Suicide Lake

Like most days in Golingbrook it was rainy, damp and foggy. I have felt the same coldness seep into my bones almost every single day since my family moved here 3 years ago. I hate it here, I despise this depressing weather. My friends seem to hate it as well, but at least we have each other.

I used to live in Seattle, and loved watching the water at the coast. I love water, how it moves and the sounds of it. I love how cool it feels on a hot summer's day. Arguably the worst part of this town is that the lake is gated off because of some silly superstition. The people in this town really believe in the old wives tale called ‘suicide lake’. I genuinely believe the depressing, gloomy weather has made everyone go insane. Too much cable and not enough time outside. A lack of vitamin D is the source as far as I’m concerned. The tale tells a scary story about how anybody who comes within 10 feet of the lake becomes suddenly overwhelmed by suicidal thoughts, and that nobody has survived. So our town's solution was to fence off the lake. A few people drowned and due to the nature of the stories they felt it best to fence it off. Though I’m pretty convinced they probably just fell through the ice, or were genuinely suicidal long before their visit to the lake.

Halloween is next week, and well the only upside to this depressing town is that Halloweeen feels all the more creepy and fun, which I love. Halloween is my favorite time of year. And this year is no exception, especially with my plans for devil’s night. James, Ken, Quinn and I have been planning to cut a hole in the fence and visit the lake on devil’s night. We figure everyone will be so busy that they won’t notice we are gone.

Today however I need to go buy bolt cutters and night vision goggles. Ken and I work part time at the grocery store and we’ve been saving for months for this. School feels so incredibly slow today, so I’m writing this in a note on my laptop. I usually do this after school, but today I guess I’m just too excited. I get to finally smell water again, reminding me of Seattle.

A few hours later…

It’s 7 pm now, and I’m writing this out now. Tomorrow is the big day. After school Ken and I made our way to the hardware store and a science store to buy what we needed. 87$ later and we have bolt cutters, night vision goggles and some candy.

So here’s the plan, after dinner tomorrow we are going to sneak out through the woods to the back end of the lake where we won’t be seen or heard. Quinn’s the strongest so he’s gonna cut the fence. Once we get inside we’ll put on our goggles and trek towards the lake. We will sit on the dock, eat some candy and tell scary stories, all before we leave to get back home before 11pm curfew. I’ll update this entry after it’s over. This is a two part special, so in true TV nature- TO BE CONTINUED.

Midnight the following night…

I’m not even sure where to begin. I’m shaking as I write this. I’m also writing it from a police station. Tonight I learned to never underestimate superstition. So from the top I guess….

After dinner I met up with my friends outside the coffee shop, and we bought some hot chocolate for the adventure we were about to go on. We drank our hot cocoa as we bagan walking around the fence to where I had tied a shoelace to mark our entry spot. Nobody had seen us leave, and we were finally gonna get to see the lake live and in stereo. It started to rain in true Golingbrook fashion but we kept on going. Rain wasn’t going to get in the way. This was a rain or shine kind of deal. We walked for what felt like forever until we found the shoelace. Ken pulled out the bolt cutters, then turned around and asked if we were really going to do this. Of course we all yelled at him, of course we are. We will see the lake, smell it and feel it. This isn’t a question, not to mention we spent actual money to do this.

Ken began snapping apart the fence. It didn’t take long to cut through before we had a hole big enough to fit through. Once we got through we all suited up with our goggles and starting creeping slowly closer to the lake. Eventually we made it and carefully stepped onto the dock. I finally felt at home, though I really had to pee, so I walked away over to the bushes and took a quick wee.

When I got back my friends had broken into the candy, so I dove right in and started chowing down the kit kats. We started talking, we laughed and enjoyed the way the fog danced over the water. It reminded me of cool mornings in Seattle.

Quinn hopped up and said he had to go pee, he seemed nervous but pursued his path anyway. After a few minutes had gone by I decided if he wasn’t back in a few minutes then I would go look for him.

After about 10 minutes I got up and grabbed my pocket knife from my bag, just in case I might need it. We all had pocket knives, just in case. I mean it’s not like we knew what to expect on the other side of the fence. I told Ken and James I would be back shortly. I walked maybe a hundred yards into the bush and started hearing weird noises. I yelled out telling Quinn to stop screwing around. The noises seemed like they were all around me, so as I walked I kept looking around. A few moments had passed before I was face first in the mud. I tripped on something which I had thought was a log or stick or something. It knocked my goggles off, so I reached around for them on the ground, and that’s when I felt a hand. I carefully got up and found my goggles. Now I wish I hadn't found them because what I saw, I will never unsee. Quinn was lying lifelessly on the ground, a pocket knife in one hand, and his blood draining out of him. His neck was gushing blood, as were his wrists. I screamed and ran back towards my other friends. Yeah, I screamed like a scared little girl. I knew I had to call for help, and James had a phone. So logically I yelled for James. Finally I could see the light glistening off the water and approached the dock, but only Ken was there. He was crying. I asked what had happened and kept yelling for James. Ken could barely speak but he was able to point to the water, and when I looked in that direction I saw something floating in the water, shaped similarly to a human. Ken muttered that James had jumped in after slicing his wrists. Ken pointed to the bloody knife laying near the edge of the dock. In complete shock I wrestled with James’ bag to find his phone. I could barely move. I thought maybe I was having a nightmare. But when I finally had the phone in my hand I looked over to Ken. He had a blank look and the tears stopped streaming. He uttered the words ‘Tell my mom I loved her and that I’m sorry’. He was tying the bolt cutters to his leg, and then tying rocks to that. When he was done, he grabbed a rock and smashed it into his head repeatedly. He was standing by the edge of the dock and eventually blood started running down the front of his head. He was emotionless, and I couldn’t even move. I was frozen in time as he fell into the water and slowly sank.

I picked the phone up to my ear and tried to call 911, but no such luck, because it died before I could even press dial.

I got up and bolted to the hole in the fence and back to town to get help. I ran into the coffee shop and completely lost it. I broke down as I fought the words out of my mouth. I remember the woman behind the counter dialing 911 and explaining that something bad had happened and they needed to come right now.

That happened about 6 hours ago, I don’t know how they retrieved the bodies. I don’t know what happened. All I know is that clearly superstition can be real.

The question with no answers is what power the lake has over people, is it a chemical or something? Is it really haunted?

I don’t think I will ever have an answer. I don’t think I will ever be the same as I was before. I miss Seattle, this would never have happened in Seattle. I have spent hours in this station giving a statement to police detailing the events of devil’s night.

They plan to admit me to a local hospital just in case I decide to kill myself too.

It’s after midnight now and no longer devil’s night, but I doubt this town will ever escape the devil called suicide lake. The death toll caused by this lake is now 14. Somehow the lake is indeed causing people to spontaneously commit suicide. I really want to know how. But the more I think about it, the only question that matters now has nothing to do with my friends, and everything to do with me.

Why did the lake only affect them, and not me?