Struggling for Breath.

A CONFESSION.

Back in 1953, I think, I moved here with my parents. Old 19th century homes and willow trees lined the village streets, dominated by the vast expanse of a motionless Lake in its centre. From the view above, houses form a ring around its almost perfect circular edge. One singular, strikingly bold tree now stands proud at its centre, lifted into view by a small, muddy island. In a lot ways, the village and lake is still as charming as it ever was, but yet starved of modern conveniences, with little to no local amenities. The local bars and shops are a car ride away. However, it's also a town where few homes are ever sold, or attempted to be. Confusing, as much as it is unremarkable, perhaps. But all is not as it seems.

A few years after moving here, when I was old enough to go to school, I started to make friends with some other kids in the area, it was a great place for us kids back then. The trees for climbing, the lake for swimming... my God, we loved to swim. There must have been about twelve, fifteen of us who formed a bit of an alliance, Pete and Shirley, Charlie, Stan, a few others who are still in the village today. It must have been around '62, when one of our friends, Richard, told us he was moving away, far away. We were gutted, HE was gutted. We had become such close friends, to us, as young teenagers, it was devastating to think we'd be losing one. Although we wouldn't admit it back then, I can tell you now, we all shed a tear or two that day.

So, when the day came to him leaving, a few weeks later, we decided to not let him go. We came up with a plan to swim out into the lake, to that island in the middle. There was no tree there back then, it was just a mound of grass and a bush or two I think. We figured, if we protested, he'd be able to stay... right? We took a few tents and as much as we thought we could carry whilst swimming but the water was cold and deep. A lot deeper than we thought, for some reason. We swam in that lake all the time, but yet it never felt that deep and cold before. Plus the weight of the gear made it difficult to swim far... so a few of us turned around before we even made it half way. But not Richard, no. He kept going, beaconing us to follow, this wasn't a kidnapping, this was as much his plan, it was ours. So, those who still could, kept on going.

Eventually, we couldn't keep going, none of us. I stopped. The island looked so far away still, nothing but a small silhouette against the dark, deep blue night sky. I called out to Rebecca and Richard, who I knew were close by. Rebecca swam to me, shivering, struggling for breath. Luckily, the tent bags had enough air in them to act as partial floatation devices, helping us to keep our heads above the water, but Richard didn't reply to our calls. Vince finally caught up from a few yards behind, helping to call out for him but still nothing came back. It was so dark, we could barely see each other but we frantically swam around, continuing to call with nothing but adrenaline from the panic to aide us. But, as hard as we tried, nothing came back. At times, we dived under the surface, blindly flailing in random directions, hoping to feel something, an arm, a head, anything. We found nothing. After what felt like hours, we were exhausted. We had to come back... we didn't want to give up, but we had no choice. I remember Rebecca sobbing the entire way.

The next few days, weeks and months were the worst days of my life. Not only had we lost a friend, but the group had become fragmented as we all dealt with the grief in our own ways. Richard's body, was never recovered.

But we had no idea what was to follow...

After the disappearance of Katie in 2019, we had to tell our story. We could not stand by and let this monster continue. Back in '62, we had a pact that none of us could leave. We never wanted to split up... adult life seemed like a life none of us were craving. The night Richard disappeared, awoke something in that Lake... something powerful. As if he became the spiritual embodiment of the pact we made... no one can leave.

THE DISAPPEARANCE OF KATIE MCGOVERN

Katie arrives home after a night out at the nearest bar, a few miles out of town. "Katie! We'll do lunch tomorrow!", David, her boyfriend and proverbial chauffeur for the night shouts from his beaten up, old car before driving off. She salutes sarcastically back at him with a smile, before blowing him a kiss.

Walking up a darkened footpath, lit only by the moonlight and few distant street lights, Katie, empowered by the tequila fuelled evening, confidently, yet drunkenly stumbles up to the front door of her family's old, rural home. A slight mist from the imposing lake, just a hundred yards from the house, floats across the ground. The sweeping fog partially hides ornamental, gnomes that line the pathway... her parents love the cheesiness of them, Katie less so... She comes to the end of the path and searches for her keys, somewhere in the bottom of her bag. Sliding to the ground, back against the door, emptying her handbag on the porch, she rummages through the mess. Suddenly, from the darkness, she hears, "Katie!", echoing in the distance. Looking out, she hears only the sound of crickets, insects and the occasional owl. The faint light from distant neighbours, interrupted by the peaceful waves of the low slung tree lines, is all she can see. Without warning, the door opens, startling her as she falls backwards. It's her dad, Bill. The kind of dad that only exists in films and TV... the perfect father, calm and collected, awash with forgiving and merciful traits. He's always there, in the right place at the right time, it seems.

"I was calling you, did you not hear?", he asks.

"Oh! Was that you? I was trying...I was looking for my keys or something", she drunkenly explains.

"Alright get inside, then. You've clearly had a good night", he replies with a smile.

Katie pools up her belongings in her hands, dumping them back in her bag as crudely as she spilled them out, as her dad returns into the house. As she stands back up she hears it again, almost like a whisper, closer than before, right next to her ear, "Katie!". Startled once more, she hurriedly enters the house and locks the heavy metal bolt on door behind her. It's takes her a few seconds, but she manages to regain her composure with a slow inhale and exhale of breath before heading down the hall, finding her dad making himself a midnight snack.

"Hey, I got a new job!", she slurs from the bottom of the staircase, adjacent to the breakfast bar.

"You did?", her dad excitedly replies. "So that was why you were out, celebrating! What is it?"

Struggling for words through her alcohol influenced speech, she tries to explain, "It's er... it's in digital market... ting. Marketing. But er... it's in California so... I'll be moving out I guess".

Her dad struggles to hide his mix of disappointment with excitement, he's unsure which side of the fence to sit on, excited for her opportunity but also, on a selfish level, disappointed to be watching her leave. He knew this day would arrive at some stage, and at 22, Katie's day was never far away, but still, in that moment, he felt like he was having something suddenly ripped away from him and it was a struggle to hide his emotion.

"Goodnight dad", she shouts as she slowly climbs the stairs. Her dad, still processing her revelation from the kitchen, looks at her as she goes, unable to summon a smile, "Goodnight hunny", he despondently replies.

Katie lies in bed. The moonlight glistens off of her face as her eyes twitch in deep sleep. Suddenly she wakes with a sharp intake of breath, a blank, emotionless expression rendered across her face. In one fluid robotic-like movement, she climbs to her feet and makes her way back down the pitch black hallway, descending the stairs toward the front door. Unbolting the large wooden exit, she slowly, but confidently opens the door and continues, barefoot, down the misty pathway, turning right toward the lake, sleepwalking. Standing at the bank, with only her pyjamas to keep her warm, the whispering, echoey sound, "Katie!", is heard once again, as if floating atop the still, foggy water. She begins to walk forward, dipping her toes into the cold mass, but as soon as the dark liquid touches her skin, she jerks backwards, waking from her trance. Immediately confused, she shudders with the cold, trying to make sense of where she is and why.

Jogging back into the home, she hurriedly closes the door, left wide open in her absence, waking her parents. The light turns on and her mum, Katherine and dad appear, both trying to adjust their eyes as they descend the stairs with caution, Katie's mum almost close enough to Bill to be clutching his arm with trepidation. As soon as they see Katie, her dad sighs with relief, holding his hand to his chest.

"For God's sake Katie, what are you doing?" he asks with urgency.

"Nothing dad, I'm sorry I woke you. Sorry mom"

Noticing the wet footprints left behind as she walks away from the door, her mom continues, "Where have you been? Why do you have wet feet?"

"I said I was sorry, I was just a bit hot is all and needed the fresh air, go back to bed", she replies. There was a sense of embarrassment inside her, as if her night of drinking was to blame for this unusual sleepwalk. She knows she's not done anything like that before, but doesn't want to admit it, for reasons only she knows.

Her parents buy it, she blasts past them both, scurrying up the stairs and back to her bedroom. Her parents are confused, but accept the excuse, looking at each other with semi angry expressions.

Katie lays back down in her bed, trying desperately to process the events of the evening. As she blinks a few times, the light in the room, noticeably dims even darker, the sound of the home changes as if the white noise has been muted. Her chest tightens and her mind sends a feeling of dread through her veins. A dripping noise fills the vacant void as Katie hurriedly scans the room, all the while holding on tight to her duvet. As she looks toward the floor, dark water begins to rise through the floorboards, and the walls begin to move like the ripples from a water splash. She lets out a scream to her parents but no sound comes with it. She can hear herself breathing, can feel the cold air filtering through her throat, but as if her voice box removed, she cannot speak or scream. As the temperature drops, her breath becomes visible with every exhale. Suddenly, as if camouflaged against the overwhelming darkness, a human like creature, turns to face Katie, its long dark, seemingly endless coat, hiding it from view. Long spindly fingers emerge from its sleeves as its face raises into view. With a skin tone of a dark grey, it's hard to make out any features, but the deep, dark eyes pierce through the low light, sending a sense of chill through Katie's body. She jumps to her feet atop her mattress, cowering in the corner, with only her bed sheet for protection. The water rises still, soddening the bed, as the creature holds out a long arm, extending its fingers as if to beacon her to join it. Even though neither Katie nor the creature appear to move, the hand appears to push ever closer. In that moment, as Katie stares into the creatures eyes, she feels a moment of calmness. The deep whisper that she'd heard previously the night before, reverberates, "Katie", forcing her into a trance. She holds out her hand, unable to resist the call. Suddenly, just as their fingers touch, the creature explodes into a mass of water, engulfing the room with Katie too. She's blasted backwards, her breath punched from her body as the water hits her. The force is such, that she is momentarily thrust into a state of solid confusion but as the sudden moment of violence calms, Katie finds the composure to open her eyes, finding herself floating deep under the surface, the walls and creature, nowhere to be seen. Only a thin strip of light, penetrates the environment, as she floats helplessly suspended. She isn't struggling for breath, though, in fact, she isn't breathing at all... just floating... consciously... silently... floating.