Maybe afterRobyn Hoodsucceeds that will change.
A heavy sigh escapes me.
I’m drowning in expectations, and not the metaphorical kind.
Something urgent coils in my stomach.
My feet move before my brain catches up.
One step. Then another.
The lake water splashes up as I charge in, each droplet a tiny icy dagger against my skin. The smell of wet earth and algae fills my nostrils.
Seventeen years, Reese.
Seventeen years of letting this fear win.Not today.
I survived Friday’s fight scene. Ran through the forest while Felix barked directions. This is just water. One quick dip under. Tomorrow, I’ll hold for a second. The next day, two. Baby steps.
Soon I’ll be diving for Robyn’s sword, showing them all what I’m made of.
Water laps at my knees, creeping up to my waist. The cold seeps into my bones.
My breath comes faster. Shorter.
My pulse drums in my ears.
My muscles seize. The memory hits, that heavy cover sliding inexorably forward, water rushing in, my small fists pounding uselessly against solid plastic. Time stretches like taffy, each heartbeat an eternity.
“Simply a memory,” I tell myself, my tongue thick and clumsy in my mouth.
The lake feels just as suffocating. My vision starts to tunnel, the edges of the world going dark and fuzzy. A metallic taste fills my mouth.
The whirring gets louder again, the clanging of the pool cover filling my ears, and I whirl around, a child’s scream caught in my throat.
Still nothing.
Only trees, their shapes warping and swaying, though there’s no wind. My legs tremble violently, my knees threatening to give out beneath me.
“One…two…” I sound small, disconnected, like that little girl. Like I’m already being swallowed by murky depths.
I pinch my nose, bend my knees, and try to swallow a breath before descending into the lake water. The cold bites at my skin, creeping up my body like icy fingers.
In an instant I’m back there, trapped under the dark cover, pounding my tiny fists against it, screaming for Daddy as water fills my lungs.
I lurch upright, a strangled “HELP!” tearing from my throat.
My heart hammers against my ribs like it’s trying to escape. The world tilts. Trees blur into a green smear through my tear-filled eyes. Through the haze, a figure sprints toward me.
Daddy?
“Help!” The word escapes on a child’s terrified sob. “Help me!” Each breath comes in desperate gasps. Not enough air. My lungs feel like they’re filling with concrete. The roar of blood in my ears drowns out everything but my own panic.
“Reese!”
It’s Dante.
Strong arms wrap around me, pulling me up and out of the water.
