Breaking the Ice

Chapter Twenty-Nine: Nightmare or Reality?

Anna's POV

I found myself back at the banks of Lake Fenway with my charcoal sticks and a blank easel. My supervisor had called me into her office that same morning and broke the subject of me taking part in the upcoming gallery opening for Leith School of Art. I placed my hand on my chest as my heart began to race again at the thought of having the opportunity to further my studies in Europe!

I took a calming breath and stared off across the calm lake and my eyes caught the way the reflection of the overhead mighty oak formed an enthralling spiral mosaic on the surface of the water. As I watched the shadows of the branches blend across the water, my vision suddenly blurred a bit.

Reaching up to rub my eyes, a sudden flash of something dark filled my mind. I quickly pulled my hands away and looked out at the lake once more, my heart racing for a totally different reason now. And this reason didn't feel right.

"What the hell was that?" I breathed out just as a small throbbing began to pulse at the back of my head. "Jesus, Anna. Time to lay off the extra coffee."

I shook my head slightly and then tried to focus on the blank easel in front of me as my hand holding the stick of charcoal hovered above it. My eyes watched as my hand glided across the white surface as though watching someone else transform the blank canvas into something beautiful. But my breath hitched in my throat as my blank easel became the home to an image that made the dull thumping in my chest become increasingly uncomfortable.

Each glide and stroke began to form an image that didn't make sense to me. The shadows and lines that my hand drew brought forth the scenic image in front of me. I could see the lake and the great oak, but it didn't portray the calm and peace I saw. Instead, it showed how the dark charcoal spread out thin to cast murky shadows of dull grey and dismal scenery.

"Well that's different," came a voice behind me, causing me to jump, pitching my easel out of my hand and landing on the ground beside me. Spinning around, I found Liam looking down at me, wide-eyed and mouth gaping. "Whoa. Sorry, that was my bad. Didn't mean to startle you."

Liam reached out a hand to help me to my feet as my eyes darted all over trying to regain my focus. When they landed on Liam once more, his face was a mask of deep worry as his hands came up to grip my shoulders. "Are you okay? You look like you saw a ghost."

"I — I'm fine," I stuttered, then cleared my throat a bit. "I'm okay, you just caught me off-guard. I didn't think anyone else comes here anymore."

"Since the accident," Liam whispered.

"Since the what?" I asked, and he looked at me confused a bit for a second before he visibly shook himself and plastered a crooked smile across his face.

"Nothing."

"Okay. What are you doing here?" I asked as I bent down to retrieve the fallen easel and then searched the dirt floor for my discarded charcoal.

"You mentioned here when we last spoke in the library," Liam said, earning him another confused glance. He let out a chuckle. "Wow. Glad to know our meetings left an impression," he chuckled again while reaching down and picking up a rock and then throwing it across the surface of the lake.

We both watched as it skidded across the water for three jumps and then sunk with an audible dunk.

"Novice," I joked as I picked up a rock of my own. "It's all about the wrist and you need the perfect shape. Then the rest is magic...." my vision blurred once more, and I was suddenly engulfed by darkness. My chest felt heavy, and my body seemed like lead as my arms and legs beat up around me. I opened my eyes and panic set in when I suddenly found myself completely submerged in freezing cold water. I opened my mouth and water slashed down my throat as my feet kicked in renewed panic.

What the hell! How did I end up in water? Where was Liam? Why isn't he helping me?

My arms thrashed at my sides as I felt myself sinking deeper and deeper. The hammering of my heart and the feeling of hopelessness engulfed me when I suddenly felt an arm around my waist and the feeling of my body being pushed up towards the surface. The surrounding blackness was slowly revealing a dim light above me as I felt a hand give me one final shove and my head was ready to break the surface of the water.

"Anna! Wake up! Anna!"

The sound of someone calling out to me came like a distant echo until I felt like someone was shaking me for dare life. My eyes popped open and there was Marcus, cradling my face in his warm hands as a tear broke free at the corner of his right eye.

"M-Marcus?" I croaked just as relief broke across his handsome face. He pulled me against his chest and held me close as his arms wound themselves tight around me.

"Thank God. You're okay. I have you. You're okay," Marcus whispered in my ear as my eyes caught sight of Liam standing next to a horror-stricken Peter and Damian.

I pulled away from Marcus a bit and angled my head up to look at him. "What happened?"

He took a calming breath and then helped me slowly to my feet. It was only then that my brain began to buzz once more. I flinched a bit and reached up to touch my head with my hand. When I felt moisture, I looked at my hand to see a smudge of red and cursed out loud.

"There's our Anna. Curse it out like a drunk pirate," Peter said with a forced smile that made his always cheerful face look foreign to me.

"We should take her to the hospital. She might have a concussion," Marcus said, and I reached an arm out to stop him.

"I need to change my wet...." my voice trailed off when I looked down to see that my body was not shivering and my clothes weren't soaked. "Wasn't I just.... wait....what..."

"Anna, let's get you to a doctor," Marcus said as he scooped me up into his arms and the guys followed him quietly along the trail back to his vehicle.

The drive to the hospital was too long and too quiet. Marcus had me in his lap in the back seat with Peter while Damian drove with Liam in the front passenger seat. I couldn't help but notice how often Damian glanced at me worriedly in the rearview mirror, his face telling me that he wanted to ask me something.

"Are you okay, D?" I asked him and his hands jerked on the steering wheel a bit before he composed himself again.

"I'm good, Anna. You just scared us a bit, that's all." His eyes remained on the road after that as the vehicle went silent once more.

What just happened? And why did that hellish scene feel so real?