"Jerry Davis - Down In The Canyon (2)" - читать интересную книгу автора (Davis Jerry)

with certainty that he was now going to die.
It seemed to go on and on. Jason had plenty of time to
reflect on what was happening. The section of dirt slowed a bit
and hit something, which split it into sections and made it
disintegrate. Still they continued downward, rolling now, mingling
with the damp soil. They crashed through some dark, slippery
branches and plunged tumbling into warm water.
Dirt was still coming down on top of Jason while he was
underwater, but then the current carried him away from the slide.
He was thrashing and kicking, not knowing which way was up, not
knowing how to swim. Never in his life had Jason been in water
deeper than a bathtub. He had no idea what to do.
His knees scraped rock and he pushed up, breaking surface. He
gasped for breath and looked around in terror. He could see
clearly --- the mist was above him. It hung like a ceiling several
meters over the water, and below that the air was crystal clear.
He could see black plants, water, and boulders. He grabbed
desperately at the boulder near him before the current could pull
him away, and crawled on top of it. It was rounded and smooth,
very unlike the porous and abrasive rocks he was used to --- it
stuck out like a little island about seven meters from the West
bank. Jason sat, hugging his knees, not knowing what to do. He
couldn't believe he was still alive.
Then he realized he was alone. "Stephanie!" he shouted.
A ghostly imitation of his voice called back: ". . .
Stephanie . . . Stephanie . . . Stephanie . . ." It was his echo,
but he'd never heard one before. It scared him and kept him
silent, thinking that the monsters were mimicking him. Indeed, far
across the water, near the opposite bank, Jason could see long
dark shapes moving against the current. The sight made him
shudder, and he remembered what his father had told him: "If the
fall into the canyon doesn't kill you, the monsters certainly
will."
He looked around frantically, wanting to get away from the
water and up onto the bank. It didn't look possible, as the rocks
didn't lead to it, and the water looked deep. He glanced back
toward where he'd fallen in, and only saw dark rubbery plants.
Despite his fears, he called out Stephanie's name once again.
Again the echoes came back to haunt him. There was no reply, and
she was nowhere in sight.
There was a loud splash, and Jason turned to see a long black
figure in the water next to the rock. Five times as long as Jason
was tall, it slid through the water with an eerie undulating
movement, two bulging eyes protruding from the water each the size
of a grown man's fist. The eyes were black on black, with no hint
of pupil. It came edging against the current toward the rock where
Jason was huddled. Jason screamed and leaped headlong away from
it, jumping as far as he could toward shore. He floundered in the
water, splashing, keeping his head above the surface. The current
helped, carrying him closer. He managed to catch hold of a rubbery