It was no ordinary drowning; it was a violent mutiny of the senses.
The moment the frigid water claimed her skin, Evangeline felt a thousand jagged needles of ice pierce her pores in unison, forcing every nerve in her body to recoil in a frantic, silent shudder. Step by agonizing step she descended, the water climbing her frame with a predatory hunger—devouring her chin, then her nose, until it finally draped over her eyes like a heavy shroud of flickering, pale light.
A muffled gurgle echoed in her ears as the final bubbles of air escaped her chest, racing for the surface to sever her anchor to the world of the living. She went under completely, her body surrendering to the pull of a dark, fathomless gravity.
