Rusalka's Conflict

I and Reyna

I woke up that morning in a cabin on the outskirts of our small village in Northern Ukraine in winter of the late 19th century. The sun shone in, the birds were chirping, singing... calling for me. I rose from the bed, my naked feet felt chilled against the draft of the hard wooden floor. The wind must've come in again. I walked towards the dining room where there was thankfully a bit of warm from the peaking sunlight behind the thick clouds that hung low in the sky. I opened the cupboard and poured myself a glass of water. For a moment I paused.

Staring out the window...

thinking of what was to come

I poured a second glass then. Brought it back to the bedroom, I sat next to the girl with long orange hair lying peacefully, probably remembering the night we had. I gently woke her up, massaging her shoulder calmly. She began to move when she turned to me. I fixated on how her eyes fluttered open, her pupils reacted to the sun. Her smile when she noticed the mug. I offered it to her, she accepted. She began to sit up and for a minute, we just sat there. Analyzing the other, as she sipped, I brush the hair from her face. My foggy grey eyes in Reyna's forest green eyes. We shared a moment, and I asked her if she wanted to join me by the lake that morning. She accepted with a glint in her eyes. As she prepared for our walk minutes later, back turned from me, changing from her nightgown into her house mate's costume. I stared at the lines in her back, the way her orange hair glinted against the sunrise peaking in. I began doubting myself for the first time.

As if I hadn't done this a hundred times before.

What's the harm in doing it one more time?

Reyna turned around, I looked up into her eyes as she nodded. We were ready to go.

She and I strolled there our posture relaxed, hair still messy from the previous night. Reyna had planned to take her compass in case we had gotten lost. I however reminded her that she was always a little too cautious, even if we were in the middle of nowhere she still wanted to take her compass. She was quite ridiculous honestly?

Strolling on the banks of a cloudy shivering morning. The lake looked surprisingly reflective today. The sky had held its breath the week prior. The air was moist and heavy as the clouds gathered around our town in layers of dark grey masses. The whole place looked dull yet malicious and ominous somehow.

Reyna and I swayed together against the breeze; singing, talking and sharing a bit of barley bread we had snagged from the town baker the previous day. Reyna began to tell me of her sisters that had been working at the seamstress recently. They were finally getting work again. Our small isolated community kept shrinking due to residents going missing. The people had gotten annoyingly accusative of each other over the past few weeks. The most it had brought about was a few innocents being executed by the church to reduce panic.

As Reyna recapped this to me casually we made it to a nice area. She glanced back at me as she boldly began to undress. The cold had already begun to wrap around our skin, and she was fully allowing the bitter wind and cold grasp her bare skin..? Okay then. As she slid her bra over her head, allowing it to plop into the water, she turned back to me, chest exposed as I was fumbling with the buttons to my blouse. She stepped closer to me, hands pressed against my chest. My heart began to race and flutter. We were in the cold of January and my body felt warm against hers. I couldn't look at Reyna's face for fear of her seeing me blush.

As I had paused, I glanced at her and she sighed jokingly beginning to help me with my buttons. I felt so warm in her presence as if my body was going to explode. I felt I had to cool down. At an impulse before I continued undressing myself she cupped my face with her hands and pushed her lips into mine. I faltered, stepping back holding her waist. She pulled closer, I did too. The kiss was warm and comforting, even to my cold soul. We began to move, I shifted my body back and forth, trying to move closer into her. So there we were, on a cold morning embracing each other on the banks of a lake. She released for a moment, the tension still alive with no words exchanged, my back facing the lake I reversed into the water. Tugging gently on her hair as she followed me in a lustful joy, like a moth to a flame into the grey lake. My ankles reached the ice cold water, it felt comfortable like a liquid sock. We were still in trousers at this point as we decided to undress them in an instant. Now, fully naked I smirked at her as I gracefully skipped through the shallows into the middle of the lake. A fluid body I waded through, hugging every inch of my lower body, holding me in a familiar grasp. I paused as I heard my fling splashing behind me at chest depth smiling widely, catching up to me. I ducked under the water until only my head was visible. Reyna giggled at this and pulled me up, nearly being knocked over she embraced me once more. Except there was something missing this time. She quivered for a second, her body more rigid and tense. She was scared. I wouldn't blame her. She was in the middle of the lake with a girl she barely knew.

Heck I hadn't even told her my name. She pulled away for a moment, eyes closed, as if expecting me to ask her 'what's wrong?' instead when she opened her eyes what she saw was: a nice grin and dreamy predatory piercing eyes staring at her chest. I licked my lips as Reyna flinched. Her instincts kicked in as she began to pull away from my figure. I ducked under the water once more and... snatch!

Reyna was pulled under, the murky water clouding her vision. She felt herself being pulled deeper and deeper. Something thick grasped her ankles. The water was still, changed by the only movement of her flailing body as she desperately tried to grab at her ankle. But the speed and fear at which was consuming her she had little luck. Only managing to give a few good scratches to whatever was holding her. Her world spun as she clawed in desperation, tilting her head back toward the surface as her vision darkened and her lungs screamed for air. She felt light and floaty. Like she was a piece of seaweed in the waves. Her eyes closed as the water whipped her. Her vision was black as she passed out and surrendered to the liquids pressure, inhaling the water and ceasing to be.