Walking back home from the pool was lit by the street lamps on either side of the road. Despite the day being blazing hot the night air had a chill to it that brought shivers to my spine. Jake walked with his arm draped over my shoulder, trying to heat me with his body warmth, to no avail. He had told me everything he knew about the Lamia. Him not being one kept him to limited knowledge. Once we were back to his house we had already dried completely and ran upstairs, to our rooms, and changed into pajamas. Carla had bought me an all new wardrobe along with the bedroom furniture. Heading into my closet I turned to a small night table that had three drawers. Pulling out the very bottom drawer I pulled out a black silk night gown with hot pink and bright green skulls and cross bones splattered on it and a rip going up either side. After slipping on black Ugg-boots I walked out of my room and down the hall, in front of Jake’s door. I raised my hand to knock on his door but caught myself when I heard the sound of giggling. I couldn’t make out any of the words being spoken but the voice, I could tell, belonged to Amber Chambers.
Without giving my brain the time to process a thought I opened the unlocked door and stood in the doorway at the scene in front of me. Jake and Amber stared at me from the middle of Jakes room where only seconds ago their lips were locked. Jakes hand rested on Ambers hip and her hands were interlaced through his hair. I stood there for a second, too shocked to even think. Tears sprung to my eyes and I turned out of the room and headed down to the kitchen, fighting the tears from flooding over. Why did I feel this way? I knew that kiss him and I shared meant nothing to him; it meant nothing to me. Right?
A familiar hand on my shoulder caused me to turn around and lash out at Jake’s open cheek. My hand made contact and he fell to the floor with the sudden impact. Setting himself on his elbow he held his jaw and looked up at me. Looking up at Jake’s doorway I could see Amber staring at Jake in shock. Her eyes flickered once to me, then back down to Jake. “Iris,” Jake started.
“Shut up.” I said with a slight shake of my head and descended the stairs and walked out of the door.
Anger flared all throughout my body as I walked down the cement path, leading to the pool. The nightgown whipped around my shins as the wind blew and I was thankful for the fuzzy inside of the Ugg-boots. Once at the pool I hopped over the gate, forgetting the key back at home, and threw off the boots as I stepped down the water covered stairs. As my left foot hit the second step the hem of the gown started to float on the surface of the water. On the third step I pushed the hem on the dress down and dove into the water opening my eyes I could see the bright lights that lit the pool. Closing them I exhaled slowly, letting the bubbles tickle my nose. My head swirled. I needed air.
Too bad.
As my head started to demand my lungs to contract my body lurched. I could feel my eyes close and a small smile played on my lips. This what it felt like to actually suffocate. I’m living the feeling I had felt for so many years, only now it will actually kill me. I felt everything go black even behind my closed eyes as my head slipped out of conciseness.
I woke up on the cement side of the pool with a slight pounding on my abdomen, coughing up water I jerked my head to the side and let the water escape my lungs. The compressing stopped and my eyes opened just slightly. Someone I didn’t know was kneeling beside me. “Who are you?” I coughed.
“Lay on your side. Get all of the water out of your lungs before you speak.” His voice was monotone, deep, and somewhat seducing. I didn’t listen to him, only sat up and wiped my mouth. The night gown clung to my body in an annoying fashion and every time I picked one especially annoying part off another one came up. “What did I just say?” The mysterious man growled.
