ANATOMY OF A GIRL

part three

He was not in control of his own body, that much was obvious. Amidst the push and pull of the water, he was sinking. Falling deeper into the water of the Black Lake. His head throbbed in a way he'd never experienced.

In distant flashes of memory, almost as if they weren't his own, he remembered a searing pain above his eye, and someone pulling him toward the water. He remembered the feeling of his body dragging against grass and small stones cutting into his skin.

Underneath all this water, he couldn't help but think his magic was against him. That it had been this entire time. It couldn't protect him, and it couldn't save him. Not from drowning. He would die because he couldn't control the magic inside him. Because he couldn't fight back.

He couldn't see through the rippling on the surface of the water above him. He used his arms and legs to propel himself upward, but with each stroke, a new wave of water crashed down on him. The surface of the lake became a concrete slab that encased him. His muscles tensed.

He didn't want to die. Not now. He wasn't ready. He prayed to whatever god stood in heaven, to whoever was willing to listen. But it seemed no one was. He'd just have to save himself.

He worked to press his lips together and keep the water out, but as time passed and the tide didn't cease, his body became limp and tired, and it took the breath it needed, craving oxygen but letting the cold water flood his mouth and infiltrate his lungs instead. Throat burning and temples aching, he tried one last time to pull himself up to the surface, with every muscle in his body burning. The pressure mounted in his head and he couldn't tell up from down.

Another wave hit the surface of the water, tugging at his clothes and dragging his body through the water slowly. The water slowly became darker and darker, until he was lost in the blackness.

*

The party was too loud, and either the music or the alcohol had left her ears buzzing. Or maybe it was a combination of the two. It was hard to tell at that moment. The night sky was clear, stars hidden beneath the dark blanket of the night sky. It was a nice escape. A breeze swept her hair across her face, caressed her cheeks with gentle fingers.

Her vision was fuzzy at the edges, so she tried to focus on something in the distance. That was when she saw it. Something, resting against the rocks at the edge of the lake. She moved closer, taking careful steps. The water was peaceful, gentle, washing over rocks.

Someone, not something. Oh, god. Holy shit. She let out an involuntary scream and scrambled back toward the party, in an attempt to get as far away as she could from the nightmare that lay behind her.

Limbs bent in strange ways, thrown onto the hard surface of the rock. It was a student, and they were dead.

*

Sapphire Gracen knew something was wrong when she saw Flair's phone cracked on the floor. Flair was never far from her phone.

But when the piercing scream hit her ears and echoed through the room, she knew it was worse than she'd thought. A lot worse. The kind of worse that there was no returning from.

It became harder for her to convince herself that Flair had just drank too much, or that she hadn't realised she'd dropped her phone. But then there was the fact that they'd checked every room, and neither Flair nor Arlo were in the house.

She's with Arlo and they're okay. She is. They both are.

It became harder for her to convince herself everything was okay, because nothing was. And things were only getting worse. There was a sudden and deafening silence as a girl — wet from the rain — walked inside through the glass door. Lightning lit up the sky with brilliant white light, making the trees in the forest look like shadows and the embodiment of wickedness.