Dark Water

As a small child, I always wondered how I was able to feel the presence of evil things. People who were evil, and spirits that were evil. Nightmares I had at night, revealed the worst aspects of my soul. The things that terrified me the most always played out in my dreams.

One night, my nightmare was unlike any I had ever had before. It was as if all the dreams I had that were bad rolled into this one dream. The one that was meant to destroy me, mentally and physically. Only, it didn't feel like a nightmare when it started.

I closed my eyes, and then there I was sitting on a hill. It felt real, I pinched myself and I didn't wake up. The grass felt cool beneath my hands, my best friend at the time sat next to me. She was smiling and talking about school that day. We were still in Highschool, and playing hooky. I had a homework assignment that I forgot to do and didn't want to tell my teacher or not turn anything in. So, we ditched school and played at the park, and sat on a hill overlooking the city. Everything felt normal, nothing looked different. We talked and ate lunch, then went for a walk. As we walked a laked appeared in our view, it was dark and murky. I couldn't help but stare at it, there was something about it. My friend commented on it, and said: "Isn't it crazy this lake just formed here?" I was surprised she had said that because she was right. That park had never had a lake in it before, and it surprised me. "I've never seen this lake before, is there a reason it's black?" As soon as I said that, the world around me turned dark. Daytime had long passed, and I was alone. There was no one, just me by myself standing beside this lake. As I gazed into the dark flat water, I realized it did not have a reflection. There was no reflection on it anywhere, not from the moon or the stars. It was just flat and motionless, no ripples from the wind blowing across it. Then this fear envelopes my heart and a man appeared, I can only see his outline. There is nobody, just a black outline of this man. He doesn't speak, but I realize he doesn't have to. He's not there to help me, he's there to hurt me and I can feel his hatred for me. I turn around, and I see my friend in her Mom's old blue Lincoln. I jump into the passenger seat and beg her to drive away towards the light. As she begins to drive, she turns to me and says loudly "I think we need to go down!" "We need to go into the light, not the dark. Where are you taking me?!" I cry. She smiles an evil grin and presses hard on the gas. The tires squealing as the car jolts forward, and I realize she's heading towards the lake. I scream, but I don't hear myself scream. It was as if I couldn't scream, and I am frozen in place. I beg her "Please go into the light! We belong in the light!". She ignores me and continues into the lake. The man is still standing there, watching our every move. There is absolutely no splash, and the car sinks down into the murky depths of what looks like water. I gradually feel myself being pulled down into the depths. Hands are gripping my feet, and I'm being pulled down farther and farther. My friend sits in her seat and laughs this horrible evil laugh. The man is gone, the darkness of the water is gone. Then, I wake up. I realize where I am, and the first thing I notice is that my feet are dangling off the edge of the bed. Someone had been pulling me down, only I was home alone. There was no one to pull me down, at least not physically. All I can think is that man, the dark outline. It was always him, and only him and his dark water.