Chapter Thirty

I stare at the thing frozen in place for a few seconds, my body couldn't move or allow me to form a sentence. Reece continues to list all the different rules the town has changed, I knew this meant he hadn't saw what I'm seeing right now because he definitely wouldn't be straight up ignoring it. "R-Reece" I stutter out my eyes still not leaving the floating thing in front of me, the sentence left my lips so quietly that I worried he didn't hear it, but he looks up thankfully hearing what I said, I didn't know if I'd be able to form another. "Are you okay?" He asks raising to his feet and rushing over to me, I still couldn't form a sentence so I lift my arm up and point to what I was seeing. He follows my hand and also clocks what I was seeing, he whips his head around to look back to me before sprinting towards the water. I shout his name but he doesn't listen and starts to power swim over to the person, I was debating going in myself but I didn't know if I'd be much help. He soon arrives to whoever it was by now we didn't know how long they'd been in there, he flips them over so they were now facing up. I was much too far away to see who it was, but you could tell they wasn't moving. Now I thought Reece would have grabbed the person and swam back, but he just stayed where like he was frozen. "Reece!" I shout not knowing if he's gone in some sort of trace from what he saw, I didn't know if that was even possible but I needed some answers. He turns his head to look at me than he looks back at the person, his face soon changes again and he takes a look down at the water. He starts to struggle a little pulling at his leg, it looks as though his foot might be stuck. Before I had time to shout he goes under, I scream his name once again before it was my turn to bolt towards the water. I dive into the ice cold water and swim as fast as I possibly could, with every second that went by the colder and tireder I got, but I knew I had to keep going. In what feels like a lifetime I arrive near the floating person, who had drifted away slightly. It didn't even cross my mind to look at whoever that was, I was just focused on saving Reece. I hold my breath and go under the freezing water, I struggle to keep my eyes open as water was just so muggy. I continue swimming downwards until I see Reece, he was struggling pulling at his leg but was starting to slow down until he stopped moving all together. I head straight to where his foot was to discover it was trapped in an old crate, I push at the crate for a second before ripping the piece of wood holding his foot. He goes limp in front of me as I do, I swim back up taking hold of him under the arms and just drag him to the surface. The temperature and the weight of him was proving this to be difficult, but I knew I had to carry on to get us both out of here. The surface soon comes into view, I break through the surface pulling Reece out too. Once his head was out he immediately, starts to cough the water coming out at the same time. "Come on let's go you out" I say starting to swim in the direction of the bank, I still held his hand as went. The whole way he was coughing and spurring, I knew this meant he was getting any water he swallowed back out. With every cough I could tell he was getting more with it, I didn't have to pull as much due to him swimming on his own. By the time we made it to the bank he was the one pulling me, he was the first out but quickly pulls me out with him. "You wait here and I'll go get the person" I say turning to run back into the water but he grabs my hand stopping me, I send him a confused look still trying to go to the water. "It isn't Martha, we need to leave" he says now pulling me away from the bank, I mean it's a huge relief that isn't Martha but it's still a person "they've been in the water for a few days Erika, there's no saving them" he says like that was justifying us leaving them there. "Reece it doesn't matter if it's not Martha, they're still a person who deserves to be taken out of the lake, their family are probably worried sick!" I say pulling against him to try to get back to lake, I know I would want someone to get him out of the lake if it was my loved one. "You don't get it Erika! The people that put him there don't want him to found, we shouldn't have found him!" He shouts looking quite traumatised, this was a new emotion for Reece, which terrified. "You know who did this to him?" I ask which does immediately make him stop and look as though he was about to cry, he lets go of my hand holding his eyes walking around "I'm sure whoever it was didn't mean for it to happen, we just need to get him out of here" I say about to turn around and run back in the lake, he wasn't holding me right now. "It was your dad and Justin!" He exclaims which immediately makes my heart sink, my dad and Justin killed someone? "Reece, you can't just go around and accuse people of killing someone, maybe you saw something that you thought was one thing but it wasn-" I start to try to defend my dad and Justin but he cuts me off. "It was them Erika! You know the man that used to collect wood for all the older residents, who didn't want to switch to the more modern ways" he starts to explain which I have to stop and think, but than I soon realise who he's talking about, Woodcutter Tom! Yes I know such an amazing nickname "that's him!" He exclaims pointing towards the lake where the poor man was still floating. "What's my dad and Justin have to do with Woodcutter Tom?" I ask, I didn't know if Justin even knew who Woodcutter Tom was, see the nicknames catchy. "The day after you left we had a town meeting, it was there your dad told everyone about the new rules that we all had to follow, Woodcutter Tom was highly against those rules" he explains wiping a few of his tears away as he spoke, my dad didn't even wait a day before enforcing new rules? "In that meeting Woodcutter Tom stood up and said he wasn't following any rules and they'd have to kill him before he did, at the end of the meeting I saw your dad and Justin dragging Woodcutter Tom out the hall, his family have been looking everywhere because no one has seen him since, until now!" He exclaims pointing back over to the lake, I just hold my hand up to my mouth gobsmacked, Justin's kind of shown his true colours these last few days, but my dad! "We can't just leave him in the lake Reece, as you said his family are worried sick looking for him" I say looking back to the lake, he had floated further down and away. "We have no choice Erika, who knows what they'd try to do to us because we found him" he says holding my hands with a sad look, I just look at him so shocked, he does know he's talking about my dad right "I can tell by the look on your face that you think I'm over reacting, you haven't seen how Justin but also your dad has been these past few days, they're acting as though everyone in the town is under their control and if someone breaks a rule that's it, Woodcutter Tom isn't the only person that I've noticed has disappeared, anyone who opposes them just disappears. That's why I'm so glad you're not here but safe in the pack with your mate, before you ask how I know it's quite obvious, but at least you're away from all of this because you'd be the first person to get punished" he says which does take me by surprise, one due to all the horrible rules he said they're forcing upon them but also, he knows about me and Cody! "They wouldn't hurt me, maybe I could reason with my dad and Justin" I suggest but Reece immediately shakes his head looking down. "There's no reasoning with them two anymore, no matter who you are" he sighs as a huge gust of wind blows and due to how wet we were, I immediately nearly freeze "let's get you back to Cody, I don't want you catching hypothermia" he says taking my hand pulling me away from the lake, I take one last look at Woodcutter Tom before he floats even further away.