14 Oct The Hidden Horror Beneath Clearwater Lake

It was just supposed to be a weekend getaway, some time for me to relax and try to focus on my writing. I don’t know how all this madness can be real! I made a mistake—a huge mistake—and let something loose upon the world. I don’t know just how extensive the threat is, or if it can leave that area. Even worse, I don’t know if there are more of them. Whatever the case, everyone who goes there is now in danger.

It all happened on a vacation, my first in over five years. I work as an insurance broker for a private agency. Unfortunately, because of how “Invaluable” I was to the company, as they put it, I was always on the hook for extra hours and near-constant overtime. I had many weeks of little to no time off and no time to work on any of my hobbies or interests, like the novel I had been chipping away at writing for the last several years. It also meant that longer vacation periods were a nonstarter for me.

Chance and, honestly, some bad luck led to this arrangement in the first place, and perhaps that was a portent of how things would go from there. The bad luck was a health concern that may have been caused by how long I had been working without any time off; turns out my brain literally couldn’t handle the burnout. I had suffered a minor stroke and was forced to go on medical leave. Despite how concerning the event was, it led to a rare thing I had not had in ages, free time.

Granted, it was for recovery purposes, but because of the severity of the health implications, my work did not gripe about me actually taking a larger chunk of time off for once.

I decided to rent a cabin by the lake and really get to work writing the novel that I had been working on for years. Despite never having time to write much, I had a lot of ideas I was excited to finally put to paper, and an entire week to do so.

I arrived early on Saturday morning and was pleased to see the beautiful vista that stretched out before me on the drive over. It was a long trip, but the area was amazing, and Clearwater Lake was a spectacular sight. True to its namesake, the waters were indeed clear blue and picturesque. All around was a stunning panorama of forests and generally amazing sights to behold. I almost regretted not being able to do more hiking, exploration, or take a boat out on the water.

I parked near the cabin and saw it for the first time. It was fairly small, but honestly, that was perfect for me. A nice cozy cabin to get some writing done in was just what I needed.

I grabbed my suitcase, which just contained a few changes of clothes and toiletries, and my laptop case, which would be the thing that hopefully occupied the majority of my time.

Checking my phone, I found the message I had received from the Airbnb owner and retrieved the code to get the key. I was glad I saved the message to my phone as a PDF, since I couldn’t get back into my inbox. It seemed one big drawback here was that there was no reception for phone or data.

I walked along down the driveway toward the cabin and saw two other lots nestled in the trees to my left and right. It looked like I would have neighbors.  I got to the door and found a key box nearby. I plugged in the code and tried to open it, but to no avail. I tried three more times, but it seemed stuck.

I checked my phone again to verify the number and tried again, but still had no service. I immediately thought of calling the owner, but realized that wouldn’t work either. I slumped my shoulders in frustration and figured I may just have to go back home and get a refund when I heard someone calling me from behind.

“Excuse me, I think you need to hold the last button down while you pull on the latch. Their box keeps getting stuck, and I have seen guests leave before because they couldn’t get in.”

I was so flustered that I did not even think to say hello, but just robotically plugged in the numbers one last time and did as they had instructed, and the key box opened just fine.

“Hey, that worked! Thank you.”

“Oh, no trouble at all, and my name is Claudia.”

I finally turned around and looked at who was there. She was a very pretty young woman with red hair and green eyes, and she was smiling at me.

I had been so distracted that I suddenly felt embarrassed and fumbled for words when I noticed the pause after she had introduced herself.

“Sorry, my name is Kyle. Thanks again. I just got here and am a bit disoriented.”

I said, groaning inwardly at my own awkwardness.

“Nice to meet you, and I am glad I caught you before you left. The owner really needs to fix that key box, so their guests don’t get stuck outside. How long are you here for?”

“Just a week, I am taking a little vacation to work on some writing,” I replied.

“You are an author? How exciting. Have you written anything I might have read?”

She asked with a gleam in her eyes.

I was caught off guard by her genuine interest. I blushed a bit and told her, “No, not a professional, I am just working on a first draft of a novel idea while I am taking some leave from work.”

“Oh, okay, still very exciting. If you need anything to help get settled in or just want to talk about books, I am just over there.”

She pointed to the house partially obscured by the heavy line of trees that sat to the left of my rental.

“That’s great!” I responded with a smile. “I may take you up on that if I get cabin fever or writer’s block. It’s nice to have such a friendly face to greet me here, and thanks again for helping with that lock.”

Claudia waved goodbye to me and went back along the driveway towards her cabin.

I waved back at her and was happy that she had been here. I didn’t know if I would have the courage to invite her over as she had offered, but it was nice to daydream about it.

I opened the door and proceeded into the cabin with my luggage in tow.

The cabin was a bit musty inside. I was not sure how long it had been since the last guest was here, or indeed how often it was cleaned. It was not strictly dirty, just a little dingy and dusty, as if the space had not been disturbed by a guest or its owner in some time.

There was a nautical theme in all the decor. On the walls and furniture were pictures of fishermen, sea creatures and boats. I thought it was a little on the nose, but cute.

Moving further into the cabin, I saw a small bathroom where I dropped off the few toiletries I had brought. There was a bedroom off to the left of the hall and a small kitchenette straight ahead. Finally, there was a small living room to the right with a fireplace, a chair, and a sofa, and through the glass sliding doors was a patio with a stunning view of the lake, which I knew at that moment would be where I wanted to do my writing.

I opened the sliding doors and was greeted by a soothing breeze from the lake’s shore. Feeling better already, I left my suitcase on the floor in the living room, took my laptop, placed it on the patio table, and sat down to get to work on my novel.

It felt like no time had passed, and if it had not been for the orange gleam of the setting sun, I would not have known just how much time had gone by. I had been sitting there almost all day with hardly any breaks. I realized I was starving and knew that, as nice as my focus on my book was, it was also a bad habit from the work grind to be so hyper-focused; I forgot to take breaks. Now that I was going to be losing natural light soon, I resolved to get something to eat.

I realized I had forgotten to pack any food, so I searched the kitchen for something. There was not much to speak of, just some canned soup and a box of saltines. I figured that would suffice, and tomorrow I would drive back the few miles towards the nearest town that I had seen a grocery store in.

As I was eating my soup in silence, my eyes drifted towards the lake. The sight was amazing, and it looked like the sun was sinking into it as the rest of the daylight receded from view.

I sat there, content with my progress for the day and looking forward to the rest of my vacation. I was about to get up and head to the living room to grab my luggage when I saw something strange. There was a peculiar roiling in the water at the center of the lake, despite the lack of any direct source for the disturbance. The waters grew more agitated and fiercer, like a localized storm. I watched the crazy natural phenomenon in disbelief.

While I watched a large gout of water almost like a miniature cyclone appeared near where the disturbance was and almost as soon as it appeared it vanished. Before it had fully vanished, an odd glow was visible near the center of it, like something was shining a light from the bottom of the lake up through the strange parting waters of the cyclone. I rubbed my eyes in disbelief and wondered what I had just seen.

As I continued to look on, I thought I saw a strange mist rising from the water, and there was an incredibly brief flash of light in the air near where I had seen the ascending moon.

It was a very mysterious and captivating sight, but also slightly disturbing, and I did not know what to make of it. I decided not to worry about it and I resolved to write a bit more in the living room before going to bed.

Eventually, when I was too tired to continue, I settled in bed and turned off the lights. As I lay there, waiting to fall asleep, I noticed a host of pleasant ambient sounds. The rhythmic buzzing from cicadas, the occasional croaking of frogs in the distance, and what sounded like an owl hooting in the dark, just to name a few.

I remember waking up around midnight. It was oddly silent, and the ambient sounds had disappeared.

I was about to fall back asleep when I heard something new. It was faint, but noticeable; it sort of sounded like wind chimes striking together at irregular intervals. The sound by itself would not have been too unpleasant, but there was an odd timing delay between the sounds that seemed unnatural. The worst part was the strange pressure in the air that made my head hurt in the intervals between the chimes.

I tried to ignore it and go back to sleep, but it was impossible; if anything, the more I tried to ignore it, the more insistent it became. I pulled a pillow over my head and tossed and turned for another few minutes before I decided to get up and see what the source was. I hoped it had a source and that it was not some weird ringing in my ears that was going to herald another stroke. I was supposed to be taking it easy, but the day had felt more like a workday than a vacation, considering how much writing I had done. I thought I might be dehydrated since I was ignoring food and drink while preoccupied.

I decided to get out of bed and get a glass of water, and hoped to find the source of that strange sound while I was up.

It was pitch-black inside the cabin, and I fumbled for the light switches so I could see. Before I found the hall light, I caught a strange light outside and realized there was an odd phosphorescence coming off the lake itself. I speculated it might just be a trick of the moon, causing the odd glow to the lake itself. But I had not seen this particular spectrum of light before, so I was not sure.

I switched on the hall light and closed my eyes against the sudden shift from near-total darkness to light. In the moments my eyes were closed, my hearing was focused, and I heard the rattling, chiming sound again. This time, it was clearer and sounded as if it were coming from below. Something in the floorboards, perhaps?

I thought this was especially strange, since the sound conflicted with anything one might expect to find underground. Chimes normally need wind to make sound. Yet the more I listened, the surer I was that it was coming from something below the cabin.

I thought I had isolated the spot under the cabin where I heard it the strongest. I remembered seeing a small access point to the panels underneath the raised patio and decided to see if there might be a crawlspace or something I could use to check, so I wouldn’t have to remove the floor panels and get in trouble with the owner if my deranged midnight search turned out to be fruitless.

I stepped outside and was assailed by a bitter chill in the air. I regretted not having put on my coat, but I realized I had left it in the car. I hurried to the area by the patio and, to my luck, after shifting a small panel, I found a crawl space I could use to climb under and check. As I was about to head in, suddenly I fell back and almost jumped out of my skin when I was surprised by a small family of deer that were standing nearby, shockingly close to where I stood. I had no idea how they were this close without being frightened off, but they looked like they were in a sort of weird trance and didn’t seem to care about me.

Maybe they heard the sound, too?

I bent down and pushed myself into the crawl space. The sound was getting very loud now, almost as if it were speeding up and getting louder just by getting closer to it.

I started regretting the small adventure when I slowly crawled through a damp, frigid tunnel of old spiderwebs and rotten detritus from whatever things chose to live under the cabin here. The sound was practically hammering in my head now, and I was concerned that the audible assault might cause actual harm to me. I had come too far at that point, though, and after searching and scratching through the darkness, I felt something different. It felt like a small box of some sort. It was very surreal. The box felt warm to the touch, and as I grasped it, the chiming sound that was so insistent I thought my head might burst, completely stopped. I started crawling backward and out of the crawlspace to get a better look when I realized the faint pulsing was still there. It had quieted down when I touched it, but was slowly coming back to life now.

By the time I emerged from the crawlspace and dusted myself off, the chiming was back. I brought it under a light so I could see what I was dealing with. It was a strange-looking box with very impressive hand-carved designs of various sea creatures, and a hook and clasp that seemed to be made of the remnants of some marine animal, maybe even shark teeth. It seemed to be hand-carved from some sort of ivory, though the color and texture were slightly off, and I couldn’t place exactly what it was made of.

I unclasped the small hook and tooth, and the lid opened slowly, revealing a strange object. It looked like a tuning fork, but it was made of a substance that seemed to be a composite of both alloy and natural sea coral.

The item was fascinating, and I wondered who had put it down here and why. Also, why was it making that odd sound? It had a chime to it, but I had no idea what force had enabled it to make that sound. I figured I would reserve further investigation until I got back into the cabin.

I walked back towards the front door from the patio. Almost as soon as my back was turned to the lake, the object started emitting an unbridled buzzing, humming chime that made my teeth hurt with its intensity. I turned around and felt an odd compulsion to be rid of the thing, but as I walked back toward the patio, the intensity lessened, and the chime grew softer and more soothing.

This behavior was bizarre, and I soon realized that the small object was somehow changing its sound and frequency depending on how close or far it was from the lake. I tested the theory one more time, and sure enough, when I walked away from the water, it whined and protested, and when I walked towards it, it only emitted a soothing chime. The thing was fascinating; it worked like a divining rod.

I was so tired, I stepped inside and thought I might be able to deal with it tomorrow, but sure enough, even when left outside on the patio, it still chimed endlessly, as if wanting to go towards the water.

I made a fateful choice and decided to take the thing and walk towards the lake. As I got closer, the pleasant chiming sound continued. I also noticed an odd pulsing feeling while holding it. The thing felt unnervingly like a heartbeat.

I finally reached the water’s edge, and the strange device was thrumming with unseen energy. I noticed new sensory evidence as well. The thing was glowing with a faint lambent light. I looked up from the object in my hands and out toward the lake. To my shock, I noticed the same light coming off the lake’s waters.

I started to feel worried about holding this strange thing. Maybe it was some sort of radiation, and I was going to get sick from it. This type of glow can’t be natural. My mind raced with other concerns like the weird sound, the pulsing motion and every other strange thing that had happened in the last hour.

I was standing motionless by the water’s edge, considering the abnormality of the situation, when something snapped me out of my trance, and I realized I didn’t like the idea of having this thing so close to the water.

I turned around and started to walk away when I slipped on a patch of mud and fell face-first to the ground. The tuning fork fell from my hands and, with a chiming sound, struck the ground and proceeded to slide into the water.

I stood up and dove forward, trying to recover it, but despite its initial lack of inertia, the waters had somehow swept it along into the lake. Soon, I saw its glowing pulsing form gliding quickly through the water and into the deepest part of the lake, staying buoyant despite its density.

I observed the ethereal spectacle from the shore, as the odd little object drifted quickly through the water, never ceasing to chime and pulse with brilliant light. When it neared the center of the lake, I thought it would keep drifting, perhaps to the other coast. Yet somehow it stopped altogether.

It floated there motionless, only visible because of the light it continued to emit.

Then there was a sound like an avalanche, and the terrible splitting of rock, almost as if the tectonic plates of the earth itself were shifting. The light faded from view, and the lake was quiet again.

I did not know what the hell I just witnessed. The bizarre little trinket was gone, consumed by the lake. Why had the light faded and that strange sound stopped?

Confused and disturbed by what I had seen, I sat by the lake in stunned silence for a while. Eventually, I decided I could not make any sense of it at this time and went back to the cabin to get some rest.

I had a fitful sleep that night when I finally did manage to get back to sleep. I dreamt about the bizarre lights in the lake and the strange chiming object I had found. Something felt wrong about it, and I felt like I had somehow made a huge mistake in dropping it into the glowing waters of the lake.

I woke up sometime in the late morning and tried to get my bearings. I felt awful and knew I hadn’t slept enough. I couldn’t get back to sleep, so I resolved to embrace it and make a pot of coffee in the kitchen to ease my mental fatigue.

As I was headed to the kitchen, there was a knock at my door. I wondered who it could be and thought it might be Claudia checking up on me. I tried to swipe my hair back to look more presentable, but I knew without a mirror’s help that I looked like hell after last night.

I dreaded answering the door but couldn’t think of an excuse, so I summoned my courage and threw the door open, waiting for her judgment.

It never came, though, as a short man with white hair and large, round glasses was looking at me with a rather serious expression. After a brief and judgmental look at me, the man cleared his throat and spoke.

“Excuse me, sir, I know you are a guest here at this cabin, but I have to ask. Did ya see or hear anything strange last night? Only askin’ because I found something disturbing between our cabins this morning that I reckon you should see.”

He paused and readjusted his glasses.

“Sorry there, the name’s Thomas, I live next door. Figured I should warn ya since I saw that this place was being rented again.”

I introduced myself, and as I was speaking, I noticed his eyes glancing back and forth, but particularly at an area near the cabin’s patio.

“Well, I guess it’s better if you see for yourself.” He gestured to me to follow him, and I complied.

We walked about halfway down the trail to the shore that was between the cabin and this man’s house, and as we got closer to a small line of trees near the shore, we stumbled upon a shocking sight.

It was the slaughtered remnants of what looked like several deer. They had been completely torn apart. There was blood everywhere and fragments of fur and bone scattered all around in a savage example of unmitigated brutality. I did not know who could have done this. No animal would be so wantonly brutal that I knew of.

As I stood there taking in the grisly sight, Thomas spoke again.

“I found it here this morning while I was taking my morning walk to the lake to stretch my legs. We have had the occasional bear and one time even a mountain lion, but I ain’t ever seen something this bad. I don’t even know if whatever killed ‘em did it for hunting or just to kill, there’s so much left but it’s all over the place, ain’t been picked clean by anything that was killin for food.”

I was so shocked that I barely heard everything he said. This was the same group of deer that I saw last night. Had whatever killed them been so close to the cabin! My thoughts raced as my fears compounded.

“You okay there, mister?” Thomas asked, concerned.

“I’m sorry, you’re right. This is terrible. I didn’t see any animals last night besides these deer, and they seemed fine at the time.”

I decided not to mention the bizarre sounds and lights from the lake or the incident with the object, since I was doubting everything that had occurred and was not one hundred percent certain it was not a dream.

“Alright, fella, you just be careful. Whatever got those deer did not leave a trace, and something that brutal that kin kill that quick and that mean is not to be trifled with, ya understand?”

I nodded my head and thanked him for his concern, and he left back up the trail, looking left and right in a paranoid mania that I couldn’t blame him for. I felt it was a very concerning coincidence that these animals could be mutilated the same night all that madness with the chiming object and glowing lights occurred, whatever it was I didn’t like it.

I was just about to head back inside myself when Claudia called out to me and waved for me to wait in the distance. I met up with her, and she had a look of surprised concern as well.

“Yeah, Thomas gave us the same warning, really scary that whatever it is is so violent and territorial. I don’t even know if I am going to tell my aunt Carol, she loved that family of deer and will be heartbroken that they are gone.”

She looked over at her house with a somber, reflective gaze, then turned back to me.

“Oh, I’m sorry. I forgot to mention yesterday that I live here with my aunt Carol. She raised me ever since my parents died, and she always loved the local animals. There are ducks, deer, squirrels, and all manner of animal friends she manages to make around here. She is not doing so well with her health, and this news is going to be hard for her to hear when she wonders what happened to the deer family.”

“I’m so sorry. Is there anything I can do to help?” I asked, not really knowing what I was doing.

“No, it’s okay, but it’s nice of you to ask. Just please be careful and holler if you see or hear anything strange. Best to stay inside at night just to be safe, too, so no late-night walks like last night,” she said while winking and walking back toward her house.

Had she seen everything last night? I wondered just how much she saw, or if she heard the strange chiming sound of that object or the creepy glow from the lake.

I was not sure what to do at that point. I figured I should finally drive to town and get some proper provisions. A couple of hours later, I returned to the cabin with food, drinks, and a few random items I decided to pick up while I was there. I was feeling a little shaken by the deer being slaughtered the way they were, and the mental image reminded me of how vulnerable I was. I did not have the funds, or the time needed to process a firearms purchase so just to help alleviate concern I picked up a can of bear mace and a hunting knife just in case.

I also picked up a few vanity items, like a pocket mirror, since I found myself fussing over my appearance more than I thought I would on this trip. I had to admit that I was at least indirectly trying to impress Claudia. So, I picked up the mirror, a comb and a few other things to try and spruce myself up.

I went inside and tried to get a few hours of writing in before nightfall. I was having a hard time concentrating, and my mind kept drifting to that bizarre light in the lake. I wanted to know what was really going on here, that couldn’t have just been my imagination.

I wasn’t making any progress, so I decided to call it a night early and hopefully get some decent sleep, since it had been so hard to settle down last night. I actually managed to nod off pretty quickly, but after a few hours, I was woken up by a terrible scream.

I jumped out of bed with a start, nearly falling over in the scramble in the darkness.

It was odd how ready I felt, almost as if subconsciously I was expecting something to happen. I raced outside with a flashlight and bear mace, wearing only my boxers and a T-shirt. I had forgotten the knife, but there was no time to look back now. It was cold, and I regretted not getting dressed, but if someone needed help urgently, my modesty and comfort didn’t matter now.

I looked around, trying to determine the origin of the scream. When I glanced toward the lake, I was horrified to see an eerie miasma of fog gathered along its shore, and upon closer inspection, it appeared to be the same lambent color of the lake that night. I knew whatever was happening was likely related to what had happened last night.

I paused for a moment, listening, and I heard the shattering of glass and a sound like breaking wood. It sounded like it came from Claudia’s and her aunt’s direction.

I burst into motion, sprinting over and nearly tripping on the dark pathway. I had to get there quickly; something was happening there, something bad.

When I got to their house, I saw that the back screen door had been torn off its hinges, the back door proper had a shattered glass pane, and there was a horrible-looking rent in the door, like massive claws had been raking at it.

I gripped the bear mace tighter in my hand and suddenly felt that it wouldn’t be enough for whatever this was. Summoning my courage, I stepped in. As I set foot in the house, my head began ringing and my teeth almost started chattering from the thrum of energy and the weird mental feedback of whatever was in there with us. I dared to let out a hushed yet panicked,

“Claudia….where are you?….”

No response was forthcoming, but I heard something else, something far worse. It sounded like a giant was stomping along and dragging its feet. Some monstrous bulk was moving in the house as well, and I fell back pressing myself against a wall in the darkness. I thought I heard something upstairs move, and I held my breath as I peeked around the corner just in time to see a table launch at a wall with a crash.

I winced at the explosive destruction on display. When I took another look, the room was darker, and I saw that an overhead light fixture was on the floor, demolished. I held my breath and watched, or I should say listened in stunned silence, as I realized the thing was still in here somewhere. Whatever it was, I could hear it, but not see it!

There was no visible trace besides the ruin it was leaving, but the sounds were terrible, and I felt a pulsing pain in my head as I heard a disturbingly familiar chiming sound. There was a heaving, crushing, lapping sort of sound, like a tree being dragged slowly along the ground. The timbers in the house buckled as the unseen nightmare moved along the ground. Whatever was making it was immense, but why couldn’t I see it?

My mind was racing, and I knew I had to do something. I was terrified to proceed, but I had to try and see if Claudia and her aunt were safe. Even if I could just distract that thing, whatever it was, it might give them time to escape.

My planning was cut short when another sound came from upstairs: a smashing, charging sound, and the banister on the stairs cracked off from some tremendous force.

I swallowed hard and rushed around the corner up the stairs after the unseen nightmare.

I arrived just in time to hear Claudia screaming. I soon saw why when I reached the top of the stairs and moved down the hall to see a bedroom where they had likely been hiding. Claudia was huddled in a corner of the room and watching as the invisible force tore an older-looking woman, who must have been her aunt, apart. The poor woman was still alive as her limbs were ripped off, and the spray of blood made a strange hue of light as it seemed to splash against and then absorb into whatever invisible entity was attacking her.

I ducked back, sitting down next to the door frame, trying to breathe and focus through the madness of what was going on. If I didn’t act soon, Claudia would be next, so I grabbed a splintered piece of wood from the banister and threw it down the stairs as loudly as I could.

There was a pause in the sounds of the creature’s motions, like it was deciding what to do. A terrible moment passed in that disturbing silence. The only sound was the hushed but choking cries of Claudia as she tried to hide from the thing that had claimed her aunt. I thought my distraction might have worked, but I wanted to look carefully to see if anything in the room was moving to try to tell where the thing might be. I took out the pocket mirror I’d bought earlier, placed it near the corner of the door, and used it to look around and see what was happening. When I looked, it was my turn to stifle a gasp of horror so profound I almost gave my own position away.

Despite its previous invisibility, some trick of reflection worked to reveal the thing’s true form, and my heart almost gave out having to take one glimpse at the thing.

The monster was indescribable in its horror and utter alienage, a writhing mass of clawed forelimbs, useless vestigial tendrils or feelers and large tube-like appendages growing out where its eyes ought to have been. It was all shrouded by a haze of the horrible, deathly light seen from the lake and that artifact. The worst part was the recognizable features, which, in this case, were the vague outline of deer antlers and the hoof-like ends of its various, terrible appendages. I thought of the pieces that were missing from the slaughtered family of deer, and my heart sank at the horror of the monstrous assimilation that must have occurred.

I looked at the titan reflection of the nightmare, paralyzed with fear until I realized my distraction had worn off and the entity turned its terrible bulk toward Claudia again. She was trapped and would surely die if I didn’t intervene. I forced myself to move, channeling some measure of near suicidal bravery I didn’t think myself capable of, and I rushed into the room.

I used the mirror as a guide to see where the colossal abomination was standing, and while its back was turned, I doused the area where the eyes should have been with the bear mace.

There was a monstrous rumbling, and an undulating wave of nausea filled the pit of my stomach as I thought I heard vocalizations both close and distant, whose discordance threatened to knock me unconscious. Whatever had happened, it did not seem to like it.

I rushed over to Claudia and pulled her up.

“We need to leave now!” I shouted at her, trying to get her to move.

It seemed to have worked, and I had knocked her out of her catatonic terror.

“Where did it go? What is it? It killed Auntie Carol!” She said in something still near total shock.

“It is still here; we need to run now!” To accentuate my point a crashing smack was heard as a book shelf was obliterated off the wall with no point of origin being seen for the destruction. We raced along the edge of the room, giving the last area I saw the thing a wide berth. All the while, the rumbling sound began to fade. I didn’t know if that meant it was recovering from the bear mace and would see us again.

I didn’t want to stay long enough to find out. We raced out of the room, and Claudia let out another shriek as she saw what I saw afterward, when glancing back. A small portion of glass in the room’s window that hadn’t been shattered by the thundering bellow of the monster had provided a reflective surface just large enough to see. And what we saw was the malodorous form of the monster slowly moving to follow us out of the room.

That sight was enough to drive both of us in a frenzied flight out of that house and into the front yard. We didn’t look back though I could tell Claudia wanted to, this was where she grew up and that was her house and her aunt who had raised her. Even though she was gone, the hesitation was still there. I squeezed her hand and tried to encourage her.

“I am so sorry, she is gone, but you can make it, you can survive this, we both will, but we need to go.”

She nodded grimly, and I could tell she reluctantly agreed.

“You’re right. I can’t believe this is happening. What is that thing?”

“I don’t know, but we don’t have time to find out. Let’s get to my car and get the hell out of here.”

We took off down the pathway toward my cabin. Very soon after we made it onto the path, we heard a thundering sound behind us. It was like a wrecking ball going through a building, and we knew that the thing had gotten out.

We started sprinting down the path, and as we hurdled ourselves down the way, I tripped and barreled over, nearly going down the other slope of the hill off toward the lake. Claudia was there, and she helped pull me to my feet. I thanked her, but my words almost failed me as I saw, behind us, that the trees were being pushed, bent, and in some cases directly broken by the thing following us. Still no sight other than the breaking and twisting of trees and the awful surging, sliding sound to accompany the sheer destructive force of the monster.

We made it to the car, but my heart sank when I realized the keys were inside.

“What? What is it? Drive! Come on, let’s go!” Claudia implored, her normally serene voice tinged with desperate fear.

“The keys are inside!” I admitted with dejected horror.

I told her to come with me in case the thing got to the car, and we rushed into the cabin. I scrambled through the room and found the keys.

The victory was short-lived as we heard the cabin walls being smashed by the creature. We thought we were doomed, but soon thereafter, we heard the report of a gunshot outside.

The monster abandoned its siege of the cabin, and the slamming sound ended, but was followed by three more shots, then by yelling. I grabbed the keys and we rushed out of the door in time to see Thomas suspended in the air by some invisible force, firing his rifle at something below where he was being held up in the air.

“Tom!” Claudia cried out.

“Go! Just go! Save yourselves!” Thomas cried.

He looked like he was going to try to say something else, but we watched on in utter horror as his head was separated from his body.

Claudia screamed again, and I took her hand and we rushed back to the car.

I hit the gas and peeled out of the driveway. Against my better judgment, I took one look back in the rearview mirror, and what I saw will ensure I never sleep soundly again.

I saw the entire terrible view of the lake in the rearview mirror. It was glowing and shimmering with the hellish light, and it appeared to be spreading onto the land as well. The maddening sight was accompanied by the rumbling tremor of the creature’s sounds, which still echo in my mind.

Claudia and I drove into the morning, until we nearly ran out of fuel. We didn’t know what to do or say. We were alive, but for how long? What had been unleashed at Clearwater Lake?

Would whatever nightmare that crawled out of those stygian depths return to its slumber in the lake? Or was its horrible rampage only just beginning?

Neither of us knew, but we drove on in uncertainty to whatever fate awaited us. Yet as we continued in our desperate flight from that place of unendurable madness, the engine seemed to fire in time with a soft, eerie chime, and I feared it had only just begun.