Eden Emerged, Seth Benjamin [jenna bush book club .txt] 📗

story had been a mistake Caleb realized. She was angry again. Lightning flashed outside and Brie jumped but regained her composure quickly.

          The intercom crackled, “Sir and Ms. we might be heading into some rough weather. Make sure your seatbelts are on.” It died away abruptly.

          “You have a stepmother?” Brie asked

          Caleb nodded, “7 years ago my mother left father suddenly and without warning. I didn’t know why at the time but now…” he gestured towards her, “I think I can safely assume that she found out about you. Anyways, Dad remarried fairly quickly.” Brie was staring at him intently and Caleb smiled, “My stepmother is really stupid.”

          She grinned and laughed once before stopping and composing herself. Caleb held his gaze on her and when she finally met his again, he smiled. She returned it reluctantly and for a moment he felt like they understood each other.

          The plane jolted violently and dropped quickly before it righted itself. Caleb craned his neck toward the cockpit. He could make out an alarm blaring faintly behind the door. He turned back to Brie. “Do you hear that?”

          The lightning crashed again and the plane shook moments later when the thunder hit. Brie screamed as the plane blew sideways violently. Caleb’s tensed hands found the intercom.

          “Milo, is everything okay up there?”

          The intercom gave no response, but instead the cockpit door burst open and Milo came panting out of it.

          “Seatbelts off” He stammered. He blew past them towards the back of the plane and threw open the closet in the back rifling through the supplies.

          Caleb’s fingers fidgeted with his seatbelt. When he finally pried them apart he stood up. “Milo, what’s happening?”

          Milo ruffled his fingers across his forehead and through his greasy hair. “The engine has failed on our left side and has caught fire.”

          Brie gasped.

          “We need to jump,” Milo continued. “If the flames find the gas compartment, the whole plane will blow.” He stood up, having found what he was looking for. He produced two parachutes from the closet. He dropped one to the floor before strapping the other around his shoulders.

          “Milo…” Caleb started but Milo had already made for the door. He opened it swiftly and the wind swept through the cabin as Brie screamed again. Caleb’s throat tightened and his hands flexed at his sides.

          Milo turned back, his voice shaking. “Good luck.”

          And with that, he jumped and disappeared into the darkness.

          Caleb turned to Brie. She was heaving and staring out the window. A halo of orange light framed her.

          “Brie! We have to get going!” Caleb tried to shout above the wind. The plane shifted again forcefully and that sparked Brie into moving. She scrambled to stand while Caleb raced toward the closet.

          Brie called out behind him, “You aren’t going to find another one. That’s why he jumped. He didn’t want to fight over the last one.”

          Caleb searched frantically even though he knew she was right. A loud snapping screamed from outside as the fire grew. The plane groaned and shifted sideways and downward.

          “There’s no time.” Brie said behind him and Caleb rose immediately. He picked up the parachute sack and crossed the cabin coming face to face with Brie. He shoved it into her chest. “Put it on then.”

          “I…” she began but Caleb pushed it again forcefully. “Now Brie. There’s no time to argue.

          She flipped it around quickly and fastened it about her shoulders. He embraced her quickly, wrapping his arms around her back. He whispered in her ear. “We jump together. Pull the string when I tell you to.”

          He didn’t give her time to answer. He leaned out the doorframe clutching her and together they fell out into the air.

          They fell together with the wind whistling through them. They tumbled in rotation and every now and then Caleb caught a glimpse of the plane, almost completely engulfed in flames. When it finally exploded, Brie clutched him tighter and Caleb bellowed into her shoulder feeling the heat at their backs.

          He had never fallen from a plane before, but he screamed at her to pull when the time felt right and the parachute opened, jerking them upward sharply. Caleb felt his grip around her back loosen.

          He couldn’t see her face but he called for her. “Brie. How close are we to the ground?”

          He could feel her shaking but it showed in her voice anyways, “I don’t know. I can’t see anything.”

          He shifted lower and instead of gripping her around the chest he had control of her around the waist.

          “I’m slipping…” he managed to say before his fingers loosed and he fell away.

          “Noooo!” Brie shrieked as a sharp gust of wind took the parachute and she curled away from him.

          Her voice trailed away until her heard nothing but the sound of his own screams and the waves rolling beneath him. In an instant he dropped below the ocean, swallowing him sound and body. 

Chaper 2: Brie

                                                                   

Brie woke up to a shaft of sunlight peeking through the trees. The parachute was tangled above her, stretched and rippling with the wind in the branches. She sat up quickly and winced, feeling a sudden rush of pain fill her head. She opened her eyes again to take in her surroundings. She was sitting in the middle of a lush canopy, surrounded by trees that stretched forever into the sky. The loose dirt felt cool beneath her fingers.

            “Caleb” she spoke to no one, stepping gingerly to her feet. The jungle swirled around her as she turned in circles. Every direction darker than the last.

            She called louder, “Caleb!”

            The sound seemed to die off as the words left her mouth. She listened for a reply but only the sounds of the jungle answered her. She couldn’t be alone here. This wasn’t happening. She would wake up soon, safe at home with her Mother.

            “Caleb!” she called again louder as beads of sweat trickled down into the corners of her eyes. A branch cracked behind her and she spun quickly, catching a flash of color darting behind some brush on the ground.

            “Caleb?” She screamed, racing forward toward the brush, but when she came upon it, she found no one in hiding. She felt stupid. If Caleb had seen her, why would he run from her? But she had seen something, she was sure of it.

            Then she saw it again, farther on this time, a flash of olive in the shadows.

            “Hey!” she called after it and started running towards the shadow. She kept catching glimpses of skin moving away and every now and then she would hear the shaking of leaves, but she never saw anything step out from the shadows and she couldn’t be sure that the sounds of leaves shaking wasn’t her own heavy feet as she crashed through the jungle.

            She chased her own fantasy until she ran out of breath and collapsed to her knees. She stared off into the jungle, hoping to catch sight of what she had been chasing. Her eyes settled on a burlap sack, swinging on a low hanging branch. It was still swaying as if someone had nicked it running by, but maybe the wind was toying with it.

            She stepped over to it slowly, wresting it from the branch. She undid the string and released its contents onto the ground.

            “The med kit from the plane!” she breathed, letting a quick smile show. She fell to the floor and combed through the contents. Adhesive tape, gauze, cotton balls, cold packs, scissors and other supplies, but her breath caught in her chest when she saw a gun lying in the dirt. It was a simple pistol and an older model by the looks of it.

            She picked it up slowly, careful to avoid the trigger. She had never held a gun before. It felt heavy in her hands. She let her finger slide around the trigger and her hand caress the grip. She liked the way it felt in her hand.  Another rustling noise behind her and she wheeled in place to find the source of it.

            The brush in front of her shook again but this time she watched slowly as a man stepped out from beneath the shadows of the trees. He was smaller than she was, but thicker than some of the trees around them. He had deeply tanned skin and black hair falling about his shoulders, braided on one side. He was covered in loose sand colored fabric that only covered half his frame, stopping at the knees and shoulders. His nose and neck were broad but his arms and legs were sinewy and taut.

            Brie's breath caught in her throat. His eyes flitted over and lingered on her red hair, setting fire to the jungle floor as the sunlight coursed through it. He shifted his weight, dragging his spear through the dirt in a circle in front of him. His gaze shifted downward and Brie stepped back, uncomfortable while he studied her. He took a cautious step forward and instinctively Brie pulled the gun shoulder height and pointed it directly at him.

"That's far enough!" she screamed.

He retreated, sharply arching his eyebrows and turning his attention to the gun. Brie tried to keep herself from shaking uncontrollably and hoped she didn't look as ridiculous as she felt. The native had both hands on his spear now, raising it a foot off the ground, keeping his posture low. His eyes never left the gun, but it wasn't fear in his eyes, Brie noticed. Of course he doesn't fear my gun, Brie fumed, he's never seen one. 

She kept it held high though as his gaze finally left the weapon and returned back to her face. He stepped forward again, his spear held at the ready. She regripped the pistol and waved it at him again. 

"Not another step!" She said, feeling more imposing than she looked. He stopped again, but only for a moment before he continued to creep forward. Her finger found the trigger and slowly starting to squeeze it tight. 

But he stopped abruptly when he heard the sharp trill of a horn from off in the distance. Three sharp blasts. He turned on heels and stared in the direction of the noise, far off into the trees. He turned back towards Brie and now there was fear in his face. He brought a finger up to his lips and Brie understood. The horn blew again and suddenly he rushed forward, grabbing her around the waist and dragging her towards a thick brush. He pushed her beneath the leaves and collapsed on top of her, pinning her to the ground beneath the bush. 

The horn sounded again, much closer this time. Brie coughed dirt and groaned with the weight of the Native on top of her. He rolled off of her and pinned his chest to the ground, pressing a hand into the