Beneath the Depths

“Here it is Ava, Misty Lake as promised,” Selene exclaimed with a fiery excitement to her eyes that never quite went out. The moon was full that night providing enough light to see their immediate surroundings. The lake had a rocky shore and thick trees surrounded it, making it a secluded area even though the road wasn’t far from where they were parked. There was a faint layer of mist that hung low over the surface of the lake, probably the reason for the name Ava thought. Ava took a deep breath as Selene cut the engine, creating a silence that could be suffocating to one more accustomed to the constant noise of the city.

“It’s so quiet here,” Ava muttered as she stepped out of the vehicle, she looked around seeing only the lake and the trees surrounding it “ your Uncle really has a cabin around here?”Ava asked.

“Yep, it’s just over there,” Selene answered from the other side of the vehicle, as she gestured towards a thicket of trees.

Ava looked in the direction where Selene had gestured, squinting she tried to find the slightest semblance of an outline for a cabin, “Where? All I see are trees,” Ava said with a slight chuckle. Selene chuckled as she made her way around the front of the vehicle, once standing next to Ava she put her arm around her and said,

“I know it can be hard to see where the cabin is because the trees surrounding the lake can make it disorienting, but it’s just past those trees there a little. You see that?” Selene asked pointing to a boulder shaped like an egg. “That boulder sits right in front of where the cabin is. I used that as a landmark ever since I was little so I could always find my way back to the cabin no matter how far I wandered”. Selene gave Ava a little squeeze and leaned in close to her ear “ Now, how about we get this party started!” Selene let go of Ava’s petite frame and walked over to the trunk of the car.

“How long did you say it’s been since you were here last?” Ava asked as they began unloading the contents of the trunk.

“Um, about 10 years I think,” Selene answered as she flicked her long braided hair out of the way to pick up a large cooler.

“Wow, that’s a long time,” Ava responded as she reached down to help Selene with the cooler. “Why so long?” She asked.

“Me and my family used to come out here all the time during the summers when I was younger. But when the missing people reports started my dad decided it wasn’t safe anymore.” Selene responded. Ava stopped and stared at Selene, mouth gaped open.

“Missing people reports? Wait, are you being serious right now Selene, or are you just messing with me!” Ava exclaimed.

“Oh relax Ava, it’s not like it’s that big of a deal. People go missing in the woods all the time, usually because they’re drunk, or stupid, or both. Besides, it’s not like people don’t go missing in the city. Trust me, there is nothing to be afraid of out here,” Selene responded candidly.

“Yeah I guess you’re right,” Ava admitted, a little embarrassed at her own panic but still nervous enough to give a quick glance over her shoulder. “Although, it’s not like we’re exactly going to be sober,” Ava remarked while nodding towards the cooler.

Selene laughed, “ You got me there, but we’re not stupid,” she said with a wink, “so at least we’ve got that going for us”. Ava gave Selene an amused look as they finished taking the last few things out of the trunk.

“Come on,” Selene said, “I know the perfect place on the shore for us to get our night started”.

The girls strolled down the rocky shore, the light of the moon illuminating their way. The spot that Selene brought them to had a steep rock facing that was covered in graffiti. Words and images from what looked to range from the present to decades ago spilled over the smooth dark surface. One image, in particular, captured Ava’s eye for only a moment.

“Hey Ava, come look at this!” Selene’s beckoning pulled Ava away from the disturbing image she had just been observing. Ava walked over to where Selene was standing and looked up. On the rock face before her stood a large image of what looked to be a fisherman with the word, BEWARE, written in red next to it.

“What the hell is that?” Ava asked, her voice holding the slightest bit of worry.

“He must be the reason for all the missing person’s reports,” Selene said in a spooky voice while wiggling her fingers at Ava. Ava pushed part of her sleek black hair behind her ear, crossed her arms over her chest, and gave Selene an annoyed look.

“Oh haha,” Ava retorted mockingly. Selene looked at Ava with amusement in her honey-coloured eyes and laughed.

“Oh come on girl, you’ve got to loosen up. Here.” Selene reached into the cooler and grabbed two bottles of liquor, then handed one to Ava. As the girls drank one bottle after another, hours began to pass. The two of them started to move slowly towards the water laughing, talking, making bets and dares that eventually led to both of them skinny dipping in the cool dark lake. The thoughts of the images on the rock face long fled their inebriated minds, until a dark figure walked out from the trees towards them. As the figure lumbered closer the sounds of the splashing and merriment from the girls stopped. Startled at the presence of another, the girls quickly scrambled deeper into the lake to hide themselves from the stranger on the shore. The stranger took a few steps into the water then stopped and started to whistle an eerie melody.

“Hey sir, um, what are you doing?” Selene asked the stranger. However, the stranger ignored Selene’s inquiry and continued to whistle his melody a little louder than before. His head was bowed as he looked into the water taking timid steps into the lake. With the dark figure now closer, the girls could see the man was wearing a hat with shiny lures that gleamed in the moonlight, a fisherman's jacket, waders, and large boots. Also, he carried a bundle of fishing equipment although it was hard to tell just what he was carrying in the dark of the night.

“Excuse me, sir, could you please go somewhere else so that we can put our clothes back on?” Ava inquired. However, her request was ignored and the fisherman started to whistle even louder. His footsteps beginning to be more sure, his whole upper body now leaning forward towards the water.

Getting frustrated Selene hollered at the fisherman. “Hey! Are you deaf? We said to get los-” at that moment before Selene had the chance to finish her sentence, she disappeared under the water.

“Selene!” Ava exclaimed both distraught and confused. Ava dived under the inky black surface in an attempt to save her partner. Normally Ava would have no problem holding her breath and swimming far underwater, being the captain of the swimming team she had good technique and good lungs. Now, however, she was panicked and the water felt icy on her skin. Ava reached around frantically for Selene, kicking downward with all her might her lungs begging for the freedom of the surface. Ava’s stomach sank as she grasped in the blackness to no avail with the realization that soon she would need to brach for air or be lost herself. However just as that harrowing thought overcame her mind she felt Selene’s hand grasp tightly to hers. Ava held Selene’s hand with a grip death itself could not loose and pulled back trying with all her strength to kick towards the surface. Unfortunately, whatever it was that held Selene to the bottom of that lake wouldn’t budge. Ava’s lungs began to burn and her limbs began to weaken with exhaustion and just when all hope started to flee, whatever it was that had its grip on Selene suddenly slackened and the both of them moved upward, breaching the surface just in time.

Both of the girls coughed and sputtered as they gasped for breath. Ava clutched Selene as tightly as she could as they shakily paddled their way to shore. When they reached the shore Ava could feel a large weight pull her to the ground, it was the exhaustion of her excursion and the adrenaline slowly starting to seep out of her. A brief moment of relief flooded over her as she took a few precious moments to catch her breath thinking that they had escaped almost certain death, however, that relief was stolen from her just as quickly as it had come. Selene stumbled and cried out in anguish. Ava looked back and saw Selene had fallen to one knee, blood gushing from her ankle. Scrounging up the last bit of adrenaline left in her, Ava rushed to Selene’s side and situated herself to support Selene. It was difficult as Selene was taller and much bigger than Ava but both girls were determined to get away from that sore as quickly as possible. They hobbled together back along the shore towards the area where the cabin was located, both looking frantically in the moonlight for the egg-shaped boulder that would signal they were close to safety at last. Both Ava and Selene were too terrorized to realize how eerily quiet the lake had become.

The next morning Selene and Ava made their way somberly back to where they had left their belongings the night before. As they made their way down the foggy shore they tentatively looked around to make sure the coast was clear as neither of them wanted to encounter the strange fisherman that had caused them so much strife. Arriving at the graffitied rock face that towered above them, Ava stooped down to pick up some of their disregarded clothing. As she did an image on the rock face caught her eye once again. It was that same image she had briefly observed, only now it seemed to glean satisfaction as it looked back. The image depicted a half fish, half lady creature with big round eyes and boney arms that had three sharp claws on each hand. Ava abruptly stood up and began to inspect Selene’s poorly bandaged ankle. After a moment a shudder crawled down Ava’s spine as she realized that on Selene’s ankle were three clawlike wounds.

“Hey Selene,” Ava started with a shaky voice, then stopped when she saw that all colour and fire had seemingly gone from Selene’s stare. Selene was looking and silently pointing to an object about 10 feet from them on the shore. Ava turned towards where Selene was pointing and saw the glimmer of a fishing lure gleaming from a hat, and not far from it was a broken fishing harpoon. Ava then looked out over the mirrored surface of the lake and she had the feeling that something was staring back at her from beneath the depths.

End