Last Christmas (Private 0.60)

The crunch of leaves and branches under Sergei's feet slowed up ahead. He was getting winded and she was

getting closer. She weaved through clusters of old pine trees and ducked underneath their heavy boughs,

adrenaline propelling her forward. Sergei was just ahead, struggling against a branch thick with pine needles.

He shoved past it and it whipped back in her direction, the tip of the branch slicing across her face.

She brought her hand to her numb cheek. When she pulled it away, her fingers were covered in blood.

Stinging anger rose inside her. Why was he torturing her like this? Sergei had her whole life in his hands.

Easton, Billings, her mother, and Thomas.

"Sergei!" she screamed, tears running down her cheeks "Stop! Please!" Her desperation was palpable, and it

rose up in her throat, threatening to choke her. He hurried into the large clearing at the center of the woods.

The lake stretched in front of them, silent and frozen.

Ariana had spent so much time around this lake since she'd come to Easton as a freshman. Bonfires with the

other Billings Girls in the fall, stretching out on blankets with a bottle of white wine in the spring. The threat

of getting caught had always sent a shiver of excitement down her spine, a kind of excitement she'd never felt

when she'd lived at home. The threat she faced now filled her with gut-wrenching dread.

Sergei darted onto the frozen surface, then hesitated, glancing over his shoulder at her. She ran faster, the

space between them

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diminishing with every step. Reaching toward him, she strained to grab the hem of his sweater. She was so

close.

Suddenly, he stopped and turned around to face her. Before she realized what he had done, her body slammed

into his. They tumbled onto the ice together. Her head cracked against the unforgiving surface, and she felt a

searing pain at the base of her skull. The sounds of their heaving gasps throbbed in her ears.

And then another sound, this one sharp. Slow at first, then faster. The crackling sound of ice breaking

underneath their weight.

Ariana screamed, flipping onto her stomach in time to see the ice give way under Sergei's body.

"Oh my God," Ariana gasped.

A look of surprise flashed across Sergei's sweaty face right before he plunged into the gray water. Ariana

instinctively slid backward, away from the hole that threatened to swallow them both, but Sergei's fingers

closed around her ankle.

"No! Let go of me! "Ariana screamed, clawing at the ice beneath her, leaving a jagged trail in the ice as