And then there was light. And stars. Hundreds of thousands of them, glinting and shimmering, filling her vision. Voices echoed around her like memories. She floated through time and space, blissful and at peace. But then she felt hands on her chest, and a cloying, tightening pressure in her lungs. All around her, stars crumbled and fell. Voices came together and spoke in unison. The hands on her chest pressed down, over and over, crushing her. She wanted them to stop. She tried to bat them away but her body was cold and still. She wasn’t breathing. She couldn’t breathe!
“Come on!” she heard the voices say. The words echoed over her head.
The pain in her chest became excruciating. Her lungs began to spasm uncontrollably. Her back arched. Emily’s eyes flew open. She wrenched open her mouth and vomited dirty water, leaves and twigs. She drew in long, painful breaths that burned the inside of her throat. But the air was fresh and unadulterated and bursting with life.
She was lying by the edge of the lake, clothes swamped with water, lungs filled with fire. Jerome’s stricken face appeared over her, raining droplets of water onto her skin.
“It’s all right,” he breathed, his teeth chattering. “You’re okay. I got here just in time.”
Emily tried to move.
“Just rest for a minute.”
“But Marcia...” No more words would come. Emily rested her head on the ground, feeling wet earth and rock, grateful she could feel anything at all.
Jerome shuffled down to her feet and tugged at the rope that still bound her legs. “I saw the boat go over. You both went into the water. I swam as fast as I could. It’s a miracle I found you at all. Damn it, the rope’s too wet.”
He snatched up the storm lantern and pointed it at the ground. The knife glinted in the darkness.
“Stay still,” he said, setting to work on the rope.
Emily did as she was told. Her dalliance with death had left her groggy and sore and disoriented. She lay there, focusing on her breath—in for four, hold for seven, out for eight—until she heard a faint snap. Her ankles sprang away from each other.
“Thank you.” She pulled herself up. The world rocked from side to side as if she were still on the boat. The fog in her mind persisted.
“Where’s Marcia?” she said, floundering as she grabbed the lantern and pointed it across the lake. The capsized boat floated halfway across like the back of a whale.
Jerome shook his head. “I saw her fall in but I didn’t see her get out. I can’t believe it was her and Pamela. That crazy woman locked me in Melody’s room. I had to jump out of the damn window!”
Suddenly remembering Melody, Emily swung the lantern towards the jetty. Melody was gone.
“They were going to kill us both,” she said.
“What the hell? I didn’t even do anything!”
Emily quickly filled him in on the reasons why, starting with the murder of Franklyn Hobbes and ending with Pamela’s plan to frame Melody. When she was done, Jerome sat back and let out an exasperated breath.
“What a total nut job!” He sat up again, worried eyes staring at Emily in the dark. “Helen’s still in there.”
“They won’t hurt her. Not when her story will vindicate them of all responsibility.”
“But that was before I escaped, before you didn’t die. There’s a good chance Marcia saw me pulling you from the lake. She’ll be on her way back to the house right now to tell Pamela.”
Emily pulled herself to her feet. Although her legs were shaky, she managed to stay upright. “There’s no way they’re getting out of this. But that doesn’t mean any of us are safe.”
She tugged on Jerome’s arm. He looked at her in horror.
“We’re going back to the house, aren’t we?” Jerome handed her the knife. “Fine, but I get to hold the lantern.”