SO COLD (18+) currently editing

Chapter 34

SO COLD

I felt weightless. A crisp autumn leaf drifting through the wind, carefree and unbothered. That was how I felt. The ocean was rapacious to claim me, tugging further, loving hands wrapped around my ankles. My clothes billowed out; filled like a balloon with water. My eyes stung as I gazed dreamily at the cobalt blue empire before me. It was so peaceful. Serenity was a soft-spoken siren humming sweetly, luring me in with the quiet, welcoming with an open-arm hug. As if in a drugged state, I was seduced, captivated by the allure of the stillness, the deadness of the sea.

Anxiety returned as the muffled shouts above only got louder. A distraction to the peace. My eyes fluttered shut. I couldn't feel anything anymore and it was a relief. The water shifted around me violently. I sensed the body rushing towards me, a bullet intent on its target.

An arm wrapped around my waist. The thief's face was distorted by the angry waters, fuzzily altered. He kicked his feet and swam and pushed us through the aquatic wasteland. Bubbles exploded from my mouth but he didn't listen to me. We burst through the water. Weak gasps. Watery puke surged out of my mouth. My lungs were on fire. The harsh wind battered my cheeks as I finally felt the dreaded cold. I shivered intensely, coughing up chunks of bile. Cole dragged and pushed me and James leant down, grabbing me under the armpits painfully. I fell on the dock.

A dribble of seawater slid down my chin. My clothes were constricting, desperately latched on to my skin. An inconsiderate chokehold. Cole was soaked and his heavy footings creaked on the pier. The waves collapsed into the foundations, outraged by their loss.

"Are you alright?" James leant down.

My bones were weighty. My insides were full of muck and dirty water. I hurled out runny bile. My throat burned. Eyesight dizzy, my view was of the ocean and it didn't seem as appealing as it had when I was sunk in its body. Now sinister and nauseating, I avoided its stare.

The Volkswagen groaned on the end of the wharf.

"That ...that needs to be drowned." I clambered to my feet, hysterical. "I need to get rid of it – all of the evidence. I can't ... I just–" I tried lifting my shirt but it clung to me. My arms fell, too heavy to hold.

"Whose blood is that?" James asked worriedly. He shared a concerned glance with Cole.

Cole's shoes squeaked as he approached me cautiously as if he wasn't sure I'd dive back in or if my knees would break under me. "Shay. Look at me," he said quietly. My eyes found his and I couldn't break away from his intense gaze. "Is that your blood?"

I shook my head.

"Did you hurt someone?"

"Yes."

"Are they alive?"

"No."

"Did someone come after you?"

I frowned unsurely and took a step back. Why was he asking that? Shouldn't he ask who I hurt? Unless ...he already knew. Uneasiness settled in my gut. I didn't know who to trust. Wildly, my eyes flickered to him, then to James and then behind me. "Why would you ask that?"

Cole put out his hand as if trying to reassure a frightened animal, keeping his tone calm. "I want to help you and I will but you'll need to tell me everything that happened–"

"I need to destroy the car first." I rushed towards the Volkswagen.

James caught my arm. "If it's incriminating, there are better ways to rid of it than to tip it into the ocean. Sooner or later, it'll be found. Nothing stays hidden forever. Where are the keys?"