Chapter 60 Rising Tide
The rain didn't stop. It felt like the sky had opened up just to swallow Elena whole.
She lay at the bottom of the limestone pit, her back pressed against the cold, wet stone.
Every time she tried to shift her weight, a sharp pain shot through her ankle, making her vision go dark for a second.
The hole was deep, and the walls were slick with mud and moss. Above her, the opening looked like a small, gray eye watching her die.
Then, she heard a soft, splashing sound.
Elena looked down at her feet. The rainwater wasn't just soaking into the ground anymore. It was pooling. Because the pit was made of hard rock at the base, the water had nowhere to go. It began to rise, slowly covering her sneakers, then her ankles.
Panic hit her harder than the fall. She scrambled to her feet, ignoring the agony
in her leg.
She reached up with her handcuffed hands, clawing at the walls. She dug her fingernails into the dirt, trying to find a grip, but the mud just crumbled away.
She managed to pull herself up a few inches before her foot slipped on a wet rock, and she went crashing back down into the muddy water.
"Help!" she screamed. "Is anyone there? Mandy! Help me!"
There was no answer. Only the sound of the wind and the relentless drumming of the rain. The water was already up to her shins.
It was freezing, numbing her skin until she couldn't feel her toes. She knew she didn't have much time. If the rain kept up like this, the pit would turn into a well, and she would drown in the dark.
She remembered her phone and quickly reached into her hoodie pocket with her clumsy, locked hands. The device was wet and cold. She pulled it out, praying it still worked.
The screen flickered to life, but a big red battery icon flashed at her. Five percent. It was draining right in front of her eyes.
With shaking fingers, she dialed her father. It rang once, twice, three times. Then it went to voicemail.
"Dad, please!" she sobbed into the phone, even though no one was listening. "I'm in a pit in the forest. I can't get out. The water is rising. Please help me!"
She hung up and dialed Alex. It didn't even ring; it went straight to his automated message. He had probably blocked her.
Desperate, she dialed Eva. To her shock, her sister actually picked up.
"Elena? Why are you calling me? I told you, Daddy is pissed at you," Eva said. She sounded like she was in a room full of music and laughter.
"Eva, listen to me!" Elena screamed. "This is an emergency. I fell into a pit in the forest reserve. I'm trapped. I think my leg is broken and the water is filling up the hole. I'm going to drown if you don't send help!"
There was a long pause on the other end. "A pit? Honestly, Elena, you’re always so dramatic. Did you run away from Julian again? Father said you were acting crazy at the house. If you want help, you should have just stayed where you were told."
"Eva, I'm serious! I’m going to die here!"
"Look, I'm getting ready to go to a club," Eva said, her voice bored and cold. "I have a new dress and I'm not ruining my night because you can't be a good daughter and a wife. If you want Father to send the security team, you have to call Julian and tell him you're coming home. Otherwise, don't disturb me. You aren't even part of this family anymore, remember?"
"Eva, please—"
There was a loud click and the call ended.
Elena stared at the phone. She felt a coldness in her chest that was worse than the water.
Her own sister didn't care if she lived or died. She tried to call her father one more time, but the call failed immediately.
The water was up to her waist now. She had to hold her handcuffed arms up high to keep the phone dry.
She looked at the contact list. There was only one person left. The man she had been running from.
She hit Julian’s name with shaky hands. It didn't even finish the first ring before he answered.
"Where are you, Elena?" his voice came through. He sounded angry, but there was something else in his tone, worry.
"Julian," she gasped, her teeth chattering so hard she could barely speak. "I'm in the forest. A pit. Near the old road. Some men... they tried to take us and I fell. The water... it’s coming up. I can't get out. Julian, I'm so cold."
"Give me a landmark," he commanded. "What do you see?"
"Trees... a big rock shaped like a... Julian, the water is at my chest. Please, I’m scared. I'll go back. I'll do whatever you want. Just don't let me—"
The line went dead at once and the screen went black. The battery was dead.
Elena screamed in frustration, throwing the useless plastic into the rising water.
She began to sob as she moved to the side of the pit, trying to find a higher ledge to stand on. She pulled her knees up to her chest, trying to keep her head above the surface.
The water was up to her shoulders now. It was getting harder to breathe. The weight of her wet clothes was pulling her down.
She tried to claw at the walls one last time, but her fingers were too numb to grip anything. She was submerged up to her neck, her chin tilted up as she struggled to keep her mouth above the freezing water.
She closed her eyes. She thought about Holland’s men. At this point, she didn't care if they found her. She didn't care if they kidnapped her or killed her later. She just wanted to be out of the dark, wet hole.
"Help!" she managed one last shout, but it was weak. Her strength was gone.
Just as the water reached her lips and she prepared to take one last breath, a bright light flashed from above.
"Elena!"
A shadow moved at the edge of the pit. Before she could even call out, a figure dropped into the water with a massive splash.
Large, strong arms wrapped around her waist, lifting her up. Elena gasped, air rushing back into her lungs as she was pulled upward.
She felt herself being hauled out of the water. A thick rope had been looped around her, and she was being pulled up the side of the pit by someone at the top. The man in the water climbed up behind her, pushing her to safety.
Elena fell onto the muddy grass at the edge of the pit, coughing and shivering.
The rain was still falling, but she didn't care. She was breathing and she was on solid ground.
The man who had jumped in climbed out and knelt beside her. He was soaked to the skin, his dark suit ruined and sticking to his frame.
He reached out and grabbed her shoulders, his grip firm and steady.
Elena looked up, her vision blurry with rain and tears.
She looked into the face of Julian.
"How..." she whispered, her voice a broken thread. "How did you find me?"
Julian didn't answer immediately. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small tool, quickly clicking it into the lock of her handcuffs.
The metal fell away, and she was finally free. He wrapped a heavy, warm coat around her shoulders and pulled her close to his chest.
"I told you, Elena," he said, his voice low and vibrating against her ear. "My job is to protect you at all cost. Did you think a hole in the ground would stop me?"