as I struggled to find the surface.
This is it , I thought with an eerie sense of calm. This is how I die .
Time seemed to tick away at an incredibly slow pace. My limbs began to tire and confusion threatened to overtake my mind. I caught sight of a hand reaching into the black, chunky water for me. A tiny shiver of warmth swam through me as I thought of who it might be— Jet . That small shiver of warmth died out quickly as the water began to freeze me from the inside out, burning my lungs while they struggled for air but were only given icy water instead.
My muscles tightened and burned with exhaustion. Rough hands, hands which were obviously not Jet’s, gripped me tightly, pulling me from the slushy water and sliding me across a solid patch of ice.
“ She’s blue—she’s blue, Martha! Tell ‘em to hurry!” Mr. Dover’s voice shouted.
I wanted to tell him to leave me be, that any attempt to save my life was foolish because my death had been inevitable, but I couldn’t speak through my chattering teeth.
My eyes rolled back into my head as my body continued to tremble violently. Each faint intake my frozen lungs could manage felt like fire inside my chest. Jet’s face came into my view and thin tendrils of relief floated their way through my mind. Everything would all be over with soon.
“ Rowan, it’s time,” he whispered, his eyebrows drawn together in concern.
My eyes closed, either of their own accord or out of fear, I couldn’t be sure which. In the distance, beyond the panicked cries of those struggling to save my ill-fated life, the crows had gathered to sing their own haunting melody… the soundtrack of my death.
Droplets of warmth slid from the corners of my eyes as I forced my ice-clogged lungs to take in their final breath. Pain radiated from my chest to my toes—had I been able to find my voice, I would have screamed. I met Jet’s eyes, begging him without words to end my pain. He crouched down beside me and extended a hand, his eyes glimmering with sadness. Darkness dotted the edges of my vision while I watched his fingertip grow closer and closer. Just before touching me, Jet closed his eyes and I did the same.
At the moment of contact, a completely different energy coursed through my body than what I had felt before when we touched. This one was not electrifying or intimate. It was relaxing and peaceful… warming even. Images flashed behind my eyelids, but this time they were my own. Snuggling up with Mom for a bedtime story, getting piggyback rides from Dad, being tickled until I laughed so hard I cried, my very first sleepover at Kami’s house, my first kiss. All the seemingly small things from my life that had made it worth living danced through my mind. In the end, they had been all that had mattered.
When the images ceased, I found myself standing beside Jet, with my body lying at my feet. Jet reached for my hand and our fingers intertwined. For the first time I could actually feel him. I glanced from my body to our connected hands and couldn’t decide which stunned me more.
“ I know how overwhelmed you’re feeling at the moment, but they’re already waiting for you,” Jet said, pointing across the pond where four figures draped in black, hooded cloaks stood. I took one last, fleeting glance at the uninhabited body at my feet before shifting my eyes back to the hooded figures which implored me for my attention.
“ You don’t want to keep them waiting, trust me,” Jet insisted.
With that, we began walking in their direction, out across the frozen pond which had been the death of me moments before.
“ Damaris, Evelyn, Cassandra, William,” Jet said, greeting each of the hooded figures with a formal bow.
“ Jet,” they replied in perfect unison.
I shifted my gaze from them to Jet; he’d dropped my hand before we’d reached them and now he stood with both hands clasped behind his back like a solider standing before a line of generals. The sight was rather
This is it , I thought with an eerie sense of calm. This is how I die .
Time seemed to tick away at an incredibly slow pace. My limbs began to tire and confusion threatened to overtake my mind. I caught sight of a hand reaching into the black, chunky water for me. A tiny shiver of warmth swam through me as I thought of who it might be— Jet . That small shiver of warmth died out quickly as the water began to freeze me from the inside out, burning my lungs while they struggled for air but were only given icy water instead.
My muscles tightened and burned with exhaustion. Rough hands, hands which were obviously not Jet’s, gripped me tightly, pulling me from the slushy water and sliding me across a solid patch of ice.
“ She’s blue—she’s blue, Martha! Tell ‘em to hurry!” Mr. Dover’s voice shouted.
I wanted to tell him to leave me be, that any attempt to save my life was foolish because my death had been inevitable, but I couldn’t speak through my chattering teeth.
My eyes rolled back into my head as my body continued to tremble violently. Each faint intake my frozen lungs could manage felt like fire inside my chest. Jet’s face came into my view and thin tendrils of relief floated their way through my mind. Everything would all be over with soon.
“ Rowan, it’s time,” he whispered, his eyebrows drawn together in concern.
My eyes closed, either of their own accord or out of fear, I couldn’t be sure which. In the distance, beyond the panicked cries of those struggling to save my ill-fated life, the crows had gathered to sing their own haunting melody… the soundtrack of my death.
Droplets of warmth slid from the corners of my eyes as I forced my ice-clogged lungs to take in their final breath. Pain radiated from my chest to my toes—had I been able to find my voice, I would have screamed. I met Jet’s eyes, begging him without words to end my pain. He crouched down beside me and extended a hand, his eyes glimmering with sadness. Darkness dotted the edges of my vision while I watched his fingertip grow closer and closer. Just before touching me, Jet closed his eyes and I did the same.
At the moment of contact, a completely different energy coursed through my body than what I had felt before when we touched. This one was not electrifying or intimate. It was relaxing and peaceful… warming even. Images flashed behind my eyelids, but this time they were my own. Snuggling up with Mom for a bedtime story, getting piggyback rides from Dad, being tickled until I laughed so hard I cried, my very first sleepover at Kami’s house, my first kiss. All the seemingly small things from my life that had made it worth living danced through my mind. In the end, they had been all that had mattered.
When the images ceased, I found myself standing beside Jet, with my body lying at my feet. Jet reached for my hand and our fingers intertwined. For the first time I could actually feel him. I glanced from my body to our connected hands and couldn’t decide which stunned me more.
“ I know how overwhelmed you’re feeling at the moment, but they’re already waiting for you,” Jet said, pointing across the pond where four figures draped in black, hooded cloaks stood. I took one last, fleeting glance at the uninhabited body at my feet before shifting my eyes back to the hooded figures which implored me for my attention.
“ You don’t want to keep them waiting, trust me,” Jet insisted.
With that, we began walking in their direction, out across the frozen pond which had been the death of me moments before.
“ Damaris, Evelyn, Cassandra, William,” Jet said, greeting each of the hooded figures with a formal bow.
“ Jet,” they replied in perfect unison.
I shifted my gaze from them to Jet; he’d dropped my hand before we’d reached them and now he stood with both hands clasped behind his back like a solider standing before a line of generals. The sight was rather
Similar Books
