The Peanut Butter and Jelly Corporation

6

They were all there. Everyone of her neighbors, all of them, standing at the edge of the water as Seamus led her forward. They all wore drab brown gowns and stood like monks around the lake, blocking her view of the water. As soon as they saw he enter, they pulled their hoods up and stared at the still waters. Emma stopped but Seamus' hold suddenly grew tight. She struggled to keep up as he dragged to her towards the lake. Suddenly, there were two hooded men behind her, pushing her forward. Started, Emma screamed
"Let go, Larkin!"
He released his hold and proudly pointed at the legendary lake, hidden from view behind the crowd.
"Relax, Emma, you really need to see this lake." Malice tainted his usually gentle tone. The transformation had been so sudden that she forgot she even knew him. If she truly even knew him. Instinct kicked in and Emma turned to run, but the two men grabbed her by the arms and waist before she could even set a step away, and turned her back to face the lake.
The crowd parted, revealing a small wooden dock. Seamus stepped onto it as the men behind her pushed her forward. She could see it now. Vast, dark and still, like a giant black mirror reflecting the early morning sky. At the horizon, just behind the hills, traces of the sunrise peaked through.
"Beautiful, right?"
Emma said nothing.
He looked up as a red-orange hue glowed at the horizon. "Right on schedule," Seamus said, putting on a robe similar to everyone.
"What's is this, Seamus?"
"You are going fishing, Emma"
"The lake is dead. All the fish are dead"
He smiled. "I see the Battlement twins have already gotten to you. Are they around? Battlement, you fools, it's your family that started all of this. We are merely continuing the tradition. Well, it doesn't really matter because it's all too late now." He looked at Emma. "You are going fishing. You will jump into the lake and try to catch one with your bare hands."
"Is this a game? Is this some sort of initiation to your stupid club? Because if it is, I want no part of it."
"This is not a request," Seamus said. He pulled out a gun from his robe and pointed it at her. "I really don't want to have to resort to this."
Emma stared wide-eyed at the barrel, the reality of it suddenly hitting her. Her body shook. It  moved too fast. An hour ago, he was Prince Charming. Now, he had a gun pointed at her. Death was no longer a distant when, but an almost certain now. Emma pulled against the steel-like grip of the hooded men.
"My father will find out about this!"
"Of course he will"
"You!" Emma shrieked, looking around at the hooded faces. "All of you! You see this yet you do nothing! And you call yourselves neighbors! My father will hear about this! He'll hear about all of you! The world will hear about all of you and your cult!"
"Emma," Seamus cried, looking scandalized, "Please." He motioned his gun towards the lake. The sun was above the hills now, painting the sky a warm peachy red. But even that stark color failed to reflect against the inky sheen of the lake before her. She felt the men's grip on her loosen as they walked behind her, allowing her to walk  by herself. But Emma remained rooted
Suddenly, the cold barrel was on her temple. Emma recoiled. With the barrel to her head, Seamus led her to the very edge of the dock. She stared at the abyss before her.
"What are you going to do today, Emma? Say, 'I am going fishing in the lake'"
He pushed the barrel against her head.
She echoed. "I am going fishing in the lake"
Seamus pressed the gun closer. "Now jump. Just jump, Emma. You said it yourself, the lake is dead. There's nothing down there. Just jump"
Stay away from the lake
Emma stared at the smooth glass like surface. It did not look like water. Inky. Dark. It was something else entirely. Something not natural. Something dead. Dead. She will be, either way.
Emma whirled and faced Seamus.
"No"
She felt the side of the gun hit her across the face. Emma fell back against one of the hooded men behind her. His hand grabbed her by the elbow as a voice whispered at her ear.
"Run!"
Someone flung her away from the edge of the dock as a ringing sound shattered her left eardrum. Emma screamed. She felt the bullet whizz past her ear. People began screaming and running. 
Emma scrambled to her feet and ran
The hooded man made for Seamus. Another shot rang. A loud splash broke the glasslike tranquility of the water. Emma stopped and looked as an anguished howl reverberated across the lake. Seamus was on his knees, howling. Across him, the hooded man's body floated down the lake. The waters pulled his hood back revealing his face, his brown hair. It was one of the Battlement twins. Even the brightness of red blood failed to stain the heavy black sheen of the lake. Emma watched as black tendrils eagerly crept up onto the body and slowly swallowed it, pulling it down to its dark abyss until only the face was left: pale, its glassy wide eyed stare looking up at the gray sky of a new day as it swiftly sunk beneath the waters.
Suddenly, the ground rumbled.
Seamus was still screaming. "Not him! Not him!"
The lake's glass-like sheen stirred. Something rose out of the water. Emma stared in horror at it. Its slimy, tan skin. The white eyes. The reddish currant-like material oozing from the crevices. The purplish tentacles that reached out and dragged people into the lake. Suddenly Emma understood.
Peanut butter and Jelly
Someone grabbed her hand. The blond Battlement twin as he mouthed two words.
"Let's go"