The Curse of Swan Lake

September, 30, 1555

I write this entry with a dark, malevolent heart. I pray for sanguinity as I go forth with this endeavor to rid our village of the evildoing and immorality that has descended upon us.

Anna Freely has been living amongst us now for twenty years. I have long suspected that she is a witch - even when she was just a child there was something peculiar and strange about her.

When the plague overtook our village, she remained untouched and unblemished by the torment and affliction in which we all suffered. As we buried the dead and laid their anguished souls to rest, Anna lured the innocent and the foolish into her cabin with the promise of a cure.

As she was gathering water from the lake this morning I took it upon myself to search her dwelling. I have found evidence of her conjuring and witchery.

Her black magic was no cure for the death and destruction that was upon us, but in fact a guise to ensnare us into accepting her wicked ways. I however was not beguiled by her trickery.

Tonight, Anna Freely will meet her fate. Together we "the citizens of Arkala" will send her iniquity and sin back into the depths of Hell from which she came. Death by fire, it is the only way to kill a witch. - Have mercy on our souls.

October, 1, 1555

What have we done?!

I fear that we have unleashed an evil so dreadful and dire that Hell itself refuses to accept it back.

As night befell upon the village myself and the other menfolk marched upon Anna Freely and sentenced her to death by fire - by reason of witchcraft. She put up no struggle as we dragged her wretched body to the center of Arkala and bound her to the execution tree. She made not a sound as the flames engulfed her soul, it was as if she welcomed her demise.

As the first light of dawn entered the village we discovered Anna's charred and scorched body still clinging to life. As impossible and inconceivable as it is, she survived! I watched with my own eyes as she burned into the late hours of the night - yet she lives.

We opted to send her soul to the bottom of Swan Lake. Bound with irons she was affixed to the heaviest boulder on the bottom of the lake. I watch in fearfulness as air bubbles continue rising to the surface of the foggy water. - Anna Freely will not die!

October, 2, 1555

As the leader of Arkala, I summoned our very best swimmers to the bottom of Swan Lake. I must protect this village at all costs - Anna Freely must remain bound to the bottom of the lake. Four men entered the lake but only one has returned. He is horror-struck and hysterical, only speaking unintelligible gibberish since his ascend from the lake.

The surface of Swan Lake grows more cloudy and murky by the moment. I have also received word that the beautiful swans from which the lake was named have all been found lifeless along the banks. My heart weeps in sorrow and in fear.

I must keep the villagers away from the lake. What was once a peaceful place of rest and blissfulness for my people has been tainted with an evil that I am unable to rationalize. I fear that in time it will consume us all.

October, 3, 1555

This morning I was aroused by the sounds of roars and bellows throughout the village - all of the children have gone missing. One by one they were lured into the lake. Swan Lake smells of rancid death - all of the fish have perished - buzzards and dark clouds swirl above our heads.

At the bottom of Swan Lake, Anna Freely lives, unbruised and undamaged by her castigating execution - even more beautiful and flawless in death as she was in life. Her curse is upon us. A dark evil now resonates all around us.

I grow debilitated and languid as I write these words. Arkala will not survive this curse. If you find these notes - I implore you to keep Anna Freely bound beneath Swan Lake. Remove yourself from this place and never return. Take not a second glance behind you - forget that it ever existed.

-Have mercy on Arkala

Present Day 2021

Leena and Trevor had been hiking through the deep mountains for hours. As they came upon a beautiful lake, surrounded by colorful autumn trees, they decided that this was the perfect place to make their camp.

"I can't find this place on the map anywhere." Lenna twisted her face in confusion as she searched the rumpled, damp map.

Later in the afternoon, after the tent was set up and a warm camp fire had been built Leena dipped her toes into the unusually warm lake as Trevor tried desperately to catch a fish. "I swear, it's almost like there isn't a single fish in this whole lake!" he griped as he continuously tossed the line into the water.

Leena giggled as she playfully wiggled her toes in the mysterious, dense plumes of tiny bubbles rising up in the water.

"Leena, do you smell that? - "Uhh, what is that hideous odor?" Trevor bleated as he backed away from the water in disgust.

Leena's horrified scream reverberates across the water.