Beware the calm before the storm…
After eradicating the obstacles between them, Emma Johnson and Caleb Blackney are ready to embrace their future. Unfortunately, after only one night together, they get word that Caleb’s sister, Sammie, has gone missing.
The search for Sammie reveals plans far more sinister than they ever could have imagined; someone is trying to tear them apart. Emma and Caleb must face their fears, confront their enemies, and unite their families to stand against an evil that won't stop until vengeance is served.
The water came closer and closer, until I felt the freezing chill of blanketed wetness embracing me. I gasped without making a sound as they pulled me into the murky water, staring down at my reflection that distorted with their frantic movements. They pushed my head toward the surface, showing me a terrified girl who was too young to die but was unable to change what loomed ahead.
The cold bite of water inside my nose and mouth silenced any protests. I struggled futilely, attempting to break free of the hands shoving my shoulders under the surface. My lungs protested, demanding essential oxygen, burning miserably with the need to breathe. I held my breath, feeling fire in my muscles, chest, and lungs as my body screamed at me to take what was necessary to live. But there was no air to be found.
When I inhaled, I knew I would die.
I fought the need until I had no choice but to drag the water into my lungs. Pain radiated inside my chest, flooding my mouth, nose, and throat with an ice-cold weight. I choked on the liquid, my body entering some strange, agonizing spasm that I couldn’t control.
Images flickered through my mind in those last seconds, my life remembered in frames—my mother, father, grandmother, Sammie, Trent, Sarah, Derek, Beverly, Chris, and finally, Caleb.
My final thought was of drowning, but not in water. I chose to suffocate in the deep indigo pools I loved so much, following the swirling currents down into the pupil until there was nothing but complete blackness.
Then, the pain was no more.
