Chapter 11 - Eyes Closed.

"Carson! Carson, come on!"

A little girl, no older than ten years old, looked around as she heard the familiar voice.

"Wait up!" She yelled as she dropped her backpack under a tree and started running towards a figure on the ice.

"Catch me if you can!" A boy, about twelve years old, ran across the ice, laughing as he watched the girl chasing after him. His short sandy blonde hair blew upwards from the wind, and his chocolate brown eyes reflected the sunlight like the water that was under his feet.

The little girl started catching up to him, but her usual smile started faltering as she noticed the direction the boy was running towards.

"Jack, slow down!" She yelled, running faster across the ice.

"Why, you not fast enough?" He yelled back, turning his body to run backwards.

Carson's eyes widened. "Jack STOP!"

But he didn't. He didn't stop, and the ice split nearly sucking him down.

Nearly.

As the ice cracked under the boy's feet, the girl pushed herself forward, cracking the ice as she pushed the boy out of the way. She landed on her knees, watching in horror as the ice kept breaking around her, slowly, like it was warning her, preparing her for what would come next.

"Carson, don't move," the boy said, slowly standing up from where he'd landed on the ground.

"J-Jack–" she tried to say but another crack formed in the ice, making her breath hitch in her throat.

"Ok. It's ok. Hey, look at me," the boy said as he put his hands outwards towards the girl. "I'm going to push you off, ok?" He started moving towards the little girl, but her voice stopped him.

"No, you're gonna put too much weight on it. It'll suck both of us up," she said, trying to get up, holding her breath, as if that would make the ice stronger and not crack under her small figure.

"Cars, it's gonna be alright, trust me. I'll be right behind you," the boy reassured her. But he knew, in the back of his mind, he was wrong.

"Ok," the girl said, shaking as she put her arms outward towards the boy.

"Just remember, whatever happens, I love you, ok?"

The girl nodded, confused as to why he was telling her this.

"Alright, on three. One... two... three!"

He threw himself forward, pushing the small blonde off the patch of ice holding her.

The girl landed on her back, her golden eyes reverted to the grey sky. She stayed there for a minute, ready to hug him as soon as she felt him stand up.

But she never did.

The cries were heard all the way from the cabin her family owned, the screams of agony shook the ground as the girl stared into the hole that had sucked the last person she loved into a void of darkness.

And there was only one thing she could think of as she did so. She kept whispering it to herself, continuously, until they found her, halfway into hyperthermia, one hand in the water as the ice started forming around it. And even after that, it was all she could say.

"It should have been me..."

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flashback chapter who??