J A N E

       I dropped the liquor bottle, only hearing Lucy's shrill scream as I watched Roger stretch his arms over the edge of the boat in a failed attempt to grab the toppling boy. Lucy whimpered and in my peripheral vision I saw Charlie and Lucas stand up, their faces frozen in horror.

       Suddenly I noticed Roger removing his green long-sleeved shirt, balling it up and dropping it in a heap onto the boat's deck. He kicked off his shoes and slipped his feet out of his socks.

       I knew what he was doing and I watched as he hurled himself, without a word to us, over the side of the boat and into the depths of the water.

       "Lucy, call the cops," I whispered, my heartbeat pounding in my ears. "Charlie, the life preserver please?" I pointed behind him.

       Silently, he grabbed the life preserver and tossed it to me.

       "I- I can't get service," Lucy said after a moment, her voice cracking. She had her arms outstretched as high into the air as she could reach trying to gain a service bar. She looked at me, her azure eyes wide with panic.

       "Keep trying," I urged,  gripping the preserver and beginning to pace.

       We stared over the edge of the boat, the lake's surface still rippling from Rogers' dive.

       Moments later, water splashed and Roger emerged from the dark abyss of the lake, gasping for a satisfying breath of air.

       "Roger!" Charlie called out too late;  Roger had plunged back into the water, no doubt, to search some more.

       "Still nothing ..." Lucys' voice wavered. She had the phone clutched in her hand and in the moonlight, I could see her knuckles turning white from her tight grasp.

      "We're in the middle of a lake!" Lucas shouted. "Of course you're not gonna get service out here! Do you see any telephone poles, Lucy? Jane? 'Cause I sure fucking don't!"

       I watched Lucys' face contort from terrified and upset to pure rage before I could even take a full breath. However, she reined herself in and surprised me by the stayng calm with her response. 

       "I'm only trying to help," she said, flipping her short hair and turning her back on him, resuming her attempt to find cell service.

       Lucas rolled his eyes, crossing his arms over his chest, turning back to the rolling waves to watch for Roger

       We waited, pacing and twiddling our fingers for another few heartbeats when finally Roger surfaced, panting. 

       I threw the life preserver to him, "Hold on!"

       Upon seeing the ugly orange preserver, he looked relieved and grateful. Charlie and Lucas tugged him to the stern and reached out to help him back into the boat.

       Shivering, he maneuvered himself onto the deck and straightened his posture and shook his head in utter dismay, his eyes still focused on the dark water beneath us, "He was there. I thought I could reach him, he was so close."

       "It's not your fault, man." Charlie handed him a towel from the wicker bin he stood next to.

       Roger dried himself off and exhaled, a long, low sigh. "He looked like he wanted to be saved, but then... then it looked like he got dragged under the boat deeper under the water, and it was like he just disappeared," he paused, his eyes harboring confusion. "I don't know what happened." His head drooped as he collapsed heavy-hearted into his seat. 

       We sat, captivated by our thoughts, in a stunned silence. The only sounds coming from the gentle splash of waves against the boat and the swish of liquid in a glass bottle. 

       An unknown amount of time had passed until I could make out the soft glow of the sun rising over the horizon.

       The cloudy purple of the early morning sky soon morphed into a soft but sunny pink, and ultimately to a clear and bright blue sky. I squinted and rubbed my eyes, looking up into the sun's blinding light.

       I swallowed hard, turning slightly in my seat to speak behind me, "What now?" I asked, my voice sounding raspy from the long silence.

       I gazed at my friends; Lucy had her neck bent back, staring at the empty sky. Lucas stared vacant-eyed at the -finally- hollow bottle of Jack. Charlie stared down into his lap, and Roger; he looked worse than the rest of them put together.

       "Let's get out of here," Charlie replied, still staring at his hands.

       I didn't need to hear any more. I swiveled back in my seat, extending my arm to start the boat back up. It started up with ease and I pressed my foot gently on the gas and steered the boat into a wide U-turn, turning us around and headed in the direction we came from.

**********

       I pulled up parallel with the pier, docking the boat perfectly on my first attempt. I felt a smug smile creep onto my lips just for a split second before reality slapped me in my face. I closed my eyes, taking a few deeps breaths.

       "Jane, are you coming?" Lucas asked, his unusually quiet voice snapping me out of my trance.

       I stood, nodding, and grabbed the keys from the ignition, turning to face him and the others. I followed my friends as they disembarked, "I'll be right there," I muttered, watching them trudge up the small incline.

       I turned back to the boat, securing the thick rope from a nearby post. I double checked the knot before pivoting on my heel to head back to the cabin, not at all surprised when I saw each of my friends waiting patiently for me.

       I smiled, "You guys didn't have to wait."

       Roger took a few steps, closing the space between us, "You think we'd leave you out here alone after last night?"

       My smile disappeared just as quickly as it had appeared and I could see him clench his jaw.

       "C'mon guys," Lucas said, keeping his eyes focused on his Vans.

       Roger and I sighed in unison and we all began the small hike back to the cabin.

       Trampling across the damp grass, the fatigued feeling that had been consistently creeping up on me had now hit me full force, and I wondered how the hell I was ever going to drive us home. Without a single cloud in the sky, the scorching sun beat down hard on my face with sweat clinging to my skin like beads of pearls.

       After a few minutes of silence, Lucas glanced at me and asked, "Where'd you learn to drive a boat?"

       "My dad taught me how to drive the boat the summer after they won it," I responded, wiping my forehead with the back of my hand as I looked up from the ground and into Lucas's warm brown eyes.

       Raising an eyebrow he said, "Oh yeah? Won?" His tone indicated that he was impressed, so I continued,

       "Yeah, my mom was on a TV game show a few years back. She claimed first place and a few days later, we had the boat." I shrugged like it was nothing, glad for the distraction. I watched Lucas as he nodded his head, a disgustingly warm breeze blowing up behind us.

      "Wish I had a boat," he mused, giving me a small smile. He was standing at the end of our little pack, and I could see the woods behind him when the same tall, unnaturally thin figure from the previous night caught my eye.

       I squinted my eyes in hopes of seeing the tall man more clearly – with no luck – whispering almost inaudibly, "Guys. Look." I nodded my head in the direction I was staring into, relieved when each of my friends turned their gazes to the tall man's shadowed figure.

       "What the fuck," Lucy whispered back immediately, her mouth forming a perfect 'o' shape.

       All of us stared at the tall man as we closed the space between us, now standing very close together. We never took our eyes off of the man; he stared at us, and we stared at him.

       At least, I think he was staring at us. It was so hard to tell, I could hardly see his face.

       Unexpectedly, I felt Charlies' hand sliver into mine, our fingers lacing together. His hands were cool and smooth, a nice balm to my warm and clammy ones.

       "That's what I saw last night. Down by the lake," I whispered to my friends, pushing a dark strand of hair out of my face.

       "Who the fuck is he?" Lucy muttered, placing her hands on her hips.

       I shrugged, shaking my head as I said, "No idea. Do you think-"

       "I think that may be who the boy was running from," Roger stated, cutting me off but confirming my thought.

       "Fuck this," Lucas growled, throwing his hands into the air and stomping off into the direction of the man.

       "Lucas, stop!" Roger said, thrusting out his hand to grab Lucas by the arm.

       Shaking him off, Lucas continued to yell, "Hey! We see you, man! What the fuck are you doing?" He had gotten considerably closer, with Roger following close on his heels.

       The tall man never responded.

       "Dude, come on." I could hear Roger say to Lucas, the breeze carrying their voices. "Just forget him. Let's just go." He grabbed Lucas by the arm, tugging him back towards Charlie, Lucy and myself.

       "Asshole," Lucas muttered as he and Roger were once again standing with us. "Not you, Roger. Him." He jerked a finger in the tall man's direction and we all turned to glance at him one last time before hurrying to the cabin.

       We stared for just a moment longer, when suddenly, the tall man just... disappeared. 

**********

Authors Note:

So here's chapter 6 😄
I hope all of you lovely sunflowers are enjoying it so far~ thank you guys so much for reading! Any questions? Please don't hesitate to ask! 🤓

f e e d b a c k  = ♡

don't forget to click that 🌟 if you're enjoying!