CHAPTER ONE
Ihad never really thought about how I would die, just like most people. We all think about death, some of us going as far as wondering what life would be like when we were gone. But, usually, we never think of how it would happen.
Ever since my father’s body was found in his car, drowned at the bottom of the lake, the trauma has caused me to stay far away from any large amount of water. However, that hadn’t stopped me from encountering large amounts of water twice since then.
The first time, I had been pushed into a large, deep pool by a vexed classmate who wanted to avenge the death of a friend that I didn’t know. I didn’t think she had intended for me to drown, but for some reason, I couldn’t find my way back up as images of my father’s death flashed before my eyes. Thankfully, I had been saved.
However, as I sank freely into the deep abyss of blue water, two things made this time different from the last. The vile human that pushed me into the lake – whom I could still catch a faint glimpse of as he watched me drown with a smirk – had intended for me to die, and this time, there was no one to save me.
“You should never have come here,”my subconscious laughed at me, mocking me in her own way, and I knew what she meant.
I should never have come to Redwood.
From the very moment I set foot in the small town, it has been a curse to me. And no, it wasn’t just because of the silly high school dramas that had me confused between which boy I liked and which one I wanted to choose. That was the least of my problems now.
From the moment I moved to Redwood with my mom to start a new life after dad’s death, misfortune has followed me. First, it was a boy I had come to care for and trust killing off girls for my protection – and turning out to be my father’s murderer as well. Even though they didn’t die by my hands, their blood, I believed, was on my hands. Then it was the psychopathic assailant who killed women he was obsessed with after having his fun with them. He had taken my mother, and I put someone I loved in danger in my bid to rescue her. Thankfully, he survived, but the events that followed weighed me down with even more guilt than I could bear, causing me to pull away from him.
Everything seemed beautiful again after I got him back; it felt like I could have that wonderful happily-ever-after they talked about in books and movies. But once again, I hurt him, which inevitably led to the events unfolding now.
Maybe it was better this way. With me gone, I won’t cause any more pain to those around me. Kaleb’s thirst for blood and vengeance would be quenched with me gone, and he won’t go after my mom or Mason.
Yes, everything was better this way.
Suddenly, despite my defiance at giving Kaleb the satisfaction of watching me struggle, my basic instinct for survival set in, and I found myself jerking for breath even after surrendering to the darkness.
I wanted to live, I realized. Even if it seemed selfish – and I had decided minutes ago that dying was the better option –I still wanted to live.
Water gurgling out of my mouth. I pushed and pushed, the trauma of being unable to swim fading away as I managed to come up for air and take some in before falling back in.
The nicer part of my subconscious patted me on my back,“Good girl, you don’t have to wait around for someone to save you. Do it yourself,”she urged.
Perhaps it was those words or the will to live still burning through my veins, but somehow, I found the strength that my tired limbs needed and waded through the water once more to come up for another bout of air.
“Help,” I managed to scream with my already coarse voice, unsure if I was loud enough to draw someone’s attention. Quite briefly, I caught the look of panic on the eyes of the man that stood watching me at the edge of the cliff, and I screamed again.
“Katrina Dawson, this is not how you die,”a voice that sounded suspiciously like my father’s flowed through the undulating waves of the lake, and I agreed with it.
“I am going to live,”I thought with fierce determination. Alas, things don’t always go as we plan. It was one thing to be determined; it was another to possess the strength for that determination.
The adrenaline that previously coursed through my veins seeping out, I fell back into the water helplessly. I could feel that I couldn’t make it out now, not by myself.
The taste of salt on my tongue made me realize tears were falling from my face as images of the boy I loved flashed before my eyes. It is true what they say: When you are about to die, you see your life flash before your eyes, and Mason… Mason was my life.
I whispered his name just as I heard a plop in the water. Arms enveloped my body, and I heard a voice call my name, but I was too far gone. I wanted to go with those arms that offered me a warm embrace and rest. Arms that wrapped me in a comforting hug with a scent unusually like Mason’s.
Maybe I was being saved once again – ironic considering I had vowed to save myself only moments ago.
My eyes opened for a brief second, and bright blue eyes, much similar to the color of the water rushing in the lake, stared back at me. I decided then that there was nothing wrong with being saved, not when my savior was…
“Mason…”
CHAPTER TWO
The endless chatter of whispers roused me from my not so peaceful sleep, shrouded in nightmares, and I opened my eyes to see familiar faces. My nose wrinkled involuntarily at the sharp smell that filled the hospital. One would think with how much I had frequented them since I arrived at Redwood, I’d be used to it by now, but I still wasn’t.
“Bebé, you’re awake.” The sound of my mother’s relieved voice when she came to sit by my bedside calmed me, and I allowed myself to be pulled into her warm embrace. However, it wasn’t her eyes I saw first.
And standing before me in all his glory – gorgeous blue eyes dripping with emotions that ranged from fear and pain to relief – was Mason. I watched Mason’s stance go from rigid to relaxed in seconds as he released a sigh.
