Bloodfire: Other Realm, Frost Family Series Book 2

Burn 15

Sera struggled against the sudden, horrifyingly powerful current. She had never swam in the sea before. She thought it wouldn't be any different than in a pool. How wrong she was...

At first it had been just fine, she hadn't struggled at all. But when a larger wave then any she had faced before came, she was lost. The undertow grabbed hold and she couldn't react fast enough to cry out for help. Mom! Dad! she scream internally, her fear engulfing her just as easily as the wave. She sputtered, as water filled her lungs, crying in real terror as her young mind realized she was going to die. She was alone, steadily being dragged further and further from the shore, from her family. She let out one last soft cry before her conscious gave out.

O O O

The boy stared out at the shoreline, watching the waves with a bitter and melancholy expression. He was curled up, sitting down, knees pressed to his chest, a short stick in his left hand. He sighed heavily. "Dad...how long are you going to be?" he asked aloud to the passive audience of the tide and waves.

He stared out at the sea, alternating between drinking in the sight and glaring at it in hatred. This was going to be the last family reunion he and his father would be participating in. His father had made the very hard choice...The decision was final and despite how much it hurt, he had to agree. It was better this way. His family would only get hurt if they continued to associate with him. This was why his father had decided to cut off all ties with their family, after today.

Its better this way, he reminded himself sternly. But even so...He was dearly going to miss his maternal grandmother, Granny Cathy. Little Terry, his youngest maternal cousin, had just been born as well. He'd never get to see Terry, Sally, or Sam, two other cousins of his, grow up. He'd never get to see any of his family again, not really...Sure, they might be able to come visit, technically. But he knew his father would do his best to warn their family away. It was already starting to get really dangerous for them, even with just their small family...

Sitting on the beach and staring out to sea was how he spotted the little girl go down under. When he saw her head appear back up, further out, only to disappear once again, instincts kicked in. Without stopping to think of anything else, he tossed aside the stick he had been drawling on the sand with. Pulling off his shirt, he rushed into the waves, diving straight in.

Immediately he saw the struggle he was going to have. But he forced his body to push back the painful ache of rarely used muscles having to strain so much. His arms and legs pumped, narrowing his focus onto the dark head that was bobbing up and down in the waves unsteadily. He saw when she must have passed out and her body began to drop like a stone in the sea. Sucking in a deep breath, he dived down, following her.

Under the water the waves rippled and distorted his weak eyesight for several precious seconds. His eyes searched frantically, knowing he wouldn't be able to hold his breath for very long...There! Spotting her small, descending body, he rushed to grab her. Another five heartbeats passed before his arms came around the little girl. Heaving and struggling, he kicked his legs, hard; to take them both back up to the surface. "Haah!" he gasped as he took in a deep breath of oxygen.

Shifting his hold on the girl, he struggled to hold her head out of the water as he wearily began the swim back to shore. A sudden wave came and pushed them closer to shore, but not where he had been before. It was a lot further down, to the north side of the long shoreline. The place he had been was technically off limits, as it was owned by the Drezmar-Ryman Hotel Resort. But he didn't really care about any of that. It was early spring, which meant all the crowds of vacationers wouldn't be there quite yet and he'd be allowed to sulk in peace...Or, at least that had been the plan. Now though, he was faced with the current predicament of what to do with this little girl. He was sure she wasn't by herself and seeing how young she was up close, she must be a guest of the hotel further down the shoreline.