Mystery of Moon Lake- Chapter One- Part One.

Copyright © 2021 by Nicola Marie Rattley.

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Prologue.

The pale blue eyes leered at her, goose flesh rising on her skin as she stood frozen in place as she could not tear her own cognac brown eyes away.

They were demanding eyes, accusing eyes, as if she knew what she had done.

The room was bare, grey concrete walls that held too many shadows, gravel that crunched under every step, and it felt as if you were not alone.

It was enough to give anyone the creeps, to make them run back out into the sun.

But still she could not move, as if the presence would not allow her to do so.

As if it were keeping her here to punish her, forcing her to look upon what she had done, what she had caused.

To feel the guilt, the dread and the terror.

"It should be you!"

Chapter One.

Lucy awoke screaming, wailing in fact as she bolted upright in bed, sweat pouring off her like a wave of water.

She frantically fumbled for her bedside lamp, trying to light up the room as quickly as humanly possible.

Panting in fear she nervously scanned the room over as soon as she got the light on, terrified something was coming out of the shadows for her.

Her heart felt like it was being crushed, as though someone had it in their hand and was slowly squeezing it, draining what little breath she had from her lungs.

Eyes still wide and terrified Lucy scrambled out of bed, stumbling to the bathroom, grabbing onto the wall for support.

She didn't even bother to take off her clothing, turning on the shower she climbed inside and basically collapsed to the floor, sliding down the wall.

She couldn't care less that the temperature of the water was cold, she just put her head between her knees and took deep breaths.

This wasn't her first panic attack, and she knew it wouldn't be her last.

Tomorrow was her first day of going back to work, she had already taken 6 months off and the closer the day drew near the more frequent the attacks came.

But she couldn't stay home and hide for the rest of her life, not that that had been working anyway, the nightmares followed her wherever she ran.

The only thing she could do was get back to work and try to redeem herself, to make up for what she had done, if that were even at all possible.

Her hazelnut mocha brown hair clung to her cheeks, it was a bob with choppy ends, only she didn't know if it was because of the sweat that had been dripping off her or if by now it was the water.

Leaning back she allowed her face under the running water, attempting to let it wash everything away.

The memories of what had occurred, the fear, and the guilt.

Standing back on her wobbly legs Lucy turned off the water, still gripping the tiles to hold herself up.

Her eyes closed as she shuddered, her breath still uneven but better than it had been just moments before.

Climbing out of the shower she reached out and grabbed the towel she always kept on the rack, wrapping it around her small frame.

She hadn't been eating much lately and had become way too thin, her skin paler than normal and she looked sickly.

She knew this would be questioned when she got into work this morning, but she couldn't be bothered dealing with it, she had more important matters to deal with, like making up for her crime.

Entering her bedroom, she looked at the clock on the bedside table, 4am, the sun hadn't even begun to rise yet, and she wouldn't need to be at work for another 3 hours.

Slumping over to her walk-in wardrobe she opened it up, eyeing off all her outfits, all of which didn't appeal to her anymore, unlike when she had bought them many months before.

Ever since that fateful day Lucy's personality had changed, she became less and less social, more closed in and suspicious of everyone.

Her mother had called her paranoid and so Lucy hadn't spoken to her since, even with all her mother's attempts.

The voice messages, coming to the house at all hours, all of which Lucy never answered and she was suddenly glad she never ended up giving her mother a key to her new place.

She'd only just moved in when everything happened, it was supposed to be a fresh start, a happy beginning to her new life and then all happiness was sucked out of her.

Grabbing the first thing she reached out for she didn't even bother to check the style, throwing it onto the bed she bent down and grabbed her shoes.

Stylish black high heel boots with little studs around the ankle, they hadn't exactly been recommended for her line of work, but she had still bought them, the better she was dressed the better she seemed to function and work.

Of course that had been then, however she still hoped that that somehow might be the case again, although she seriously doubted it, you couldn't just put on nice clothes and have everything magically clear up, if only.

Slowly she pulled on her outfit, tight black trouser pants with an asymmetric hem royal blue chiffon blouse, simple but stylish and comfortable.

Slipping on her shoes she looked up from the bed for a moment where she had sat down, gasping when she saw her.

Slipping Lucy fell onto the floor, grasping her chest as her breath caught in her throat, ignoring the throbbing pain of landing on her bum, she scrambled backwards, trying to escape, to get as far away from the girl as possible.

From those daunting pale eyes that seem to follow her around everywhere she goes, from the blue lips that always whisper-shout the words 'it should be you' and the bodily scars that still bead bright red with blood.

Closing her eyes, a whimper escaped her lips, attempting to count backwards from 10, taking deep and slow breaths as she did.

Reopening her eyes, the girl was gone, that routine always seemed to do the trick but seeing her still left Lucy no less rattled.

Whenever Lucy starts to think that maybe her life could get back to normal she reappears, reminding Lucy that she is still holding her on trial in her own way for what she had done to her.

Gulping down the lump in her throat, Lucy shook her head, trying to get a grasp on reality.

"There is no such things as ghosts, there is no such thing as ghosts" she repeated to herself quietly but her voice still trembled from fear, the disbelief of her own words etched all over her face.

Suckling in a deep breath Lucy slowly got to her feet, clutching the blankets of the bed to help pull herself up.

"Everything is fine, its just a normal day at work, that's all, nothing bad is going to happen" Lucy said as she walked out of her bedroom and into the dimly lit hallway.

The house felt cold, and empty, like it wasn't even lived it.

Granted she hadn't lived there long and she had very little furniture but it still never truly felt like home to Lucy.

Something was missing but she couldn't figure out what, she just chalked it up to missing her parents and the house she had grew up in.

The kitchen was fancy, marble benches that only had a bowl of fruit sitting atop of it, a silver double door fridge that only held juice and bottled water.

The cupboards were polished wood with only a couple packets of noodles inside.

She hadn't been shopping in ages, in fact she'd barely left the house, although to be truthful, Lucy couldn't remember the last time she'd left the house.

Grabbing a banana she sat down on the wooden stool at the bench, slowly peeling it back before taking a small bite.

She barely had an appetite, rarely did she anymore but she knew if she didn't eat anything then she'd be sluggish all day and that would only beg more questions from the people around her.

She already dreaded the questions that she knew were to come, she didn't want to add to them.

Finishing the banana she threw the peel into the bin after climbing off the stool.

It was at the front door where she froze, she had just grabbed her black leather handbag off the rack and was reaching for the door handle when she stopped dead in her tracks.

'What if I can't do this?' 'What if I fail like last time?' 'What can I do?' All these questions went rushing through her mind all at once and her breath quickened.

Squeezing her eyes tightly closed she began to once again count down from 10, she hadn't even left the house yet and already today she had had nearly 3 panic attacks.

She knew that she should seek professional help but she feared they would think her crazy and would lock her away.

She couldn't face that, that would all just be too much and as much as it scared her, she had work to do, to make up for what she had done.

This Story Will Continue in Chapter One- Part Two.