the rain of secrets

Kaira ran.

The forest swallowed her whole, branches clawing at her skin, roots reaching to pull her down. Her lungs burned, her legs ached, but the sound of pursuit was relentless—boots crunching against fallen leaves, the sharp click of weapons being readied.

Adrian was close behind her, his breaths ragged. "Keep moving!"

A gunshot cracked through the trees.

The bullet splintered a trunk inches from Kaira's head. She didn't scream—there was no time. The fear pulsing through her veins kept her running.

Alyssa's voice rang out behind them. "Go left! There's a river up ahead!"

Kaira hesitated. "How do we know we can trust you?"

Alyssa's response was lost in the chaos. More gunfire. More shouts.

Then—pain.

A sharp sting ripped through Kaira's shoulder.

She stumbled, vision blurring, warmth spreading down her arm. She'd been grazed.

Adrian grabbed her, half-dragging her forward. "We're almost there!"

Through the trees, she saw it—the river. The water churned violently, swollen from recent storms. It wasn't a safe escape, but it was the only one they had.

Alyssa caught up to them, barely winded. "Jump."

Kaira barely had time to process the command before Adrian took her hand and leapt.

The fall was merciless.

Cold water slammed into her like concrete, stealing the breath from her lungs. The current seized her body, twisting and pulling her into the depths.

She fought, kicking upward, but the river was strong—too strong.

Then, something brushed against her.

Not Adrian. Not Alyssa.

Something else.

A shape beneath the surface.

A hand.

Pale. Reaching.

Kaira gasped, water filling her mouth. Her vision swam.

The river was pulling her under.

And something—someone—was waiting for her below.

Who waits in the water,

silent and still,

a whisper in the current,

a name on the chill?

A voice—soft, familiar—slipped through the rushing waves.

"You should have found me sooner."

Her heart nearly stopped.

The river spun her violently, and just before she lost consciousness, she saw the face.

A woman.

A face Kaira barely remembered—

but one that had been buried in her mind for years.

Her mother.

Then darkness.