Flutter (The Discover Series) (10 page)

I waited.

Black, silky, stands of Sara’s hair filled the hole and I signed in relief. Scrambling back to the opening, I reached in pulling Sara’s limp body from the freezing water.
I watched as the water slid over her, trying to cover every inch of her skin, absorbing into the silky surface of her skin
. I felt the shift in the wind as it moved to swirl around her. The sun exploded through the clouds, showering Sara with a beam of light, as if trying to rescue her from the glacial temperature.
Everything was fighting to be apart of her at once,
craving her attention.

Cradling her in my arms, I slid away from the water and pushed her hair out of her face. Leaning over I listened, but didn’t hear the sweet, soothing, sound of her breathing. Looking back toward Aaron I ordered.

“Go back to the shed and get a blanket.” He looked like he wanted to protest. “Now!”

He took off in the direction of the shed. Laying Sara gently down on the ice, I unzipped the black wet suit down to her waist, exposing a dark green bikini top underneath. With every inch of bare flesh revealed, I became momentarily entranced by the allure of her skin. It was a dazzling trickery being played on my mind, an illusion that I couldn’t take my eyes off of. Reaching out, I ran the back of my fingers down her throat and over her collar bone. A luster of gold shimmer danced over the surface of her skin, hypnotizing my attention until I was no longer concentrating on what was happening.

“Adan!”

I could hear Aaron shouting my name in the background of fog around my head, but I couldn’t look away from Sara. I felt like I was being pulled into a trap, a very deadly trap, but I
wanted
the deception, I
wanted
the girl deceiving me.

I was suddenly hit with a blast of intense glare, blinding me until I was flinching away from blaze, forcing my eyes shut. I could no longer see Sara, or the glimmering waltz of her skin. The spell was broken, the thick haze evaporated and I was focused again. There was a loud roar around us, deafening me. I tried focus on Aaron’s voice; focus on what he was telling me.

“Damn it, get that light out of my face!” I growled. I was starting to feel the slight scorch on my face from the harsh light. “I can’t see anything!”

“Listen to me!” He ordered. “You can’t look at her skin too long. It’s part of her influence. It’s a con, a trap. Her body senses danger, it’s a defense, it’s a
Trance
. You need to concentrate!”

The light dulled, dissipating, and with it went the ear piercing thrill. I blinked several times until the bleached white spots dissolved and my vision was unclouded. I was staring down at Sara’s body, still limp in my arms. Her skin was still glowing enticingly, the golden glint pulling at me, grabbing at the corners of my attention again and
I
realized what was happening.

I could see the black edges slowly rising on her body, transforming her skin into an iridescent kaleidoscope of colors. The influence was faint, never fully developing into the full effect of what her body would someday transfigure into. The change only lasted a minute before it disappeared, leaving only the shimmery appearance of her skin.

“Adan!” I heard Aaron shout my name, snapping me back.

I moved as fast as I could, my haste an attempt to ignore the temptation before me. Tilting her head back, I closed her nose, and pulled down her chin. My lips covered hers, breathing a burst of life into her body. Her chest expanded, but nothing beyond that happened. I pumped on her chest and then leaned over repeating the steps.

“Come on Spitfire! Please!” I pleaded with her, pushing on her chest. “I refuse to let you go. Listen to my voice. Come back to me Sara.”

I could feel my eyes burning, and my heart felt like it was going to explode, but I repeated the steps again. Kneading her chest, I pleaded with her.

“Sara, damn it! Don’t leave me, not when I’ve just found you. You can’t leave me.”

My hand slid across her the skin of her neck and it was like my fingertips were producing a spark of lightening. Her skin absorbed the shock with a tremble and I watched in awe as the streaks of electric energy sizzled over her skin.

Within seconds she was choking, gasping for air, as water
spilled from
the side of her mouth, and I quickly pulled her into my arms, holding her close.

“Thank you.” I whispered leaning my forehead against her.

My eyes eagerly devoured every line, every detail, of her face. There was a longing I could feel, a burning in my gut, begging me to look past the curve of her neck, past her shoulders. I wanted desperately to be lost in the tantalizing illusion of her skin again, but until I was sure I would be strong enough too control myself, my eyes stayed fixed on hers.

If possible she was more beautiful than I remembered. I had stayed away far too long this time. The need to trace every beautiful feature of her, to see if they were as smooth as they looked, was strong and I didn’t trust myself. I had to let her go, and if my fingers explored her soft flesh, I wouldn’t be able too. She moaned, her eyelids fluttering, and I could see the bright green specks that reflected inside her irises, peeking through the midnight black lashes that fanned her cheekbones.

“You’re here.” She said, her voice hoarse, barely audible.

“I’m here baby girl.”

“It didn’t hurt.” She said hoarsely. “You made death easy.”

Her eyes closed, and her body relaxed in my arms.

“You’re alive Sara,” I brushed the hair away from her face, “and your
mine.”

Sara

I was shivering uncontrollably.

It didn’t seem to matter that I was wrapped securely in something thick, soft and warm. I was being bathed in a single spotlight of my own personal sun ray. I had to blink back against the intense glare, but it looked as if the sun had made a special appearance just for me. It looked out of place surrounded by the dark grey clouds that filled the entire sky, threatening to swallow it at any moment. I felt alive, but the sun was too close for me not to be dead.

Were you supposed to feel this cold
after
you were dead?

There was no warm and fuzzy feeling, no harmonious music floating in the background. Granted I was being immersed in a golden light, but it shouldn’t it have been soft and inviting?

I don’t know. We’ve never died before.

Other Sara

The one and only, but lets work on my nickname please?

I didn’t know if I was disappointed that it was her answering, and not him, or just comforted by the fact that I wasn’t alone.

Both it would seem.

She was right, and I felt guilty.

Don’t. I kind of wish he was here too. So we’re even.

Just the thought of his voice, and its warmth, sent off another set of erratic shivers through my body, and I pulled the material tighter around myself. I buried my face deep within its confines, to take refuge from the bite of the wind. I felt tingly all over, and I tried convincing myself it was because of the wind. Had my reaction not been so strong, I might have been able to trick myself.

In the end, I was not fooled in the least.

Why was I putting so much significance on a stupid delusion?

When I had been trapped in my version of ice hell, it kind of made sense, but now, what was the point? I was laying here, the verdict still out on whether I was dead or alive, and all I could think about was him.

Maybe it had nothing to do with the voice; I just hadn’t separated the connection yet. It could very well be all the trauma of everything that had my body on edge.

Have fun with that. Even as you’re thinking the words, you’re still lingering on the thought of him.

I groaned. I hated when she was right.

The light was starting to hurt my eyes, and my head was pounding from all this over analyzing I was doing. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. It felt good to be able to expand my chest, but the cold air burned the inside of my nose so much it brought tears to my eyes. The smell that filled my senses made the pain entirely worth it. Subduing the sting along the way, the s
c
ent was so heavenly; I wanted to bottle it and to keep with me forever. I realized the smell was coming from the blanket I had been enfolded in, and I wondered how I had not noticed it before.

My reaction to this aroma should have seemed strange, but actually, after everything I have been through, this was probably the most normal. It attached, clinging and over powering every sensitive membrane it could find in my nose, until I couldn’t smell anything else. I instantly thought of him, and knew for a fact, that if he was real, he would have smelled exactly like this. I relished the thought, and pulled the blanket tighter around me. There were so many combined smells that I couldn’t quite figure out what they all were, and that frustrated me-

STOP THAT!!
I screamed at myself.

I didn’t want to think about that anymore. I was free. At that realization, everything about my body felt heavier and I didn’t have the strength to lift my head and look around. I was
determined
to focus only on the situation at hand.

I wasn’t good at judging my situations lately: dreams, reality, illusions…death. I had felt myself drowning, but this didn’t feel like death. Just like everything else had, this felt too real. In my experience, if it felt real, it usually meant it probably is.

I had been laying down in the fetal position this entire time, and I started to feel stiff. I loosened the hold, on my shelter from the chilly wind, and had to pause long enough so I could stop the violent trembles that attacked me. Halfway to a sitting position, the wind blew sharply, plastering the blanket to the side of my face. Before I could stop myself I was breathing the scent in deeply. My eyes slid closed involuntarily, and I wanted to savor the smell, but just as quickly as they had closed my eyes snapped opened. I gritted my teeth, and balled my fingers into fist, until I could my fingernails painfully biting into my skin. I continued on as if nothing had happened.

I sat up slowly, pulling my knees up to my chest, wrapping the blanket tighter around myself. The light seemed to dull the more I got used to it, and I was able to open my eyes. They nearly popped out of my head as I took in my surroundings. I couldn’t be certain about the time of day, the dark clouds probably made it seem later then it was, but since the sun was still pretty high in the sky, I guessed it was probably a little after noon.

I was sitting in the center of a huge lake!

It was covered in frost, and loose powered snow that lifted and twirled as the wind blew, always settling it in a different place. At the outer edges around the entire lake, the ground was covered in layers of bright white snow that continued all the way into the forest of bare trees and up until the ground started to curve up the mountain. It was a huge mountain that was just off to the right of me. It was probably the fact that I was sitting, but it seemed to climb all the way to the sky.

There was nothing familiar about the land, and it didn’t seem to stir up any memories for me.

I seemed to be the only one out here…except for…

Do you hear that?
I listened for it again.

Of course.

What is that?

The noise came again, it sounded like a tapping. It tapped twice and then nothing, it tapped twice again before going silent.

It’s a woodpecker Sara. Calm down.

It tapped twice again, but sounded a lot closer, like it was right next to me… tapping on the ice.

It’s just echoing. You’re just freaking yourself out.

She was probably right.

I turned away from the sound, and for the first time realized I was sitting next to a giant hole in the ice.

I started at it, wide eyed.

Do you think that’s where I…

I couldn’t finish the sentence.

If I had to guess, I would say yes.

I swallowed with difficulty and steadied my hands on the ice. I took a deep breath and peered over the edge, into the hole. I gasped and immediately scrambled away from the hole, using my hands and feet to push myself back as fast I could. I had lost my grip on the blanket and it lay out around me on the ice. My hands covered my mouth, trapping in the scream that was clawing at my throat to get out. I couldn’t hold in all the emotions any longer, and tears left hot trails down my frosty cheeks.

Did you see it? 
I whispered referring to the hole that looked like it plummeted to the center of the earth.

Yes
.

Her answer was simple, and I was thankful for that.

What the hell is going on?!
I wanted to scream.

Do you see that?
Other Sara asked me.

What?!

At her question, my heart kicked against my chest, and my eyes were franticly darting around the forest that lined the icy lake. Did it seem darker?