Page 185 of Because I Killed Him
I curse and scan the lake, seeing nothing at first. Then there’s a tremor, ripples where the water should be still, followed by a bloom of color swirling beneath the surface.
Piranhas.
My body lurches as if it can already feel their teeth. They’re coming straight for us. I whip my head toward Edmund’s yacht and, there, barely visible through the glow, hang the silver rungs of a ladder.
“Dickie, we have to swim!”
I drag him toward Edmund’s yacht, which is slowly sailing away, my arms burning with each stroke. The water clings, heavy as seaweed, pullingat us as I force us toward the ladder. But when we finally reach it, Dickie goes limp. His head drops against my shoulder, mouth slack, breath gone.
“Dickie?” I shake him. “Dickie!”
A few feet above, the ladder waits like an outstretched hand. I know I could swing high enough to grab it and save myself. But to live, I’ll have to let Dickie go.
The Blues start yelling, drawing my eye back to their yacht. One throws a chair into the lake, while another hurls a table, sudden flashes of noise and movement meant to distract the piranha swarm. But it’s too late.
The water ahead erupts in a violent swell of scales and teeth. There are too many of them, moving too fast, like a tide of sawblades spilling from the glow.
I watch, my heart slamming against my ribs, knowing it’s my last chance to save myself. My head screams at me to climb, to survive, but my arms refuse to loosen. I grip Dickie tighter, as though he’s part of my own body.
I shove away from the hull, my chest heaving as I force air into my lungs. Then I reach for him. My last hope.
“EDMUUUUUUUND!”
The scream rips out raw and jagged, shredding through my throat, my heart, the night itself. The name echoes over the water, reverberating across the lake so loudly that the two Blues on the neighboring yacht freeze mid-motion.
Please.
Please let Edmund hear me.
Please let him run.
If he doesn’t, Dickie and I are going to die, right here in each other’s arms.
The piranhas close the gap in a volcanic rush of water. Twenty feet. Fifteen. I see their red, orb-like eyes and gaping jaws. I curl my body tighter around Dickie, cradling his limp head against my shoulder, trying to shield him as best I can.
I close my fingers around Dad’s daffodil brooch, still pinned to my cover-up. And then, all at once, it hits.
Teeth sink into my leg. I scream as pain detonates through my thigh, white-hot, burning all the way down to the bone. Another bite follows. Then another. My thigh muscles seize around each agonizing bite, constricting protectively. Blood jets into the lake in thick, green clouds, dulling the luster.
My vision narrows, the edges dimming like a faraway light. The pain is blinding, but my mind floats above it, as if the body being torn apart isn’t mine. I can’t tell where I end and the water begins. I go still, unsure if I’m dying, knowing only that everything is stretching and slowing down.
Then shouts echo from above.
I force my head up and open my eyes weakly.
Edmund stands on the upper deck, balanced on the railing, one hand clawing at his hair. He sees Dickie, me, the piranha swarm, and the blood seeping into the water. His eyes lock on mine, and for an instant, the world collapses to that single point of contact: him, me, the weight of that stare.
I cling to it because I know.
He’s coming for us.
Rosamund grabs Edmund’s arm from behind and yells something, the sound muffled by Charlotte’s terrified screams. He wrenches free, swings his legs over the railing, and jumps. The dive slices through the darkness in a blue streak of motion. His body arcs smoothly, head tucked, arms outstretched, striking with enough force to shatter the surface into a spray of foam.
The piranhas are still devouring my lower half. The pain is everywhere, too much, stabbing through my thighs, knees, and calves. I can’t tell if my legs are still attached, only that they feel too light. The world flickers at the edges until every color bleeds into green.
Then the biting stops.
The piranhas scatter, driven back by the pulse of Edmund’s Rippletone. They burst outward in unison, an explosion of scales and teeth in every direction.
