The Water of Bodies, part 1

9/29/12

   Livia and her mother walked down the windy path strewn with crumbling orange and red leaves.  They had been on a morning hike, hoping to strengthen their cardiovascular systems; or at least, that is what her mother wanted.
   Livia was 14 years old, but anyone that saw her would have told you she was 17 or 18.  Her hair, tied up in a bun was frayed in spots, her clothing was small, and tight for her tall frame.  She had the looks of someone much older than herself.
   The path branched off into two directions, and neither remembered to bring a map.  They looked at each other, concerned, and separated, promising to run right back to the fork when they figured out which way to go.  Pulling out her cell phone and putting it on the highest ring setting, Livia took the path to the left. 
   Distracted with her phone, she wandered farther than she expected to go, and decided she should go back to see if her mother's path had been any better.  She turned around and started to walk back. Perhaps because she hadn't been paying close attention on the way out or maybe because she was getting a little nervous and walking faster and faster, the route back to the fork didn't seem to take nearly as long.  Leaning over with her hands on her knees to catch her breath, she began to think it odd her mother had not returned to the fork.  As she rose to get a better look around, her heart stopped. This was not the fork where she left her mother.  Here the path forked into three paths instead of two.  She took her cell phone out of her pocket again, her hands trembling slightly as she dialed her mother's number.  No reception.
   She ripped a piece of her jacket and tied it to a branch to remember where she had been and took the path farthest to the left, hoping to circle back toward her mother.
   "Mom?" she called.
   No answer.
   "MOM?" she called again.
   Nothing.
   She was walking fast now, almost jogging.  Another fork.  And now there were four paths.  She tied another piece of her jacket to the branch of the tree closest to the left most path and noticed that someone else had the same idea.  There was a red piece of fabric on the branch next to it, contrasting her blue strip.
   "Hello?" she called out, hoping someone would find her.
   Fog started rolling in, and the further she walked, the harder it was to see.  She reached another fork. and there were four strips of cloth on the tree close to the middle path.  One red matching the last, a dull olive-green strip that had obviously been from a t-shirt, a beige one that could have been pink at one time, and a polka-dot one, being the newest looking one of them all.
   Slightly panicked now, she decided to follow that path, for it seemed others had done the same.  She tied her strip and ran.
   "Hello?" she called, again.
   Again, there was no one to answer her. 
   She reached the end of the path, at a full sprint now, trying desperately not to fall over roots and rocks, the fog is completely consuming her the closer she ran to the end.  She can see more light as she reaches those last few steps before hearing crunching and seeing the ground below her toppling over. She skids to a halt as the first few inches of ground pummel over the edge of a cliff.  She stepped back, every foot down made more ground collapse below her.  She started to feel like an elephant treading on a balloon.  Finally she reached sturdy ground.  She was completely lost.  As she turned around, time slowed to a crawl. Through the fog, a face slowly emerged.  A woman with a polka-dot sweater, teeth bared, arms outstretched, came out of the fog.   Before Livia could utter a sound, the woman had launched her off of the cliff.
   The surface of the water below crushed the air from her lungs.  Deeper and deeper she sank, stars dancing around her eyes.  Summoning every ounce of strength and will, she struggled to the surface, gasping moist air and icy water.  Coughing and desperately trying to pull in more air than water, a hand brushed against her leg and she gasped again, sucking in a big gulp of the nasty water and slipping back beneath the surface.  There were other people sinking and floating around her.  Only, they weren't alive.
   She reemerged from the surface and coughed out a scream, swallowing a big gulp of the nasty water.  She looked down below.  There were dozens of bodies below her.  She recognized the red coat from the strip that was in the branch, and gasped, disgusted.  She had been lured, and, apparently, so had dozens of other girls.