What Rose Above

Four

My mind felt like it was floating. I was asleep, wasn't I? I knew I was because there she lay in her plain, loose, white gown. I could make out her long black curls from all the other times I became one with the lake. It served as a strikingly beautiful appearance once again. Like magic. This time though, she looked to be drowning.

Her hands were at her sides as her body floated up from somewhere below the surface. She reminded me of Ophelia as if she'd been ripped from the pages of Hamlet. I refused to look away for several reasons. Number one being whenever I did, she would disappear.

"Tyler," a whisper echoed through the wind.

Was it her? Was it coming from somewhere else in the trees? I couldn't tell. Her lips weren't moving at all. One thing I knew for sure was, the voice wasn't far. Unlike the other times I saw her, there were no other people here. No hands wrapping around my torso. No hands touching my face. Most importantly, no her smiling in my direction.

Her white dress filled with water until it clung to her wet skin. She'd been lying alone still as a statue while I watched from the edge of the lake. It was hard to tell if she was dead or alive. The bottom hem of her dress was rising as more water eased its way under the fabric. The thing that made her seem most dead was her eyes were wide open. Staring at nothing in the open sky.

"Tyler," the voice repeated, "set us free."

Suddenly, I was a fourteen-year-old boy again remembering everything. The way their hands grazed my skin to the way their eyes ravished me. I clenched my eyes shut, taking a few seconds to breathe. Close my eyes and count to three, I taught myself.

"Tyler Loftman! Wake up!" I jolted awake, nearly flinging myself out of my seat. Patty's frightened expression invaded my personal space. The fright soon turned into concern. She glanced down at my hands, which were slightly shaking, then searched my face.

"Tyler, are you okay?" It was then I noticed beads of sweat lined the crease of my forehead. I rubbed my hand over it and frowned. "You were mumbling and shaking in your sleep. I figured you were having a nightmare so I tried to wake you. But you wouldn't budge," she continued.

"Thank you, Patty. I owe you one." I sighed and looked down at my hands. The shaking had finally stopped. Among other things, that was the least of my worries. My dreams were growing just as aggressive as my visions. That was concerning.

"Here, lunch"—Patty slid a brown paper bag in front of me—"because I know you didn't eat before you rushed over here." I hated to admit it, but she was right. So, I took the paper bag with no questions asked. She then took out a paper bag of her own. Breathless, I chuckled.

It wasn't unusual for Patty to bring extra lunch from home these days. Her mother often packed her things so she didn't have to worry about going hungry for the day. I figured nothing less with all of her extra curriculum courses and AP assignments. We'd been hanging out for so long now, she picked up on my bad habits as I did hers.

"Ms. Carol won't have a problem with us eating here, right?" she asked.

I glanced back over my shoulder to find Ms. Carol was nowhere to be found. She was probably just wandering around then. I first saw her when I entered the library, but that was it.

Mrs. Carol finally convinced Cecilia not to worry about her moving out and about a few times a day. I couldn't blame her for not wanting to be cooped up in that tiny room for long periods of time anymore. Nor could I blame Cecilia for worrying. Cecilia was too busy working the front desk with Craig to stop her anyways.

I couldn't believe after two months of seeing the blonde working around the library, I was just finding out his name. As it turned out, Craig Roy was an exchange student from France working intern hours here for the summer. I wasn't sure what made him pick a town like Lake Bellinor to stay in but I wasn't going to judge his decision.