by Jake Uniacke
THE
GIRL
FROM
UNDER
THE
WATER
JAKE UNIACKE
THE GIRL FROM UNDER THE WATER
Copyright © 2021 by Jake Uniacke
All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof
may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
www.authorjakeu.wordpress.com
Also Available by Jake Uniacke
Lighthouse
Contents
Title Page
Copyright
Also Available by Jake Uniacke
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
About the Author
Prologue
The sound of children’s laughter filled the warm, summer air with joy. Alex and Emma ran through the field, chasing each other in a game of tag, giggling along their way. Their parents trudged behind them, pushing a pram occupied by their new-born child, Connie. They both smiled and waved at their older daughters playing together. Alex tapped Emma on the shoulder and giggled, “Tag, you’re it,” as Emma was knocked to the ground by her own feet.
They both laughed energetically and rolled around on the grass. Their parents, Georgia and Mick approached them and laughed with them.
“Come on girls,” said Mick. “Get up, the ground is dirty.”
Alex and Emma stood up and brushed their pretty dresses, watching the shreds of grass fall back to the ground.
Dark clouds began forming in the sky, so Georgia and Mick insisted that they all make their way back home. Alex and Emma skipped ahead, giggling like they were four years old again. They were twins, so they did everything together. They supposed that being twins automatically meant they would have such a strong connection and were inseparable. They liked the same clothes, although they always bought them in different colours or patterns so that people could tell them apart. Their schoolteachers would always get them mixed up, so they wore something unique in their hair so they could be told apart. Alex wore a pink hair band, while Emma wore a flower hair clip. However, their personalities were worlds apart from each other. Emma often got angry over the smallest of things; but Alex was a bubbly little girl who was a nerd for reading.
The walk home seemed longer than the walk to the field; mainly because they were trying to escape the rain. Emma spotted the lake in the distance and ran off. She loved the lake. Every summer, she would insist that she and Alex go in their rubber dinghy and float around in it for half an hour—supervised by their father because they lacked the skills to swim.
“Emma be careful!” shouted Georgia.
“I will, Mum!” Emma shouted back.
Alex chased after Emma to join her by the lake. “Wait for me!”
Emma slowed down so that Alex could catch up, and then they ran down to the lake together. When it was sunny, the water would glisten and would appear a beautiful blue. But the sun had gone, and the rain was coming, so the water just looked a plain, horrible colour. They stood on the short, wooden pier, making sure not to go any further just in case one of them fell in.
Alex grabbed Emma and started shaking her in a playful way, chanting “Earthquake” while laughing at the same time. It was a game they often played at home. But Emma usually got fed up with it.
“Alex, stop it!” yelled Emma. “Stop!”
Alex stopped shaking her sister and backed away. “Sorry.”
“Don’t do that again!” Emma pushed Alex backwards.
“Don’t push me, you idiot!” Alex pushed Emma back, harder than she intended.
Emma wobbled and waved her arms around, trying to keep her balance. But she couldn’t. And in a flash, everything turned to slow motion for Alex as she watched her sister fall backwards off the pier into the lake. The sound of Emma screaming haunted Alex, and she froze in shock, not knowing what to do. In the distance, Georgia’s screams were bloodcurdling. She ran towards Alex, pulling her away from the edge of the pier, as she watched her other daughter fall.
Emma hit the water and went straight under. She thrashed around in the water, choking as water poured into her mouth, seeping down her throat. Emma tried to bring herself back up to the surface, waving her arms around; but she couldn’t. Her weight dragged her further and further to the bottom of the lake. The water bubbled as Emma was finally submerged into the lake.
“Mick, do something!” Georgia cried.
Mick raced over, took his coat off and dived into the lake to save his daughter. He reached the bottom and saw Emma lying there, unconscious. He scooped her up and brought himself and Emma back to the surface. He swam back to the pier and lifted Emma, placing her on the wooden planks before pulling himself back up, assisted by his wife.
Thunder roared above them and moments later, the rain came pouring. Lightning flashed and the entire family was getting soaked through. Mick became frustrated and cold. But he ignored his own feelings—he had to save his daughter.
Georgia took her phone out of her denim jacket pocket and dialled 999, whilst her husband performed CPR on their daughter. A tear ran down Alex’s face as she watched her twin slowly get taken from this world. She knew what she had done.
She knew she had killed her sister.
Chapter 1
Emma’s funeral took place at St. Paul’s Church. It was a lovely service. Flowers were scattered everywhere; they decorated the coffin in floral print too, and it was bright pink since that was Emma’s favourite colour. The entire family was there. Aunties, uncles, grandparents, cousins, and her sister and parents. Connie wasn’t there though—she was with the babysitter back at the house. They sang hymns, and her favourite song, Angels by Robbie Williams, was played as they carried her coffin out of the church.
Georgia and Mick held each other as they stood by the graveside. Ever since the incident, their relationship with Alex had strained. Alex had confessed to everything, but being just nine years old, they decided not to contact the authorities. They had told the family that Emma had tripped and fallen in. But despite lying, they knew that their relationship with Alex would never be the same again.
Alex stood with her grandmother as held her hand. A tear ran down her face and she watched her sister’s coffin get lowered into the ground. This was her final goodbye, but she didn’t feel like she deserved to say it. After all, she was her sister’s killer. It was an accident, of course. She knew it was an accident. But it played on her mind all the time. She kept hearing voices saying, “You’re a killer,” and “You must pay!”
Alex looked over at her parents. Her mother was sobbing into Mick’s chest. The pink coffin reached the bottom of the grave, and people started throwing flowers and dirt in as a mark of respect. Alex spotted her mother watching her as she threw her daisy into the grave. A look of disgust was sprawled across her face. Alex stepped away from the grave and allowed everyone else to pay their respects. She
looked over at her mother who was still glaring at her, the horrible looks piercing her heart.
“Emma's father would like to say a prayer for his daughter,” the Priest said.
Mick stepped forward and began reading from a piece of paper. He had written the prayer himself, but he felt like it wasn't good enough, no matter how much effort he had put into it.
“Dear Lord,” said Mick. “Please take good care of my princess. She was taken from us far too soon, but she is with you now. She is going to cause you a lot of trouble. But that's my girl. Mischievous. Naughty. Bubbly. Bright. Funny. Although she isn't with us physically, we know she is with us spiritually. Lord, please look after her. Amen.”
Mick stood back next to his wife and held her hand. Georgia rubbed his arm with her hand, comfortingly. As the family began to leave the graveside, Alex sobbed into her grandmother's chest as she said one last goodbye to her sister. She wished she could turn back time so that Emma never fell into the lake. But she wasn't a witch, or a goddess. She could not change what had happened, no matter how much she wanted to.
***
The wake was held at the Cat and Mouse bar and restaurant. Whenever it was a birthday, anniversary, or Christmas, the family would come here for a meal. It was Emma's favourite place. She would always order a beef burger (but no salad, she was fussy about that), and would smother it in ketchup. She would have a glass of orange juice, and for dessert, she would have a big bowl of ice cream.
Georgia and Mick made sure that the buffet at the wake was filled with everything that Emma liked. Cocktail sausages, mini sausage rolls, cheese and tomato pizza, chicken skewers, and tuna and mayonnaise sandwiches. A range of drinks were available—cola, cider, beer, orangeade, and lemonade. Alex had a glass of orange juice since she would always have that with Emma. The restaurant was closed to the public, so the entire family had access to the food menu too. Georgia, Mick, and Alex had decided that they would sit down and have a meal, just like they used to with Emma, in her memory whilst the rest of the family decided they would just have the buffet. Grandma Dorothy, Mick's mum, came over to the table where the three were sitting and placed her hand on Georgia's shoulder.
“I'll always be here for you if you need me,” said Dorothy.
Georgia smiled and placed her hand over Dorothy’s. “Thank you.”
Mick smiled at his mother before she walked away and left them all to it. It felt strange to them that they were sitting down in the restaurant eating a meal without Emma for the first time. Alex was overwhelmed with sadness, but she didn’t show it because she knew her mother would make a comment about how all this is her fault, and she has no right to be upset about it. Alex took a sip from her glass of orange juice. She didn’t even need to look at the food menu as she already knew what she was going to get—she was going to get the burger she and Emma would always get. She ate it differently though. Emma would have it without the salad, but Alex would have all the salad except the tomato. She would put a small blob of mayonnaise on the top bun and push it down so the mayonnaise would spread across the burger.
Georgia didn’t make any effort to speak to her daughter. The whole time, she kept glancing over at her and just felt an overwhelming feeling of hate, disgust, and loathe. She couldn’t quite believe that her daughter was a murderer, and yet, she had to get used to that fact.
Mick tried to get a conversation going, just so Alex felt included and knew that she wasn’t hated. Deep down, Mick knew that his wife could never hate their children, no matter how much she insisted that she did.
“You go back to school soon, Al,” said Mick. “Are you excited?”
Alex shook her head. “No. What if everyone starts asking questions?”
“Then you keep your mouth shut!” hissed Georgia.
“Georgia!” Mick angrily whispered. “Don’t talk to our daughter like that.”
“Why not? She killed her bloody sister!”
The entire restaurant went silent. Georgia immediately knew what she had done. Georgia, Mick, and Alex turned around and saw the whole family staring at them. She had spoken too loudly, and the entire family had heard what she said. They knew the truth. Dorothy came over, took Alex’s hand, and walked out of the restaurant with her. She knew what the family would be like, and she wanted to save Alex from that.
“Did we just hear that right?” Aunt Carol said. “Did you just say that Alex killed Emma?”
“No, no. Um...we were talking about a book I’ve been reading,” Georgia lied. “A woman killed her sister, but it wasn’t revealed until the end.”
Aunt Carol was not convinced. She felt like Georgia was lying, and she had managed to convince herself that she was. Nobody else said a word. It came as a shock to them, hearing that a nine-year-old girl could kill. But they didn’t believe it. How could a child possibly be capable of murder? Aunt Carol came over to the table and stuck her face in front of Georgia’s.
“Your daughter is an evil, slimy murderer,” Carol spat. “If you don’t report her, then I don’t want anything else to do with you. And neither will the rest of the family.”
“Like Georgia just said,” Mick interjected. “Alex didn’t do anything; we were talking about a book she’s reading.”
“You’re lying. I can see right through you all. You struggled to protect Emma, and now you’re trying to protect a killer!”
Georgia stood up and slapped Carol so hard that it left a bright red mark on her face. Carol let out a scream and held her face. She stared at her sister in disbelief that she had just hit her. They had never had any physical fights before, even as kids.
“I want nothing more to do with you!” screamed Carol. “Maybe it was you who killed Emma! Maybe you’re just blaming your daughter so you can get off lightly!”
She ran out of the restaurant, leaving Georgia fuming. Georgia sat back down and held her head with her hands. Carol was right. She hadn’t been able to protect Emma, otherwise she would never have drowned. Dorothy came back in with a crying Alex. Mick raced over and scooped Alex up in his arms.
“Carol had some words,” said Dorothy. “She left Alex quite upset.”
“Quite? Those words must have been serious if she has left my daughter in this state, Mum,” Mick said. “What did she actually say?”
“I don’t wish to repeat it. There was a lot of swearing though.”
“That woman is vile, always has been. She’s never accepted the fact that Georgia had children just because she couldn’t have any of her own. I think the disappointment of just being an auntie and not a mother has made her toxic. She’ll never change.”
Mick walked back over to the table and sat Alex down in her chair. Georgia didn’t ask if she was okay. Instead, she completely blanked her daughter. A waiter came over to the table and served the family their food. Alex had her burger, Georgia had a hunter’s chicken, and Mick had a well-cooked steak. He wouldn’t have it cooked any other way. After all, he didn’t want food poisoning from uncooked meat. His family would always laugh at him for having a steak that was well-cooked, but he knew that if it wasn’t cooked thoroughly, he would be spending a long time on the toilet.
The threesome ate their meal, whilst the rest of the family ate the nibbles that were around. No one really spoke to Georgia and Mick after what they had learned ten minutes ago, but they decided to stay because they were there in Emma’s memory. They weren’t there for anything else.
***
The wake had lasted for two hours, and it was still going. By now, some family members were a bit tipsy after having a few too many drinks, but Georgia and Mick didn’t care. They knew that if Emma were there, she would be laughing. She always laughed at her drunk family, especially at Christmas, because that was a time when the entire family would come together and celebrate. The karaoke machine had been set up and some aunties and uncles were singing Emma’s favourite songs from Little Mix, and Ed Sheeran. Georgia watched on and smiled, tears in her eyes, as she remembered the times Alex
and Emma would give her and Mick a performance of those songs. Mick placed his arm around Georgia’s waist and began swaying from side to side, a slow dance to Supermarket Flowers. That was Emma’s absolute favourite Ed Sheeran song, and her Uncle Harry was singing it. He was a great singer, always had been. One year, Emma tried to convince him to audition for The X Factor, but he insisted that he was too shy and had major stage fright. Tears ran down Georgia’s face as she imagined Emma up on the stage with Uncle Harry singing the song. Emma’s singing voice rang in Georgia’s mind.
“I need some air,” said Georgia, before rushing out of the restaurant.
The fresh air instantly helped dry her eyes, but she was still overwhelmed with emotion. There was nothing anyone could say or do that would help her heal from the pain, but she wanted it to go away so much. She rummaged around in her bag and found the car keys. She jingled them around in her hand for a few seconds before running over to the car.
Starting the engine, Georgia took a deep breath before reversing out of the car parking space and racing out of the car park. The roads were clear. After all, it was a Sunday afternoon, turning evening.
Georgia didn’t want to go straight home. She knew she would have to go back to the restaurant eventually because Mick and Alex were still there. So, she decided to just go for a drive instead to clear her head. She didn’t dare put the radio on, just in case any songs came on that would remind her of Emma. In fact, any song would remind her of Emma right now. Emma sang a lot. She had sung so much that Georgia couldn’t even remember every song she had or hadn’t sung.
Above, the clouds began to turn grey, and the sun disappeared behind them. And suddenly, the rain began to hammer down, bouncing off the windscreen. Georgia switched the windscreen wipers on, clearing the windscreen of the raindrops so she could have a better view of the road ahead of her. She took a turn down a country road, sheltered by trees and the ground decorated with the brown, autumn leaves. The rain wasn’t so bad down here, so Georgia turned the wipers off, but kept her headlights on just to be safe.