Shadow 7 Behind the Water

Closing my eyes tightly, the sight of my drenched body and the stinging coldness of the water immediately haunted me. I would be no different from Kartika. However, I felt a strong tug on my clothes and all the bad images quickly disappeared.

I turned my head and found Mahesa holding my body from falling by gripping the back of my top. Danastri covered her mouth in surprise, I think I could hear a small screech from her mouth.

"Be careful, Chandra!" complained Mahesa. I smiled wryly and apologized through my gaze.

We turned back to Kartika. Upon closer inspection, it turned out that it was indeed impossible for my hand to reach the girl. It seemed that even if I called out to her loudly, she wouldn't turn her head. Her eyes were indeed open, but they were staring blankly at the spring and the scenery in front of her.

I decided to take off my shoes and decided to wade into the water a little. Choosing the tallest and largest rock as a foothold, I began to tread. The sting of the cold water was felt on the skin of my feet even though the water was less than half a calf high. But despite taking almost two steps, Kartika was nowhere near me.

I looked back, watching how Mahesa and Danastri reacted. As I expected, they looked worried and asked me to call Kartika immediately. I nodded and took another step.

There was only a little space left for my feet to stand on, and then there were other lower rocks. I lifted my foot again and decided to take another step. Just as I stepped, a white hand emerged from the water and quickly grabbed my ankle.

The skin was as white as a cloud and the coldness was piercing like an early morning breeze carrying mist. The fingers were lithe and thin, more beautiful than Danastri's, but larger. Before I could recover from the shock, I was again choked up as my vision changed to a view of the afternoon sky, my bones seemed to float, my footing disappearing completely.

All I could hear for a moment before I came to my senses were Mahesa and Danastri's shouts calling out to me. "CHANDRA!"

Splash!

***

The cold rushed through my body to my bones and cut me like a knife. I moved frantically like a bird plunged into a river with the fear of being eaten by a crocodile. Water without asking permission immediately scrambled in through my open nose and mouth.

What was happening? I remembered that there was still a rock in front of me that I could step on without fear of drowning.

White bubbles racing towards the surface filled my vision when I opened my eyes. The more I moved, the tighter and more painful the grip on my left leg became. I tried to calm down and minimize my movements while still holding myself together to prevent more water from entering my body.

I couldn't find a place to tread or to simply push off my foot to jump to the surface. Was I wrong to notice that there were many medium rocks at the edge of the spring that could be used to sit or stand easily?

Though I'm pretty sure that the depth of this spring is not enough to make my whole body sink completely, unless it's in the middle of a spring that has a different depth, even Kartika can stand calmly with her upper chest to her head on the surface.

I slowly opened my eyes once more. The air bubbles diminished as I began to calm down. A jewel-like blue landscape is displayed before my eyes. As if I were in the middle of a huge natural pool of water, I saw the bottom of the distant spring at my feet.

I floated along with the fish that swam away from me. Perhaps because the sun was already rolling to the west, not much light was sneaking into the water, some places looked dark and gave me goosebumps at the thought of what was hiding behind them.

"Leave it alone!"

My heart seemed to stop as I heard a whispered voice right in my ear. I moved my whole body to the side, looking to see who was behind my back.

However, before it was clear whose figure it was, my vision changed again. Someone was pulling me up with all their might after wrapping both hands around my back.

"Bwah! Cough! Cough!"

Air rushed in, replacing the water that had forcefully escaped when I coughed. Holding on to the boulder, I managed to get myself back above the surface. The blowing wind made the cold feel twice as much.

I kept coughing until my chest felt tight. My eyes were wet, either because of the tears or the residual water that had come with them. My body was soaked, it felt like not even a single hair was missed by the water.

"Chandra!" Mahesa touched me and my consciousness began to gather.

I stared at Mahesa, my vision blurry, but over time I realized that Mahesa had been in the same position as me before I fell into the water. Mahesa's feet went into the water. If I remember correctly, the water was only a foot high.

"Are you okay?"

Did I look okay?

I wanted so badly to answer that, but my strength disappeared into the water and was sucked into the center of the lake. I just stood still and panted as if I had run all the way around the hamlet. I looked at Mahesa, who was pale and trying to calm down. Not far from Mahesa, Danastri stood right on the edge of the ground with her watery eyes ready to drip.

I took a deep breath and brushed my hair which covered my eyes upwards. My breathing started to calm down and I was able to stand back up on both feet. I looked back to confirm what had just happened.

The water looked calm as if I had never drowned before and Kartika remained where she was. It seemed like Kartika was unconscious. There's no way she could have just stayed where she was when I drowned earlier.

Now, I looked down. My feet stepped on the solid rock with ease, even when I stepped closer to Kartika, I didn't sink or fall. The water was no higher than my chest, and it felt very strange to remember how I had drowned earlier.

It seemed impossible, but realizing the claustrophobic and cold feeling I was receiving now was like slapping me and making me realize that I had drowned earlier.

"Kartika," I called softly with my remaining strength.

A gentle pat made the girl flinch and turn her head quickly towards me. She seemed to be very surprised by the very quiet pat, as if she had never heard us shouting for her so loudly that it made the surrounding creatures hide were strangely curious as if she hadn't felt the water ripples I had created earlier.

"Guys...," Kartika called softly. She slowly turned her whole body towards us. She looked around like a confused person, repeatedly checking in the direction of the spring. "Where are the others?"

"The others?" repeated Mahesa with a face that was both clueless and worried at the same time. "None of the villagers came to searc-"

"They've already left," I interrupted Mahesa. My energy was gone. I guessed that what Kartika meant was not the villagers. Maybe it was her new friends who ran away and disappeared. Kartika slowly turned to me. "So, we'd better get on and go back."