The Lake

by Natasha Preston

“What now?” Kayla mutters, her eyes large and alert.

  “Now we wait. She’ll show.”

  To be honest, I’m sure she’s already here, watching.

  My stomach lurches.

  Where was Olly watching from that night? What tree did he hide behind? Why didn’t he help Lillian? She knew he wasn’t with us and that he wasn’t responsible.

  Did Jake really see nothing?

  “Olly had nothing to lose by helping Lillian that night,” I say.

  Kayla turns to me. “Huh?”

  “He said Jake called him and he ran, but why? I don’t understand why he wouldn’t help.”

  “We didn’t help either, Esme.”

  “We were responsible for the fire and needed to run. But if we stumbled across a fire and saw a person hurt, we would help.”

  That, at least, I can say with absolute certainty. We didn’t know how bad she was hurt.

  “Esme,” a low musical voice sings.

  I whip my head around to where I think it came from.

  “What the hell?” Kayla mutters.

  “Looks like Lillian is here.”

  “Rebekah too?” she asks, gasping.

  “I don’t think so,” I whisper. “Remember, she didn’t leave her cabin. At least not before us. Maybe she has the night off from villain duty.”

  “Esme.”

  Kayla squeezes my hand so hard my fingers grind together.

  Okay. Be brave.

  “Lillian, we’re bored with this,” I say.

  “What are you doing?” Kayla’s voice is low.

  “No one is impressed with your stupid juvenile games,” I continue. “You’re stalking a camp for children. Grow up and show yourself so we can deal with this rationally.”

  Words are coming out of me as if I’ve summoned every ounce of courage I own.

  I wish Kayla would slap her hand over my mouth.

  But this has gone on long enough, and I’m so done. I can’t spend another day half watching four girls and half watching the woods.

  “You’re going to get us killed!” Kayla snaps.

  “No, I’m going to finish this.”

  “Perfect Kayla and Esme, loved by everyone at camp.”

  Kayla and I look up at the same time and see a girl, a couple years older than us, appear from the trees.

  She’s here.

  She’s angry.

  And she’s armed.

  51

  My dad owns a gun. I’ve fired guns at the shooting range. I’ve never been particularly scared of them before.

  It’s very different when you’re staring down the barrel of one as your stalker points it at your face.

  Kayla steps closer, her side plastered to mine.

  I lift my chin to appear unafraid, but my skin is crawling.

  Don’t show fear.

  “Hello, Lillian,” I say.

  She steps into view and tilts her head. She’s wearing a black hoodie with her dark hair in a ponytail and hanging out from the hood. “I’m honored you remember me.”

  “It’s hard to forget when your initials are carved into my bedroom wall.”

  Lillian glowers.

  I’m being catty.

  I’m pissed.

  “There is a gun aimed at your head,” she says.

  “You’ve put children at risk.”

  “I would never hurt a child!”

  “You’ve scared plenty of them.”

  “Collateral.”

  Nice.

  “Why didn’t you come talk to us?”

  “Why didn’t you stop and help me?”

  My stomach drops. Rein it in, Esme!

  I wince, my face heating with shame. “We are so sorry about that night, Lillian. It was…the worst night of our lives. I wish I could turn back time and do everything differently. It’s a poor excuse, but we were young and petrified.”

  “It is a poor excuse. Half of my body is scarred for life. I spent a month in the hospital. My family ended up bankrupt and we lost our house because we didn’t have enough money for medical care. I’ve been following you two on social media for two years. Your lives are perfect.”

  That’s not true.

  “Almost everything on social media is perfect,” I say. “It’s not reality. My life isn’t perfect, and I’m far from it.”

  Lillian’s lips curl viciously. “You definitely aren’t perfect, Esme, but no one knows that because you never told anyone what happened.”

  “I’m sorry. We were scared.”

  “You ruined so many lives that night and you don’t even care.”

  “We care. We—”

  “Shut up!”

  I jump back at the acid in her voice.

  Her free hand meets the one around the handle of the gun, steadying her aim.

  I raise my palms. “Okay, okay. Look, we can talk. Please believe me, Lillian, we never wanted you to get hurt that night.”

  “Did you see Jake and Olly that night?” Lillian asks.

  “No,” I tell her. So she did see Jake. What did he and Olly do that night?

  And since when did Kayla lose the ability to speak?

  “Have you been watching us at home?” I ask, afraid to hear the answer.

  “Of course I have. Since Kayla’s disastrous cheerleading tryout.”

  God. That was when we were sophomores. Lillian has spent days, months, years coming up with the perfect revenge. She found us in Pennsylvania.

  “Your friend mute?”

  Kayla pushes harder into me.

  “Scared,” I say. “You have a gun pointed at us. Why don’t you lower it and we can talk? We’ll answer any questions you have. I’ll find a way to make you believe how sorry we are.”

  “Let’s take a walk,” Lillian says.

  Kayla shakes her head.

  Lillian’s cold blue eyes turn black. “No? You’re saying no to me?”

  “Where do you want us to go?” I ask, to get her mind off Kayla’s reluctance.

  She wants us on her terms. We decided to confront her and now she’s trying to take back control. Surely the gun gives her enough of that?

  “I have a place,” Lillian says.

  I grit my teeth. “Okay. Where is this place?”

  “In the forest. An abandoned cabin that’s mine now. You two should be used to cabins in the woods. Let’s. Go.” She inches her chin to the side.

  I take Kayla’s hand and pull her along. “No, Esme,” she whispers, trying to tug me back toward camp.

  “We have no choice. It’ll be fine,” I tell her.

  “You don’t know that!”

  No, I don’t.

  “Hurry up, ladies! We haven’t got all night.”

  Why haven’t we got all night?

  What exactly does Lillian plan to do before sunrise?

  52

  We slowly walk deeper into the forest with Lillian right behind us. I can’t see the gun, but I feel its presence like a dark cloud following us, ready to shoot daggers of lightning.

  Beside me, Kayla’s body shakes violently, her breath coming in short pants. Her fear is feeding mine.

  We can’t give up.

  I try to make eye contact with her so I can calm her down before she has a panic attack.

  What do we do? We could fight Lillian now and speed this whole thing up. Maybe we’ll get away. Or do we go along with her and hope a better opportunity to run comes up? Once we reach her destination, she will have full control. That’s not a position I want to be in.

  I should try to get the gun, to knock it away from her and grab it. We’d be in charge then.

  Seems like a semi-decent plan. Unless she’s further back than she sounds, and I can’t reach the gun.
r />   In that case, Kayla and I are both dead.

  Squinting, I see the outline of something big and square in the distance. A building.

  I swallow. “Are we going in there?” I ask.

  “Keep walking,” Lillian barks.

  That’s a yes.

  “Esme,” Kayla whispers, her voice trembling.

  “It’s okay.”

  The pine trees around us blow in the soft breeze, like they’re alive and leading the way. The only audience to whatever Lillian has planned.

  Whatever she thinks is going to go down, I have to keep a clear head and fight back. Kayla and I are not going to die tonight. If that’s what she even wants. Lillian is understandably angry, but murderous?

  There’s a big leap between wanting to kill someone and actually doing it.

  Hunting people isn’t like hunting deer.

  We approach the building. It’s a cabin, about the size of the staff cabin at camp.

  “What is this place?” I ask.

  “An old ranger’s cabin. They built another one closer to town along with the new camping site. No one comes here anymore.”

  No one comes here anymore.

  I take a breath. We’re all alone out here. But we’re not alone, not really. Kayla and I have each other and we’re strong.

  “What are you going to do?” I ask.

  “Get inside, Esme.”

  I can hardly refuse, can I? I turn to her and I’m met with the barrel of a gun. Swallowing my nerves, I look past it to meet her eyes. “Lillian, please. You can’t take this back. Whatever you do, you’ll have to live with it. That’s not going to be easy, it eats away at you. Trust me.”

  “Trust you?” Her hollow eyes round. “After that night, you expect me to trust you?”

  “No, I don’t, but I’m telling the truth. Living with guilt is hell. I know it’s what I deserve.”

  “You deserve much worse than to live with a little guilt. I have burns over forty percent of my torso. It was agony. I’m scarred for life. What do you think living with that is like?”

  I want to curl up inside myself.

  “Lillian, I’m so—”

  “Don’t say sorry! Do not say sorry. Just get inside!”

  Kayla whimpers and grabs hold of my arm. “Esme, we can’t.”

  Lillian tilts her head.

  “It’s okay, Kayla, follow me.” I take her hand. She grips mine so hard it almost crumbles.

  I turn back around, and Kayla and I walk side by side, both stiff with fear, toward the door.

  Kayla reaches out. I watch her hand shake around the doorknob.

  “Inside,” Lillian barks.

  I don’t look at Kayla as we step inside the cabin because I don’t want to see her fear. I told her that everything would be okay. I’m not sure it will be.

  The room looks warm and inviting. There’s a stone fireplace, and a lamp sitting on a table, glowing orange. There’s a fluffy white rug on the floor and a small leather sofa with a red blanket draped over the back.

  In one corner is a little kitchen with a kettle and a microwave. Two doors are at the back of the cabin. I assume one is a bathroom. The other I don’t want to know. It was probably an office before, but who knows what Lillian is using it for.

  The cabin looks quaint and comfortable. Not exactly what you’d expect for a villain’s lair.

  “Sit down,” Lillian instructs, pointing with the gun toward the love seat. Kayla and I don’t hesitate. We have to be careful.

  There will be no silly and disorganized escape plan.

  I sink into the soft, worn leather and look up at Lillian. She stands close to the fireplace and faces us. That’s when I see what’s on the wall behind her. A photo collage. Loads of photos of me and Kayla. Ones from when she was chasing us through the woods, ones of us at camp, and even ones of us sleeping.

  I press my lips together so I won’t react.

  The fire is littered with ashes. She’s been lighting it. It’s too hot to need a fire, even at night. What has she been burning?

  I’m certain I don’t want to know.

  “What are we doing here, Lillian?” I ask.

  “We need to have a conversation.”

  “We could have had that anywhere. You know where we live. Why all this?”

  Kayla nudges me as if she thinks I’m going too far. Me. Lillian has been messing with us for weeks. She slaughtered a deer, drugged us and left creepy notes and messages. She scared a camp full of kids and now she’s freaking kidnapped us and I’m the one who has gone too far?

  “Do you really not get it? You ruined my life!” Saliva sprays from her mouth as she bares her teeth at us.

  I meet her eyes. “I get that, and I can tell you how sorry we are and how much we regret it, but it seems that’s not good enough. You won’t accept that we wish that night could have been different. Nothing we say or do will make this better, so why are we really here?”

  Her head tilts again like she’s unsure. But I know she has absolutely thought this through. She knows what she wants from us. She can exact her revenge, but that will never make things right. Is she just now accepting that?

  “Look, whatever you do here tonight isn’t going to make up for the fact that a terrible thing happened to you. Hurting us will make you feel better for about two minutes and then you’re back where you started. It changes nothing.”

  She levels the gun at my forehead. “You don’t know what you’re talking about!”

  “Yes, I do, and you know I’m right.”

  “Shut up, Esme!” Kayla hushes me.

  What are we supposed to do if we can’t talk to her? Lillian wants something from us; otherwise she would have just shot us in the forest.

  “Kayla’s very close to getting a bullet in her skull,” Lillian says to me.

  I feel Kayla shudder. She whimpers, then clamps her mouth shut.

  “She’s scared and confused,” I say. “We don’t know what you actually want. Do you just have questions?”

  “Do I have questions?” Lillian’s manic laughter cuts through my heart. “I have a lot of questions.”

  “We’ll answer anything,” I say softly. Maybe I can get her talking about that night and draw some emotion out of her other than rage.

  “Why did you sneak out?” she asks.

  “There was this group of older kids and they would sneak out. We weren’t actually friends with them; they were too cool to be seen with us. But we thought if we snuck out too, they might like us. It was stupid, but we were kids.”

  Lillian scoffs.

  “We’re sorry that things got so out of hand…but you made mistakes that night too.”

  I’m dancing on the edge here. Calling her out isn’t my finest idea, but Kayla and I aren’t taking all the blame.

  Lillian’s eyes narrow. “You let me burn. You ran.”

  I close my eyes against the image of Kayla throwing Lillian backward. In that second, she was just reacting; we never intended for Lillian to get hurt, but she landed in the fire, knocking the wood onto the ground.

  Lillian tilts her head. “Now I’m going to light a fire and do the same to you.”

  53

  My eyes fly open.

  “Burn us? No. No, no, no!” Kayla gasps for air.

  I squeeze her hand. Please calm down.

  “Or I could just shoot you.”

  My mind spins so fast I can barely catch my breath.

  Five dolls. Four with their eyes crossed out. She wanted us dead this whole time.

  Bile hits the back of my throat.

  Lillian’s eyes look straight through us. “You think I’m crazy, but you have no idea what that night was like for me. I can still feel the overwhelming pain and smell my burned flesh. I couldn’t call for help
. My dad is…not a nice man. I was scared what would happen.”

  “What did you do?”

  “I couldn’t call for help,” she repeats. “Everyone would know that I had run away. You don’t understand, I couldn’t let that happen.”

  “What did you do?” I ask again.

  “I dragged myself to the lake. I tried to soothe my burns in the water, but it only made things worse.”

  Kayla gasps.

  “Someone else must have called the cops, because I eventually heard sirens. I ran with everything left in me. When I got home, I set fire to my bedroom and that’s how my parents think I got burned. We all got out, but our house was ashes.” She smirks. “My hair straighteners were blamed.”

  “Jesus.”

  I press one hand against my rolling stomach.

  Lillian was ten. She did all of that before she hit puberty. The hunting, mutilating animals, and burning down her freaking house! She set fire to her home so she wouldn’t get into trouble. And she thinks she’s better than us?

  “Why didn’t you tell anyone? The fire in the woods wasn’t your fault.”

  “That wouldn’t have mattered to my dad.”

  “Okay,” I say, trying to wrap my head around this. I need to talk to her as if this is all totally normal behavior. “He would have blamed you?”

  “He’s not a forgiving man. A lot of people respect and look up to him. They think he’s an amazing husband and father. No one knows the truth. If he knew I’d snuck out of the house…” She shakes her head and I have to fill in the blanks.

  Things would’ve been very bad for her.

  “Are you sorry too, Kayla?” Lillian asks. “You pulled Esme away. I saw her turn back to help me.”

  “Kayla was scared,” I say.

  “I wasn’t asking you!” Lillian snaps. “Kayla can speak for herself.”

  “Of…of course, I’m so sorry,” Kayla says, her voice husky. She clears her throat. “W-we never meant for anyone to get hurt. We liked…we liked hanging out with you.”

  Kayla is making it sound like we were all friends that night. It’s a good move.

  We didn’t like it, though. Lillian showed us the head of a deer that she had hunted and killed. It made me nauseous. I was instantly petrified of Lillian. Kayla completely freaked out when she saw the deer’s head. She started screaming at Lillian that she was a freak.