Chapter Twenty-Eight

Abriana

My eyelids felt heavy. “What do you need to tell me, Lex?”

“How do you feel?” asked Alexa.

“Huh?”

“How do you feel,” she repeated in a nefarious voice.

My head swam as panic crept up the back of my throat. What’s wrong with me?

She giggled. “Do you feel dizzy? And perhaps a little nauseous too?”

My chest felt tight as I tried to make eye contact and my surroundings started to swirl into a blue green blur. What’s going on? Am I sick? Did I catch the flu from my parents?

Alexa giggled, interrupting my anxious thoughts. “It should have kicked in by now.”

I rubbed my throbbing temples. “Alexa, what the hell is going on? What should have kicked in? Did you do something to me?”

“I did,” she responded in a cold voice.

The air whooshed out of my chest. “Wh-wh-what?” I stammered.

Licking her lips, she said, “Let me start at the beginning.”

My body started trembling violently, allowing water to splash over the side of the float. The warm lake water settled under my body, soaking my suit.

“First, I needed someone to help me… So, I found Easton one night outside of a bar downtown. He was so cute and sooo stupid,” Alexa said with an evil chuckle. “It didn’t take much convincing, just some cash and a couple of hours in bed. He thought I was going to come up the next day and tell you it was all a practical joke.”

Teeth chattering, I struggled to speak. “Wh- wh- why would you do this to me, Alexa?”

“Ohhhh, Abriana,” she said rolling her eyes. “Don’t you get it?”

My chest rose and fell rapidly. I tried to sit up, but Alexa slammed my body back down on the inflated raft. I must be having a nightmare! There is no way this could be happening!

Without warning, Alexa let go of the float.

Hissssssssssss.

My breath caught in my chest and I sputtered. “What are you doing? Is there a hole in this thing? Alexa stop it!”

Alexa paddled further away as the hissing sound got louder. “You’ve always been so perfect, Abriana! You’ve always gotten whatever you wanted.”

Confusion set in and then pure terror. Oh my God, this isn’t a nightmare! She’s trying to kill me! My own sister is trying to kill me! I swallowed and tried to take a deep breath. “Alexa, whatever has happened, it doesn’t matter. I forgive you! I promise!”

She threw her head back and laughed. “Yeah, right.”

“Please,” I pleaded. “Please stop this!”

Alexa examined her nails. “After you die, I’ll take your place. I’ll be the prettiest and the smartest! Mamá y Papá will finally love me!”

Tears began to run down my face. “They already love you!”

Alexa laughed, her body shaking the float and sending a small wake my way.

Tears sprung from my eyes. “Lex, I love you too. Please, you don’t have to do this! We can fix things. Whatever you need me to do, I promise, I’ll do it!”

As she threw her head back and continued to cackle, I could feel the air escaping beneath me at an alarming speed. As my body sunk down into the deflating float, my body continued to quake in fear.

Completely ignoring me, Alexa continued to look at her nails. “After your funeral, Matías and I will finally be able to be together.”

My arm flinched. “What?”

“He’s too hung up on you right now. Luckily, I took care of that with a little text from your phone.”

The fear turned to rage and adrenaline kicked in. Get away from her NOW! I threw my body off of the float and began to kick my legs and propel my arms forward. Just get to the shore! You can get your phone and call 911!

“Abriana, are you really going to try and get away?” called Alexa. “You need to know, I’m not going to let that happen!”

My arms and legs flailed in the water and I struggled to keep my head above water. What did she give me? The dizziness made it difficult to focus on the shoreline.

“I’m coming to get you, Big Sister,” Alexa growled.

I could hear the water splashing behind me. Goosebumps snacked up my neck and terror streaked through my insides like lightening flashing across a summer night’s sky.

“Why don’t you just die peacefully? Everyone will be so much better off,” snarled Alexa.

Gasping for air, my breathing became labored. Keep going! Just keep going!

Suddenly, I felt a tug and a sharp pain in my ankle. Spinning around, my eyes met Alexa’s. Her nails were digging into my ankle.

“Let go of me!” I screamed moments before my head went under water. Struggling, I twisted and turned underwater.

Curling into a fetal position, I grabbed Alexa’s hand and kicked at her body. I felt my foot make contact with her body. With my air supply running dangerously low, I forced my head above water and gasped for air.

Before my lungs could suck in enough air, Alexa grabbed me by the hair pushed my head under water. Scratching at her arm, I desperately tried to pull away from her.

Bubbles escaped from my mouth as I screamed out in pain. Unable to fight, I let my body go limp. This is it… This is my last chance. Pretending to be dead, I floated lifelessly until Alexa gave me one final push down toward the bottom of the lake.

Crouching down, I let my feet touch the sandy floor of the lake and I pushed up with all my might. As I approached the surface, my eyes narrowed in on Alexa paddling back toward the shore. Steering clear of her, I surfaced about ten feet away. I sucked in gulps of air and headed to the shore.

“Why won’t you just die?” Alexa screamed as she threw her body into the water.

Desperate to get away from her, I kicked furiously.

“Come back here, big sister,” growled Alexa.

I continued to push my body to the limit. You’re almost there! Don’t give up!

A moment later, my feet brushed against the bottom. Standing in knee-deep water, I sprinted toward the beach.

“Not so fast!” screamed Alexa as she pulled my shoulder and jerked my body backward.

Hitting the water hard, I struggled to rip her hand off my body. But, before I could stand back up, Alexa threw her body on top of mine, placing her hands over my nose and mouth.

“Can’t have this look like a murder,” she snarled.

My arms felt like lead as I tried to shake my murderous sister off, but she refused to loosen her vice grip. With one final surge of energy, I kicked my leg up toward my sister’s face. A sickening crack followed by a guttural scream filled the air. A moment later, everything went black…

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