The Lake

by Natasha Preston

  Rebekah said that she doesn’t have friends. No one to talk to and here I am closing up on her. That can’t feel good after years of being bullied.

  “Totally. I’d like that. Hey, I think it was someone else who wrote this,” I tell her.

  “Someone else?”

  “Yeah, like someone from town. It just doesn’t add up. Why would someone working for the camp want to remove flags and get us lost? Ava thought she saw someone in the woods when we were hiking.”

  “Really?”

  “There was no one there when Cora and I looked. Cora said it was just the trees.”

  “But you don’t think it was a tree?”

  I dunk the sponge again, getting frustrated. “I mean, it could have been, but then the trail was tampered with, and now this.”

  “Who else have you told?” Rebekah asks.

  “No one,” I say, not wanting to drag Kayla into it. “They will probably think I’m crazy. I have the tendency to overthink. My mom is the same; anytime I’m late she calls, worried something has happened to me.”

  “At least she cares.”

  “I’m lucky. So…do you think I’m crazy?” I bite my lip in anticipation of her reply. Sometimes I think I’m crazy.

  “I don’t think you’re crazy at all. I can see how you got there.”

  “Do you think I could be right?”

  “It’s not impossible.”

  “But?” I prompt, wanting the rest.

  “But why would someone do all of that?”

  I shrug. “Good question.”

  That I can answer.

  “I don’t think this is going to come off,” I say, exasperated. We decide to cover it with three thick coats of paint and that does the trick. It’s not perfect, but at least the words aren’t visible. I wish they would just disappear.

  As we walk away, Rebekah turns to me. “Hey, maybe Andy has annoyed someone. He comes to camp early from what I overheard. He spends a lot of time in town.”

  “Really?”

  Her eyes glow. “Uh-huh. Maybe he slept with someone’s wife.”

  “Nasty.”

  She guesses again. “Maybe he offended the whole town, called them hicks or somethin’.”

  Or maybe this has nothing to do with Andy and everything to do with Kayla and me.

  15

  “I can’t believe anyone would do that,” Mary says. Her dark eyes narrow under her fringe.

  I look away from her, but I feel her gaze long after she’s turned away.

  Jake shrugs. “It’s extreme but a good prank, to be fair.”

  I’ve heard enough.

  It took a lot of scrubbing to make the words fade even a little. Then we had to paint over them.

  I get up, walk away from the table and dump my plate and cup on the trolley. The counselor tables have one topic tonight: our not-so-friendly graffiti artist. Some think it’s a bad joke; others are horrified. One thing we all agree on is that they went too far.

  With a prank you should be able to laugh. No one is laughing at a creepy message smeared on a wall in blood-red paint.

  “Esme, wait up,” Kayla says. She runs after me as I head to our cabin. I wanted a few minutes to myself before the guitar lessons by the campfire tonight.

  “Yeah?” I say, folding my arms.

  Sighing, she tilts her head. “Are you okay?”

  Oh, now she’s concerned for me.

  “Yep. You?”

  “I know what you’re thinking. That the message was for us.”

  I look over her shoulder to check that no one else is coming outside and duck into our cabin. Kayla is hot on my heels.

  “How can you not?” I ask.

  “It’s a weird message to leave.”

  “That’s not what I asked, Kayla.”

  “Okay.” She throws her hands up. “Okay, I’ll admit it. Maybe you were right and it was for us. Bad girls and the lake never forgets.” She shudders. “Who could it be? Lillian? No one else knows.”

  I arch one eyebrow. “We can’t be sure. Lillian could have told someone what happened that night. Or maybe someone saw.”

  “What about the man Ava thought she saw in the forest? Maybe it was him.”

  I bite my lip and sit on the bottom bunk. “The man in the forest could have easily been a woman. Ava only assumed it was a man. Lillian could be out there watching the same way she was ten years ago.” A shiver rips through my body. “She likes to keep to the shadows, remember?”

  “I can’t forget,” Kayla replies. “But why would she say the lake never forgets instead of ‘I will never forget’?”

  “I don’t understand her shady mind! She’s obviously trying to freak us out without advertising what happened.”

  “Why?”

  I shake my head, then stop dead as a realization slams into my mind.

  Oh no.

  My hands shake. “Because she isn’t finished. This is just the start. Think about it, if she wants revenge it would be dissatisfying to come out and tell everyone what happened straightaway. Proper revenge is messing with someone’s head, ruining their life before the big reveal.”

  “I think you need to get some sleep.”

  I grit my teeth. “Kayla, don’t play dumb. You want to pretend, but we both know you can’t, so let’s move past that. Okay? This is happening and we need to figure out what Lillian wants.”

  Kayla sighs and slumps onto the bed. Her glossy blond hair falls in her face. “Esme, I don’t want this to take over our experience here if it doesn’t have to. You can’t be sure, and you’re going to let it become an obsession.”

  My obsessions used to be fun. There were my One Direction, piano, Riverdale and, most recently, adult coloring book phases. I should have brought some coloring books with me. I’m not even sure my mom’s Valium would help at this point.

  “If someone is out there and they’re trying to mess with us, we need to deal with that. Lillian has every right to be angry with us,” I say.

  “Unless she did run and you’re freaking out over nothing!”

  I want to curl up inside myself. “After…what happened, I tried to look back once the fire spread, but I couldn’t see through the flames. I wanted to be sure, but we ran back to camp. I don’t know what happened to Lillian next.”

  “Do you even understand what you’re implying?”

  “Yes. Maybe…she was really hurt.”

  Kayla’s eyes are big and full of concern. “I think you should have an early night, Esme. You’re pale and you have dark circles under your eyes. I’ll tell everyone that you have a headache.”

  I tap my fingers under my eyes. “No, I’m fine.”

  “You’re not! I can see this on your mind all of the time! Sleep!”

  “I get eight hours a night, Kayla. I don’t need more rest.”

  Okay, it’s more like six hours, but that’s still enough. It’s more than I used to get around exam time when I’d cram in last-minute studying until midnight.

  “Maybe we can arrange for you to see one of the counselors?”

  My jaw drops. “Are you serious? You don’t believe me?”

  “I’m not saying that. I think you’re right and someone is pranking us, but I don’t think there’s anything more to it than that.”

  “But what if there is more to it?”

  Kayla tilts her head the way you do when you think someone is ridiculous. “Like what?”

  “Like it’s Lillian and she wants us to pay!”

  “For what? We didn’t do anything to her. If anything, it was her fault.”

  Her words chip away at my sanity. Kayla is mostly right, I suppose.

  “Hey, it’s okay. I understand why you think all this stuff, Esme. You just want to protect us.”

  “I
want to come into town with you guys tonight.”

  Kayla stands up and sighs. “If you promise to rest now, I’ll wake you before we go.”

  “Thanks.”

  She leaves the room, and I climb up to my bunk and settle in.

  I close my eyes, listening to the faint sound of terrible guitar playing and laughter.

  They all sound so happy out there, without a care in the world.

  Sighing, I turn onto my side and take my cell from under my pillow. Maybe I can find Lillian on social media. All I know is her name and that she lives around here. That might not be enough, especially if she doesn’t state exactly where she lives, but it’s worth a try. If I can get in contact with her, then maybe I can fix whatever she’s angry about.

  If there even is anything.

  This still could all be random, just bored kids from town looking to get their kicks by spooking the campers.

  I commit each face of a girl named Lillian who lives in this area to memory. None of them look like the girl who Kayla and I saw ten years ago, but yeah, ten years is a long time. She could have changed a lot, dyed her hair, gained or lost weight.

  Kayla will worry if she knows I’m still obsessing, but I hate that we’ve potentially hurt someone. Whatever really happened that night, I want to make it right.

  An hour later, the cabin fills with girls. I listen as they chat excitedly about the guitar lesson. I didn’t hear anyone playing well, but that’s the point of learning, right? You’re terrible until you’re not.

  Kayla creeps into our room and whispers, “You awake, Esme?”

  I sit up. “Yep.”

  “You feeling better?”

  She asks that as if I’ve been ill. There is nothing wrong with me. “Much better,” I say to appease her. “Is Andy in his cabin?”

  “Yeah, and the counselors with the night off are all in the staff cabin playing cards. They invited us, but Tia said we wanted to take a walk and then use the multiuse cabin for dodgeball. I was sure they were going to bust us then. Who wants to play dodgeball?”

  “It’s good for aggression,” I say, and climb down the ladder.

  “Are you feeling aggressive?”

  “What? No. I was just saying. I don’t want to play dodgeball. I want to kick your ass at air hockey.”

  “As if.”

  I grab my jacket and pop my cell in my pocket. “Let’s go.”

  I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t slightly nervous that we’re finally doing this, but a rush of adrenaline keeps telling me it’s a good idea.

  Even if I don’t find Lillian maybe I’ll experience this little thing called fun. I’m in dire need of getting away from camp for a while. The isolation could be the reason for my latest stretch of paranoia.

  Everything is worse when you’re trapped.

  16

  Olly, Jake, Tia and Rebekah are waiting by the multiuse cabin, which is the closest to the man-made path between town and camp. It isn’t really a path, but instead a thin strip of mud that’s been trampled down.

  We’re all assuming it was made by CITs wanting to get out for the night. No one but me—hello—seems to think it could also be used by people from town coming in.

  “Your headache gone?” Olly asks. He steps close to me.

  “Yep, I feel great.”

  “Let’s go then!” Tia cheers quietly.

  “We’re doing a lap of the lake first, right?” I ask. “The counselors think we’re going for a walk.”

  Rebekah nods. “Good idea, Esme. Let’s make it look like we’re good little CITs.”

  She looks happier now than I’ve seen her since we arrived.

  I link arms with her as we walk, despite wanting to be near Olly.

  “How are you doing?” I ask.

  She smiles tightly. “Me? Oh, I’m fine. This is cool and scary. Should I be scared? Are you?”

  Laughing, I nudge her with my shoulder. “Breathe. No one has ever come checking on us before. There’s no reason why they would now.”

  “That’s true. I still feel like a criminal, though.”

  “Actually, it’s not a crime what we’re doing,” I inform her.

  We do one lap and stop by the shrubs that are doing a poor job of hiding the sneaky little trail. Kayla and Tia are animated, talking loud and fast.

  I look over my shoulder. The camp looks deserted, like one of those creepy abandoned theme parks, but without the roller coasters. Above the lake a large bird glides in a circle and crows.

  “Let’s get out of here,” Jake says. “Coast is clear.”

  He ducks between the bushes and Kayla follows straightaway. Rebekah takes a breath, but she doesn’t have time to chicken out: Tia grabs her hand and pulls her along.

  “Shall we?” Olly asks, nodding to the trail.

  Biting my lip, I grab his hand and we disappear into the bushes.

  He doesn’t let go of me, and I’m not about to complain. His hand is warm; his grip firm yet gentle. He feels safe, which is nice since I haven’t felt that today.

  We walk quickly through the forest. Jake has a flashlight, but he’s keeping it low to the ground in case anyone sees us. It’s not that dark, but as we go deeper, we lose a lot of light.

  The temperature has dropped to a comfortable heat, and I find myself smiling in the darkness.

  This is what I’d hoped camp would be: hanging out with new friends and doing something fun. Olly squeezes my hand as we come out the other side of the forest. Across the quiet road is the teeny town. It’s quaint and cute. From here, the streetlights make it look prettier, like the town is dotted with fairy lights.

  “Okay, there’s a little arcade on the outskirts. They have Rollerblading too, if anyone wants to break an ankle,” Tia says.

  “I’ll pass,” I reply as we cross the deserted road.

  Kayla’s eyes dart from my and Olly’s joined hands to my eyes.

  Don’t say anything!

  She presses her lips together, stifling a smile. Tia nudges Rebekah.

  Great, everyone has seen.

  Olly either doesn’t notice or doesn’t care that we’re being watched.

  “Lead us to the arcade then, Tia,” Jake says. “I’m dying for a drink.”

  I want to ask how he’s going to get a drink, but my filter kicks in before I open my mouth. Yay for that. There might not even be a bar or restaurant nearby.

  Fake IDs are a thing and Jake, being one of the popular kids at his school, is likely to have one. Kayla and I thought about it once, but we were both too scared to buy one from Mason, the dude at school with a supersketchy private life.

  “Easy, Esme,” Olly says, shaking our joined hands.

  I release my death grip a smidge. “Sorry, didn’t realize I was squeezing.”

  I’m not sure what I expected, but a run-down arcade on the very edge of town was not it. The place is huge, but the games are old, and the patterned red carpet is so worn in areas there are bald patches.

  “Right,” Tia says. “It’s…nice.”

  Jake laughs. “It’s not Vegas, but it’ll do.”

  “Come on, Esme, I’m challenging you to a game of table hockey,” Olly says.

  “Does anyone even have cash?” Rebekah asks, looking around as if we could be busted at any moment.

  She and Tia follow closely behind us. Jake and Kayla stop by a claw machine to try to win a stuffed animal.

  “I do, but I need change,” Olly replies.

  Tia grabs Rebekah’s hand. “I already have change. Come on, Rebekah, I see Pac-Man and I’m awesome!”

  Rebekah follows without a word.

  “This has always been my favorite game,” Olly tells me as he picks up a puck.

  “Mine is the claw.”

  He looks up from across the table.
“You know they’re rigged, right?”

  “Yes, but it’s so satisfying when you finally win.”

  “After twenty dollars.”

  I roll my eyes. “Okay, so once my dad did spend twenty-three dollars before we got a prize, but I still have that little stuffed pony.”

  “Your dad rich or just enjoy burning money?”

  Laughing, I grab the other puck and send it flying to his side.

  “He’s never been very good at saying no to me, and I wanted that pony more than anything,” I say.

  I glance up quickly as Olly positions himself to hit the puck back to me.

  The chances of Lillian being in here are small. What is she doing, messing with camp by day and hitting the dance mat by night? There is a chance, though. In this small town, there isn’t a lot to do.

  Olly and I play two games, each winning one, and then we move on.

  “Olly,” Jake calls, “basketball!”

  He’s standing with Tia and Kayla.

  “I’m going to see if Rebekah is okay,” I tell Olly. “I’ll meet you over there.”

  He walks off to the basketball hoops and I split, heading to Rebekah. She’s in a corner with her back to the room and her hands up to her face.

  “No, they don’t know…,” she mutters.

  Is she talking to herself?

  “Rebekah?” I ask.

  Startled, she jolts and spins in my direction. One hand clutches tightly around her cell phone.

  “Sorry, I didn’t know you were on a call,” I say.

  “Esme.” She smiles and her finger hits a button on the screen. “It’s okay, I was just speakin’ to my mom. She worries if she doesn’t hear from me.”

  What did she say? They don’t know. Who doesn’t know what?

  “Shouldn’t you call her back? My mom would go crazy if I hung up on her.”

  Shrugging, Rebekah tilts the screen so I can’t see. “I’ll send her a message. We were almost done anyway.”

  I watch her tap away and then she slides the phone in her pocket. “Okay. Hey, you want to play Whac-A-Mole?” she asks.

  “Sure.”

  “So, are you havin’ fun?” she asks, glancing behind us.