Fighting to catch his breath, Peter stares at the pond. The glow in the water is gone, if it was ever there. The orange glare of the street lamps turns the surface into a dark mirror. It’s shallow, he remembers that from seeing it in daylight. Barely knee deep. Perhaps Alyssia could still be down there, trapped, desperate for air – yet somehow, he knows she isn’t.
“Pete!” He turns to see Becca running towards him. “What happened? Where did she go?”
“She …” The words don’t seem to be coming out. They sit like a lump in his throat, all awkward edges and roughness. “Into the water.”
Becca joins him at the railing. She glances at the pond, then at him, horror dawning in her eyes. “Pete. C’mon. You don’t mean – ”
“She jumped,” he says, every word layered with sandpaper. “I couldn’t stop her.”
Becca doesn’t hesitate before reaching down to yank off her shoes. “Then I’m going in after her.”
“Don’t!” He grabs her elbow. “There’s no point.”
“We have to do something! Call an ambulance, or – ”
“She isn’t in there.”
“But if she hasn’t come back up – ”
“She isn’t in there,” Peter repeats.
Glaring at him, Becca folds her arms. “If you don’t explain what you mean, right this second, I’ll push you into the water.”
He hesitates. He knows, now, what it was like for Alyssia. She told him the truth and he said he believed her, but he didn’t. Not really. Not deep down. That only came when the water closed over her. If he tells Becca, maybe he’ll no longer be alone with the secret … or maybe he’ll be more alone than ever.
“Spill!” she demands, and he decides it’s worth the risk.
“She went to another world,” he says heavily. “It’s where she comes from. It’s where she went before, when she was missing – ”
“Stop it.”
“I’m telling you the truth, Becca! She jumped in the water and disappeared, and maybe she’ll never come back! I don’t know! I’m just the guy who gets left behind!”
He sounds hysterical. He expects her to walk away. But instead, he sees something in her face: recognition, or acceptance, or maybe … belief?
“All right,” she says slowly. “You’re going to have to explain this to me in detail. But hey, Pete …” She reaches out and touches his arm – not in the flirtatious way she was touching Alyssia earlier, but gently, as if comforting a child. “At least now you’re not the only one who gets left behind.”