The Truth

1

FLASHBACK - AUGUST 21st

"Come on, Brynna! It'll be fun," she urged, dragging her friend by the hand towards the lake. Heather turned her curly blond head and smiled mischievously, her blue eyes glowing in the dusky fog hanging over the lake front.

"I don't think this is a good idea," Brynna fussed, trying to dig the heels of her tall high heels into the sand, but Heather was much bigger and stronger. "Is this even legal?" she fretted.

Heather waved a hand in Brynna's face and huffed. "Who cares, Brynn? And I'm almost certain it is, anyways. We're not criminal." Heather paused dramatically, raising her eyebrows. "Yet."

"You are an idiot," Brynna answered, but with a laugh to the edge of her voice. "If I get in trouble, it's your fault."

"It's always my fault, isn't it?" Heather murmured to herself  as the two best friends made it to the top of the sandy hill and the water suddenly came into view. It was so dark out Brynna could only see the lake because of the moonlight reflecting off the deep, black water. The shapes of her friends splashed and laughed near the shore, hanging around the long, wood dock that was half submerged in the lake. Heather kicked off her high heels and raced down the beach, unzipping her black sweatshirt to reveal her frilly pink bikini. Brynna was a bit slower making her way down the slope, grabbing her heels in one hand. Under her clothes, she was wearing a robin's egg blue tankini Heather had picked out for her the day before at the mall. It was very tight around her waist, and the thin straps of the top threatened to slide off her bony shoulders. Not the perfect fit, but it was so dark out no one would be able to notice it. She threw her oversized t-shirt and shoes on top of Heather's things and cautiously joined her friend at the water's edge.

"Ah, Brynna, you finally showed up. I thought you chickened out." It was Amber, waist deep in the chilly water. Brynn couldn't make out her face, only her tall, hourglass frame. Her hair was in a slick raven-colored braid down one side of her neck. Amber looked around dramatically, gesturing with her hands at the huge area the friends swam in. "Well, welcome to The Haunted Mine."

Brynna slowly moved forward until her ankles were underwater. She shivered. It was cold. Like ice. "Why am I even friends with you guys?" Brynna joked, taking tiny steps towards Amber and the other vague shapes she could make out. She turned to Heather, who was sitting down in the sand next to her. "I can't believe you dragged me into this, Heather. My mom would kill me if she knew I were swimming here!"

Heather laughed in response. "What's so bad about this place? So it's a flooded mine. It's just like any old lake." Misti, who Brynna noticed for the first time was lying on her back down in the sand a few yards away, propped herself up and looked at Heather with worried eyes. "No one knows what's down there, you guys," said Misti. "I'm not going to swim."

"Y'all a bunch of wusses," Amber yelled as she did the backstroke farther out towards the middle of the watery mine. Misti opened her mouth to say something, but closed it slowly. 

Brynna wanted to say something to Misti, but decided not to. Instead, she changed the subject. "Amber, how many girls showed up, anyways? It's so dark out I can't even see who's here." Brynna tried to count the figures she saw playing in the deep water, but gave up. 

Amber made her way closer to shore. "Six of us. You, Heather, me, Misti, Evie, and Skylar. Oh, and my sister, Hazel. Bleh."

"Hi guys!" Brynna heard Amber's thirteen year old sister shout from much farther down the beach. Brynna squinted and could barely make out Hazel collect seashells and putting them in a pail. She waved when she saw Brynna looking at her. Brynna waved back.

Suddenly, Heather stood up from the beach and dived into the waves, splashing Brynna who shreaked in surprise. "Heather!" she scolded, shaking the water droplets off her shivering arms. Heather emerged from the water with a laugh, shaking her blond head like a dog. "C'mon, Brynn! You'll get used to it."

"It's cold," Brynna spat as she watched Skylar's head appear near Heather. Skylar splashed the blondie quickly in the back of the head, and Heather turned bewildered to see her attacker. With a loud giggle, the two girls disappeared under the water. Brynna, wanting to join the fun, took a step forward until her knees were wet and squealed. "It's so freaking cold! How are you already underwater, Heather?"

"It feels good," Heather answered as she splashed around with Skylar.

"You're lying," Brynna shouted to her friend, but kept moving forward until her waist was under. At the same time Heather was trying to convince Brynna to get in the water, Amber was doing the same thing to her sister.

"Just get in the water, you wimp!"

Hazel squeezed her eyes shut as she waded closer to the other girls deeper out in the sunken mind. "What if I step on a rock? I can't see anything!"

"Shut up and stop whining, Hazel," Amber hissed.

"Where's the cave?" Misti, still lounging on the beach, asked with closed, relaxed eyes.

"It's in the middle," Heather gestured. "When you get in just don't go too far out and you won't fall in."

Misti opened one eye. "I'm good here." 

"Fine by me!" Amber shouted from the edge of the dock. Suddenly, she looked around. "Where'd Evie go?"

"Evie!" Heather yelled, jumping up and down in the water.

"Over here guys!" they all heard from somewhere along the beach. "I stepped on something sharp," Evie continued. "My foot might be bleeding, I don't know. It's too dark to tell."

"I'll help you," Brynna offered, glad for the chance to escape going any deeper in the water.

and then

the gunshot

the pain in her leg

the ground sways beneath her

lights flash before her eyes

she hears shouts, screams, her name being called

her head hits the rocky ground

sirens

screams and sirens

running and sirens

all she hears is sirens

she is being moved

a stretcher

an ambulance

screams and running and sirens

then, the hospital

white walls whisping by in a flash

shouts and beeps and noises clog her ears

she can hear sirens in her head

always the sirens

suddenly, her mother's face

then it is gone

and the blackness comes

the blackness and the sirens