and I pointed over at my bag. Abby looked around for it and after fiddling around for a moment or two she held up both phones from me to see. I took a step closer and looked between the two phones.

“Impossible,” I whispered. On my phone, it was the photo Abby had taken last night so that I could see just how bad the wound was before she had put a bandage on it. On her phone was a photo she had just taken. “Abby…”

“Naida…” I couldn’t tear my eyes off her phone as it was clear that the wound had vanished.

“How?” I asked her and she shook her head. None of it made any sense.

“We need to leave,” she said as she started packing up all my stuff.

“What?” I was in shock as I just stood there and watched her.

“We need to go, right now, come on,” she shoved my bag into my hands and unlocked the door. I followed her out and we made our way through the school until we were outside.

“Wait, Abby, we can’t just leave,” I argued as I glanced back at the school building. “We have practice later,”

“Naida, shut up and get in the car,” Abby growled, and I did as she said. Once we were on the road, I told her about what happened in class. The smell, the sounds, and the pain. None of it made any sense to me and Abby couldn’t figure it out either. Abby pulled into my driveway and we got out. Luckily, no one was home and that meant I didn’t have to explain anything to anyone. We headed straight for the kitchen. A force of habit and Abby sat down at the table while I took out the box of left-over pizza from the night before.

“What is happening to me?” I finally broke the silence and asked. Abby shook her head as she continued to nibble on the slice she had in her hand. “I mean, that’s impossible, right?”

“Right,” she whispered. “I mean, it would’ve healed eventually but in a matter of what? Hours?” silence fell between us once again and when the pizza was done, we headed upstairs to my room. “Ok, you need to tell me everything,”

“Again?”

“Yes, again, tell me everything that happened from Friday night,” I sighed and we both got comfortable on my bed. I told Abby everything. Every single thing that I could remember. Every detail, important and not important. By the time I was done, I was exhausted.

“So, did you learn anything new?” I asked curiously.

“Yes,”

“Well, tell me,” I groaned.

“That pool,” she said, and I frowned.

“Really? Out of everything I’ve been through, the pool is what catches your attention?” I rolled my eyes and got off the bed. “Seriously Abby, how can a pool cause all of this?”

“I don’t know but think about it, Naida,” she begged, and I glanced at her in question. “You find yourself in that pool with no memory of how you got there,”

“Ok, yeah that is weird,” I admitted as I sit back down on the edge of the bed.

“You obviously hurt yourself in that pool and now it’s just gone?”

“Ok, ok, I see your point,” I said and then I sigh. “But what am I going to do?”

“We have to go back there,” Abby said, and I shake my head ‘no’. “We have to,”

“But why?”

“Maybe there is a clue or something,” Abby remarked as she gets up and starts pacing my room. “We have to figure this out some way or another,”

“Why?”

“Naida, if you ask me one more stupid question, I will slap you!” Abby yelled out and I flinch. “If we don’t figure this out, then you are going to have to tell your parents,”

“Oh, hell no,” I said as I shake my head.

“Well, then, we have to go back there,”

“When do we leave?” I questioned as I thought about how I could sneak out. “And we do have to go back to school because if we miss practice, Coach is going to be angry,” Abby nodded in agreement and we decide that we will wait until the weekend to go out to the pool. In the meantime, Abby suggested we do some research on the area. Of course, I agree, because, at this point, I wouldn’t know what else to do.