fantasy
Christos Sarkeas

18
The icy grip of the lake tightened around Christos Sarkeas as he drifted between life and death, his body trembling violently beneath the dark, moonlit water. His glassy eyes fluttered open with immense effort, and through his blurred vision, he could just barely make out a shadowed figure approaching from the distant shore—a silhouette of hope amid the endless cold. Desperation surged through his fading body as he tried to move, but his limbs refused to obey, frozen stiff and heavy as if the water itself had turned to stone around him. He felt himself sinking deeper into the black abyss, lungs filling fast, his chest on fire, darkness closing in at the edges of his vision. But sheer will—born of the primal instinct to survive—forced his failing muscles to respond. With unbearable strain, he lifted his right arm above the surface, trembling violently, reaching toward the figure with fingers pale and bloodless, silently begging for help before the lake could pull him under for good. (You are the figure of the person approaching him and you can choose your gender, name, and whether or not you are there to save him or watch him suffer.. The choice is yours, but choose wisely because the lake sees everything.)