Chapter Text
18/12/2006
MONDAY
17:30PM
The evening sun shone a brilliant golden light down onto the forest below, its rays being diffused by the monolithic maple trees, and the light further shone down onto the frozen lake within this forest.
It was a tranquil sight, a quiet and peaceful Late Autumn Evening, the maple trees remaining still, only moving gently with the wind, yet something disturbed the Air, something, rather someone, had arrived at the frozen lake, disturbing the once quiet and tranquil scene before their arrival.
She moved forwards, trudging through the snow that blanketed the grass and foliage underneath her hooves, she needed time alone, away from her asshole of a mother, as she now looked on at the frozen lake before her.
She drew in the cold evening air, filling her lungs with it as she now looked on, she liked this lake, as she had fond memories of ice skating on it with her boyfriend, Asriel, as well as his little sibling, Kris, however she fondly remembered Noelle not being so fond of skiing, that she cried when she fell on the ice after being convinced to ski by Kris, about how she had to carry her back home.
But this time, she wanted to ski alone, to forget her plight and problems within the world, at least for an hour, and then return home like nothing happened, at least that’s what she intended to do.
As she reached the edge of the frozen lake, she halted, as she grabbed the heavy backpack off her back, setting it down onto the snow as she now unzipped it, opening it as she looked inside.
Inside was Dess’s hockey ice-skating shoes, the ones she had used when she played for Hometown High School’s hockey team, even if that was when she was 18, the shoes still fit her, and that’s all that mattered to her.
She withdrew them, crouching down at the edge of the frozen lake as she now worked to undo the pair of sneakers she wore now, as she heard something behind her.
There was the crunch of snow behind her, someone had followed her to the lake, though she didn’t know who it was, assumingly Carol, as she stormed out of the manor midway through an argument with her.
She swiveled her head towards the source of the footfalls, her eyes scanning the vista around her for whoever could’ve been following her, as she called out
“Hello..?”
She heard the noise of footfalls again, as someone emerged from the brush nearby to the shore of the frozen lake, she knew who this was, but she didn’t expect them to follow her down here.
They had followed Dess down to the frozen lake, having been at the holiday manor with Noelle and Asriel before Dess had her argument with Carol, they lied about going back to the Dreemurr household, so they could follow Dess down to the frozen lake.
They spoke, a feeling of embarrassment surging in their mind as they felt like what they were doing was wrong.
“I-I’m sorry, D-Dess.”
Her expression shifted from one of annoyance to a sympathetic one, as she looked at Kris up and down, and then at the ice-skating shoes that had laid next to her, as she began to speak again.
“No, Kris, it’s fine.”
“Say, if the ice is thick enough, do you want to skate on it..?”
They rubbed their face, having been looking down at the snow beneath their feet in shame after being caught, but when Dess mentioned about them ice-skating on the lake if the ice was thick enough, they raised their head to meet Dess's gaze, as their expression now shifted.
“R-Really..?”
She nodded in response to Kris’s question, as she now looked towards the frozen lake, thinking, before she shifted, moving while sat on the snow to get a better look at the ice.
She guessed its thickness, as it seemed to be a little over 4 inches thick, strong enough to support her weight on it while ice-skating, so she figured that it would be able to hold Kris’s weight rather easily.
She turned her head back to Kris, as she spoke once more.
“It should be thick enough to support your weight, Krismas.”
A smile formed on their face, as they now approached Dess, before looking at the frozen lake that Dess had intended to ice skate on, as they now spoke in response to Dess’s comment.
“So, c-can i skate on it now?”
Dess looked at Kris's excited face and then back at the frozen lake, she felt apprehensive about her guess of the thickness of the ice, and she felt if she was wrong, she’d have a lesson off Miss Dreemurr about letting Kris go onto the lake while the ice wasn’t thick, but she figured it was worth this gambit, perhaps out of spite to Kris and Asriel’s Mom.
“Yeah, let me just help you put these on, Krismas.”
They approached Dess enthusiastically, crouching down next to her as they couldn’t wait to put the ice-skating shoes on and stake, show Dess their skills they had gained between now and last year.
She began to help Kris put on the ice-skating shoes, and by some miracle they fit Kris, though she was a rather short person, and Kris was nearly her height despite them only being 13 at the time.
She stood up, grabbing Kris’s hand to help guide them onto the ice, so they wouldn’t accidentally slip and fall on the snow or the ice as they tried to navigate onto the frozen lake themself.
“Be careful Kris, I don't want to bring you back to Asriel ice cold and sopping wet, i’m already in enough trouble as is letting you do this without him here.”
“I-I’ll be careful Dess, it isn’t m-my first time after all..!”
They stared at Dess, a full grin on their face as they were so excited to go onto the ice.
She remained silent, as she grabbed Kris by their right hand, as she slowly approached the apex of the frozen lake, as she guided Kris towards the surface of the ice sheet.
“Go on Krismas, you’re on the ice.”
She let go of Kris’s hand, letting them glide across the ice as she moved back, though she had kept her gaze on Kris, she wasn’t gonna let an incident happen on her watch.
They glided forwards upon the ice, it seems Dess’s guess of the ice being more than 4 inches thick was correct, as the ice rather easily held Kris’s weight, as they twirled upon the ice, looking at Dess several times, hoping to earn her validation.
A smile formed on her face as she now watched Kris twirl and glide upon the surface of the ice, yet she heard something, as the smile slowly began to fade on her face.
An alien sound rippled across the surface of the lake, the nature of this sound sounded otherworldly, and alien, yet Dess knew what this sound was, the ice, the ice was cracking beneath Kris’s feet, but how?, Dess had assured herself the ice was more than 4 inches thick, it had to be.
She stood up, looking at Kris as she now screamed at them, trying to get them to move off the ice.
“KRIS!, THE ICE, IT ISN’T THICK ENOUGH…!”
“Wh-What..?”
They looked at Dess as they screamed at them, they heard the ice cracking, but they figured it was a rather benign noise, but as they looked down at their feet, they watched as the ice below them began to crack.
In a blind panic, they turned, trying to glide towards Dess but in their panic they misplaced their foot, now slamming hard onto the ice as cracks rushed to reach them.
The noise of the cracking ice grew louder, as the ice finally gave way, as the ice that held Kris’s weight now broke apart, causing them to fall into the freezing cold water beneath the sheet of ice.
They fall into the freezing cold water below, the immediate shock of the cold immobilizes them, as they slip beneath the surface, it was all too fast, they couldn’t possibly swim up before the hypothermia took hold, as they began to sink down.
She moved forwards, she wasn’t thinking, she was only running on pure instinct now, as she ran onto the ice, uncaring if she tripped onto it, towards the gaping hole in the ice what Kris had fallen into.
Upon reaching the hole in the ice, she took a deep breath and let her lungs fill with air, before diving into the freezing cold water that Kris had sunken into, as she swam down, ignoring the pain of the cold water, and the shock.
Through her blurred version, she saw Kris, as they flailed within the water, trying desperately to remove the ice skating shoes that they figured at this moment, had been weighing them down.
She grabbed Kris, wrapping her arms around their torso as she now began swimming up, towards the hole in the ice they had fallen into, as she breached the surface of the water.
As Dess brought them to the surface, they gasped, coughing up water as they took several deep breaths of the cold air.
She felt numb, as she now used the last of her fleeting strength to lift Kris onto the ice as she grabbed hold of the ice, looking at Kris.
Tears welled from their eyes, as they looked on at Dess, who was still in the freezing cold water, as they spoke
“D-D-Dess..?”
She didn’t respond, looking at Kris as she felt her strength fully wane, as she now let go of the ice, falling below the surface of the freezing cold water, out of Kris’s line of sight.
Their tears only increased as they sobbed, looking on at the hole within the ice they had fallen into, the freezing-cold water what Dess saved them from, as they screamed out, screaming for anyone, hoping that their plight could be heard, so that Dess could be saved.
Yet, something began to change within the water, as they looked down as their expression turned from desperate sadness, to horror.
A sort of mist hung below the water, dark red in colouration, it was blood, it was Dess’s blood, as they now thought the worst had happened to her, that this was all on them, that they should’ve stayed with Asriel, and not followed her to the lake.
Their sobbing and screams for help only grew in volume and desperation, as they screamed for help, hoping that someone, would, just, come.
Yet, nobody came.
Soon, shock overcame their system, as the timeframe in which they sat upon the ice, screaming and crying began to blur, it felt like one second they were on the ice for an hour, and the next second for only several minutes.
Yet, eventually, someone did come, but any attempt to save her would be in vain.
They remember the days after this, after Asriel and Carol found them upon the ice, about the investigation that occurred after, about the fact they didn’t find Dess, about how this shifted to a missing persons case, with the only testimony being from a traumatized teenager.
They remember the guilt they felt, about how all of this was their fault, even if Asriel and Noelle didn’t blame them, but they know deep down they did, but they didn’t have the heart to tell them.
Eventually, everything grew numb, the guilt, the harrowing emotion they felt for months after soon grew to drown itself out, as the status quo returned.
But even now, 3 years later, they still feel that, if they didn’t follow Dess down to the frozen lake, maybe she’d still be here, maybe then would Noelle still talk to them, maybe then, Asriel maybe wouldn't have gone to that stupid college in upstate new york.
But, maybe, maybe somehow, someway she survived all this.
And if she did.
They were going to find her.