Deep Waters

Chapter Twenty-Six

I pulled the book out of the bookcase that I kept the letter in, actually thinking that telling everyone about the letter would be the best logical choice. As I did, a photograph fell out from the pages and drifted to the ground. I picked it up. It was a picture of Sam and a girl. He looked slightly younger then, but nothing else had changed about him. The girl looked eerily similar to me. She looked to be taller than I and had long black hair that cascaded in tight curls down to her hips. She was on the fair side like me but had a curvier figure. "She's beautiful isn't she?"

Sam was now standing in the doorway of my room. "Uh, yeah," I told him honestly. "She is."

A side if his lips curled up. "Just like you."

I narrowed my eyes and wondered if I had heard him correctly. A sheepish laugh escaped my lips. "I bet you say that to all the girls," I replied, trying to hide my discomfort.

"What other girls?"

I didn't answer him, mainly because I didn't know how to. Did he actually know that I was with Kason? Surely he did. We were always around each other and I know he has seen us at least holding hands. Did he just not care? Or was this just his version of being friendly? "Is she your girlfriend?" I decided to ask instead.

"She was before she died." He said it so casually.

"I'm sorry for your loss." Sam just shrugged. "What happened?" I figured he didn't mind me asking considering that the thought of her didn't seem to bring up any emotion.

He shrugged a second time. "No one knows. One day she just disappeared without a trace."

"Then maybe she isn't dead if no one knows what happened," I found myself saying before I even thought about it. Maybe I should have held my tongue. I didn't want to stir up any old emotions.

For a long moment, he just stared at me in silence which honestly freaked me out a little. "I guess so, but I'm pretty sure she's dead...you look quite similar; did you notice?" he asked, taking a step into the bedroom. "It's striking actually, the similarities between you."

After a hesitation, I nodded. "Yeah...I better go see what Kason is doing." I moved to hand him the picture.

"You keep it," he said.

"No, I have no use for this."

"It's a gift," he insisted.

I was really starting to freak out about his vibe. "I don't want it."

"Why not?"

I shoved the photograph in his chest and forced him to take it. "I don't want it," I repeated.

He took a step back out of the doorway to leave, but his eyes fell down to the book I was holding in my hand before traveling back up to my head. "I like the new hair by the way...It' makes you actually look a little intimidating." With that, he left.

Feeling disgusted, confused, and frustrated, I turned around and shoved the book back in the bookcase, suddenly not in the mood to just have everyone be mad at me for my decisions. And if I told everyone, that would include Sam, and I felt like he would just give me even more trouble than what it was worth. Only wanting to see one person, I left the bedroom and went looking for Kason.

I found him on the front porch sitting in the wooden glider swing, carving a chunk of wood. I smiled as I stepped out so he could see me. Instantly his eyes fell on my new look and he smiles brightly as he admired my hair. "Do you like it?"

His smile widened as he met my eyes. "You are breathtakingly beautiful," Kason told me. "I love it."

I bent down to kiss him on the lips and then sat down beside him. "What are you carving?"

"A bear," he answered as he continued to carve it out again.

"Do you think you could carve me another charm at one point?" I asked him, laying my head down on his shoulder and watching his careful movements with the small blade against the wood. "I've missed the necklace you made me since Charles threw mine in the ocean." Honestly, my neck felt bare without it.

His lips pecked the top of my head. "Of course I will."

It was a beautiful day. The sun was out and shining brightly, and there was a slight breeze that cooled down the blistering heat. Right now, sitting alone with Kason, just watching him carve and listening to the breeze and the blade slice slivers of woods was relaxing. It was moments like these that I needed more often in order to feel at peace. But as usual, it was short-lived.

"Well, I was starting to love the country living, but the storm damage ruined it for me."

Kason and I looked up to see my brother walking toward us covered in mud, while Hazel trailed close behind him, looking much cleaner. "Where's your shoe?" There was only one rubber boot on one of Gavin's feet. His new look of borrowed overalls with no shirt underneath didn't get much justice with the one shoe. But it was a look, that's for sure.

"The giant mud puddle in the cow field demanded a sacrifice," my brother answered Kason, leaving him to raise an eyebrow in return.

Hazel laughed behind him, but I could see the slight annoyance and frustration behind her eyes. "For future reference, don't let Gavin go down to see the animals while the ground is still soggy from the storm."

Both Kason and I nodded as they walked passed us and in the front door, leaving trails of muddy footprints behind them. "Noted."

#

Darkness danced around me, throwing chills along my bare skin and a dull whistled song in my ears. Circular lights the size of a baseball were flying in the space around me, leaving me short seconds of sight. It took me a long moment, but I noticed the dark red blood that was scattered across my skin and the cold handle of a knife in my hand. Sam was standing in front of me, his hair and loose, tattered clothes thrashing in a harsh wind that swirled around him. My line of sight fell to the body lying at his feet. Charles was laying there, motionless with ashen skin and minimal clothing. There wasn't a single mark of harm visible on his skin, but he was laying in a puddle of blood. I barely found my voice. "What did you do?"

There was a striking coldness in Sam's eyes as he stared me down. His gaze never left mine and I could almost feel my body temperature dropping. "I didn't do anything," he said calmly, void of emotion. I furrowed my eyebrows. He was the one standing over the body. "This was all you."

The knife was in my hands. I was the one covered in blood. I was the one who killed him.

I jerked up into a sitting position. I was in bed. Sweat covered my skin. There wasn't a knife in my hand, only a fist full of a blanket. The darkness around me remained but the flashing lights were gone, and the chill breeze came from the open window. The only whistled song came from a whining Nemo laying at the foot of my bed, who crawled up next to me for comfort.

I killed Charles. Not really, but I could...would I if I had the chance?