Jude hit the water hard, the cold swallowing him instantly. His breath caught in his chest, eyes stinging, limbs already slicing through the swirling current as he dove beneath the surface. The waterfall above churned the pool into chaos, pushing him deeper, tossing him like a leaf in a storm. But he didn’t stop. He couldn’t. Rose had gone over the edge right in front of him. One second she was there, her hand in his, and the next, nothing but air and that sickening drop. He pushed deeper, eyes wide, searching the silvery blur for her shape, her hair, anything.
His lungs burned. He kicked harder, twisting around, reaching. Rocks lood in the murk, sharp edges threatening to tear through his skin, but he didn’t care. She had to be down here sowhere. Had to be. The sound of the falls was a deafening roar in his ears, disorienting, echoing off the stone walls beneath the surface. The water pulled at him like it wanted to keep him, swallow him too.
He surfaced once, gasping. "Rose!" he shouted, already diving again.
Zoey was right behind him, plunging in without hesitation. Her braid ca loose the mont she hit the water, strands floating around her face like black seaweed. She didn’t say anything, just dove deeper, her silhouette disappearing fast.
Layla appeared next on the cliff above, her face pale with fear before she leapt, feet slicing through the mist. A splash, then silence. Serena and Natalie were right behind her, followed by Lucy, all of them drawn by the scream, by the look on Jude’s face as he vanished over the edge after Rose.
The pool filled with frantic movent. Jude surfaced again, coughing hard, eyes red and raw. "Did anyone see her?"
No one answered. They were all searching, diving, fighting against the violent churn. Emma reached the far side first, crawling over the slick rocks like a drenched cat, eyes wide with panic. She turned and scanned the surface. "She could’ve been pulled under the falls!" she yelled.
Susan swam to the base of the waterfall and dove, disappearing under the pounding torrent. Jude followed her lead, kicking toward the curtain of water, teeth clenched against the push of the current. He dove beneath the crashing surface, heart racing, and found only stone and swirling shadows.
There was no sign of Rose.
The water was freezing, heavy with silt and foam. His hands scraped stone, his knees slamd against rock, but he didn’t stop. He surfaced again, gasping, eyes darting over the crowd.
"Rose!" Lucy scread, voice hoarse.
"Rose!" Natalie shouted, diving again.
Sophie and Grace had arrived, staying at the edge, trying to track from above. Grace yelled down, "She might be trapped under the ledge! The current could’ve pinned her!"
Jude swam that way, lungs burning again. He dove under, shoving through thick weeds, reaching into dark crevices beneath the rocks. Nothing. His chest ached. He rose again, this ti slower, his vision going black at the edges.
"No," he whispered. "She has to be here."
The others were silent now, diving in turns, surfacing only to take shallow breaths before plunging again. It was chaos. The water thrashed them like rag dolls. The roar of the waterfall drowned everything but the growing horror in their minds.
Layla surfaced near Jude, panting, gripping a smooth stone to stay afloat. "She’s not down there. I... I can’t find her."
"She can’t just vanish!" Serena snapped, her voice cracking. "She fell here. We all saw it!"
"But what if she didn’t stay here?" Zoey said, her voice sharp with panic. "What if the current pulled her under sowhere else?"
"There’s no way out of this pool," Emma shouted from the rocks. "We’ve swam it a hundred tis. It’s sealed on all sides except the fall."
"She didn’t go over a second edge," Susan said grimly. "We would’ve seen her."
Everyone paused, panting, slick with water and fear. The forest above stood silent, as if watching. Even the birds weren’t calling.
Jude tread water in the center of the pool, his head spinning. He tried to think logically. Rose was strong, fast, and she’d fallen from a height that shouldn’t have knocked her out. Unless she hit her head. Unless...
His stomach turned. He dove again, this ti deeper, farther toward the corner where the water turned dark and narrow. His hands reached blindly, feeling the current dragging him sideways. There, he felt sothing. Cloth? No, just a weed. He twisted, desperate, trying to force his eyes to see through the dark.
Still nothing.
When he surfaced, his chest heaved so violently it made him cough until his ribs ached. "Rose!" he bellowed, the na echoing off the cliff walls.
Nothing answered.
Sophie scrambled down to the water’s edge. "We’ll search all day if we have to!" she shouted. "We’re not stopping!"
Natalie swam over to Jude. "What if she was pulled into a cave or an underwater tunnel? The fissure earlier, maybe sothing opened underwater too."
"Then we dive again," Jude said. "Until we find her."
One by one, they dove again, each taking turns into the deepest, darkest parts of the pool. Minutes passed. Then more. The sun began to slide past its peak, casting long shadows across the rocks. Exhaustion began to creep in, their movents slower, their dives shorter, their voices weaker.
Still no Rose.
Jude clung to the slippery stone at the pool’s edge, eyes closed. He heard Layla’s quiet sobs as she leaned against Zoey. He heard Serena murmuring sothing under her breath like a prayer. He heard Sophie call Rose’s na again and again, softer each ti.
And then Susan surfaced near him, her expression strange.
"I felt sothing," she said quietly. "Not a body. A... pulse. Like the water vibrated."
"Where?" Jude asked, instantly alert.
She pointed. "Just beneath that ledge. Sothing... it’s like it reacted when I got close. Like sothing’s down there."
Without hesitating, Jude dove again. He reached the ledge Susan had indicated, swam deeper, searching. He pressed his hand to the stone and felt it, a low hum. Not a sound. A feeling. Vibrating under his palm like a heartbeat. The rock was warm. Wrong. Alive, sohow.
He kicked up fast, breaking the surface. "There’s sothing under that rock. Not her, but sothing."
Emma narrowed her eyes. "Do you think it took her?"
Jude couldn’t answer. The thought was forming and it didn’t make sense but it also fit everything. The monster. The symbols. The sudden fissure in the cliff. The warm stones. What if it hadn’t just been watching? What if it had been waiting?
"Rose!" Layla cried again, swimming toward the ledge. "Please! If you can hear us!"
Jude pulled himself onto the rocks. He stood high over the water now, looking out. Everyone was scattered across the pool, treading, floating, searching. Their voices echoed through the mist.
"Rose!"
"Rose!"
"Sis, answer !"
"We’re here!"
"We won’t stop!"
Each cry felt heavier than the last.
He turned toward the woods. It was still watching. He could feel it. That thing, whatever it was, had done sothing. It had reached in and taken her, not killed her, not yet. But hidden her. Maybe to test them. Maybe to hurt them. Maybe to lure them.
His fists clenched. "We’re going to find you," he said, under his breath, a promise sent into the wind.
Behind him, the others were still calling.
"Rose!"
Their voices overlapped, one after the other.
"Rose!"
Until it beca a chorus.
"Rose!"
But still... no answer.
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