Page 46 of Dead of Summer

FAITH

Up. Faith chokes on the salt water as she thrashes in the surf looking for Gemma.

She’d been there only a moment ago. But she’d lost hold of Gemma’s hand in that dark water.

Now there is no sign of her. Struggling to stay afloat she turns her neck up at the yacht.

She catches a glimpse of Geoffrey then. He’s been standing at the back of the yacht watching them struggle.

As the yacht moves away, his broad shoulders and square head turn from the railing and disappear into the cabin.

Satisfied that she and Gemma are done for.

Faith tries to scream. A wave obscures her view, crashing over her head. Down. Water rushes into her mouth as she descends. It burns her throat. She kicks, kicks. She is getting tired now.

Up. She looks longingly at the shoreline, where the Clarkes’ party glitters in the distance. A song carries lightly across the waves. Something her mom used to play on the jukebox at their local dive bar.

Down. Her limbs are getting heavy. They move in slow motion against the waves, fighting, fighting.

Up. This will surely be the last time. Faith barely hits the surface, tilting her head back only to release a scream from her raw throat for the last time. She looks up at the sky, the deep gray film of clouds moving across the field of stars.

Down down down. Below the surface everything is smooth and black. Faith shouldn’t have risked it. It was reckless. What was any of it worth now? She sees her mother’s face, disappointed. Her mouth twists in pain. “You know I did my best.”

I know , Faith says to her. I’m sorry too. A hand reaches hers in the darkness, fingers interlacing with her own. But it is too late. She can’t stay awake anymore.