The Siren’s Call
“This place is so beautiful, so perfect” Gina gushed as she looked out over the calm water of the lake from the deck of her boyfriend’s boat.
“Being here with you is perfect,” Roger replied. It was a cheesy line, but Gina bought it. “How about we make it… more, perfect?” Roger added as he turned on the radio.
Gina smiled meekly. She knew what Roger wanted, but she was still a virgin and wanted to wait for marriage. That was her idea of perfect. Still, he was a great guy and she loved being with him. Gina began to dance to the music, slowly and suggestively, the way Roger liked it. She didn’t want to rush into sex, but she still enjoyed doing some of the things he liked.
Her bikini had a skirt bottom that Roger absolutely loved to watch as she shook her ass. He grinned appreciatively and joined her, grinding against her bare thighs. After a couple of songs the action turned hot and heavy. Roger was feeling and groping at her, trying his best to get a hold of the strings of her bikini top to pull them loose. When the song ended, Gina took the opportunity to get a break. “I need a drink” she said softly and pushed herself away.
Roger grabbed a glass of wine and handed it to her. He had been doing his best to get her as drunk as possible all night. “No, I need water,” she insisted and grabbed a bottle of water from the cooler.
“What the fuck Gina? Seriously? Look at this place, look at this sky. This is so perfect. We have a few drinks, share a few dances and have a great time. Why do you have to fight it so much? You told me you want to be with me, sexually, and yet you push me away and run from me every time” Roger’s face was glowing red. He had been getting himself as drunk as possible all night as well.
“Roger? Why are you so mad at me? Why isn’t this good enough? We’ve talked about this a thousand times, I want to wait. You know that, so I don’t know why you keep getting so angry… if you can’t wait for me then you should be with someone else, I’m sorry but I just can’t” Gina began bawling dejectedly and turned to look out over the lake so Roger couldn’t see her face.
Seeing her so vulnerable made him want to console her and Roger rushed to her, hugged her tightly from behind and began kissing her neck softly. “I’m sorry… it’s just that, I feel so strongly for you. I don’t want anyone else”.
They stayed in that embrace for a few minutes. Gina was feeling reassured that he actually cared for her and was getting the message and so she was beginning to relax again. Roger was smelling her hair and sucking on her neck while brushing his groin up against her tight ass. He was drunk and hornier than ever. He could feel Gina relaxing and not resisting so much and he took that as a cue that she was opening to his advance, even though she was actually oblivious to what he was really up to.
They both saw things the way they wanted to. She saw him as being understanding and caring. He saw her as loosening up and accepting him. His hands had been on her hips, but now, feeling more confident, Roger slowly slid them up along her slender body until they reached her top. With a firm push, he forced his hands up under the bikini top and grabbed hold of her bare breasts.
“Roger!” Gina cried out and struggled to get free. He was holding her so tightly that she could barely move.
Again and again he squeezed and groped at her chest while thrusting his penis violently against her. “Roger, stop! I mean it! Stop!” she begged and then screamed as loud as she could. In the emptiness of the night, the sound blared across the surface of the water and rocketed off in every direction.
The sound prompted Roger to release her and he stepped back in shock. He had been sure she was going to give in this time. She was crying hysterically and holding her hands up in front of her chest defensively. “Take me home! You fucking monster!” she shouted angrily.
Something inside him snapped. Something he had never seen or felt before. Without thought or hesitation, he lunged forward and punched her in the head, sending her flopping backwards, overboard. “Gina!?” Roger called out apologetically.
She was barely conscious and floating face up in the water. “Oh shit, she’s dead, you fucking killed her!” Roger moaned to himself as he paced back and forth. He was going to jail for this. Then it suddenly dawned on him; he would only go to jail if anyone found out. If he saved her, she would tell the police that he tried to rape her, punched her and tried to kill her.
If he left her there, she would drown for sure and then he would just tell the police she fell overboard as they were cruising and he lost sight of her in the dark. He dove in and tried searching for her but couldn’t find her. So, that was what he decided to do. “Help me…” Gina begged softly from the water. It tore at Roger’s heart to hear her, but it was too late now. This was her fault and he had to go.
He quickly put the boat into full throttle and sped away from the scene. The wake from the powerful motors pushed water over Gina’s face, causing her to panic and choke. Within seconds, she was sinking to the bottom of the lake.
———–
To celebrate his 19th birthday, Justin Jackson was heading up to the family cottage for a week with two of his best friends, Jessica and André. It was supposed to be a foursome except that Justin’s girlfriend Kimberly turned out to be an online stripper and he couldn’t deal with it, so he ended their eight-month relationship the day before.
Jessica was cool; she hated Kimberly and spent the entire two-hour drive telling Justin how much better off he was and that he would find a ’good’ girl when college started next month. André spent the time playing devil’s advocate, trying to convince his best friend that he was stupid to end things with such a hot girl and that he would be kicking himself later while watching her site.
Still, despite the fact that his friends didn’t get the hint that this vacation was supposed to be a getaway from his personal problems, Justin was excited to be “roughing it” up at his mom’s cottage. It was in the process of being completely renovated although it was at least another year from being complete. Even though he had not been there in three years, since his parents got divorced, he had spent the majority of his childhood summers there and had friends in the little community that surrounded Whisper Lake.
He was particularly interested in catching up with Trisha; she was a tomboy and the two of them were practically inseparable as kids. A lot can change in three years, especially when puberty is involved. Trisha had emailed Justin several pictures of herself, including one where she was frolicking in shallow water in a tiny bikini, with a caption “I can’t wait to see again, miss you!”
She definitely didn’t look like a tomboy anymore. Although puberty was far more kind to Trisha, it had at least given Justin some facial hair and the beginnings of a muscular build which he hoped would be enough to give him a shot at taking their friendship to the next level. The drive was almost completely uneventful but thankfully short. Justin had been driving as fast as traffic would allow and he managed to shave at least a half an hour off the usual travel time.
The cottage looked amazing, the finished sections anyway. It had been his dad’s pride and joy and that was exactly why his mom made sure she got it in the settlement. That didn’t work out the way either of them planned. His dad had no interest in going up there anymore since it represented family time to him and his mother hated camping in any form so she never went either. The cottage was only being fixed up to sell. That impending end put all the more pressure on Justin to make something happen with Trisha sooner than later.
A small boathouse sat about thirty feet away from the back deck of the cottage and even though his dad kept the boat, he didn’t care to use it anymore so it still sat inside. “I’m going to make a supply run into town, then I want to catch up with some friends, see if there are any parties or anything going on” Justin called out as he brought in the last piece of luggage.
“I guess we’ll stay here and unpack” Jessica replied as she began sorting the bags into their appropriate rooms.
“She means we’re going to have wild, dirty sex in your bed while you’re gone,” André quickly corrected.
“You and I both know you have no chance of getting laid until she’s drunk and I’ll be back before that happens” Justin smiled confidently and walked out to the car. He couldn’t care less what the two of them did; he had other things to worry about.
The small town of Brisbane was the only semblance of modern civilization for over fifty miles in any direction. Still, it was a fairly lively place. Whisper Lake brought in cottagers from all over the country and was a hot spot for low-key college parties. Justin did two laps around the town but Trisha was nowhere in sight. Eventually he pulled into Tucker’s Convenience. He actually did need supplies.
“Hey mister Tucker!” Justin called out to the old man sitting in the rocking chair in front of the store.
“Fuck you kid!” Mr. Tucker called back. He was an eighty-year-old war veteran that ran a soup kitchen in town in his younger years. He was the most respectful person Justin had ever met. Hearing him swear at all, never mind at him, was shocking.
“What? Mr. Tucker, it’s me, Justin… remember, you used to call me Little Jackson?”
“You heard me. Buy something or get the hell out of here” the old man growled and lit a pipe.
Justin quickly headed in. Mrs. Tucker was working the register. “Justin? Aren’t you going to say hello?” Mrs. Tucker called out and raced over to give him a hug.
“I uh, yeah, sorry. I just saw Mr. Tucker, he seemed pretty upset with me, I didn’t know if maybe something happened” Justin replied sheepishly.
“Don’t mind that old windbag. He’s been like that for a few days now” she answered and headed back behind the counter. Justin could tell that she was upset even though she was trying to brush it off as just senile ramblings. “The whole town’s gone loopy ever since that poor girl drowned…” Mrs. Tucker’s voice tapered off as her mind wandered.
The next fifteen minutes were extremely awkward as he searched the store for everything he needed. He was trying not to rush, figuring the longer he was in town, the more likely he would be to run into Trisha, but he also didn’t want to be near Mr. Tucker any longer than he had too. The way the old man stared at him was so creepy.
Finally, he gave up and decided to check out. “Say, Mrs. Tucker, you haven’t seen Trisha around today have you?”
Mrs. Tucker smiled brightly. Maybe it was intuition, but she seemed to know exactly what was on his mind. “No sweetie, not today, but she usually goes over to Mel’s around six on Fridays”. Mel’s was the place to be in Brisbane. It was a triple threat of family restaurant up front, sports bar in the middle and bowling alley in the back. All three sections served alcohol with little regard for checking IDs.
“Thanks, it’s nice seeing you again” Justin smiled as he picked up his bags and headed out.
Mr. Tucker didn’t say a word, but glared viciously as Justin passed by. “Crazy old bastard” Justin cursed as he climbed into the car and tossed it into reverse. He was so busy watching Mr. Tucker that he almost backed straight into a light post.
“Fuck!” Justin shouted angrily and slammed the steering wheel with both fists.
Then he almost pissed his pants when someone knocked on the driver side window. “Hey stranger!” the young woman called out. Justin leapt out of the car hoping for the best, but was left feeling like an idiot when he saw that it was Amber, Trisha’s best friend.
“Hey Amber, long time no see. How are you?” Justin mumbled awkwardly, holding out his hand to shake. The two of them had always been like oil and water and he was quite sure she hated his guts.
She looked at him strangely for a moment and then laughed and wrapped her arms around his neck and gave him a big hug. “A hand shake? Seriously? I’ve known you for like fifteen years and you want to shake my hand as a hello. What do they teach you boys in the city anyway?” Amber teased in his ear. She held her hug for a while and then left her hand resting on his shoulder when she finally let go.
The fact that she had gotten a lot hotter over the last few years didn’t go unnoticed, but Justin did his best to act casual. She was shamelessly flirting, but ogling her best friend definitely wouldn’t help his chances with Trisha. Then again, Amber may turn out to be a decent consolation prize if things didn’t work out the way he was planning. If he could get past the fact that it felt like he was suddenly attracted to a sexy a cousin.
“Um, Amber, have you seen Trisha today?”
The question drew a bubbly smile from ear to ear. “Good man! She’s been talking about you nonstop by the way. It’s very annoying. We’re going out to The Point tonight. Be there at eight. I can’t wait to see the look on your face when you see how gorgeous she is now,” Amber giggled as she practically skipped away.
Maybe the flirting had been a test? He wasn’t sure, but he did learn two things. First, Trisha sounded almost as excited to see him, as he was to see her. Second, watching Amber walk away dissolved any question that she should be the backup plan. When Justin got back to the cottage, André was standing out by the boathouse, looking out over the lake.
“What’s up buddy?” Justin gushed as he walked over to his friend. His excitement was taking control and there was literally a bounce in his step.
André glowered back over his shoulder with a vicious stare and then back out at the lake without answering. Justin stopped in his tracks and decided to head into the cottage instead. That was the second creepy stare down he had gotten in the last hour. “Hey Jess, is everything alright?” he called out as he dropped the grocery bags off in the kitchen.
“No, everything isn’t alright. Your friend is an asshole,” she cursed as she stormed down the stairs. “I asked if we could watch cuddle up on the sofa and watch a DVD with the fireplace going and he just grunted at me. He wouldn’t stop staring at the lake so I asked if he wanted to go swimming and he started mumbling curses… fuck this, fuck that, and then stormed outside”.
She was clearly pissed off, but the story gave Justin chills. That was the absolute opposite of André’s personality. He could be a dick once a while but never like that and never, ever, to Jessica. He was more of a doting fool than an angry ogre when it came to her. “I’ll go talk to him,” Justin offered. He had no desire whatsoever to follow through, but he had to try. The last thing he needed was for these two to ruin his week.
After twenty minutes of unpacking and organizing clothes and supplies, Justin headed out to talk to André who was still standing in the exact place, as if he were a statue. Justin walked over and stood quietly beside his friend. He tried to initiate the conversation last time and it got him a death stare. This time he would let André talk, if he wanted too.
He was staring out over the lake, but his eyes wandered ever so slightly as if he were trying to pinpoint something. “Can you hear that? It sounds so beautiful,” he mumbled after five minutes. “I can’t figure out what it is”.
It looked as if André had at last returned to reality. “Are you okay now?” Justin asked nervously.
“Yeah…” André replied crudely. He seemed oblivious to the way he had been acting and was looking at Justin as if he was the insane one.
“Oh, okay. Jess said that you seemed upset and you looked like you wanted to eat my face off earlier so I was just wondering if you’re still insane or not”
André stood still for a moment as if trying to recall what had happened. “How long was I out here for?”
“I don’t know. Probably an hour?”
André shook his head in disbelief and then headed inside calling Jessica’s name with an obvious tone of remorse in his voice. Justin decided that he would just take the boat and head out to The Point alone. Those two needed some time alone to patch things up and he wanted to be as alone with Trisha as he could get.
The Point wasn’t actually a marked location. It was a spot on the lake where the cool kids set up their boats in a circle and turned on spotlights to go night swimming. They called it The Point because it was near a rocky overhang that was shaped like an arrowhead. It was an obvious enough name to the people who were invited and vague enough to everyone else.
Justin hopped in his dad’s bass boat and sped off. It was still only seven-thirty and he didn’t want to show up so early, figuring he would look desperate, so he decided to cruise the lake. There were always boats out on Whisper Lake. It never got cold enough to freeze and there were always people fishing or swimming at any hour of any given day. With that in mind, Justin was mystified to find that he was the only one out. No jet skis, no sailboats, kayakers, no canoes… it was as if the lake had died. The sun was setting, but there was at least another half an hour of decent light left.
Then he came to the most bewildering sight he had seen yet. A huge group of about thirty boats were all anchored dangerously close to one another, forming a circle in the middle of the lake. Justin cut the engine and slowly cruised by, trying to catch a glimpse of what was going on. People were just standing around on their decks, staring into the water in the center of the boat circle.
Every once in a while he would see someone leap off into the water. He could hear their splash, but couldn’t see what they were doing because of the mass of boats in the way. After a while, the person would clamber back onto their decks, soaking wet in their street clothes, and then would go back to staring blankly.
It was so abnormal that Justin couldn’t look away. These people all seemed to be completely nuts, or they knew something he didn’t, which struck his curiosity nerve hard. “Oh shit!” Justin cursed himself and fired up the engine. It was eight twenty and he had been staring at these lunatics for half an hour.
He gunned it over to The Point and was relieved to see that only three other boats were there, usually these shindigs ended up with at least nine or ten, so he wasn’t too late. It didn’t take long to spot Trisha’s boat, even with the fading sunlight. Justin manoeuvred his way beside her as quickly as he could, wanting to secure his spot before someone else popped in.
Once he was parked, it didn’t take long to spot the object of his obsession either. Trisha had come up onto her deck as she heard the boat approaching. She was wearing the very same bikini she had on in the email and was holding a bottle of champagne in her left hand a paper plate with a piece of cake in the right. “Ahoy there sailor!” she called out while giddily bouncing up and down.
“Hey!” was all that Justin could manage to say. He wanted to say something cooler, something more suave, but it was mesmerizing watching her and that was all the brainpower he could spare.
“Come on over!” Trisha called and motioned with her head for him to join her on her boat.
“Prepare to be boarded!” he shouted back in his best pirate voice and then felt like a total jackass for it. Trisha didn’t seem to care; she was still smiling as she disappeared to the back. Justin pulled off his shirt and tossed his shoes aside then leapt into the water. It was surprisingly cool, much cooler than he remembered it ever being before, and that helped motivate him to get out faster.
As soon as he got on the deck, Amber, Trisha, and three other girls that he recognized, but didn’t remember their names, started singing happy birthday. “Thank you, thank you,” Justin said as he bowed graciously. His mind was racing a hundred miles an hour the wrong way down a one-way street. All five girls were so incredibly sexy, and not just because they were soaking wet and wearing bikinis.
It was as if they were all simultaneously flirting with him, as Amber had been earlier. They each wanted a long, tight hug hello and were so ecstatic to see him. Being alone on a boat with five hot, college aged young women in bikinis was more awesome than could have fantasized, but something was clearly wrong.
He was better looking than he had been three years ago, but not good-looking enough to warrant this kind of attention. How was it that none of these girls had a boyfriend with them? It was unlikely that they planned an all-girl party just for him, though it would be so awesome if they had. Now the question was how badly did he want to know? Was he willing to risk wrecking whatever craziness he may have wandered into?
“So, are we expecting anyone else?” Justin asked. He wanted to test the waters with a vague question. If they all started speaking in unison or mentioned any type of cannibalism he would jump overboard, otherwise, he would just shut up and go with the flow, regardless of the consequences.
“No” Amber answered curtly and handed him a plate with a slice of cake.
Trisha and Amber sat on either side of him, so closely that it was difficult to hold the plate and eat the cake without elbowing them. The other three girls sat on the sofa across from them. They were holding hands and never stopped staring at him or smiling. He hated himself for it, but he just couldn’t enjoy the moment while feeling so creeped out.
“Is everyone up for some swimming?” Justin asked as he hastily leapt to his feet. He looked silly doing it, but the quick manuever bought him some personal space.
One of the three girls turned on the radio and then the three of them pulled off their bikinis and dove into the cool water. “Good god…” Justin mumbled in disbelief. Amber stood with one foot on the deck and one on the ledge, prepared to dive in as well but she was waiting for Trisha to join her. Instead, Trisha took advantage of the time alone and began kissing Justin’s neck.
It was so much more incredible than he had imagined it would be, or even could be. Standing there with her, under the cloudless, starry night sky was like a cheesy chick-flick ending only this was so much more enjoyable. Having the bikini clad, sexier version of Amber standing close by with an approving and lustful grin, definitely wasn’t part of his previous fantasies, but it would be from now on.
The night began to move in slow motion. His head felt like it was inflating with helium and threatened to float off his shoulders and out into space, if it didn’t burst first. Trisha refused to stop kissing him and soon Amber had joined her. The creepy feeling was long gone and Justin wouldn’t even care if Mr. Tucker was sitting on the deck giving him his evil death stare, he was as close to heaven as anyone could get on earth and he wasn’t going to let anything ruin it.
He wasn’t sure how, but soon Justin was lying on his back on the deck with Amber and Trisha on top of him and the other three girls lying around him. He smirked blissfully and then time leapt forward, like a DVD with a fingerprint smudge skipping ahead by a scene. One by one, the girls took turns riding him as he lay there and every few seconds, in the blink of an eye, time would suddenly skip ahead by minutes.
It was so disorienting and Justin’s already muddled mind was becoming more and more of a jumbled mess. One second Trisha was on his left, sucking his finger and then in a flash, she was on top of Amber, making out with her. He didn’t know and didn’t care what was happening. Maybe he was going insane. It didn’t matter. He didn’t even know the other three girl’s names, but he didn’t care about that either.
Eventually he couldn’t take anymore and he moaned in glorious ecstasy and blacked out. When he awoke, he was lying on the deck of his own boat and being blinded by the sun as it crept out from behind the clouds. Justin leapt to his feet to find he was still anchored at The Point, but he was alone. His body ached from head to toe, but not in a horrible way. It was like the feeling of lactic acid lingering after a heavy workout, reminding you that you did a good job.
“Yes!” he screamed to the sky with both arms raised victoriously. No one would ever believe his story, but he didn’t care. He would revel in the glory of that night for the rest of his life.
“Justin” a woman’s voice whispered softly to him. Justin spun in circles trying to locate the source, in vain. More whispers came but they were too faint to hear clearly.
“Hello?” It was embarrassing to be shouting to no one in particular but then again, if no one was around, no one would know he did it anyway.
“Justin” the woman whispered again. The sound seemed to float across the lake on the warm breeze. He was tempted to follow it and see where it was coming from, but André and Jessica were still back at the cottage and he had a lot to talk to them about. With the boat at full speed, he made his way back.
André was standing beside the boathouse in the water up to his knees, staring blankly out over the lake again. “What the fuck is wrong with you?” Justin muttered softly to himself as he parked the boat.
“André? What the hell are you doing?” he called to his friend but was ignored. Justin headed into the cottage. With André acting so insane, he was worried about Jessica. “Jess! Are you here? Is everything okay?” he called out as he searched room by room.
“In here!” she called back from his bedroom.
Justin raced up the stairs and into his room. Jessica was rolling around in the bed in only her black thong and thigh high black stockings. “What the hell?” Justin groaned. She looked like a cat that just found its owners catnip stash.
Jessica slid off the bed and thrust herself into Justin’s arms. “Jess, what the hell are you doing? Stop!” Justin begged as he tried to pry her off him. She wouldn’t let go and even jumped up and wrapped her legs around his waist while squeezing his head in her arms, pressing her bare breasts into his face. It was so horribly wrong. She was a good friend of his for years and the girlfriend of his best friend.
Unfortunately, that just made the whole scenario so much more enticing. He was almost as sexually excited by Jessica’s impromptu, semi-nude ambush as he was by the naked quintet the night before. “Jess… please…” he grumbled half-heartedly, but there was no stopping her and Justin gave in without much resistance.
Like it had on the boat, his brain began to swirl in his head and his body refused to respond to his commands. Jessica easily manoeuvred him onto the bed, straddled him and eagerly had her way with him. Also like the night before, time seemed to twitch forward every few seconds. It was frustrating and Justin felt as if he was being robbed of his intimate moment, only he was enjoying himself too much to complain about anything right now.
Jessica, Trisha, Amber and the other girls all filled his head as he blacked out. Their beautiful naked bodies, their lustful grins and soft whispers were all so fantastic. If only he could make out what they were saying. When he awoke, Justin was alone on his bed. “What the hell did I just do?” he cursed and raced around the house looking for Jessica, who was nowhere to be found.
He was terrified to face André and had no idea how he was going to tell his best friend what happened. André wasn’t outside and neither was Jessica, but the car was gone. Justin figured they must have gone into town, or maybe, they were pissed off and abandoned him, as he deserved. With André and Jessica gone, Justin turned his attention to finding Trisha. He walked out to the boathouse and started up the boat.
He had no idea where to start looking but he pulled out and headed off over the lake. Again, there were no boats anywhere in sight, no people on the beach swimming or fishing. The entire area was deserted. “Justin” the soft voice whispered. It was so sweet and sensual that it was impossible to ignore.
It was beckoning him. “I’m coming” Justin shouted back and turned the boat towards the sound. Within minutes, he came upon the boats had encountered the night before, still huddled in a circle around the spot on the lake, only there were a few more now. Dozens of people were still standing on their decks, soaking wet and staring blankly into the water.
“This is so fucking insane,” Justin said under his breath as he drifted closer. No one paid any attention to him as he approached.
“Help me Justin” the woman’s voice called out softly. She sounded like Trisha. Or, was it Amber? Maybe it was Jessica? They were all missing after all. Maybe they were here.
Justin pulled up close enough to another boat to be able to leap across onto it. “André?” Justin cried as he landed on the other boat’s deck. André was standing at the edge of the boat, waiting for his turn to leap into the water.
“André man, what the hell?” Justin called and reached out to grab Andre’s wrist.
“I have to go, I have to save her. Can’t you hear her? She’s drowning. I have to save her,” André droned on without breaking his concentration.
“Help me Justin” the woman’s whisper was now crystal-clear. This was clearly where it was emanating from. Justin leaned over the side of the boat to look into the water at whatever had everyone’s attention.
Somewhere, deep down at the bottom of the lake was a light; a bright blue glowing orb that pulsated vibrantly.
“Justin!”, “Justin!”, “Save us Justin!”, “Justin save us, please save us!” the whispers came over and over, bombarding his brain from every direction. It was all of them. Jessica, Trisha, Amber and even the nameless girls. They were all down there, calling out for help.
“We should help them” Justin replied to André, his eyes fixated on the glowing light.
André climbed on the ledge and leapt into the water. He tried to swim down as deep as he could, but eventually he burst through the surface of the water and gasped painfully for air. He swam over to the boat, climbed up the rope ladder to the deck, and resumed his spot on the ledge, waiting for another turn. Justin grabbed his head with both hands and began violently scratching at his scalp, trying to claw away the insanity that was taking over.
Looking around he counted at least forty people, all men, standing on their decks. Then he noticed that there were at least thirty other men lying on their decks, presumably dead. Either from eventual drowning, their lungs slowly filling with water each time they dove in, or maybe from starvation, depending on how long they had been out there.
“This is so crazy, so crazy… so, so crazy” Justin thought to himself, but he couldn’t leave, he had to save them. His turn was next. He climbed on the ledge and dove head first into the water. The orb became so bright as he swam towards it and the whispers grew into loud cries as he swam closer and closer. He wasn’t even half way to it when he started to lose control.
He couldn’t hold his breath any longer and the trance broke. His survival instincts kicked in and he quickly swam to the surface. The more he panicked the more water he took in through his nose. The surface looked so far away and he was sure he was going to die. Finally, he broke through and gasped vehemently at the revitalizing air. With his mind temporarily clear, Justin quickly made his way up to the safety of the boat.
Only, as soon as he was back aboard the deck, the whispers came again, “Justin! Save us Justin!” and he was trapped. He couldn’t leave. He had to save them. Hours passed where he would wait his turn and then leap forward into the water only to have to rush to the surface to avoid drowning. On his thirtieth trip back to the surface, Justin smacked his head on the bottom of a new boat that had just arrived.
The blow nearly knocked him out, but it also seemed to shake some sense back into him. Justin made his way up onto the deck new ship, with it being the furthest away he figured it would be the safest. He also hoped that the new person wouldn’t be completely nuts already. A middle-aged man with a huge grin was eagerly steering his ship deeper into the group by bumping the smaller boats out of the way.
“You have to get out of here. Now!” Justin begged as he sprawled out from exhaustion on the man’s deck. The whispers were there, but his head ached so badly that he couldn’t make out what they were saying. It felt good to be able to think straight for the moment, but deep down he was dying to hear the sultry voice again.
The man ignored Justin’s pleas and leapt to the deck of a smaller boat to await his turn. Justin struggled to his feet and stumbled around the boat. The broken whispers were calling to him and they were becoming clearer. In a minute he would be back, diving into the water like all the others, he knew he would. A lifesaver was hung on the side of the cabin wall and Justin considered roping himself into it so that he couldn’t dive in anymore, but it was too late for that. They were calling him back and he had to go.
With his last moment of sanity, he had another idea, a completely insane and yet logical idea. He took the rope off the lifesaver and secured it around his waist with one end and the other he knotted around the base of the barbecue sitting on the deck. It was too heavy to lift, so Justin pushed it over the side. With a loud splash, the barbecue crashed into the water and pulled him down with it.
There was no turning back this time. He sank deeper and deeper towards the light. The whispers became cries and then eventually joyful cheers. “We missed you Justin” they called happily. The water was becoming cooler and cooler as he descended into the depths. Water was beginning to fill his nostrils, but there was no panic, not this time. The orb pulsed and faded, and began to transform into a beautiful woman with her arms open wide, welcoming him into her clutches. Justin smiled brightly as felt the warm embrace he had been longing for, and then, his world fell dark for the last time.
——————-
The death of the pure, virginal girl served as a sacrifice to the spirit of the lake. It’s calls for retribution brought the young women of the community to its side, to seduce the weak-willed men and send them out to their doom. One by one, the men perished until the spirit’s thirst for vengeance was finally sated.
