One Week in June | ONC2020

Act Two: The Road So Far

I'm standing on the shores of Kepner Lake, the sun above me is dark and letting out a grey sheen on the earth below. The water lapping against the shore is a deep black, staining the white sand in its wake. I shiver as the brisk, winter air pierces through my thin, white dress.

"Sereia? My little mermaid?" I can hear my mother's voice float through the windy air and gently caresses my face.

"Mom?" I call out, reaching towards the sky like a child wanting to be picked up and coddled. I take a step forward into the lake, the grimy water staining my bare feet as I make my way further and further into the freezing lake. My pure white dress darkening to the grim black the more soaked my body becomes. I look down at my still dry hands and see my light coloring fade to a gray. I feel a tug and struggle against the dark liquid as it starts to suck me down into its depths. I paddle wildly as the water grazes my shoulders; I gasp for air as slimy hands grip my ankles and drags my head underneath the water.

My eyes shoot open under the black, sludgy water. The grey light from the sun above barely pierces the surface of the inky liquid. The hand around my ankle tightens and continues to slowly bring me further under the water. I scan my surroundings, trying to see anything I can grab onto to help bring myself back up towards the surface. I have to squint to see the faint outline of a woman floating a mere 5 feet in front of me. I let out a silent scream as the woman's hair drifts out of the way of her face and I realize it's  my Mom, suspended in the goopy lake water next to me. Her eyes look silvery and dead, glazed over from the curse placed on my Mother's soul. More and more hands cling to my skin and my descent accelerates.

"Meu bebê...Nade pra longe Sereia." My mother mouths, her voice carrying to me in the form of air bubbles. I fight against the dozens of hands grabbing onto my sinking body, the sludgy water filling my mouth and lungs the harder I fight. I watch as my Mom disappears into the depths of the lake and another figure returns in her place. Peter Petrov. He makes his way through the inky water, the liquid having soaked through his dead pores making his body appear to fade into the dark lake water around him.

"It's all your fault." He whispers in my ear, running his boney skeleton fingers through my hair as he glides effortlessly around me. "It should have been you and not me." He snaps as he tangles his fingers through my hair, yanking me down further into the murky water. My lungs are screaming for air and my vision starts to blur as I watch the surface fade away.

"I'm going to make you wish you'd kept me out of your curse. You're going to find out what it really means to lose everything." He cackles and lets go of my hair. He shoves me into the pitch-black abyss at the bottom of Kepler lake and I free fall, gravity taking over as I spiral into the void.

I jolt awake, gasping as I choke down a scream. Sweat soaks my shivering body and my loose summer tank-top clings to my skin as I try desperately to catch my breath. Wordlessly, Alistair reaches over the center console of his Audi and scoops up my hand in his. He gives it a light squeeze as he cautiously traverses the flooded road we're traveling down. I've been trying to sleep for the last two hours; however, my numerous attempts continuously bring me back to this current horrified state. I curl up into a damp ball in the passenger seat as I watch the car's headlights dip slightly as the Audi tears through the small lake coating the ground below. The world outside Alistair's car is pitch black, the only color coming from the rain pounding against the windshield as it reflects the car's bright lights.

Only hours before, Alistair and I made our way down the tretorious, snow covered mountain and watched horrified as the snowstorm based in Kepner slowly faded into a wet, rainy monsoon that's overwhelmed the Midwest. Alistair has been driving for most of the day, only stopping for gas and the occasional restroom run. We thought that the rainfall would only affect the small state we'd just left, yet the states surrounding Kepner Lake have also fallen victim to the wrath of Rusalka's rage. Slowly, but surely each state we've entered has started transforming into flooded marshlands from the uninterrupted and excessive rainfall following our little car.