Page 138 of Not A Whisper

Staring up at the mouth of the well, I have to guess I’ve fallen nearly twelve, maybe fifteen, feet. It’s so dark down here that I can’t see around me. What little light comes from the moon when it peers through the clouds, filters in through the hole in the roof and the thin walls, but barely makes it a foot or two down the well.

I’m surrounded by cold and darkness.

My body shakes hard as the cold seeps deep into my bones, tightens my muscles, and somehow burns me from the inside out. Each breath grows more ragged and difficult. The water around me vibrates from my shivers.

If I’m going to make it out alive, I need to do so quickly.

I swim to the wall and reach for something to grab onto. My fingers scrape against ice and rough stone. With how cold it is, it feels like I’m running them over the sharp blade of a knife. Grimacing, I push through the pain, looking for a perch somewhere. There are small lips to the stones but not enough to get my fingers to hold onto. Even if there were, the thick layer of ice makes it nearly impossible to hold onto anything.

My shivering grows harder. With rattling teeth and a heart full of determination, I struggle to findanythingto pull me out of this water. But as I round the well once, twice, and a third time, I’m faced with an awful reality:

I’m stuck.

Panic creeps in, making my attempts to find something to grasp harder due to my jerky movements. I can’t feel my toes or my feet for that matter. My legs tingle with painful prickles as they, too, go numb. I can’t stay down here. I won’t drown. Iwon’t freeze. I’m going to make it out of here. I just need to find something, anything to help me.

I make it around the wall three more times before my lack of breath and loss of sensation in most of my body causes me to grow lightheaded.

Just before I attempt to go back to treading water, my fingers find three mini indents in a stone at eye level. I dig a finger into each indent and press my nails into them. Mercifully, I manage to keep a hold of them. I bring my body close to the wall, pulling my limbs into myself as the shivering continues.

The pain of the biting temperature is excruciating. I squeeze my eyes shut and huddle closer to the frozen wall. As my forehead dips, it scrapes against the emerald stone of my engagement ring.

Lifting my head, I strain my eyes to catch a glimpse of the symbol of unity between me and the three young men who have torn my world apart and rebuilt it in their image. The past few days have been a glimpse into a future that, if given the chance, I know I would’ve loved, perhaps even thrived in. With Grant’s tenacity, Trip’s steadfast loyalty to the people he loves, and Jason’s laidback nature—they somehow balance me in a way I never thought possible.

I could’ve had a great life with them. Sure, we’d butt heads and they’d drive me crazy, but what relationship is perfect? What we had would’ve been enough for me. More than enough really. I would’ve been spoiled with attention.

But now that future no longer exists. That door that has been wide open, shuts with a resounding slam inside my head. I’m not going to get out of here. Tears stream down my face as my fate becomes clear. If I don’t die of hypothermia, I’ll certainly drown. No one knows I’m here. By the time someone figures it out, it’ll be too late.

Garry will have won.

I’ve lost everything in one evening to a man I hardly even know.

My eyes flutter shut. It makes no difference really, not here in the dark anyhow. Dark is dark and with my eyes open or closed, I can’t avoid it. Will death be like this? Cold and dark? Empty and endless?

I’m so cold that I’ve lost all feeling throughout my body. My fingers dig deeper into the indents. If I slip now, I’m not sure I’ll be able to find them again. In fact, I’m not sure I can even move my arms to continue to tread water.

Soon, the pain in my heart is the only thing I can feel.

Leaning my forehead against my arm, I clench my teeth and will myself to hang on. I’ll hold out for as long as humanly possible.

I won’t let go.

Thirty-Four

Idon’t know how much time passes before I hear my name being called but I do know it couldn’t have come at a better moment.

“Briella! Bri! Where are you?!”

Lifting my head takes time and energy. Energy I simply don’t have, so I don’t bother. I have to squeeze my eyelids hard to break the frost that’s gathered around my eyelashes, sealing them shut.

“Bri!”

The voice is closer now, and I can hear the desperation twisting it.

“Here.” My voice isn’t even a whisper. It’s more of a soft breath that escapes past my lips that hardly move. When I try again, my voice comes out just as soft as before. “I’m here.”

Whether whoever’s up there heard me or not, a soft crunching of snow tells me they’re drawing closer to the well.

“Jesus fucking Christ, Bri!”

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