Despite the warmth of the sun, the water was ice cold, but that was not the thing I focused on. I was dragged several feet down toward the seemingly bottomless bottom of the river before I got a good look at my attackers. Seven men with white-blue hair like Nik’s surrounded me as I struggled fruitlessly against the grip on my ankle. One of them with a hooked nose and pierced ears pinched my nose as he held my thrashing head still. He covered his mouth with mine and filling my lungs with air so I could be awake for the whole degradation.
I writhed and jerked my body around, but they closed in on me, limiting my movements.
I caught a glimpse of Britta a few feet away, surrounded by her own group of cursed Nøkken men. She was screaming and struggling to free herself from them. She stabbed one with her knife, but there were so many more that crowded around her.
Then I heard the singing. Deep, melodious voices boomed underwater, commanding us to stop struggling. Their power didn’t work on me, but I saw Britta go from fighting with her knife to floating between them like a lifeless doll.
I screamed into the hook-nosed man’s mouth.
The seven tall Nøkken men closed in on me, confused as to why I wasn’t going limp and making their depravity easier to indulge in. I felt my shirt lift up past my ribs, my flesh burning like sizzling steak where their slippery hands touched me. I tried to escape, but I knew I didn’t stand a chance. Hands grabbed me, groped at me and pulled at my limbs, burning as they touched. I screamed in the murky abyss to no avail. I’d never known fear as I did in that moment.
The man who was singing turned to me and smiled as I struggled to keep my jeans from being parted from me.
Then a white light filled the water throughout the entire brook. The only thing I saw was white, but I didn’t need sight to know which way was up. I pushed forward and felt around for Britta, panicking when I made my presence known to her attackers. I reached around and located her hand, but it was no good. I was pulled away from her by the vicious men just as I felt my lungs were about to burst.
The water pressed in around me as the burning hands pulled me further under. I saw nothing, felt nothing, was nothing in that moment. As my shirt was removed from my body, I once again made peace with my life coming to an early end.