Flutter (The Discover Series) (11 page)

No, calm down Sara. I mean by the opening of the hole – what is that?

I looked, but couldn’t see anything.

Move closer so we can see
.

I don’t want to

It will be okay. We’re free now.

Her tone was soothing, and I instantly preferred this tone.

I took a deep breath and slid on my hands and knees
toward
the hold. I made sure to keep my distance from the opening, sliding around it until I could see what she saw.

A handprint

From who though?
She asked.

I gave the forest another quick glance, and then touched the frosted outline of the handprint. I felt the soft hum that had been with me since I had awakened, it was vibrating just beneath my skin. I had thought it was an affect from the ice, or something I had imagined. I realized it had been there since I had woken up on this side of the ice. I had just become use to the sensation. It was getting stronger -

Tap, tap… tap, tap
.

I whirled around.

That was no woodpecker.

It had come from right behind me for sure this time. Someone was tapping on the ice, and I was pretty sure that it wasn’t whoever had left the handprint. I squinted, trying to focus on the edge of the lake, wondering what I was overlooking in the distance.

That had been my mistake.

It wasn’t coming from in the distance, and I didn’t realize that until it was too late. I didn’t have time to prepare myself.

I screamed

Flutter

Four

Surprises

Sara

The sound of my scream came down all around us.

It ricocheted off the ice, swirling through the trees, and bouncing off the mountain. The vibration was caught by my ears, making my head spin with the shrill ringing. It took me a moment to realize that the reason I was surrounded by total darkness was because I had my eyes squeezed shut. I wanted to open them, but seeing some
thing
or some
one
break through the ice had terrified me far too much to even take a peek.

“Sara?”

The sound of the voice startled me further, and I flinched just barely managing to stifle the whimper that filled my throat.

Someone

The voice was hesitant, gentle…coaxing. He knew I was scared, and used his tone to reason with my instincts, to convince me that it was safe to open my eyes whenever I was ready – he would be patient. Curiosity won over. My fear had already started to dissolve. I knew I should have been afraid, but the combination of the concerned voice, and a soft, but very notable hum that had been coursing through my body since I had awakened, seemed to surge stronger now, and I felt safe. I couldn’t explain where this feeling came from, but it felt like my whole body was infused with gasoline, and every now and then a match would be lit, and my body would smolder from the inside out. It was a delicious, addicting kind of burn, an adrenaline attack on my nervous system.

I heard a shift, and gruff noise.

I blushed, realizing that I was still sitting there with my eyes closed. I took a deep breath, and opened my eyes, blinking a few times to focus on the person standing in front me. My eyes touched his face and I searched for a memory to place him.

He was tall, he stood there looming over me, and I could see tightness etched in the muscles of his jaw. There was something protective and guarded in his hazel eyes as they watched me, his dark brows knitting together anxiously. The defining colors inside his iris stood out noticeably against the tanned skin of his face, and I was starting to experience a spark of familiarity the longer I examined the rugged features of his face.

His dark hair, hanging a little longer, was slicked back, cling to his neck. Stubble covered the bottom half of his face, adding to his feral look. I didn’t know if it was the difference in our positions, but from down here, he looked like a giant. His matching wet suit stretched tightly over the muscles of his body.

He was older than me, too old to be someone I was in a relationship with.  He was good looking, but there was no connection, no attraction to him. A family member maybe?

And just like that, there it was.

Andres

I had meant to say that out loud, but I thought it before I could speak.  Relief so sweet filled me as another piece of memory was found.

“It’s okay Sara. I’m not going to hurt you.” He said slowly, while lowering himself into a squat, his hands held up cautiously in front of him. He was looking at me carefully, waiting for my reaction.

I frowned, not completely understanding his uncertainty, and then I realized how I must look to him. I knew my eyes were wide and watery, my lips trembled from the cold, and I hadn’t relaxed my positions since he had emerged from the lake, like a creature from the deep. He was mistaking my relief for fear. Instantly I unclenched my muscles, and they ached in protest. I relaxed my stiff position and tried to smile.

“I know… Andres.”

He let out a long breath that I was sure he hadn’t realized he was holding, and I could almost see the worry he had been wrapped in fall away. He ran his long tanned fingers through his brown hair, darkened by the water that clung to the strands. Beads of water pooled into perfect droplets at the ends before falling away, and absorbing into the material of his wetsuit. His water shoes made a squishy sound as he adjusted his weight on his legs.

“I didn’t think you would-,” he stopped, choosing his words carefully, before starting over again. “I didn’t think you recognized me. You looked terrified.”

“Of course I was terrified!!” I didn’t mean for it to sound like I was calling him an idiot. “You came through the ice like something from a horror movie. I’m pretty sure I had a mini stroke, thanks to you.” The smile that followed was small, but it was the best I had to offer.

He almost looked amused. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know-” he stopped again, paused for a minute, and when he started again, he didn’t bother to pick up where he left off. “Do you remember anything?” He was looking at me, but his eyes didn’t meet mine.

“I don’t remember a lot, but I know you’re my… uncle?” The word sounded off, but he nodded, not seeming to notice that I was looking at him curiously now.

He laughed. “That’s right, but you haven’t called me that in along time.”

“I guess that’s why it doesn’t sound right.”

“You call me Andres.”

“That sounds right.”

“Do you remember anything else?” He seemed to look everywhere, but at me when he asked that.

His strange behavior seemed to go a little deeper than us waking up in ice, and not knowing how we had gotten there.

Or did he know?

I shook my head. “What about you? Do you remember anything?” I asked.

He looked away then, and my suspicion grew. I sat there, waiting for his answer. He finally looked at me again, but just like before, his eyes rested on anything but mine.

“I don’t remember much yet either.”

I didn’t know if I believed him, but at this point I didn’t have any other choice but to trust him. If he was telling the truth, I should at least fill him in with what I could remember.

“I remember being sick, and I remember you. Those seem to be the only memories I have at the moment.” I studied his face to see if I saw any spark in his eyes that said he remembered too. He seemed to be a pro at hiding his emotions.

“I do remember that,” He said, and then shook his head as if trying to clear the chaos inside. He stood up slowly, stretching the muscles that wouldn’t hold his weight any longer. He put his hands on his hips and asked, “How long have you been…above the ice?” He had a hard time phrasing the question.

“Not long.” I said. I was sitting crossed legged now. The ice didn’t seem to bother my skin through the wetsuit. “Well I don’t think it’s been that long anyway.” I had forgotten that I had been unconscious for some time.

He frowned. “What do you mean
you don’t think
?” His hands were on his hips, but not in a scolding stance.

“I’ll give you the short version-” I started to explain.

“There is a long version?” He asked.

“Yes.”

“I think I’d rather have the long version. Its better I know everything.”

“Okay.” I took a deep breath. “I woke inside the ice….cocoon?” I said, not knowing what else to call it. “I thought I was having a nightmare at first, but when I realized I was actually inside of the ice…” I trialed off and shivered at the memory of it.

“Go on.” He urged,

“I was completely freaked out, and –” I stopped, not knowing how I was going to explain the next part.

“What?” He asked.

“Well it’s hard to explain.”

“Try please.” He urged.

“When I realized I was trapped in ice, all I wanted was to be somewhere else, anywhere else. I closed my eyes, wanting to be somewhere else. I created this image in my mind and when I opened my eyes… I was there.” I had been staring off into space during my story and I blinked, bringing Andres into focus.

“What do you mean?” He asked sounding intrigued, rather than looking baffled as I had expected him to be.

“I mean I was somewhere else.” I was trying my best not to completely freak out on him! I was failing.

“Where were you?” His calm tone was only adding to my irritation.

“I was on a beach, and before you ask, I don’t know what beach it was, or where, but I have a feeling I’d been there before. It was very déjà vu like. I thought it was another dream at first, my mind playing tricks on me, but everything felt
SO
real, too real to be a hallucination anyway.”

“What do you mean it felt too real? Maybe it was just your sub-conscious relieving you of the stress of your situation.” I couldn’t tell if he was trying to convince me or himself of that.

“I could believe that if I hadn’t been able to feel the sand, actually hold it in my hand, or taste the salty air from the spray of the ocean. The rays of the sun were
so
strong, that I’m pretty sure if I pulled off this wetsuit, I would have a tan line.” my hands were gesturing wildly in the air, and I wondered why I was trying to defend my craziness.

“So what happened next?”

I ducked my head, not really wanting to explain the next part. He would for sure think I was crazy now.

“Well…” I started, not sure how to continue. “Again that’s a little harder to explain.”

“Harder than explaining that you somehow teleported yourself?” He was teasing. I knew he was trying to make things easier, but somehow it made it harder,

“Ha. Ha. Hilarious stuff.” I said. “When I freaked out about the hallucination, it seemed to…melt away,” I shrugged and looked at him. I expected to see a number of things on his face, but he didn’t appear to be phased by what I was telling him. “Then I was back in my ice cocoon.” I decided it was best not to mention about the black fog.

“What happened next?” He finally asked, after I hadn’t said anything for a while.

“WHAT HAPPENED NEXT?!” I was gaping at him, but I couldn’t help it. “How can you be so irritatingly calm about this? This whole situation is bizarre, and you’re asking ‘
what happened next?’ 
Like it’s all perfectly normal?!” I couldn’t help but be frustrated.

“It’s not going to do us any good if I freak out along with you Sara.” There was no trace of sarcasm, his tone was gentle again. “What happened next?” he repeated.

“I…passed out.” it embarrassed me to say it. “I don’t know how long I was out, but when I came to, the water had already started to fill up around my neck.”

Finally!
The emotion I had been waiting to see had come. It came and went within the blink of an eye, but I had seen it. He swallo
wed hard and asked, “You mean the water
wasn’t draining?”

“No, did you have the same problem?” I wondered.

“Not quite. It would have filled up, but there was a crack so the water drained.”

“Lucky.” I mumbled.

“How did you get out?”

“I don’t know. The ice started to melt faster, almost like someone had an intense heat lamp on it.” I had been too preoccupied to realize it before, but that’s what it had felt like. “Before I knew it, I was drowning. I could feel my lungs filling with ice water, and I guess, I guess…I passed out.” I was staring at the ice, but I wasn’t really looking at it. I was searching my mind for anything I might have over looked. Any
clue I was forgetting.  “When I woke up, I was free. I had probably been sitting here for ten or fifteen minutes, before you popped out and I yelled surprise.” I waved my hands when I said it, and attempted to smile at him, but he was too lost in thought to notice me. “That last part was a joke.” I clarified for him.

His smile was forced and he no longer looked amused. “Yeah, I’m sorry about that.” He said lamely.

“What about you-“

“Are you sure there is nothing you’re forgetting?” He interrupted me, distracting me from my line of questioning. It worked, because I felt like there
was
something I was forgetting…but what?

The handprint!
I reminded myself.

“Of course,” I said out loud. I turned my head and found the frosted outline of the handprint, next to the hole that had once been my grave in the ice. I pointed
toward
it.

“Look,” I told him, not bothering to turn, “it’s a handprint. I noticed it when I woke up, but no one was here. Although-,” why did I have the feeling that someone had been here?

“Although what?” He asked.

He had walked around me to kneel next to the evidence, and studied it. He placed his hand flat on the ice next to the print, and closed his eyes; concentrating on something I was oblivious too. I probably would have found that weird, if it weren’t for the fact that I remembered why I knew someone had been here.

“There
was
someone here.” I whispered. I turned my head to the side and squinted –as if that would help me remember clearly.

He was no longer interested in the footprint. He was staring at me intensely, like he was trying to see what I could see. “There was? Are you sure? Why do you think that?” He fired all three questions at me without taking a breath.

“While I was drowning, I could feel light on my face. It was bright and hot. It burned my skin.” I touched my face, remembering. My cheeks felt dry and rough to the tips of my fingers. I blinked out of my trance and looked at him. “When I opened my eyes I could see someone. It was a shadow, a silhouette of someone’s body.”