Note: This takes place as Carson is navigating town in the previous chapter.

^^ parker's point of view >>

"Rise and shine!" I barked, nudging Dakota and Delilah with my foot one at a time. The sun had just begun to rise over the horizon, and I'd been waiting for a few hours now until I wouldn't get yelled at for waking them up. I used to envy the people who could sleep through the night, but I stopped when I realized it was other people with the problem. I had a private maid for only my room and she would sleep from 10:00 PM 'till 9:00 AM. Eleven hours! I can barely sleep four- well, five on a good day. Everyone who sleeps that long is wasting their lives away sleeping. I'll sleep when I'm dead.

"What time is it?" Delilah mutters, rolling onto her side.

"We're in the middle of a cave, so I can't say for certain, but about dawn. Seven A.M., maybe?"

"Oh, absolutely not. There's no way in- there's no way I'm waking up this early." Delilah shut her eyes tightly and curled up further into a ball. I stared at her, half-smiling. She's so cute.

"Get up." I heard a voice from behind me and literally jumped. Dakota had moved quickly and silently. "What? Did I scare you, pretty boy?"

"No." I could feel my cheeks grow hot and looked away. Why did I lie? It was beyond clear that I had been scared by the teen. Now he would tease me further. I waited for the smart remarks and comebacks, but they never came. Dakota seemed to be more mature than I gave him credit for.

"We've got our plan. Remember, stay hidden, blend in, find Carson. Easy enough, right?"

"Well, when you put it that way," I complained to the other boy. He shot me a glare. I continued anyway. "It's not that easy. It never is."

"Simple plans work the best. More room to adjust them if things go wrong." Dakota turned away and began picking up the starting items we were given. Four water bottles, four wallets, and the cash which had totaled to be $1,000. Seems completely overkill to me, but not when you factor in hotels, basic supplies, and food. We'd barely last a week, all four of us.

Though, now that I had thought about how long we'd last... how long would we be out here for?

It couldn't be too long, right?

I shook the thoughts from my head. Right then, I had to stay focused on the present and live the nightmare out day by day.

"Move it, Parker, or I'm leaving you." Dakota shot me an annoyed glance. He had been standing at the entrance to the cave the whole time. Even Delilah was ready to go. I caught her eye and she winked. I practically melted.

"Suit yourself." The boy turned around and began shimmying along the wall to the open air, his feet scuffing the ground and echoing through the lantern-lit cave. Shoot. I started walking towards the pair when my legs gave out. I felt weary and tired. My eyes lazily floated over to the pool of water and my ears rang. Voices called out in the far distance, yet I made no sense of them and instead focused on the water. Oh, the water. It was so pristine, so clear, so perfect. Sure, it was slightly polluted with human filth but that didn't make it any less inviting. I crawled to the water and rolled ungracefully into it. Immediately, I was in a euphoric state. My eyes were shut loosely so that light still leaked through, but instead of water burning them, it seemed to soothe, even numb them. I hit the sandy ground of the pool with a thud and my muscles completely relaxed. Why was I so tired? I should sleep. Yes, sleeping sounded ama-

A splash. My eyes widened slightly as I was punched in the stomach. I felt my lungs convulse as I realized I had started gulping in water, not air. My limbs startled and spasmed as they realized what was happening. I reached out into the cold, dark water and found nothing. The water was empty. A void that would swallow me up whole and not think twice. Maybe dying was for the better. One less mouth for my parents to feed, right? They always did regret having a child. Too many responsibilities, not enough time to run their own thriving business or work some overtime hours at Microsoft. Yeah, I think it would be better to just die here. I closed my eyes once more. If I accepted death, it was so much more relaxing.

I was suddenly shoved from below. My hand broke the surface and feminine fingers latched on, yanking me out of the water. I realized that I couldn't die yet. I couldn't. I was thirteen, for Christ's sake!

Instead of being dead weight, I grasped Delilah's fingers tightly and attempted to heave myself upwards. There was another shove from behind and my head broke the surface. I coughed and heaved, attempting to get every drop of water out of my lungs. I didn't know how I was conscious at this point. I bet that if I didn't have my powers, I would be dead.

We managed to get me over to the bank, and I laid on it, Dakota pushing on my chest in an attempt to get as much water out as possible. 

"Are you insane?" Dakota yelled after I spluttered and sat up. "Actually, nevermind. I don't want to know. I'd rather think I'm attempting to survive an inconceivable situation with a competent, perfectly sane person."

"I didn't do it on purpose! It was this pull in my stomach, in my very being. It was as though I was starving and being completely enveloped in water was the only way to survive."

"So, it's like... drugs?" Delilah inquired, scooting closer to me and resting her head on my shoulder. I could feel my face heating up as her hand trailed up my back.

"I don't know," I managed to choke out, my face on fire. "I have never... had drugs before."

"Delilah, step away from ParkerMason before I break your neck and throw your body in the water."

The girl scooted closer to me and buried her head in my shirt. She looked up at an unamused Dakota innocently. "Why? Am I making you uncomfortable?"

After saying that, she took my chin in her soft palm and kissed me hard. My eyes fluttered closed and I kissed her back. I felt something ignite inside me, but before I could grab her head and pull her closer, the moment was ruined as she was ripped away from me. My eyes shot open and I looked up to see Dakota holding a screaming, fuming Delilah over his head. "Put me down, you disgusting ogre!"

"Okay." The boy shrugged and held her over the deepest part of the same pool of water I had just almost drowned in. The screeching continued, but this time it was terror instead of rage.

"No! Nonononononono..."

"Dakota, put her down," I ordered, my voice shaking.

"Or what, pretty boy?"

"Nothing." I tried a different tactic. "It's just mean."

He feigned shock and shame. "Oh, no! Are Parky's feewings hurt? Does he need a hug from his mommy?" I felt my hands curl into fists. Shaking his head, Dakota put the pale girl onto the ground anyway. Her black braid swayed as she ran to me and hugged me tightly, loud sobs echoing around the cave. "Quit the drama, babycakes. We have way more important things to do," the black-haired boy deadpanned.

"The whole water-drowning-thing is a side effect, isn't it?" I asked. He nodded, not hesitating one bit. Well, shoot. How was I supposed to survive this with a side effect that could kill me?

"We've wasted too much time," Dakota announced after a few moments of silence. "It's almost midday. Carson needs our help, as much as I would rather have her away from me."

The girl was quite annoying. But, unfortunately, we needed her leadership skills. They weren't great, but they were enough. For now.

"I'm ready." I carefully removed Delilah from her place clinging to my chest and stood, then helped her to her feet. Once on her feet again, she wiped a few stray hairs from her eyes and winked at me. I felt my face grow warm again and sighed. This girl had way too much of an effect on me.

Dakota led the way along the narrow edge. This seems familiar, I thought dryly. Despite the water's dangerous capabilities, I found myself gathering my concentration and gently moving the pool of water to the side so I could walk off the bank. I glanced at the other half of the pool to find that it looked like I was in an aquarium. Small fish darted around, and though they were bleak, brown colors I found myself smiling. I ran my finger along the wall of water and it rebounded against my fingers, feeling almost like Jello.

"Can you hurry up?" Dakota yelled, throwing a rock at the wall of water. The force of the rock hitting the wall combined with the shock of the teen's voice was enough to shatter my concentration, sending the water crashing down and washing me off of my feet.

I fell face-first into the water, the sharp coldness on my head making me gasp. Scrambling to my feet, I wiped hair out of my eyes and rubbed them thoroughly. The green-eyed boy in front of me burst out laughing, hunched over with his hands on his knees as his body shook with his guffaws. I clenched my fists in anger and a wave over took the ledge he stood on. He immediately shut up, drenched, his mouth wide open in shock.

Now it was my turn to laugh. And laugh I did. He wiped his eyes and glared at me, but I met his gaze with one of innocence. His quickly overtook mine, however, and I soon quieted down and looked the other way.

"Let's move," Dakota growled. The water evaporated from our clothes on command, which made him a little bit calmer, but not totally. Clearly, my actions would not be forgotten any time soon.

Upon reaching the outside, the three of us found a gorgeous clear day, the sun reflecting off of the water in front of us. In the distance, reddish brown mountains looked down on the world below them. Before the mountains, sparse desert. The water was gorgeously clear, and boat ramps littered the edges. The small traces of civilization looked out of place in such a bleak looking area.

"Wow," I whispered.

"It's so pretty!" Delilah squealed.

"Let's move," Dakota replied.

As I rolled my eyes, we began to look for a pathway up the hill our cave was set into, which was no easy task. It wasn't only steep, the land pretty much inverted as it went down, giving the cave perfect cover from any civilians who might decide it's their day to go exploring.

"Time for a little rock climbing," I said, running my hand through my hair. It felt pretty disgusting. Actually, really disgusting.

"Oh, no. In my dress?"

"Do you have another solution, Princess?"

That seemed to shut Delilah up, and Dakota looked far too smug about it. I wanted to comfort her and tell her no one would be looking, but the moment passed, and I didn't exactly feel like announcing my liking towards her to the world.

"She'll go last, then," I announced. The girl beamed at me, and I felt my heart grow warm.

"Whatever makes the baby girl feel better," Dakota cooed, beginning the ascent. I ignored the gibe and followed after him, sighing loudly. "To be clear, I meant you, Parky," he called down, and I gritted my teeth.

"Yes, I realize that, Dakota."

It didn't take long to reach the top, surprisingly enough. After the weird inverted part, the slope  evened out to something far more manageable. Reaching the top, I found the other male in our group standing a few feet away staring at the landscape. I turned my eyes to where his were viewing the world and found a simple lonely road with a gas station and, in the distance, a town.

A town. I grinned. Even if we had agreed not to make contact with others, it was still nice to be near people who weren't absolutely insane (and yes, that includes those who I'm forced to work with for who-knows-how-long).

"A little help," Delilah yelled, and I immediately turned around to help her. She waved at us with a pair of white high heels. Her high heels, I realized. I'd forgotten that she'd been wearing them this whole time. How did I expect her to hike a steep hill in those death traps?

"Sorry," I apologized, scurrying over to take the shoes. Before I could take them out of her hand, however, she ripped them away from my grasp.

"Nope. I'm fine now. The hill has been climbed, the damage to my bare feet has been done. You were too late!" She flipped her braid and marched past me, elbowing my side as she walked by. I rubbed it, feeling a little surprised. I thought I was on her good side, but I guess not. For some reason, that thought dampened my mood.

I followed the girl to where Dakota still stood, staring at the gas station. "What?" I asked. He pointed at one of the large windows where a girl stood. She had long light brown hair with a gentle wave and a gray beanie resting on top. I couldn't see her outfit, but I wasn't intrigued by her at all. "I don't see what's so special about her."

The boy whipped around to face me. "What are you- nevermind. Let's keep moving."

Ignoring his change in emotions, I walked on the right side of him with Delilah a few steps behind. She was clearly still upset that I didn't notice her shoes earlier, but at least she cared.

We passed the gas station and I took a glance inside, spotting the girl Dakota had been not-so-subtly staring at earlier. She still stood with her back to us, and I could now see that she was wearing a gray tank top and black sweatpants. The girl was engaged in conversation with someone in front of her, but I couldn't quite see who. She moved to the side and I caught a glimpse of a girl wearing a scarlet red sweatshirt and dripping reddish brown hair. Carson.

FIFTY FOLLOWERS AND THREE HUNDRED READS? Holy crap! You guys are the best. Thank you so much for deciding to give me your time as I tell the story of Carson, Parker, Delilah, and Dakota. The fact that you even checked out this novel is amazing. So, once again- thank you. I can't say it enough. I hope you enjoyed the longer chapter ;') 

(also, can we talk about how long this chapter is?!)