A Hero in the Dark: 2nd Edition

Chapter 104: Say a Little Prayer For You

~ Number Nine's POV ~

Taylor's shaking me, yelling for me to wake up, but to me, it's a fleeting whisper. Everything's groggy, until it isn't. I sit up slowly, my head stinging with a worsening headache as I reach up to grasp it. I'm quick to realize that the metal arm always attached to my right shoulder isn't there anymore. "Oh, thank God!" Taylor sighs.

I blink a few times to gather myself. I'm in a tool shed. "What the hell happened?" I ask. She diverts my gaze, ashamed, I think, but I don't give a damn. "Spit it out, Cook."

"Einar," she says, which sends my heart plummeting into a downward spiral. "We teleported back, and the second he saw you, with all his mercenaries in the air like that... he knocked you out. I didn't know what to do. I healed you as best as I could."

"Shit," I mutter. "Emily. Where's Emily?"

"I think she walked out onto the lake," Taylor says. "If that was her at least. I'm not sure."

"The lake? Why?"

"Einar took her out there," she says, and I swear, by that, the sky falls. "Why?"

"What do you mean 'he took her out there?'"

"She fell, Nine. It's been a few minutes, I think. Maybe longer."

"Fuck!" I race out of the shed to the lake and Taylor rushes out after me, though she can't keep up early into my sprint. I see it: their footprints, four faded into just two, and the cracked ice where she must've fell. I dive feet first through it, an imperfect pencil dive that sends me deep under—it's freezing. I wince at its chill but keep my eyes open for her.

It's way too dark to see down here. Shit, the ice must be several inches thick; the sunlight—what little of it there is left—barely seeps through. It's dark, and cold, wet—no question—but I'm not worried about hypothermia. John will kill me if anything happens to her. I'm the only reason she's here! Fuck, she probably thinks I don't trust her after everything that happened, but that's not true. I mean, I do trust her. I wanted to make sure she changed, of course, but I only brought her because I thought it'll make things easier.

I swim around, using feet, my arm, and telekinesis to wade through the water. The process is slow, and tiring, but I need to keep trying. I don't know how long I can hold my breath down here for. Come on, Nine! Where the hell is she?! Find her!

It's times like these where I wish I had my other arm, where I wasn't stuck with a stupid prosthetic. Even with telekinesis, swimming is a lot harder with one arm than two! But nonetheless, I fight the water like it fights me; I won't give up until I find her.

I kick myself deeper, deeper, until I'm almost sure I'm at the bottom, though it's hard to tell. Hell. I swirl my telekinesis around to create a sort of whirlpool; maybe it'll make things easier. Faster, faster, I push and pull the current left, drag it with my mind like I'm pulling a heavy tarp along the side of a swimming pool.

It isn't until something stringy brushes my scars that I look down. I'm almost out of breath. It takes everything I have not to breathe in, but even so, I'm starting to feel lightheaded. It's like a bit of seaweed or something, but no. It's not. It's hair. Em's hair. I can make out the wet strands of her dark wavy hair just barely; it's nearly pitch.

I grab her by the waist and kick upwards with all my might, pushing us with telekinesis from below to get us up and out faster.

By the time we meet the hole in the ice, we sail out, and I land hard on my side. Em slides away from me before settling in the snow, motionless. Shit. Shit, shit, shit! "Em! Emily! Listen to me! Wake up!"