Lake House of Terror

Just seven days after tying the proverbial knot, Joyce Barrington and Paige Sanders were on the road, headed to a lake house that was owned by Joyce. Despite their love for each other, both women approached this move differently; for Joyce, she showed elation while being behind the wheel. For Paige, however, there was nothing but nerves--this was a huge step for such a young woman, and she knew it. Despite this, Paige was all in, as she not only truly loved Joyce, but she was truly grateful to Joyce for being at her side in her time of need.

Paige and Joyce actually met in college--Paige, then 20 at the time, was a student, while Joyce, who was 30 years her senior, was her history professor. What started as simply teacher and student ended up changing under tragic circumstances: both of Paige's parents tragically died. Joyce consoled Paige following her loss, and in the time that passed, both women found themselves attracted to each other, leading to a romantic relationship between the pair. Under Joyce's insistence, and in spite of Paige being of age, their relationship was kept under wraps, and it was during their celebration of Paige's 21st birthday that Joyce popped the question.

At that time, Paige had only been with Joyce for four months, but she didn't care; she was head over heels in love with Joyce. The couple became married a month later, and as the drive continued, Paige thought about their entire relationship, while looking forward to the many years of wedded bliss with Joyce, who interrupted Paige's train of thought with the following exclamation:

"We're here!"

The newlyweds arrived at the lake house, with Paige staring in awe and surprise over how lavish and large it was. Despite outward appearance, Paige continued to show expressions of trepidation and anxiety--expressions that were noticed by Joyce.

"What's wrong?" asked Joyce. "Don't you like it?"

"It looks nice," replied Paige. "It's just...I don't know."

"Paige," said Joyce, "it's OK. You can tell me."

"It looks creepy," said Paige, after which Joyce laughed in response to her wife's comment. Joyce took Paige by her hand and took her inside the house, and afterwards, Paige became even more awestruck at what the house had to offer: large living room and kitchen, a sizeable backyard with a great view of the lake, and in addition, Joyce mentioned their bedroom.

"If you think all of that is amazing," Joyce said with a sly smile, "the bedroom is large enough to do all of the of the fun things we could do together." Paige giggled in response, and it was followed by the couple kissing each other in a very romantic embrace. However, the embrace was interrupted when Paige appeared to see something, or someone, in the backyard.

"What's wrong, babe?" Joyce asked Paige, who later pointed outside the glassy back doors, only for Joyce to turn around and see nothing outside. "I don't see anything. You're just overcome with emotion; just give this house a chance. I promise you, you'll love it so much, you won't want to leave."

"I guess you're right," replied Paige, though she still believed that she had saw something, or someone, in the backyard. She had put her vision in the backburner and enjoyed her first day at the lake house with Joyce; however, later that evening, as the couple slept together in their bedroom, Paige was awakened by a strange noise that seemed to be coming from inside the house.

"Joyce?" said Paige. "Did you hear that?" Paige received no answer, as Joyce was sound asleep, leading to Paige rising up and heading down the hall. As Paige walked down the stairs, the noise became louder and louder, leaving Paige fearful to the point where she rushed into the kitchen and grabbed a knife for protection.

"Who's there?!" shouted Paige. "I'm warning you, I'm armed!" While continuing to carry the knife, Paige pinpointed the source of the noise: the back doors, which were covered with drapes. Paige walked toward the doors with great trepidation; worried about what, or who, may leap out at her. Instead, she saw...and heard...nothing, causing Paige to breathe a sigh of relief.

"What's wrong with me?" Paige asked herself as she closed the drapes, but as she was about to head back to bed, she was encountered by a mysterious brunette woman--dressed entirely in white--screaming at her. Paige shrieked and wielded her knife at the woman, only to suddenly black out afterwards.

"Paige?! Honey? Are you OK?"

Paige woke up in her bed and was elated to see Joyce standing over her, but was stunned to see that it was morning. "Joyce," said Paige, "how long have I been out?"

"Four hours," answered Joyce. "I heard screams and saw that you were gone and rushed down to check on you. What happened?"

"I saw her!" said Paige.

"Her?" asked Joyce. "Her, who?"

"The woman I saw before--when we moved in here!" said Paige.

"So now it's a woman?" asked Joyce.

"You've got to believe me...," Paige said before she started to wince in pain. She later noticed the cause of her pain: a cut on her left arm, which left Paige bewildered. "How did that get there?"

Joyce later presented a knife--the same knife that Paige had during her encounter with the mysterious woman, and there was blood shown on the bladed edge. "Sweetie," said Joyce, "do you recognize this?"

"I used that to fight against her!" answered Paige. "I had to have cut her."

"Honey, you cut yourself," said Joyce. Paige couldn't believe what her wife was saying, and her bewilderment quickly became anger. "I am telling you, I saw her!" screamed Paige, who was on the receiving end of a sympathetic hug from Joyce.

"It's OK, sweetie," said Joyce. "I'm here for you." Paige was left more confused than ever, and even as she and Joyce had breakfast later that morning, a myriad of emotions and questions entered her mind. What did she see that night? Did an actual brunette woman actually appear to her? And how did that cut on her left arm happen? Paige's train of thought was interrupted by Joyce telling her that she was heading out on errands, which gave Paige the chance to look into the events of the previous night.

Paige went on a relentless search all over the house, even seeing the house's size as a benefit to her quest. After searching every room, drawer, and closet, and finding nothing, Paige was set on giving up and even coming to terms that she may have been hallucinating all this time. Just as she was about to fathom the possibility that she was losing touch with reality, she spotted a locked door at the end of the hallway, which started to pique her interest.

"Why is this locked?" Paige asked, quickly realizing that the key was nowhere to be found. However, Paige's determination and past penchant for trouble wouldn't be denied; she managed to use a hair pin to pick the lock and enter this hidden room, which appeared to have hanging clothes and boxes. Paige's rummaging in the boxes was about to be futile as well, until finally:

"That's her!"

Paige found a photo of a young woman fitting the description of the woman she encountered that night. She also saw documents inside that revealed a name: Sara Baines, a college student who disappeared three years prior. To Paige's surprise, Sara's professor was none other than Joyce Barrington herself, and upon seeing her wife's name in the stories about Sara, Paige realized that Joyce had a lot to explain.

Joyce and Paige had finished dining together later that evening, a dinner that saw very little said between the spouses, but it was after dinner that Joyce decided to break the ice. "Is something wrong?" asked Joyce.

"I just have a lot of things on my mind," replied Paige. "But what about you? Is anything on your mind?"

"Why would you ask that?" asked Joyce, who was washing dishes.

"Just curious," answered Paige. "Say, honey...who's Sara Baines?" Joyce dropped one of the plates shortly after that question was asked, appearing to be alarmed by the very mention of that name. "Wasn't she a student of yours?"

"Yes," was all Joyce could say, as she was still in apparent shock over their current conversation. Paige was confused by Joyce's expressions and wondered what was troubling her, but before she could ask what was wrong, Joyce continued on. "She was a troubled young woman who believed she was in love with me. I tried to convince her otherwise, but she was relentless." Joyce later held Paige's hand and attempted to change the subject.

"Anyway, let's not talk about that."

"That's who I saw, isn't it?" asked Paige. "It's Sara. She's stalking you or haunting us or...something."

"Paige, I thought we talked about this," said Joyce.

"You talked," said Paige. "I know what I saw!" Paige left the living room upset over Joyce's denial, and hours later, Paige was woken up for the second straight night by loud noises, but this time, Paige made a beeline for the living room, as she had already sensed who was causing the commotion.

"Sara?!" Paige shouted, "I know it's you! Leave us alone!" Paige received no answer to her order and warning, but she continued to search for the woman who had been appearing at various moments to her. At that moment, she found herself facing the woman in white again, with Paige being overpowered before she finally fought back and pinned her down to the floor. It was at that moment that Joyce appeared and spotted Paige on top of her assailant, after which Joyce separated the pair.

"See?" said Paige. "I told you she was real! Show your face, Sara!" The woman removed her hood and revealed her face to the couple, though upon seeing her assailant's face, Paige gave a stunned expression.

"You're not Sara."

"Of course that's not Sara," said Joyce. "Sara's dead."

"How do you know that?" asked Paige.

"Because, sweetie," Joyce said with a smirk, as she took out a syringe and injected it into Paige, "I killed her myself."

Paige woke up a few minutes later tied to a chair inside a shed outside the lake house, and as her vision cleared, she spotted Joyce and the mysterious brunette...and they were kissing. "Honey, look who has finally woken up!" exclaimed Joyce, who stroked Paige's face. "My dear sweet Paige!"

"Don't touch me!" shouted Paige. "And who the hell is she?"

"Where are my manners?" said Joyce. "You haven't been properly introduced. Paige, this is Melissa Randall, a former student of mine...as well as my fiancee."

"Pleased to meet you," Melissa said with an arrogant smirk.

"Go to hell, bitch!" Paige shouted, only to be slapped hard by Joyce.

"You watch how you talk to her!" snarled Joyce. "Look at you. You're nothing more than a spoiled rich brat, just like Sara was. You have had a silver spoon in your mouth for your entire life. You know absolutely nothing about suffering and loss. I lost my best years teaching ungrateful brats like you!" As Paige glared at her villainous wife, Joyce continued her rant. "The only person I had anything in common with is Melissa. She had to work for everything, only to be passed over in favor of 'silver spoons' like Sara."

"Joyce and I bonded because of it," said Melissa. "But it wasn't enough. We both decided that we had to take matters into our own hands."

"What do you mean?" asked Paige.

"You think you're the only one I took to this house?" Joyce asked boastfully. "We targeted Sara, I 'fell in love' with her, married her, and once she made me her beneficiary...well...let's just say, accidents happen when you're taking a romantic stroll on a high cliff." Paige gave a disgusted frown in response to Joyce and Melissa's sadistic laughter over their murderous deed.

"It wasn't easy," said Melissa, "I mean, Sara's parents actually found out about her and Joyce, but she managed to separate them. When it came to you, however, we took care of that ourselves."

"What are you talking about?" asked Paige. Melissa gave an evil smile at Paige, before finally saying, "Joyce gave me your parents' address, and one sabotaged brake line later...problem solved." Paige couldn't believe what she had heard: her own wife and her lover had conspired to kill Paige's parents as part of their plan.

"How else could you understand suffering and loss, sweetie?" asked Joyce.

"Don't call me that," an angry Paige said. "You're nothing to me. You're a monster and so is this little bitch!" Joyce slapped Paige a second time, much to Melissa's extreme delight, and afterwards, Paige looked up at Joyce and simply asked, "Why me?"

"Well, we have to pay for the wedding," Joyce replied. "And I figured that you would be nice enough to do just that for us, seeing as how you made me your beneficiary. Consider it your first and last actual unselfish act in your privileged life." At that moment, all three women heard a strange ruffling from outside, which drew alarm from both Joyce and Melissa. Under Joyce's orders, Melissa went out to check their surroundings, all the while unaware that Paige was slowly breaking free from her capture. Melissa went to the back of the shed and searched, seeing nothing before turning around and appearing to see someone familiar to her.

"What are you doing here?"

Melissa ended up knocked out by her pursuer, with Joyce turning around and hearing the strike from inside the shed. The distraction allowed Paige to break free and tackle Joyce before escaping, and once she ran out, she ran into a middle aged woman who was holding a shovel. "Wait!" the woman said as Joyce was about to attack her. "I'm on your side! I'm the one who knocked out Joyce's accomplice."

"How do you know Joyce?" asked Paige.

"My name is Margaret Baines," the woman replied, after which Paige gave a quick breath of relief.

"You're Sara's mother," said Paige.

"Joyce did something to my daughter, I just knew it," said Margaret. "I couldn't prove anything at the time. I lost my husband after Sara's disappearance, and I had been tracking Joyce to this point. She has to be stopped." Margaret and Paige were interrupted by the sound of evil laughter coming from Joyce, who later held Paige hostage.

"You move one step," warned Joyce, "and I'll snap her neck. At least you'll get to see what happens to her. You never did get that with Sara, did you?"

"I know you killed my daughter," said Margaret. "And the police will know, too; I called them before I arrived." Joyce continued to cackle in response to Margaret's statement, but the sound of police sirens closing in caused the villainess to panic. The sound distracted Joyce to the point where Paige broke free of her wicked wife's stranglehold, and it was followed by Margaret putting down the shovel and delivering a right hook to Joyce.

"That's for Sara. You deserve a lot worse."

Officers arrived at the scene, and after Margaret and Paige gave their stories, both Joyce and Melissa were under arrest. For Margaret, the arrests ended a long and tortuous nightmare, and for Paige, she was rescued from certain death. The two women had a common bond from that point on, and another thing they shared in common was their desire to be as far away from the lake house as humanly possible.

This is the longest fiction piece I've written, so I appreciate you for reading this all the way through! If you like it, click the heart, and if you love it, tips are welcome, but only if you want to do so!