Chapter 1: The Lake


“You have the most beautiful eyes,” I say to Ava, staring into the seas of gold outlined in a faint sky blue that always mesmerize me.

“I know.” Ava laughs.

“What?” I ask. Her pearl white teeth and angelic laugh cause me to giggle a little myself.

“You say that every day,” she responds. She seems sure this is true, but I’ve only said it a few times before. Why would I say it every day anyway? She knows her eyes are the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen because I always gaze into them the same way a mosquito always flies to a light.

“No, I don’t!” I argue. I sound just a little too defensive.

“Okay, okay. You don’t.” Ava faintly smiles and winks as the night air blows her slightly curly blonde hair and the water of the lake reflects in her eyes. She’s the most mesmerizing girl I’ve ever laid my eyes on. I never thought perfection existed until I met her.

“I didn’t mean that in a bad way. I would tell you your eyes are beautiful every day, but it would annoy you.”

“I know you would,” she says. Then she mutters, “And you do.”

“I heard that.”

“Oh well.” She giggles.










You wanna go swim in the lake?”

I hate swimming. I hate water. I don’t know why. I just do. I’m always afraid I’ll drown. “No way. I’ll drown!” I shout.

“I’ll be there right with you. I’ll make sure you don’t drown. Okay?”

I really do not want to go in that water. But going in with the protection of the love of my life makes me almost positive that nothing bad will happen. “Sure.”

The water is cold. Not freezing cold, but still cold.


Shortly after I get in the lake, I say, teeth chattering, “Let’s get out of this water and get back on the beach.”

“Why? You’ll get used to it. I promise.” Ava walks with me a little deeper and kisses me. I kiss her back.

Either I'm blushing or I'm used to the cold water, but I am no longer cold.

We kiss some more, and before I know it, we’ve already gone over my head. Only it’s not US walking deeper. It’s just me. And I’m not WALKING deeper into the water. I’m being pushed under.

I quickly decipher that I’m being drowned.

Where is Ava? Did he/she kill her? No. That’s impossible. We were just kissing each other a few seconds ago. I hope she made it out of the water and ran.

I can’t see who this person is, – my vision is getting blurry and I always close my eyes under water anyway - but I fight as hard as I can to claw his/her hands off my throat. And I’m no match. Whoever is trying to kill me is trying very, very hard.

I feel a sharp pain in my lungs. I’m running out of air.
I fight the hands holding me under, look up, and I think I see golden eyes looking down at me. I also see that my murderer is a female. It may just be the water or my imagination, but I think I also see tears streaming down her face.

As the world begins to fade from my view and I give up on struggling, taking a massive amount of water into my lungs, I get one last glimpse of the golden eyes, and I realize that the person drowning me…

is Ava.