The Lady of Dark Lake

by Raven Snow

  Lady started to object. “I’m not going to-”

  “I know you’re leaving soon,” Crispin interrupted. “But I thought you might want to take a book home with you just for tonight.”

  Lady wasn’t sure she liked how Crispin had said that. It had sounded like he didn’t really believe her. She hated that about this place. It was like no one believed her when she told them she was leaving soon. “I appreciate the thought, but I might not be able to bring it back in time. Plus, Otsuya might get it, so—”

  “Mention it to my aunt. She’ll make sure it gets back to me.” Crispin held out the library card.

  Lady supposed she didn’t have a reason not to take it. The card itself was sort of weird. It had her first name and beneath that, what must have been Ms. Poole’s address. It didn’t really seem like a legit card, but Crispin was in charge at the library and he was the one that had given it to her. Besides, it wasn’t like she was going to have to deal with checking a book out ever again. “Thanks, I guess. Um, I’m going to go put up those books real quick, then I’ll be out of your hair.”

  “That’s all right.” Crispin stood. “I’ll put them back where they belong. A couple of them haven’t been taken down in a while. I’m sure they could use a little maintenance.”

  That was a relief. Lady wasn’t sure she could have gotten all those books back up onto their shelf without dropping anything. Two had been heavy enough.

  Crispin picked up a large book, even thicker than the ones he had pulled down previously. Lady stared at it, forgetting for a moment that he expected her to take it from him. “It’s some of our town history,” he explained. “I thought you might find it interesting.”

  “Ah.” Lady took it from him. The book was as heavy as it looked, a burden but one that fit into her tote bag and only sort of killed her shoulder. It was like being in high school all over again. “Well, I definitely won’t have time to read it all, but thanks.”

  “It’s an interesting enough book to just flip through.” Crispin offered Lady one last smile. “Well, I hope we see each other again. If not, it was nice meeting you.”

  He extended his hand and Lady took it. “Same,” she said. She meant it too. “Keep up the good work with the library. I’ve never seen anything like it.”

  Crispin stood up a little straighter, like she’d touched on a point of pride for him. “I’ll keep doing my best,” he swore.

  With a final wave, Lady headed for the entrance. Enough wasting time on looking up mythological creatures. It was time to go to the police.

  Chapter Six

  There wasn’t anyone outside of the library. Lady stood where she was and scanned her surroundings. “Otsuya?” No answer. “Otsuya?” She raised her voice that time. Still no answer. Had she gone back to the inn without her? It wasn’t nearly six yet. Maybe she had just gotten bored waiting. Lady was about to go check closer to the road when she heard something. It sounded like rustling, someone shifting their weight in foliage. It was somewhat distant. Lady went to one side of the library and looked down the side of it. There was a brick wall that encircled the library, but no one was standing on the side of it that Lady could see. She checked the other side of the Library. No one was there either. She still heard the sound, though. Whoever it was might be behind the building.

  Lady felt her heart speed up a little, but she managed to get her anxiety under control. How many murders did you hear about happening in the middle of the day at a library? She headed down the side of the church and toward the backside of it. She walked fast, eager to get all of this over with. Maybe it would be for the best if it wasn’t Otsuya. Without Otsuya around, talking to the police would be easier. She didn’t need Otsuya by her side insisting that a kelpie did it.

  The library had a large backyard. There was a gate in the farthest part that led into dark, thick looking woods. Luckily (or unluckily) that wasn’t where the sound was coming from. The sound was coming from a man with a can of spray paint in hand. He was standing back and observing his work, foot tapping and head nodding to whatever music was coming through his earbuds. He was a big guy with a thick beard. Messy chestnut curls sat atop an undercut. He wore black jeans, black boots, a plaid shirt over a wife beater that had seen better days; punk, hipster, Viking were all words that came to mind. It wasn’t how he looked that made her nervous; it was the fact that his spray can was white and on the back of the church there was now painted a large, stylized eye.

  So this was the guy who had been tagging eyes all over town. Was it just him? Was the eye his own personal signature or was he part of some gang? Lady didn’t intend to hang around long enough to ask him. She took a few slow steps back, hoping to get to the side of the church without attracting his attention. She had no such luck.

  The punk Viking had turned. His brow furrowed as he popped one of his earbuds out. “Hey.” It wasn’t a greeting. It was more accusatory, like he wasn’t the one vandalizing a library, like Lady was the one who needed to stop and explain herself.

  It felt stupid to turn and run. There was still a great distance between herself and Punk Viking, Lady decided. She could always go running for help. Crispin wasn’t far, and she was pretty sure she could run faster than this guy, especially if she dropped her heavy as freaking sin tote bag. Geez did her shoulder hate her already.

  “What are you doing?” asked Punk Viking.

  “Watching you vandalize a library,” Lady replied, sounding cooler than she felt. She was good at putting up a brave front. Besides, she didn’t like the tone this guy was taking with her.

  “I have permission.” That was doubtful. Punk Viking turned back to his work. Apparently, he wasn’t quite done yet.

  “I’m going to go say something.” That sounded like such a lame threat. Why threaten him at all? Why not go get Crispin, call the cops, and be done with it? The most probable answer was because she didn’t like to be so flippantly ignored and he was doing an excellent job of being flippant with her.

  “Go ahead.”

  Lady took a few steps closer. “Stop that. Do you know how old this place is?”

  “I probably know better than you.” Punk Viking spared Lady another glance and then another. The second one was more than a glance. It was dawning recognition. “You’re that girl who nearly drowned.”

  “What?” Lady stared back at him. “How do you—I mean, it isn’t really any of your business—”

  “I helped pull you out.”

  “Oh.” Lady could feel the heat radiating off her face. This had to be the man Andrea had mentioned. She was yelling at him, and he had saved her life. “Thanks, I guess.”

  Punk Viking laughed, the sound clipped and sardonic. “You guess.”

  “So, you’re Destiny’s boyfriend?”

  That actually got a rise out of Punk Viking. “Who told you that? No. Absolutely not. We had a thing once, but that was a long time ago. We’re just… friends.”

  The way he paused before saying the word friends made her curious, but she didn’t press. She had no reason to. “I’m Lady.” Because she felt like she owed it to him, she held out a hand.

  “I know.” He regarded her hand for a few awkward seconds before taking it and pumping it once. “I’m Dom.”

  “Dom?” Lady repeated. She was sure she was smirking and didn’t care enough to hide it. Dom was such a try-hard name, and this guy needed his brood persona taken down a peg.

  “It’s short for Dominicus.”

  “Oh, wow, ouch. Fair enough, I guess. Dom it is.” Lady tried for a smile, but Dom showed no interest in returning it. “So why are you defacing the library?”

  “Crispin knows about it.”

  It was at the back of the library. As overgrown as everything was, Lady supposed it didn’t much matter. She changed the subject. “Hey, this might be a stupid question—”

  “Then don’t ask it.”

  Lady took a deep breath and started over. “This might be a stupid question, but did you see or hear anyt
hing when you helped get me out of the water?”

  “Hear anything?”

  “Like someone yelling for help or someone else drowning. Destiny was the one who jumped in first. She heard it too.”

  Dom looked out into the distance like he was considering Lady’s words. “I couldn’t really hear anything over the storm. Could have been the wind. It makes some crazy sounds when the weather picks up like it did. Why? Did you see something while you were out there?”

  For a second, Lady considered relaying again what she had seen. “I don’t know,” she said instead. That was closer to the truth. “Hey, have you seen another woman around? Jeans, blue shirt, Japanese I think?”

  “If it’s Otsuya, she’s probably in the library.”

  Lady was surprised to hear that he knew her. Then again, this was a small town. Lots of people knew each other in small towns. “I just came from the library. She’s not there.”

  “Then I don’t know where she is. I haven’t seen her today.” Dom wasn’t looking at Lady anymore. It was like he was done with the conversation. As if to prove as much, he put his earbud back in and resumed spray-painting. Lady clapped a hand over her mouth, choking on the fumes as she backed away. So much for finding Otsuya. She would check back in on her when she returned to the inn. For the time being, she had something else to do.

  ***

  Lady pulled up directions to the police station on her phone. The directions said it was twenty minutes away on foot. That wasn’t awful, but it was further than she wanted to go with her heavy tote bag on her shoulder. She trudged along anyway. It wasn’t raining at least, though honestly she could have done with a light, cool mist. As it was, she could feel sweat beading unpleasantly on just about every part of her body.

  Dark Lake was quaint. Lady wasn’t sure there was another word for it. Without the buckets that marked her as someone who worked for Ms. Poole, people smiled and waved when she made eye contact. It made Lady uncomfortable at first, but she quickly got used to it. She even caught herself waving back a few times. These people didn’t know her, but they wanted to be warm toward her anyway. It was refreshing, though Lady had to wonder what it said about Ms. Poole. At the very least it meant that the people of Dark Lake were as superstitious as they were friendly.

  The police station was small, located on a corner between a deli and a bakery. Lady had second thoughts as she opened the front door, but she pushed them down. Better to just get things over and done with. She stepped inside.

  The police station might as well have once been an accounting office. The waiting area was the kind of cold white tile you found in public buildings. There were magazines and plastic bucket seats in rows. No one was actually waiting in said waiting room. The woman at reception was quick to motion Lady over.

  “May I help you?” The receptionist had some gray in her dark brown hair. All of it had been twisted up in a bun that really showcased her delicate bone structure. It made her look refined and mature. She was intimidating both like and unlike Ms. Poole. Ms. Poole lacked the sheer elegance this woman had. “Shannon” read a nameplate on the desk. She smiled. “Don’t be nervous, dear.”

  Lady realized she had been staring at the woman for the last few moments. She was having those second thoughts again. What if she was wasting everyone’s time?

  “Say what’s on your mind,” Shannon urged. “I’ll take things from there.”

  Lady nodded. She might as well spit it out. “I was at the lake yesterday, and… Well, I really don’t know if it’s anything. It could totally just be my imagination, but I was wondering if there are any people who were reported missing today? I thought I saw someone drowning. I tried to help them, but… There was the storm, and…” Lady trailed off.

  “My goodness.” Shannon’s brown eyes widened. “You poor thing. That really was quite the storm yesterday. That must have been terrifying. Are you all right? Was anyone else there?”

  That was the part Lady still didn’t know how to answer. “It happened at the marina, so other people were there. I’m not sure if they heard or saw anything. One girl jumped in before me. She and another guy saved me. They say it was just the wind, but—”

  Shannon held up a hand to silence Lady, which was extraordinarily embarrassing. She hadn’t realized how fast she had started talking. “I’m glad you came to us. You should definitely make a statement, at the very least.” Shannon picked up the corded phone on her table and pressed a button. She offered Lady another smile as she waited. Lady smiled back, still feeling super awkward. It felt like ages, but someone finally answered Shannon. “Ah, there you are. I have a young lady up here who would like to make a statement about something that happened to her yesterday at the marina.” She paused, still all smiles. “I don’t know. That’s your job. Why don’t you ask her yourself, Dear?”

  Lady could feel that awkwardness coming on again. She rocked back and forth from heels to toes. “I can come back later,” she lied.

  “Don’t be ridiculous.” Shannon hung up the phone. “He’ll be here in a moment.”

  He turned out to be a large man at least a head and a half taller than Lady. There were bags under his eyes and he’d missed fastening a button on his white button-down shirt. “I’m Detective Conners. Are you the girl who wants to make a statement?” It was all said in a practiced and monotone manner, like he just wanted it over and done with.

  Lady couldn’t judge him too harshly on that front considering she wanted to be done with the whole mess herself. “That’s me.”

  “Come on.” Conners led the way past reception and into the heart of the police station. It looked as small from the inside as it had from the outside. She only spotted one other person working as she walked, a guy keeping his head down and doing paperwork at his desk. “I’m in here.” Conners opened an office door. It might have been a janitor’s closet once. Lady would have believed that. The space was cramped and the walls were thin. There was room for a desk, two chairs, and not a whole lot else. Conners had to turn to one side to shuffle around to his side of the desk.

  Despite the frown and dour expression, Lady decided Conners wasn’t bad looking. He’d be a lot easier on the eyes if he trimmed that shaggy hair of his and shaved off his stubble… Or was the unkempt, grim detective thing part of the charm? She wasn’t sure. “I didn’t expect to be talking to a detective.” Lady took a seat and tried to break the ice while he got himself situated.

  “Normally you wouldn’t be. Anywhere else you wouldn’t be.” He sounded like someone fed up with their job. “But that’s not your fault. You don’t look like you live here.”

  “I don’t.”

  “Good. Never live here.” Conners slid a form across to Lady. “Tell me what happened, and then you can fill that out.”

  “Um.” Lady looked down at the paper. She wasn’t sure where to start. The truth sounded crazy and the more realistic possibility didn’t feel like anything worth writing a police report over.

  “Take your time,” said Conners. He might have been trying to sound supportive, but it came out as rather insincere. “What’s your name?”

  “Lady.” She wasn’t sure why, but her anxiety got worse after that. Was Conners glaring at her? What reason did he have to glare at her?

  “And what happened?” Conners sounded impatient. That had escalated quickly. Suddenly, it was like she was either wasting his time on purpose or a potential suspect.

  “I was out at the marina the other day, and I thought I saw someone drowning. I thought I heard them too.”

  “Okay.” Conners picked up his pen and placed the tip on his notebook. “And why didn’t you report this yesterday?”

  Telling the truth meant potentially getting a bunch of people into trouble. They should have taken her to the hospital, but it had all turned out all right in the end. It wasn’t in her nature to snitch and burn bridges even when she probably should. “I nearly drowned. I was pretty out of it when they pulled me out. I had imagined seeing and heari
ng someone, but the more I think about it… I don’t know. I’m not staying in town much longer, so I thought I should mention something just in case. It probably wasn’t anything, but it would have haunted me, so—whatever.” Lady couldn’t imagine much worse than having someone you know go missing.

  “You shouldn’t have jumped in,” said Conners. He had jotted down only a line or two. Now he was capping and uncapping his pen with one hand. “Was this during the storm?”

  “It started up about that time and got worse once we were out there.”

  “We?”

  Oops. Well, that made the decision of whether or not to mention Destiny’s part in all this easier, at least. “Another person jumped in first. I went out too because I have experience as a swimmer.”

  “What kind of experience?”

  Lady’s mouth felt dry. “Grade school.”

  “Jumping in was stupid.”

  “Noted.”

  “Never jump in and try to save someone yourself. Call for help and either find something long to offer to them or—”

  “I said noted.” Lady cut him off there. She hadn’t come to the police station to be lectured. “It’s not like I could offer him a pole or a rope or a life jacket or whatever. I knew it was dangerous, but someone had already jumped in. I wasn’t sure if she knew how dangerous it was. I didn’t want two people drowning.”

  “And yet you were the one who almost drowned.”

  “Yeah… well…” Lady slouched back in her seat and crossed her arms over her chest. “I guess.”

  The corner of Conners’ mouth rose. The first smile Lady had seen from him and it was at her expense. “And this other woman. Why didn’t she report what she had seen?”

  “It was her and another guy who helped me out of the water. That’s what I heard after the fact anyway. Apparently, they figured it was just the wind.”