Chapter 281: Frozen Ring
Emily was walking at the edge of a lake, soft sand beneath her bare feet. From ti to ti she leaned over to inspect sothing, a smooth rock, pebble, a twig, an interesting bit of grass. Things that she normally would not have had ti to study, had she been back in her regular life. But after all that she had been through, having her heart torn in two just when she thought things were finally going her way. Emily had earned that little bit of rest, and so she was enjoying it without a shred of guilt in her.
The day itself seed to know that she needed a break because the sun was just the right side of warm and the wind was a cooling presence against her skin. Nothing was fighting her. Not the water, not the earth, not the wind. The elents themselves were giving her a much needed win. Who was she not to take it?
Looking out at the still waters, Emily could not help a gasp that escaped her when she took in the beauty of the lake. She could not swim. That much had not changed. But sothing about the serenity of the water just drew her to it.
The urge pulsed from her stomach urging her forward. Pushing her to take a step into the waters. I will just stay at the edge, Emily thought. With a deep breath, Emily took a step forward, shocked when instead of sinking, her foot remained on the surface.
She looked down and the water was no longer liquid. Instead, solid ice was spreading from her feet outward. There was sothing not adding up about that. But Emily was too delighted to care. Feet still bare, she rushed onto the newly ford ice. A big smile on her face as she ran, slipping and sliding, but never falling.
Emily made it to the middle of the lake like that, and once she got there. All that she could do was spin in a slow circle taking in the beauty of everything. A winter wonderland had sprung up from nowhere, and it was absolutely stunning.
"Beautiful isn’t it?" A voice said from beside her, and Emily startled.
"Derek don’t do that! You scared ," She told him, laughing as she ran into his arms. The two of them sharing a brief kiss before staring out at the beauty before them once again.
"We should co here more often,: Emily told him. Letting go of her hand, he moved around a bit, taking the place in more.
"You like it that much?" He asked, and Emily nodded happily.
"Of course, don’t you see how beautiful it is?" She asked him, turning to find him looking at her.
He was still smiling, but sothing about it was different. It was colder, sharper, more akin to a snake’s grin, than the happy smile of sobody with soone that he loved.
"Derek, what is wrong?" Emily asked, suddenly feeling afraid. She tried to take a step back.
But he was suddenly right behind her. "Nothing is wrong, Emily. Weren’t you the one who was just talking about how beautiful the view here is? If you love it so much, you should stay forever and ever," He said. Emily did not take her eyes off of him, suddenly so terrified that her entire body was shaking.
"Derek I...," Whatever it is that she would have said did not matter, for in that mont the ice beneath her feet cracked and Emily fell through, ice cold water dragging her down.
Emily tried to dig her blunt nails into a cracked ice, failing to find purchase, slipping in deeper despite her best efforts not to.
"Derek helped ," She managed to gasp. By that ti only her head and shoulders above water and she could feel herself, slowly losing her grip on the tiny piece of ice that was keeping her afloat. She could no longer see his face, just his feet. At least until he crouched down and she was once again staring at his green eyes.They held no warmth, just the most hateful look that Emily had ever seen and it was directed at her.
"If you feel so strongly about wanting to get out of the water, take the ring. If not, stay there forever," He said, his tone colder than the waters that Emily was currently in.
"What ring?" Emily wanted to ask, but Derek answered for her, removing a small gold band from his pocket and tossing it at her. Emily watched as the ring rolled on the ice headed right towards her. For a few breathless seconds, she almost believed that it would roll right onto her outstretched frozen palm. But right at the last mont, a hand erged from the waters. Snatching up the ring. Not even sparing Emily’s shivering form a second look. Derek grabbed the hand that held the ring, and pulled the owner out of the waters. Emily recognised who it was almost imdiately...
Penelope.
Once she was completely out, the two of them stood side by side. Watching as the little bit of ice that Emily had been using to stay afloat, was torn in two, leaving her with nothing to cling to.
She drowned with the two of them watching her.
Not doing a single thing to help. But even then, Emily died calling Derek’s na. She called his na so loud and so hard that she scread herself awake, coming to drenched in sweat. Looking around at her room in confusion, Emily fell back against the covers. Man, Derek had really ssed her up. It was so bad that his engagent to that Penelope was now featuring in Emily’s nightmares. What a disaster! She did not even have ti to stew in what a train wreck it was before another way that Derek had broken her beca apparent.
Just a few minutes after waking up there was a knock at her door. "Emily are you all right?" Her mother asked. "I heard you screaming. Was it a nightmare?" Emily wanted to cover her face with a pillow, and scream so more. Years upon years of having nightmares without her mother ever knowing, because Emily had managed to keep from screaming, even in sleep. Now all it took was Derek ssing with her feelings, for her to start having vocal nightmares.
Great, just great.
"If whatever it is that was bothering you in your nightmares is still bugging you. You can co out to the living room and sit with
for a while," Her mom said. And that was how Emily wound up on the couch at three in the morning.
She and her mom watching TV without any volu.
"I dreamt about Derek," Emily said unprompted, and her mom simply pulled her into a sideways hug.
"I know, you were screaming his na," She said, and wasn’t that sad. A man who had moved on without even bothering to tell her. And she was still crying out his na like a lost child in the middle of the night.
"If he were to put in the effort to just show up once to co and see
in person, I would hear him out," Even to her own ears, Emily sounded on the verge of tears.
"I am so angry, so embarrassed and so disappointed. But I would hear him out. I want to know why. Maybe it is sothing that I could forgive if he were here in person. But he won’t even give
the ti of day,"
Her mother tensed, and then she let out a deep breath, as though visibly trying to calm herself. It was a very strange move. But monts later Emily was distracted from it by her mom speaking up.
"Then it is a good thing that he did not ever co looking for you. That ans you get to move on knowing that he was never worth it,"
"You deserve way better. So take this ti to heal. And once you have dusted yourself up, and are standing strong again, you will realize that he was never worthy of you," Her mom said, and Emily clung to those words. If Derek did not want her, then she would not want him too.
It would just take a little while to get to that point.
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