#not!nadia

It was fucking freezing.

Now, Nadia, before she was Nadia, was no stranger to the New England cold. She thrived in it, really. But maybe she’d spent too long in the desert, too long in a body that lived for sunshine and heat. Or maybe, just maybe, she needed to stop camping out in the woods in October. Maybe. 

It wasn’t like the cold was the only danger, either. She huddle in closer to the small fire she’d made, eyes watching the darkness intensely. Her hand was on revolver in her lap, and she practically dared something to come out and get her. She wanted a fight. The fire flickered with those thoughts, the air getting even colder around her. Her teeth chattered. She huddled in closer for warmth. She didn’t care about the cold. Her body did, though.

There was a splashing from nearby, the sound of it startling Nadia so much that she jumped a bit and the fire went out. Cursing, she went about lighting it again. Another splash. What the fuck? She cheated in lighting the fire with a pack of matches, feeding one match after the other to fuel the fire even after it had already been relit. She held a match between two fingers, watching as it got smaller, and smaller, and smaller. It burned the tips of her fingers. She dropped it, snuffing it out with her boot.

Another splash.

This was getting ridiculous. Nadia got up and grabbed her phone, turning on the flashlight. She was going to take her gun but... she’d lost quite a few in White Crest, and this was nothing. Surely it was nothing. She could probably just use her new telekenetic whatever if it was something dangerous anyway. Probably. She hadn’t attempted to use it since the exorcism. She was fine. Nadia was nothing if not confident in her abilities.

“This is not the time or place to be fucking with me,” she called out as she walked towards the water. “Seriously, I’m not in the fucking mood.” 

Of course she didn’t receive a response. She shown the light out onto the water’s reflective surface and peered in, wondering with she would be able to see anything lurking beneath the surface. 

She didn’t until it was took late. A woman’s visage appeared where Nadia’s reflection had once been, and hands came out of the water and latched themselves around Nadia’s shoulders, causing her to drop her phone on the ground. She didn’t have time to react, didn’t even have time to take a breath before she was dragged under.

If the air was freezing the water was arctic, and it soaked her through within seconds. Whoever the bitch was that had her by the shoulders barely needed to hang on because Nadia was sure that her clothes would have weighed her down to the bottom. She lashed out, trying to grab and scratch and just even touch the bitch, but there was nothing there. There was no one there.

Nadia lungs were on fire but the rest of her body was so, so cold, and she couldn’t fight off something she couldn’t feel, and she was starting to get scared. She screamed with the little bit of air that was still in her lungs, causing the ache to grow more. What was happening? What was happening? It was a ghastly woman, a ghostly woman, that was doing this to her. Was this retribution for Nadia? Or was this something else?

Her boots hit silt, and Nadia kicked up, no longer fighting for anything more than to get to the surface. Her vision was blacking out, but she managed to make it, struggling for breath. She was dragged down again. It was a tug of war, her head barely being able to break the surface and snatch a bit of air before she was pulled down again. And again. And again.

“Please,” she choked out. “Please! I’m sorry-- I’m--” Back under. Nadia’s pleas fell on deaf ears. She needed to get to the shore. It’s hard to fight against the which cannot be felt. Nadia pushed against the bitch with everything that she had, her head hurting from the effort of it. Along with her struggles, wind stirred up the surface of the lake, causing the crystal clear reflection to shatter. The hands around her seemed to have a harder time keeping up with her. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. 

Nadia’s hands grabbed at wooden planks. A pier. She latched onto it as tightly as she could and with trembling arms she somehow managed to pull herself up. Somehow. Somehow. Something grabbed her foot but she held on. At last, she was out of the water, free. She coughed up water and could barely hold herself up, but she was free. Freezing, but free. Tears streaming down her face, she just barely made out a woman lurking in the reflective water below her. 

She needed to get warm. She needed to get up. She needed to get away from the water. She... needed a moment.

Finally, Nadia managed to stand. She pulled herself up, looked around. She could see her fire in the distance, started stumbling towards it. 

Behind her, she heard a splash.