Under Zenith (22 page)

I could deal with monsters, and cliffs, and rogue arrows, but I wasn’t sure I could deal with a cold, dark, space where I was likely to drown with no hope for escape.

“I don’t know,” he said. “I’m sorry.”

And in his defense, he actually sounded like he was.

“Hayden, please don’t make me do this,” I pleaded, not caring that I looked weak and he’d probably make fun of me. “Please. I’ll do something else. Some other task.”

He shook his head, but didn’t look at me. Instead he stared at a spot on the floor, clenching his jaw and shifting his weight. Something was making him uncomfortable.
Maybe having actual human feelings when faced with a weeping girl?

“I’ll fight some kind of monster or complete another puzzle. Just please don’t make me go in there.
I can’t do the small-spaces-and-no-air thing.”

“It’s not up to me,” he said, now looking down at me apologetically.

At least in my last moments, I got to be with sort-of-nice-Hayden, rather than the normal grouchy version of himself he portrayed so flawlessly.

“Hayden, I’m scared. I can’t do this.”

It sounded like I was begging him to fix it for me, and really, I kind of was. At this point I wasn’t too proud to beg.

Tapping his thumb against his leg he came to some sort of decision, extending his hand and pulling me back onto my feet. He grabbed me by both arms, holding me at a distance and looking at me intently as if trying to get his message across.

“Isla, I’m going to be straight with you,” he began. “When I first met you, I was really mad that we’d been paired up because I really didn’t want another failure on my hands.”

I wasn’t sure what part of this speech was supposed to make me feel better
, but I let him continue, not wanting to cut him off.

“I was convinced that you were weak, spoiled, and completely unmotivated. I was positive you wouldn’t make it past the first task
, so I didn’t let myself get too invested in you.” His words were hard to hear, no matter how true they were. “But then you made it past the first task. And then the second. And then the third, until finally, you had gotten through all of them and you were at the last task.

“You’ll have to forgive me for having absolutely no faith in you until it was so obvious that I should have. I can be a bit dense sometimes,” he said, giving me the sideways smirk he had worn the night before, when all of the confused feelings had started.

“I wouldn’t jump the gun,” I told him, wiping the tears from my cheeks and trying to buck up a little. “You probably shouldn’t have too much faith in me right now. I don’t think I’ll be completing this task.”

“You don’t give yourself enough credit. I know I’m your harshest critic and I haven’t done anything to make this whole experience easier on you. But despite my best efforts to keep you from your goal, you’ve reached it anyway. You’re a lot stronger than you think
, and this last task isn’t anything you can’t handle.”

I wasn’t sure where the motivational speech had come from, but I would be lying if I said it didn’t make me feel at least slightly more hopeful about reaching my Destination safely.

You know, without drowning first.

With Hayden’s track record, however, I did have to wonder if the sudden burst of motivation was spurred on by his own desire to succeed. Just as he’d buttered me up during the second task just to force me to jump off of the island, he could very easily be playing the part of ‘supportive Guide’ just to make me complete this task.

“As touching as it is that you have faith in me, I still can’t do this
, Hayden. I’d rather just sit here until I fail rather than dying in a watery death chamber,” I admitted, not sure how I felt about Hayden being here to see the moment I completely lost my pride and gave up all together.

“Isla, you’re so close. You just have to take a leap of faith and do it.”

“A leap of faith I’d be fine with. Give me any sort of ledge and I’ll jump…as long as I’m not jumping into water. Besides, I still don’t know that I want to reach my Destination. We don’t know what’s waiting on the other side for me. All we know is you won’t be going with me.”

“I’d think that would be a perk. Sort of a reward for passing all of the tasks,”
he said with a grin that made my legs feel all wobbly.

“Sometimes I feel like it would be a reward,” I began. “And then you’ll show me a little sympathy
, and suddenly I remember why I ever thought of you as a friend in the first place. I just wish you’d be a little more consistent.”

“Where’s the fun in that?” he asked with a raise of his thick eyebrow.

              I laughed at his statement and nodded. At some point in time I’d have to stop talking to Hayden and actually force myself to get inside of the small, water-filled chamber at my feet. I just wanted to put it off as long as I could.

“Since I’m probably about to die again anyway, and I’m sure I’ll never see you after this, can you answer me one question?” I asked. “Without any sarcasm or joking or hidden agenda.”

“Doesn’t really sound like something I would agree to, but I guess if this is your dying wish I can grant it,” he said, garnering a dirty look from me. “Just kidding. You aren’t going to die in there…now what’s your question?”

“Why did you kiss me?” I asked.

Hayden looked taken aback by the query, though I couldn’t believe he hadn’t seen it coming. I wanted the honest answer from him, though I still wasn’t sure if I was hoping he’d tell me he hated me so I wouldn’t have anything to lose in that tunnel, or if he’d tell me he liked me so that I had a reason to be brave.

“I kissed you because for one moment
, I let myself be unprofessional and unbridled, no matter what the consequences were and no matter what the outcome of that kiss was,” he said honestly, his hands still grasping my arms.

“And?”

“And it was the most terrifying thing I’ve ever done. It was awful and wonderful all at the same time,” he explained with a laugh. “I’m not really the type of person to be ruled by my emotions.”

“Except your anger,” I pointed out.

“Except for that,” he agreed.

“So why did you say it was a moment of poor judgment earlier?” I asked, needing to know before I took the plunge into my watery grave. Somehow it made a difference to me, despite the fact that
, in the scheme of things, it didn’t matter to my overall success in this task.

“Oh, I don’t know,” he said, rubbing the back of his neck after dropping my arms. “Because you hadn’t said anything about it and it looke
d like you were avoiding me this morning, so I didn’t want to be the creepy guy who’d taken advantage of your exhausted state last night, then kept pushing the matter the next morning. And I suppose my ego was a bit hurt that you’d avoided me.”

I hadn’t thought for one moment that I’d avoided Hayden that morning, but looking back on the day, my refusal to get out of bed or talk
to him was a bit avoidant. Maybe he wasn’t the only one with a stunning lack of tact.

“I did kind of do that, didn’t I?” I asked guiltily.

“Just a bit,” he agreed. “Listen, I’m sorry I’ve been so hard on you, but you really have done beautifully here. I don’t have a doubt in my mind that you’ll make it through that tunnel just fine.”

I didn’t share his confidence
, but I couldn’t tell him that when he was actually being nice to me. And apparently he hadn’t regretted our kiss as much as I’d thought.

Now I stood there, looking back and forth between Hayden and the tunnel, not quite sure what to do. It felt like I should say goodbye to him. Like maybe I should thank him for the help he did offer when he wasn’t being awful, or give him a hug or a pat on
the shoulder.

Something.

It didn’t seem right to just turn away from this person who’d gone through so many experiences with me in such a short time.

Not knowing what I should do, I gave Hayden one last smile, lo
st for words, and walked toward the puddle. I removed my boots one final time, not wanting them to weigh me down, and tried not to shiver at the temperature of the chilly water.

“Isla, wait,” Hayden called, splashing up beside me.

I turned to him expectantly. I knew he wasn’t the romantic type, but that didn’t stop me from hoping he would make some sort of movie-worthy declaration of love…or at least like.

Instead he pulled
a small metal flashlight from his pocket and handed it over.

“It’s not very bright
, but it’s better than a pitch black hole,” he said, not sounding very enthusiastic.

“Thanks,” I responded, taking the flashlight from him and giving him a little halfhearted smile. “And thanks for your help with everything.”

“You have an odd idea of what the word ‘help’ means, but I’ll take it,” he joked, using my own earlier accusation against me.

“
Goodbye, Hayden,” I said. “I’ll miss the English accent.”

He laughed at my statement, nodding fondly over the memory.

“I may not miss your Southern accent, but I’ll miss you…just a little,” he admitted, bringing his finger and thumb together to show just how little he’d miss me.

I wrapped my arms around his neck and pulled him in for a hug, not wanting to say goodbye to him forever without at least some sort of affection shown.
It wasn’t easy being stuck with him for so long, but I’d learned a lot about my own strength and I had to give him credit for that.

“You’ll be great,” he said in my ear, hugging me back tightly.

“That was actually a nice thing to say,” I accused, pulling away, but still holding his arms.

“Try not to screw it up like you’ve screwed everything else up,” he quickly amended.

“That’s more like it,” I said, leaning over in a moment of extremely uncharacteristic bravery and planting a small kiss on his lips.

It lasted only a second and neither one of us said anything when I pulled away. Hayden smiled
sadly at me, looking like he’d set aside all of the things he didn’t like about me for one minute so we could enjoy this nice moment that would be over too soon. I didn’t want to drag things on any longer, already losing what little nerve I had, so instead of saying goodbye again, I turned away from him, flashlight clutched tightly in my hand and looking down at the dark water beneath me.

“Courage, Isla,” Hayden whispered in my ear, his lips brushing against my temple as he spoke.

I turned around quickly, suddenly wondering if we could just stay in the final task together without ever having to worry about possible suffocation, but he was gone.

There was no trace that he’d ever even been there.

The immediate feeling of emptiness was overwhelming, but it did help me get on with the task. If Hayden had stuck around it was possible I would have made excuses to sit and talk with him forever.

“Right,” I said, giving myself a mental shake
and facing the tunnel once more. “You just have to do it.”

And with that, I got on my knees, took a deep breath, and fell head first into the small, water-filled passageway.

Chapter 21

What little light the small opening to the passageway produce
d was instantly extinguished as the grate slid closed over my only source of oxygen. My slippery hand held the flashlight in front of me while the other hand pressed against the brick walls that surrounded me on all sides, propelling me downward through the darkness.

It wasn’t a good sign that the only thing I saw ahead of me was a brick wall d
ead end quite a ways away. That combined with the fact that I’d never been able to hold my breath for very long, were quickly making the panic set in. I could feel my heart racing, and suddenly I had to wonder if this whole thing hadn’t been a terrible idea.

Maybe I’d been right to question the appeal of reaching my Destination. Maybe all it really meant was I was dying again. It didn’t make much sense for that to be the case; even in my panicked, air-deprived state I could see that.
Still, I felt an ominous sense of foreboding as I floated down the tunnel, going ever deeper underground.

By the time I reached the other side of the tunnel
, my body was involuntarily gulping, trying to get the nonexistent air into my lungs. All of my muscles seemed to be tensing at once and I desperately looked around for the grate Hayden had told me about. Instead, all I found was another long, watery hallway with no end in sight.

My eyes widened at the implications of this new hallway and had I been in the open air rather than trapped underwater, I probably would have cried. Instead I pushed my feet desperately off of the brick wall, hoping that the fact that this new hallway was going to the side and not downward anymore was a good sign.

I was in full meltdown mode in a matter of seconds. I could see another brick wall looming ever closer ahead of me, which meant another endless passageway to swim through with no air, but it was likely I didn’t even have enough air left in my lungs to reach the next brick wall at all. I was growing weaker by the second from the emotional day I’d had, and the sheer fact that I hadn’t taken a breath in an unhealthy amount of time.