Read Asylum Lake for Free Online Page B

here, at night, she looked…different. His first inclination was to take a step back, but his heels were already at the edge. “I – uh – um - I,” came his stammering reply as he fidgeted with the bag and his words.
    She leaned in and pressed her shivering lips to his, sending warmth through him like a bolt of lightning. The last thing he remembered before closing his eyes to her kiss was the touch of her hands to his face and the passing thought that even without a lighter, these fireworks were amazing.

    A short time later, the fireworks from their make-out session behind them, Brady and April sat together. She rested her head on his shoulder. Behind them Jeff and Tammy were also cuddled, the sound of their conversation drowned out by the splashing of the water against the barrels supporting the float. The prediction of stormy weather appeared to be coming true as the raft rolled on the wind-blown and choppy surface of the lake.
    “I wish the wind would just blow us back,” April snuggled closer into Brady’s chest. “I really don’t want to get back in that water. I just want to fall asleep right here in your arms.”
    Brady didn’t blame her. The air had cooled at least ten degrees since they had been out here and there was no telling how much colder the water would feel. He had already resigned himself to the fact that the night was going to end with a very cold swim back to the shore. Fortunately, however, there was a warm fire waiting for them. He could see it flickering in the distance.
    Without warning a jagged finger of lightning splintered across the sky. It was quickly followed by a clap of thunder that shattered the silence and swept over the lake like the blast from a shotgun. Jeff jumped to his feet. “Holy shit, that was close!” He seemed almost excited by the prospect of re-enacting Ben Franklin’s famous kite and key experiment. “Look at the hair on my arm, dude, its standing straight up!” He held out his arm begging for someone to notice. “That-was-fucking-awesome,” he screamed into the night and raised his arms into the air, as if urging the storm overhead for an encore.
    Tammy grabbed him by one outstretched arm and spun him around. “Correct me if I’m wrong, but isn’t being in the middle of a lake like the last place you want to be during a thunderstorm?”
    As the reality of her comment sunk in, Jeff lowered his arms and sheepishly looked from Tammy’s face and over to Brady and April as they rose to their feet. “Maybe we should just, um, head back,” he added and jerked his thumb back in the direction of Brady’s house.
    “There’s really nothing to worry about,” Brady said, and then slouching slightly as he stood next to April he added. “As long as the Amazon Woman here,” nudging her with his hip, “is out here with us we’re safe. Lightning always strikes the tallest tree, right?” He knew April would one day regret that half-inch advantage she held over him. For the briefest of moments he stood with that lopsided grin on his face, the one that his mother claimed always meant mischief.
    Her response was quick and not altogether surprising. The Amazon Woman easily shoved him off the edge of the float and into the water. His lopsided grin quickly fell from his face as he plunged beneath the waves. He sunk like a stone.
    Brady found himself in the lake’s frigid grasp, his very life being squeezed from his lungs as he sank further into the darkness. It seemed an eternity that he fell. He knew from the amount of chain it had taken his father to secure the float that the lake bottomed out at nearly forty feet; Brady had the sensation that he was fast approaching its limit. And then, just as quickly as he had descended, Brady was belched out and upward as if the lake had thought better of swallowing him whole. He sputtered and splashed as he broke the water’s surface.
    “Brady! Brady!” He heard Jeff’s frantic call from the darkness somewhere to his left.