The Ghost of the Lake

Chapter 29

I gather enough strength and move Meadow's and Leo's restraining arms off of me. I get up and the bags that were on me fall to the ground. I force myself out of the room.

"Opal, come back," Leo calls after me.

I run down the hallway and arrive at the staircase. I slowly walk down them. Once I have reached the bottom I run out the back door. I am halfway through the yard when I fall. Then I feel all the pain that was being ignored while I was running. It felt as if the weight of the titanic was on my back. Balto comes to me and starts licking my face.

"Opal, we'll call the police. It was probably just a hunter hunting a deer or something,"

Meadow tells me once she has reached me.

"Meadow, yeah not hunting season," Leo says. "There is something out there." He points in the direction of the woods. The sky had gotten darker. It looked like it was about to rain. May and Julia come out. They had been in the living room when I went downstairs and only came out to see if I was fine.

"Did you hear the thunder?" Julia asks us.

We all look at her. "Thunder?" Leo asks.

"Yeah, I thought it sounded like a shooting," May said.

My cheeks turn red. "We thought they were gun shots too," Leo says. I was grateful that he had said 'we' and didn't tell May that it had been me who thought they were gun shots.

I was still lying on the ground. Balto laying next to me. I was about to ask May if she could bring me some peaches when out of the blue it starts pouring. Thunder rumbles overhead.

"We better go inside quickly," Meadow says.

May stretches a hand toward me. I take and try to stand up. My legs fall under me. Before I hit the ground, Leo catches me.

"Thanks," I say breathing out.

"No problem," he answers.

The others start making their way back to the house. Leo stays and helps me walk. When he notices that I keep stumbling, and everything hurts when I move, he picks me up and carries me in his arms.

We were still slow though. The others had already gone back inside while Leo was struggling to carry me.

"Sorry I'm too heavy. You should just let me walk," I say.

"You're not heavy, Opal. And if I let you walk, it will take longer," he replies.

I hear a noise in the woods. I turn around and see Rachel. I gasp.

"What is it, Opal?" He asks me.

I point toward the ghost. He turns around and gapes at her. His eyes go blank. I feel his arms relax. I was afraid he might drop me.

Then something I had not expected happened. Rachel spoke words. A warning to us.

"Run inside," she tells us. It sounded as if it was the wind speaking to us. But I knew it wasn't the wind. It was her. It had a raspy sound to it. More like a stage whisper. It was also heavier than the wind. You could feel her vibrations in the sound.

We do as she tells us. We rush into the house. Leo walks as fast as he can. I try to ignore the pain being caused by all the motion.

When we reach the house we were both soaked from head to toe. I sit down on a table. May, Julia, and Meadow had enough time to also get wet.

"Julia, I might have some clothes you can borrow," May tells her. Julia nods.

"May, where is Meadow?" I ask before she leaves.