ICE (The Benders Series) Read Online Free PDF Page A

“Yea, it’s nice, huh?”
    Chelsea smiled a wicked white smile. “Yea, but I think you should get a new one.”
    “And why should she do that? It’s just a headband,” Britney interjected finding the conversation heading south at a rapid rate.
    Chelsea nodded. “It is just a headband.” And before anyone could act, she rolled the black head dressing into a ball and threw it as hard as she could toward the river. The black band managed to avoid the trees and slid right onto the middle of the black ice. “It’s just a headband out on the ice, where it will stay.”
    “I’ll just get you a new one,” Britney commented quickly as she pulled Kenna’s arm to leave the fueled discussion.
    Kenna fought her tugs and immediately announced, “I’ll go get it.”
    “No,” her friend warned as Chelsea and a few other girls jeered. “It’s only December. No one’s even been out on the ice yet.”
    The new girl turned to her friend. “I got this,” she stated as she walked confidently towards the frozen water’s edge.
    Almost everyone at the little party had turned their attention toward the scene. It wasn’t often that anyone would stand up to Chelsea, especially a new kid. In a matter of a few short moments, most of the attendants were gathered at the edge of the ice to see if Kenna would truly follow through with her brave statement.
    In all honestly, Kenna was quite uncomfortable as she took a stand near the river’s edge. She’d never been on ice before, let alone unsecure and mysterious ice.
    She breathed deeply. Britney noticed the anxiousness on her face and offered a short, “Just forget about it. Let’s leave.”
    Kenna shook her head and took a slow step out onto the ice. She could feel just a tiny movement and hear just a minuscule cracking underneath the step, but it wasn’t enough to turn her away from the mission. She strode slowly, just sliding her feet against the black river until she came to the prize.
    For a moment, time seemed to freeze. As she bent down to retrieve the gift, she felt a sudden jerking underneath her that knocked her to her knees. Not a second later, silence and an unmatchable tension filled the air around her. Breaking that silence came a loud and abrupt cracking from beneath the icy surface.
    All eyes had turned their attention to the river where that cracking built into almost an explosion of noise. In one epic burst, the ice beneath her shattered while more ice split into bergs of frozen water.
    In an instant, she was gone.
    Kenna was immobile as she felt her body drop into the freezing river. Before she could think or react, the current swept her whole body underneath the murky water. At the second of submersion, Kenna felt all of her muscles clench into rigid, tight knots. She heard nothing but her heart pounding in her ears, and every fiber of her being ached to gasp for air.
    Despite the instinct, she managed to hold her breath as she was swept further and further away from where she’d broken through. She could see the small contrast of light that indicated her escape slipping slowly away from her. The opening was almost invisible to her now as the muddy water began to sting her opened eyes.
    Just as she began to lose the will to fight toward the hole, she felt her jacket catch on a log. Kenna fought again, trying to escape the log and to find a way to swim back towards where she’d fallen under. But as the seconds passed, she began to feel her arms and legs go numb, and her heart rate slow.
    I don’t want to die , she thought to herself. She prayed as the bubbles of air began to escape her. Her eyes slowly began to close when a tugging reopened them.
    Someone was in the water with her! She couldn’t tell if it was an angel or actually a person as the rescuer ripped off her jacket and pulled her over their muscular body.  With that, her fight was back, and adrenaline fired her insides as she attempted to help the individual swim back to the opening. She held