A/N: So, uh, hi, Just wanted to say what's up before the chapter, so uh yeah.

Sorry for being kind of a review beggar lately, I just want to know what people think about what happens, and how I can improve. I mean, I know you guys like it, because you're reading it. I see that in the stats.

So, um, I'll just get on with the story. It's Maddie's POV at hockey practice.

My legs were swinging back and forth on the bench as I stared up at the high ceiling. I wondered what happened to the pucks we launch up there every so often. Coach was giving everyone a pep talk while we got out of our padding. I personally loved the cold of the room, but Anastázia was wrapped in a blanket.

"Where's Aske?" Coach said, abruptly interrupting his own speech. We all looked at him strangely.

"Coach, he hasn't been at practice at all." Anastázia said quietly. Tino and I nodded in agreement.

"I could have sworn... well, tell him he needs to come next time." He muttered.

"Coach." I said with my hand raised. It was a habit of mine. "Can I bring Kumajiro on Tuesday?" I asked and saw he was confused. "My pet polar bear."

"Ah!" He said with sudden realization. "Of course. Just hand him to me at the beginning of the day."

As the coach and I talked, the rest of the team started to chatter as the put away their gear. We all knew we were dismissed without having to ask. I found a banana pushed into my hand by Anastázia, and she was leaning over me to hand more fruit to everyone else. I liked to think of her as our den mother.

I did have to push my body back in the seat so I wouldn't be suffocated by her.. chest.. area. I turned my head to see Gilbert looking at me with a slightly jealous expression.

I smirked at him and his face reddened before looking away quickly.

"Berwald, Tino, need a ride?" He said and the three of them quickly left, not even saying goodbye.

I shrugged and stood up myself. Matt looked up at me.

"Need a ride?" He repeated, as that was all the conversation to be made.

"If I'm still waiting for Al by the time you get out there, you can drive me." I said and pulled my hoodie on over my black t-shirt. I slid my tennis shoes on as well.

I grabbed my gym bag from the seat behind me and slowly made my way out of the seats. The remainder of the hockey team waved as I walked out the door.

I let my legs to carry me to another bench to sit on. I looked at the clouded over sky and wondered if the kids would be out for Halloween, because the last two years there were sleet storms.

The parking lot was more empty than usual, and I could easily see across it to the wooded area beyond the hockey building.

I saw a blonde guy standing against a tree. A strange shimmering was flitting around him, as well as a greenish fog. I squinted and leaned forward a bit, as if it helped me see.

I shrugged my bags off my shoulders and stood. My feet moved forward slowly as I was staring at the guy.

The guy eventually looked exactly like Aske. My pace quickened to a jog, not worrying about the bags I'd left, even though my phone and wallet were in them.

"Aske!" I said loudly as I jogged over. "Coach was looking for you!"

Instead of responding, or even looking over, I saw him turn and sort of roll off of the tree and into the woods.

I moved faster, curious as to what was happening. I didn't understand why he was running away like that.

As soon as I took a step into the forest, I felt cold. Not as if I caught a cold draft, but it was as if something cold was pressing on me from all sides, seeming to make little use of my hoodie.

My shivering didn't stop my curiosity and I pressed through the trees. I caught sight of Aske through the trees and lengthened my stride even more.

I lost him for several seconds before nearly ramming into a chain link fence. I looked around, a bit confused, before pushing my shoe into one of the holes and climbing over.

Before long I saw him again. He stopped extremely far away, so I slowed down, knowing I'd catch him eventually.

Pain seared from my shoulders as I felt something hit me hard. It felt like a large baseball bat, but something that big couldn't exist. I was forced forward by the blow, and fell onto my hands and knees.

I looked up to see Aske's feet in front of my face. I blinked hard and looked up to see three guys, whose eyes all seemed to glow. I reached up to rub my face, but my arm was grabbed.

Darkness cloaked my eyes quickly, and I felt a string tighten around my neck.

I started breaking quickly, as I was terrified. Another hand grabbed my other arm and I was pulled off the ground.

"I'm sorry, whatever I did!" I said in a panicked voice. I hadn't meant to say it, but it had just slipped out.

Without warning, I felt another hit. This time it was to my head and it made me slip into unconsciousness.

Reality became horribly fuzzy and pieced apart. I had the feeling of being lifted over a shoulder. I heard male voices talking, but I couldn't make out the words.

I fell unconscious completely for what felt like seconds, but was probably many minutes.

The male voices sounded like they were chatting. I couldn't move my body, as limbs felt like lead.

"Is she breathing?" I heard a deep voice ask as I slowly came to.

"What?"

"Her chest isn't moving, and it doesn't look like her heart is beating either."

"Fuck."

I felt a hand on the upper part of my chest that pressed down hard.

"Dragomir? How hard did you hit her?"

"Not that hard!"

I tried to move my head or finger or something to at least do something. I also became aware that I was laying on the ground.

My brain sluggishly woke up as I heard the three guys fighting. Sounds and feelings were still so blurred, it was hard to make out the conversation, even when I was I was concentrating.

"Let me through." The voice that said that was more nasal-y than the others. Something pressed on my chest and I heard breathing.

A long pause was followed by the feeling of being lifted, but falling back onto the ground again. A dull pain from the back of my head bothered me before my senses blackened and I passed out.

I started to hear conversation again, but it was drowned out my the sound of running water. It felt like there was still the damn bag on my head, so even if I was able to open my eyes, I would see nothing.

The murmuring went silent for a moment before I was no longer being held by arms anymore. I was suspended by nothing for a moment before being enveloped in cold.

Silence slowly covered me as I felt the strings around my neck loosen. The rough cloth slid off my face smoothly, and in the silence, I opened my eyes to the sky.

The nearly full moon rippled as if everything were covered in water. The coolness seemed to hold me like a mother holds a newborn. It felt like I was staring for an eternity.

I let myself breath in slowly before pain started up in my lungs. I coughed and realized I was trying to breath underwater.

The rushing water around me ripped away the serene moment, and tossed me into a rock.

When I found my head above the water I finally gasped, only to choke on more water covering my head.

My hands found something to hold onto, but it was moving just as quickly down the river as myself. My feet hit rocks painfully as I found that my shoes were gone. I tried to find the river bed, but simply sank lower in the water.

I pushed my hand into my face to check if my glasses were still there, and by a miracle, they were still perched on my nose.

I continued to hold my hand there while trying to swim to my right. My gasps for air were getting increasingly desperate as I stared at the sky. A deep maroon bridge was passing overhead.

Without thinking, I screamed using all of the air in my lungs to try to get someone to notice me.

I got in one successful breath before being plunged underwater again.

Images of the bridge and the sky filled my mind's eye as I was submerged. The cuts in my arm as I hit the bridge's support beams. The orange eyes staring me down.

I wanted to die, just not like this... why didn't it happen the first time..

"MADELYN!" I vaguely heard from above the water. I tried to find up as best as I could and swam that way. I hit air and gasped again, swimming to my right as quickly as I could.

I felt someone grab my and and almost pull it out of it's socket from how much force they used to get me out of the water.

I hit the ground hard and rolled onto my side. My body was shaking as I coughed and hacked. I vomited for the second time that day, this time onto the ground. I felt the bag being pulled out of my hand, but didn't care.

"Madelyn." I heard the same voice say. I spit one last time and rolled onto my back. "Maddie, what happened?"

David stared down at me this his bandaged face and I felt slightly relieved. It took a while, bit I slowly got my mouth to work.

"I d-don't even know." I stuttered out. His brow furrowed and I sat up slowly, becoming light headed. "C-care to tell me how y-you got me out?"

"Saw you at the bridge, drove down the road." He said quickly. He squatted in front of me, carefully avoiding the puke. "Madelyn, it's really late. Why were you floating down the river?"

"I don't know!" I said, my speech clearing up quickly. "I'm sorry.." I muttered.

"Don't be." He said and sighed. He pulled out his phone and showed it to me. The time in the corner read 21:37.

"Can you take me home?" I asked pitifully after a long pause. He sighed and agreed before slowly helping me up.

"Maddie, you have ropes on your wrists.." David observed. "Did someone-"

"No." I cut him off. "I'll get them off when I get home."

I stumbled into his car and struggled with buckling myself in. I looked into the back seat to see his sister sleeping soundly.

"Do you need help with that too?" David asked about my seat belt. He was till looking at me with a worried expression. I nodded and he reached across me to grab it and buckle me in.

He paused while in front of me and stared at me for a bit.

"Do you mind if you take off your sweatshirt?" His question startled me and I started to panic. Then I realized that I was waterlogging his passenger seat.

I carefully pulled off my hoodie and rung it out with my hands though the window. I hung most of it out the window while holding onto it while he started the car.

"You need to eat." He said in a quiet tone. "Can I drop off Ximena first?" He asked, referring to his little sister.

"You don't have to get me anything." I said as he pulled off of the beach and onto the road.

"Maddie." He was being extremely serious. "I found you nearly drowning in a river without shoes. You have cuts on your feet legs and arms, and you were clutching onto that black bag." He pointed to it, resting on the dashboard.

I pulled it into my lap and looked at it closely. The drawstring had a flat, golf ball sized pendant attached to it.

"David, I don't know what happened. I saw Aske after hockey practice and wanted to talk to him, but he ran away. I ran after him and then... then it all got so fuzzy..." I said and he glanced over at me with a worried look.

It took a while, but I explained everything, even the serene moment in the river where I didn't know I was drowning.

When I was finished, we were sitting in the parking lot of the supermarket, as he'd already dropped off his sister. David got out of the car and dug around in the trunk for some dry clothes I could wear before he got me home.

He walked up by the side of the car and opened my door.

"C'mon. We're getting you some food." He said. I smiled and slowly stood up. He was actually incredibly sweet, just a little brash sometimes.

The store was almost completely empty, other than workers and one or two young mothers who were trying to get their shopping done while their kid slept in their cart. No one even seemed to mine that I was barefooted.

David shoved the dry clothing into my hands and I chuckled. I walked into the bathrooms at the front of the store.

The room was completely silent, but warm. I felt uncomfortable walking into one of the stalls, but I did eventually.

My clothing was off quickly and it was dripping onto the floor from where it was hanging over the stall door. I took off the sports bra and rung it out quickly before getting dressed. The bandages on my leg were miraculously still tight, even after everything that had happened that day.

As I walked out, I heard David snort.

"What?" I asked as he snickered.

"You just look silly in oversized clothes." He muttered before standing up off the wall. I pouted at him as he walked away, knowing he wouldn't see my face.

We stood in front of the bakery for a while before he turned to me.

"What would you like to eat?" He asked. I simply shrugged and he groaned in frustration. He picked up a box of mini cupcakes and walked quickly to the isles of the store. He grabbed a box of Oreos and walked back to the front of the store to check out at the one cashier.

The red haired man looked like he hated his job, but forced a smile onto his face.

"Good evening. Did you find everything alright?" He asked and we both nodded. It's not like anyone said they didn't find everything.

"Is the Caribou still open?" David asked and the cashier nodded. I looked to see if he was wearing a name tag. He had neglected that part of his uniform. When he was done, David quickly walked to the coffee shop that was inside the Walmart.

"You know I don't like coffee." I muttered as he talked to the girl behind the counter. It wasn't long before we were out and heading for the car.

"Do you think those two cashiers ever get it on in the middle of the night?" David asked as he sat down on the hood of his car, even in the chill of the October night. I chuckled in response. "No, seriously! I wonder if the guy walks over into the shop and is like 'hey sexy lady'." He put on his best sleazy impression and it succeeded in making me laugh.

We were silent for a bit while he ripped open the Oreos and handed me a cup. I opened the lid to find hot chocolate underneath.

I smiled as I took a sip, but had to spit it out onto the ground, as it burnt my tongue.

"What was that?" He asked, confused.

"Hot." I said shortly and he understood. We sat in silence while I ate Oreos and tried to warm up. We were quite alone in the parking lot, as people rarely left their houses at this time.

I heard a car drive up behind us and I looked around. I saw the familiar face of my brother in his car.

He parked right next to us and got out, only to look over and nearly yell in surprise.

"Maddie?!" He rushed around the car and to me. "I was really getting worried! When I went to pick you up you weren't there! I thought you were kidnapped or something!"

I shook my head and offered him a cupcake to cool his nerves. He took it without question and looked at the two of us. He squinted at David in suspicion.

"What did you do?" Al asked angrily. "And where are your clothes?!" His voice was rising.

"They're in the back seat, dude. Calm down." David muttered. He muttered something under his breath in Spanish afterward. Both Al and returned to our conversation.

"I'm sorry I haven't been home I promise I'll tell you later." I said and Al's expression grew frustrated.

"Why later?" He asked.

"Maybe she still needs to recuperate." David muttered and I lightly punched his arm.

"From what?!" Al got angry again. I simply groaned. Neither of them particularly liked each other, and I had to deal with these fights all the time.

"I fell in the river, okay? I'll tell you more later." I said and Al sighed. He nodded and walked into the store. He was probably going in to pick up a snack before the weekend.

I stopped eating the food and David looked over at me, seemingly concerned.

"What's wrong?" He asked and slid closer on the hood of the car. I shook my head and he sighed. "You know you can tell me anything."

"Yeah, yeah, cheesy cliché lines." I muttered and he laughed a bit.

"Sometimes cheesy cliché lines are the best way to say what you mean." He said and put down his drink. "Now, can you tell me what's wrong?"

I sat in silence again and thought on how to express what I was feeling and thinking. I thought back to the river and I started to shake.

"Maddie?" He asked worriedly. I breathed heavily and looked up at him.

"I thought I was going to die." My voice shook as I said it. I didn't understand why I was so scared of death when it would be the most convenient thing. "That river... it's terrifying.."

He scooted closer and moved the food to put his arm around me.

"Do you need to talk about it?" He asked and I shook my head. He encouraged me a bit and brushed my damp hair off my face. I obliged and took a deep breath to counteract the stutter that I felt coming on.

"I felt at peace in there, in the moments were I was completely submerged and wasn't inhaling water, but.. I felt alone and scared when I passed under the bridge and I knew no one would see me.." My voice was shaking, and by the end, tears were threatening to stream down my face.

"Maddie, you know someone would have seen you if I didn't." He said in a smooth tone.

I sat up straight and pushed his arm off of me. What he'd said had struck a nerve.

"David, people down see me in the halls, I get pushed down in the street multiple times when I walk home, and I have to remind my teachers that I'm there very day." I felt tears running down my face, half out of anger, and half out of pure desperation. "Do you really think someone would have seen me?" I asked. He looked away for a moment and sighed. I took his short break in eye contact as an opportunity to wipe my face clean.

"No. You wold have probably drowned if I hadn't been there." He said and his eyes met mine again. "But aren't you glad I was?"

I bit my lip, wishing I didn't have to answer. I looked at my arm to try to prolong the conversation and found a dark scab, confused. I turned my arm over and found that it stretched the length of my forearm, and was incredibly deep. I didn't remember getting it.

"Maddie?" He asked, realizing I wasn't answering. He looked over the small gap between us and to where I was staring. "What is that?" He muttered and stood up off the car. He was on the other side of me quickly, turning my arm so he could see it better in the street lights above.

"I just saw it, and I have no clue how it got there." I said as he stood there with his eyebrows drawn together.

"It looks like it's a few days old." He said and looked at me. "Did you have this earlier?" I had my coat on almost the entire day, so he wouldn't have seen my arms.

"No? I have no idea how this would have happened. Maybe in the river?" I asked the rhetorical question, even thought I hadn't hit my arms on anything in the water.

"Maybe." He sighed and took his place on the left of me.

We both jumped when the engine of the car next to us started and sped away. I remembered it was Al and thought about how he hadn't even noticed him.

We both glanced at each other and hopped of the hood. I walked around to my side and hopped in. He followed suit and placed the food on my lap.

"Hey." He asked and looked over at me. "You wanna go somewhere?" The grin that was plastered on his face was contagious and I laughed from just looking at him.

"What do you mean?" I asked and he shrugged.

"I dunno, maybe, somewhere dark?" He asked and I simply became confused. "I mean like, far away from city lights and everything."

"It's a half hour drive to get out of the suburbs, David." I said and he groaned.

"I forgot."

Silence was a common thing between us. I decided to start another conversation after a few minutes.

"For a second there it seemed like you were asking me on a date." I chuckled and took a sip of my drink.

Without warning, he rammed the key into the ignition and started the car. I could have sworn he was slightly red, but it was hard to tell in the dark car.

"Were you actually asking me out?" I asked with a slight laugh.

"No." He said a bit too quickly. "You wouldn't have said yes anyway." He added at the end. I grunted and he drove away from the parking lot.

The silence of the car didn't bother me, as I was used to it. My hands found my way to the black bag and to the small medallion on it.

It was made of silver and had flowing engravings in it, and there was small blue gems placed in the centers of a few of the swirls. It was far heavier than it looked, and instead of having a flat outer rim, it was sharpened all the way around, like a small mountain ridge was surrounding it.

I flipped it over in my hands and saw the design was the same, but the gems were a strange iridescent white with a strange purple shine to them, especially when they were caught in the white street lights we were passing.

"The Fall Formal is coming up." David said, obviously uncomfortable with the quiet. I grunted again. "Gilbert is thinking about asking Anastázia to it." I gave a full on snort at that and looked over at him.

"You're kidding, right?" I was incredulous.

"No. I'm not." He said, relaxing in his car seat. "He has no clue she's going out with that Romanian kid."

"In all honesty, I want to see him ask her out." I said and we both laughed.

"I think we should have a party afterward to console him." David said. "I mean, we could have strippers and everything. You like strippers, right?" He asked and glanced at me through the faint reflection in the windshield.

"Age restrictions, David. You seriously need to think these things through." I was mocking him because he was obviously being sarcastic. "And I just love strippers."

"I always knew you were too butch to like guys." He said and we both laughed.

My house approached slowly as we drove down the street. The car came to a halt in front of the driveway and I started collecting my things.

"Be careful, okay?" David said as he reached into the back to grab my wet clothing.

"I'm walking to my front door, I'm not walking several miles in a shady downtown district." I said and watched him smile.

"Message me tomorrow, okay?" He said it like it was a question. "Otherwise, I'll drive down here myself to see if you were kidnapped in the night."

I nodded and leaned over to pick up the last thing and when I looked up, I saw David's face about an inch from mine. I stared at him for a bit before he lifted his hand to my face.

"Be safe." He said in a low tone, not intentionally. I blinked several times, flustered. I was trying to say something, but it felt like my throat had just locked up. As he stared at me I started getting shivers down my spine.

"I should go." I finally managed to say. I quickly grabbed my clothes from his hands and nearly jumped out the car. I closed the door and quickly walked up to the house, unlocking the door and closing it behind me as soon as I got in.

I walked up the stairs quietly and got to my room, where I stared out the window.

David was still sitting there in his car, looking a bit dazed. My window was slightly open to let the cold air in, so I heard his grumbles from outside.

He ran his hands through his hair multiple times and stared at his lap. He looked like he was hitting his own head out of frustration before starting his car and driving off.

I turned around to look at my bed, where Kumajiro was sleeping soundly. It brought a smile to my face, and I really needed one.

I quickly stripped off my clothes for the third time that day, including hockey practice, and slowly put my sleep clothes on, which consisted of an oversized t-shirt, and a pair of boxers.

I tossed the black bag onto the desk, and placed all of the clothing I'd worn in the hamper. The food was placed on a book shelf where the polar bear that resided in my room couldn't get at it.

I found my way into my bed and curled up in the covers, letting myself forget about my troubles and slip away into a blissful realm of sleep.