Chapter 66
SCARLETT
Cold hits like a punch after the initial rush of water.
It crushes the air from my lungs, and silence swallows my screams as I sink deeper and deeper into the bowels of the lake towards the black bed, the water closing over me.
Intense pressure builds in my ears. My eardrums are going to explode.
I fight. I really fight, but all survival instincts desert me.
Screaming is pointless. The only consolation is that I’ll be with Daisy soon.
The bag constricts as I descend further, pressing on my skin.
Cold seeps into me as the pressure sucks at my core, compressing my senses.
The sinking is relentless. I lose my bearings, unsure if I’ve stopped moving, unsure which way is up and which is down.
The beat of my heart drums in my ears. A gentle thump, thump, thump.
My lungs burn, screaming, but I can’t give in to the urge to gasp for air.
What if someone saw me being thrown into the lake?
Wild hope possesses me, tricking me into thinking this is not the end.
But it is.
I know.
I’m strong, but not strong enough to fight my way out of this. For once, I have to accept the situation for what it is. Find strength in other ways. The strength to accept I’m dying.
As I fade, a calm comes. For a few moments, a comforting tranquillity.
Mum tells me to fight, but Daisy tells me, it’s OK.
Don’t be scared, she says. I see the three of us together last Christmas.
Granny had gone to Mum’s sister’s, so I paid for us to go to Barbados.
It had been a year since the three of us had spent quality time together.
Too long. It was as hot there as it has been here these past few weeks.
We fed monkeys at the nature reserve. Snorkelled with the sea turtles.
Paddle boarded, and Daisy and I swam every day.
The water was so warm, not cold like this.
I told her I loved her, and I missed us swimming together.
She told me she loved me, too. We didn’t see each other much after that.
How I regret that we didn’t spend more time together this year.
I should’ve made more of an effort. Please forgive me, Daisy.
I open my eyes. A beam of light shines down on a face. Daisy. It can’t be. I must be dreaming, hallucinating. I blink. And again. My precious sister has come for me. She smiles. Her beautiful smile that I’ve missed so much. ‘Daisy,’ I shout. Water enters my mouth, cold and bitter. I push it out.
She’s panicking a little. As if the effort of rescuing me is more than she bargained for.
I’m going to be OK, she tells me. Or is that in my head?
For a moment, a wave of calmness consumes me.
It’s beautiful. Pure. Whole. The light brightens.
A sense of peace settles over me. But then as quickly as it appeared, the face vanishes.
I can’t keep my eyes open any longer. The hallucinations overwhelm me, and then, a sharp tugging sensation around my lower body.
My legs drift apart, restricted by the sides of the bag.
My sister is freeing me. I knew she’d come for me.
I wriggle. A final attempt for freedom. Daisy tears the sack apart.
The fight within me returns. She heaves my body out.
My leg gets caught. I kick like fury until I’m free of the bag.
She grabs me around the middle and pushes me upwards.
I give in to her, willing myself with everything I have not to breathe.
Her grip is too tight, too strong, but I succumb, rising on my final journey to heaven.
Up and up, undramatic, unhurried, almost tranquil.
She tightens her grip. I want to embrace her, feel her close to me, inhale her appley smell, but my bound hands prevent me from reaching out.
My head breaks the water into the warm summer air. I scream, coughing and spluttering for oxygen. ‘Daisy!’ I call. ‘Daisy!’