She opened her eyes to a pair of very blue ones staring back at her. She coughed, and the water that had been in her lungs poured out. She coughed again.

"What are you trying to do?"

"Dane?"

"Who else?"

He was angry.

McKenna sat up, her eyes roaming around the little beach beside the cemetery. The one where her parents found her. The one where she drowned as a child.

"How did I get here?"

"How do you think?" he asked.

"Please don't do that, Dane."

"Do what?"

"Answer all of my questions with a question."

He ran his hands through his hair and sighed exasperatedly. "I asked first," he said quickly. "What are you trying to do?"

"You wouldn't understand."

"Try me."

"I'm just so confused right now. My parents told me some things that happened after I died as a toddler, you know when I drowned here."

"You didn't die," he said.

"That's what I thought. But they told me after you brought me back to camp." A thought occurred to her. "How did you disappear so fast, anyway?"

"Don't change the subject," he said adamantly.

She shook her head. "Dane, I don't know if you'll even want me after I tell you what they told me."

Dane stared at her through slitted eyes. "Don't talk crazy."

"That's what I mean. I am crazy."

His laugh got the better of him. "I'm sorry," he apologized quickly. "I didn't mean to laugh. You're not crazy, and you know it."

"Then how come I can talk to dead people?"

"What?" Dane’s eyes turned a deeper shade of blue, the pupils dilating to large orbs.

"It's true. My mother and father told me. They told me it happened after I died and came back to life. They told me that I have never met my grandparents. That they died before I was born. But yet I see them and talk to them every day. If that isn't crazy, I don't know what is."

“I told you that you were special.” He said, jumping quickly to his feet and offering her a hand. "You're very tired, McKenna. Let's go back to the cabin and get some sleep. You'll feel better afterward."

"I hope you're right."

He smiled sadly. "It can't hurt."

***

McKenna woke to a dark cabin. The fire that Dane had built earlier had gone out. Only small embers remained smoldering in the fireplace.

She sat up and surveyed the room. She was alone. Where had he gone? Why did he leave? And why, oh why, did he keep disappearing?

She heard the footsteps approaching. She thought it was Dane, but as they got closer, she realized it was more than one set of shoes coming her way. She threw on her clothes and ran her fingers through her tangled hair.

The cabin door opened, and her father walked in. "Kenna," he sighed with relief. "We have been looking everywhere for you."

“You left me to drown,” she stated emotionlessly. The memory returned to her, but she felt nothing. Her father was not the loving parent she knew. He was a selfish alcoholic that lied about saving her.

“I what?” her father asked.

She didn't answer, had nothing else to say to him. She only stared as her mother walked in behind him.

“And, you,” she glared at her mother. “You probably knew all along. I hate you both for all the lies. All the secrets. You should have told me sooner. You’ve ruined my life.”

At the sound of the door creaking open, McKenna looked to see two strange men approaching her. They were dressed in white uniforms. One of them had a stethoscope around his neck. The other had a hypodermic syringe in his hand.

"What's going on?" she asked. Her heart sank. Where was Dane?

"We need to get you some help, Kenna." Her father slowly approached her. "You tried to drown yourself. Mom and I are afraid for you."

"Who are they?" she asked, her eyes glaring at the two men.

"We thought it best for you," her mom said. "You need to be in a hospital."

McKenna backed slowly away from her mom and dad and the two men. "I don't need help," she insisted. "I need Dane." Her back touched the wall. "Dane!" she cried out.

The two men advanced on her.

"You're not touching me with that thing!" she cried. "Dane!" Where was he? Why wasn't he here?

The first man moved quickly toward her and grabbed her around the waist. Her arms flailed against him. "No!" she screamed. "Stop!"

The second man roughly seized her arm and plunged the needle into it.

McKenna screamed again. "Dane!"

Her legs started to sag. Her mind grew fuzzy.

They couldn’t take her away. She had to see Dane. He would never know where she had gone.

"Dane!" she cried again. "Dane!" Her voice grew weak as the medicine took effect. His name stayed on her lips, and she never stopped calling for him until she collapsed against the shoulder of her father.

© Copyright 2026 k.l.warzala. All rights reserved.