Kissing Danger ✔️

SIX

Word Count: 1755

I let my head dip under the water, the feeling no longer bothering my head wound.

For a moment the heat of the water consumes me, all sound blurring from my ears. The feeling is blissful, washing away all the concerns and worries that have been haunting me. It's been a few days since mother's ball, and yet it's been on my mind since. Or mainly, the strange man who saved me on the ice.

I break the surface of the water, breathing in deeply. Glancing over my shoulder, I see Lei wading toward me, blonde curls swept back away from her face.

My mother's indoor pool is quite possibly my favourite facilities in this household. Lei and I spend most days in here, wading around the heated pool, acting as though we have no worries at all.

"I checked the entire guest list, and nobody with the name Eryk in any type of spelling was on the guest list," mother says from the side of the pool, emerging through the steam with her arms folded across her chest, the faintest dousing of snow melting on her shoulders, meaning she's been outside.

I frown, wading over to the side of the pool. "How did he get in then?"

"If you think anyone got past the door without a guest list Aven, you are mad," she mutters, raising a dark eyebrow at me.

My mouth is dry, and not from the warm water. How did he get in here, and yet no one remembers it but me. I could swear Lei was the first one to notice him, to approach and speak to him. And he was definitely on the ice with me.

"Was there anyone unfamiliar on the list?" I ask her, also curious about the mysterious tattooed stranger.

"Absolutely not," she mutters dismissively, irritated that I would even question her security. I believe she is more so offended by the idea that an undesirable stranger could have wandered in on her watch. "I can tell you the name, age and background of every single person on that list."

"I swear he was there," I tell her, kicking my legs about as I float, still leaning against the side of the pool. "He looked so familiar too."

"No, Aven. Nothing of the sort passed through my doors," mother comments flatly.

I sink deeper into the water a bit, until it floods over my shoulders. That doesn't make any sense? There is a chance Eryk did get in without mother noticing, even if she like's to think she has everything under control. Then who is he, really?

"I really did hit my head hard," I mutter, lightly touching the side of my head, knowing there was once a wound there, that has miraculously healed.

Mother adjusts her lilac jacket. "Your doctors have checked and your memory seems fine."

"Clearly not," Lei says, swimming up beside me. There is a crooked grin on her face as she sweeps her hair back. "Apparently I chatted up a handsome stranger, which in no way would I forget something like that."

"What a bizarre night," I sigh, pulling myself out of the water, letting the steam encompass me. "I want to forget all about it."

"Perhaps it's the nightmares," Mother comments, although doesn't sound all that concerned.

I've had nightmares since I was little. Every night, without fail, I'm haunted with confused, blurred images that don't make sense. The only time I can wake and decipher them is when I see people, or well, two people. One of them looks eerily similar to Eryk, which is starting to make me think I dreamt up a lot of what happened last night after I hit my head.

"Maybe. I'm going to go for a run," I tell Lei, ringing my hair out before draping my towel over my shoulders. Whenever I start to get overwhelmed, I go outside to let the cold wash it all away for the moment.