Halloween One Shots

THE LAKE

Contest Profile: Fantasy

"Are you okay, Billy?"

The party music meant Laura was practically shouting. I couldn't be bothered to, so, I nodded. Barely.

"You miss her," she said, her voice sad.

It was a statement, not a question, but it also got a nod.

"It's not your fault that you weren't there," she continued. "I'm sure you'd have been able to help if you were. You're the strongest, bravest person I know. You can't feel guilty for not being there to help. It was just bad luck."

I stood up at that. My insides were boiling, and I didn't want to chew her out at her own house party. The first at her house because Casey's house... well, Casey wasn't there anymore. This was the first Halloween without her. She'd been the fun one between the three of them. The forever-child at heart. It wasn't difficult when her parents had been just the same, always hosting epic holiday parties since they were in kindergarten. Not anymore.

Laura was the smart one. Her room's walls were stacked with books from floor to ceiling. Me? I was the jock. The brawn. Strong. Dependable. Brave. No one messed with me. I even carried my grandpa's old switchblade. Sometimes, like now, I'd get angry and need to cool off so I wouldn't hurt anyone. Casey had been good at calming me down. At loving me.

Laura let me leave. I got on my bike and rode, not really heading anywhere specific at first. In the end, I rode to the lake. They'd found Casey's bloody shoe just a few yards away from the shore two months after her disappearance, exactly one year ago. I got off my bike and walked to the shore. Everything inside me was hot and bubbly and unpleasant. How long would I feel like this? They say that good always wins. But that night, when that monster grabbed Casey? That night, evil won.

I saw a light rise from the middle of the lake and stood up, ready to run, but I stayed, curious to know its source. I yelled out in surprise when I saw that it was her. Casey! She walked towards me, dressed in a white tunic and nothing else. This couldn't be happening.

"Billy!" she called out, running towards me as happy as she always was.

She kissed me. Water dripped all over me, but I didn't care. She tasted just as sweet as she always did.

"You came! They said that if I called out for you, you'd come, especially tonight," she said, beaming. "But I didn't believe them."

"Casey? How? And who are you talking about?" I finally spurt out. My heart was a jack hammer, painfully pounding against my ribcage. "Where have you been?"

"He hurt me," said Casey. She didn't need to elaborate. I knew who she was talking about.

"I'm so sorry, Casey."

The man had been a head taller than me. Brown hair, leathery skin, brown eyes, and sunken cheeks. He was lanky. No, wiry. The way he grabbed Casey and shoved her into his car showed he was strong. Even now, if I met him, I'd recognise him. But no one else would. Because no one else knew about him. I hadn't even told the police about him. Hadn't told them I'd been right there, walking Casey home.

"He thought I was dead, Billy. He threw me into the lake," Casey continued. "They found me."

She turned her head and I gasped.

"Yup," she said, giggling. "They're gills. They gave them to me, so that I could live with them in the lake."

"What?"

"There's a whole other plane of existence down there, Billy," she said, offering her hand. "Come with me. I'll show you."

"But..." I started, my voice breaking. "What I did..."

"It's okay Billy," she said, her eyes holding love and admiration, just like they always did. She saw the best in me. No one else had ever looked at me that way. "It's okay that you ran. You had to go find help. I understand."

Shame bubbled forth in my gut, past the guilt and self-hate. I hadn't gone to get help. I'd freaked out when the man attacked. I'd peed my pants. I'd ran home to change. That Casey had seen me in that state...

"Besides, if it hadn't happened as it did, I would have never met the Lake Guardians," she went on to say, always looking at the bright side of everything. "They said they didn't trust you, but I convinced them to let me show you. If you can keep their secret, my secret, they'll let you see it."

I reached out for her outstretched hand with one of mine and reached into my pocket with the other. I'd slit her throat with my switchblade before she could blink.

"I'm so sorry, Casey," I whispered, gently lowering her body. "I don't care about your secret. I only care that you stay dead so I can keep mine. No one can ever know that I'm a coward, Casey. They can never know."