by Jenna Lehne
“Maybe it’s because we were so hot,” I say. “It probably feels so intense because we’re cooling down.”
“Not you.” Teddy’s eyes flick up and down my body. “You’re still hot. Like a goddamn inferno.”
I glide into Teddy’s arms and wrap my legs around his waist. “You’re just saying that because you’re trying to get some.”
Teddy squeezes my thighs. “I totally would be if the circumstances were different. I’m pretty sure trying to get laid after someone dies is a no-go.”
A swirling, hot sensation fills my stomach. Droplets roll off Teddy’s face, just like they did the first afternoon. I lean forward and kiss the drop off his lower lip. “Sex is a perfectly natural way to grieve, Teddy.”
Did I just say that?
Judging by the instant hardening in Teddy’s shorts, I did. I kiss him again, this time I push my tongue through his closed lips. He tastes hot and sweet, like the bottle on the dock. I bite his lip and sink my nails into his shoulders.
“Fuck, Daisy.” He undoes the back of my bikini top and pulls it over my head.
I reach down and grasp him through his shorts. “I told you not to call me that.”
He pushes himself against my hand and sighs my name. We kiss again, our tongues tangling together, our hands busy. When his hand slides down the front of my bikini bottoms, I gasp.
“Take these off,” he murmurs against my mouth.
I push back from him and tug them down an inch. “Is this good?”
He undoes the tie on his trunks. “Lower.”
I kick back a few feet, until I’m too deep to touch the ground, and wiggle my bottoms down a little more. My foot tangles in slippery vines, but I don’t care. I’m having way too much fun to be distracted by algae-covered weeds. “How about this?”
Teddy swims toward me. His trunks are untied and hanging dangerously low. “Just a little further down.”
I half undo one of the knots keeping my bikini bottoms on. I swim just out of Teddy’s reach again. This time, the weeds tangle up my foot and around my calf.
Teddy catches up and grabs me. “Gotcha.”
“Just a second,” I say. “I’m caught in seaweed or something.”
I reach down and try to rip the plant off my legs. It slides through my fingers, feeling more like silk than anything else. I wrinkle my nose. This doesn’t feel right.
“Need a hand?” Teddy winks at me.
“I’m good.” I giggle. “Be right back.”
I take a breath and close my eyes. I dive down and grab two handfuls of the slimy restraints. Impossibly thin strands wrap around my fingers. It feels more like corn silk than any type of plant. I open my eyes and all my breath leaves in one sharp, underwater scream.
It isn’t a plant that’s wrapped around my leg. It’s hair. I kick to the surface and try to swim away.
Teddy ducks away from my flailing arms. “What’s down there?”
“It’s hair,” I gasp.
“Fuck,” Teddy spits out. He disappears beneath the surface without taking a breath. My legs are released a few seconds later. He comes up for air, his face whiter than chalk. “I need you to get out of the water.”
“Why?”
“Just do it. Go up to the house and get Henry, but don’t come back down. Do you hear me?” Teddy’s arms are still below the surface.
My stomach drops to the lake floor below. “Teddy, what’s wrong?”
He shakes his head. “Go get Henry, Murph. Please.”
I swim away, but only because I’m too terrified to ask anymore questions. I’m too afraid to find out what, or who, Teddy is holding onto. The sinking feeling in my gut tells me I already know. I find my top floating a few feet from the dock and struggle back into it. I pull myself up the ladder and tug my dress back on. My mind is already starting to clear. The hormone fog that surrounded Teddy and me is completely gone. Now I can’t stop picturing Oliver. I can’t stop wondering what Teddy is holding underneath the surface of the water.
I grab my shirt and struggle into it. I run up the stairs and force myself to ignore the tiny rocks sinking into the soles of my feet. I sprint around the deck and yank the sliding door open. Peyton and Henry are on opposite sides of the kitchen. Their faces are red and blotchy, but they’re not yelling anymore.
“We broke up,” Peyton says the second she sees me.
I ignore her and point to the water. “Henry, Teddy needs you. There’s something in the water.”
Henry stares at me for a second before my words hit him. “Is it—”
“I don’t know,” I say. “Just go help him. Now. Please.”
Henry runs out the sliding door.
Peyton jumps up and runs into my arms. “Henry dumped me. Can you believe it? First Olly now this.”
“That sucks.” I pat Peyton’s shoulder a few times before I step back. I don’t have time to pretend to be sad about the break-up. “I need to go back to the water. Are you going to be okay up here alone?”
“No way,” she says. “I’m coming with.”
I shift uneasily. “I don’t know, Pey. I think Teddy found something bad. Really bad.”
Peyton runs her fingertips under her eyes. “I can handle it. Let’s go.” She brushes past me and flounces out the window, blonde head held high.
We make it to the dock just as Henry dives into the water. Teddy is still pale, but at least his head is above water.
“Jesus, Murphy, go back up. Seriously.” Teddy raises one arm and points to the house. Clumps of hair wrap around his forearm.
I can see the hair color now that it’s out of the water. It’s a terrifyingly familiar shade of henna-dyed red.
“Hayley!” I scream and dive into the water. My clothes cling to me like weights, desperate to drag me down to the sandy floor below. I rip my dress off and leave it behind. I swim toward Teddy as fast as I can. I come up for air a few feet away from Henry. The bubbles breaking around him tell me that Teddy is underneath the water.
“Go back to shore!” Henry shouts at me.
I ignore him and dive under the surface. Sunbeams light up the water so I can actually see where I’m going. I do a few underwater strokes until I reach Teddy. His back is to me, the muscles flexing and bunching as he struggles with whatever is caught in the weeds. I swim around so I’m in front of him. I keep my eyes on Teddy’s face and far away from his hands.
His eyes widen when he sees me. He frantically points up to the surface, but I shake my head. I close my eyes and force my head to look down. When I open my eyes, I’m inches away from a bloated face. Bleary, crystal blue eyes bulge overtop pale cheeks. Her hair floats around her face in a crimson mane. My stomach rolls and I swim to the surface. I start to cry before I can stop myself.
“Get her out of the water,” I say. “Please, Henry. You’ve got to get her out.”
“We will.” Henry gently shoves me toward the dock. “I promise.”
I climb up the ladder with Peyton’s help. She wraps her arms around me and we collapse onto the dock below.
“It’s Hayley, isn’t it?" She says the words with no inflection whatsoever. Hayley’s death is a statement, not a question.
I lean against Peyton’s shoulder and use Henry’s discarded t-shirt to wipe my eyes. The loss of Oliver was a shock. Our disbelief kept the pain at bay. Oliver’s death was the fire. Hayley is the gasoline. There’s no way to put out the inferno now, no matter how many tears we cry.
“I thought she was hiking,” Peyton murmurs.
“She was supposed to be,” I say. “That’s what her note to Olly said.”
Teddy and Henry take turns diving underneath the water. Hayley’s hair is so entwined with the weeds that pulling her out is impossible.
“Do you need a knife?” Peyton lets me go and stands up.
Teddy shakes his head. “I think we’ve almost got her.”
On cue, Henry breaks the water’s surface. “She’s free. Do you guys want to go upstairs? Teddy and
I can bring her up.”
I grab Peyton’s hand and nod.
“We’ll go get a spot ready for her,” I say.
Peyton and I silently turn around and walk up the dock. I don’t want to see them drag Hayley’s lifeless body up the dock. We hold each other’s hands and walk up to the house, and into the loft. Oliver’s body is hidden under a black sheet. I let go of Peyton’s hand and pull the sheet back.
“We should put her here.” I point to the spot next to Oliver. “It’s where she’d want to be.”
Peyton nods. “How are we going to tell their parents?”
I feel the blood rush out of my cheeks. “Their parents. Oh my God. We need to tell their parents.”
The kitchen door slides open. Soggy footsteps fill the air.
“We’ll worry about that later.” I reign in my nerves and lean over the railing. “We’re up here.”
I catch a glimpse of Teddy slowly walking across the living room. He has Hayley in his arms. One of her arms is around his neck. Her face is pressed against his chest. Teddy looks straight ahead. His jaw is clenched tight.
“They’re coming,” I whisper.
Henry comes up the stairs first. He doesn’t say anything to Peyton, but he doesn’t push her away when she falls into his arms either.
Teddy and Hayley come up the final stairs. He carries her over to the bed and gently lies her down next to Olly. He pushes her hair out of her face and lays her hand on top of Oliver’s. The tenderness in his gestures makes the breath leave my chest in a painful gasp. This isn’t fair.
“Can you help me, Murphy?” Teddy asks.
I nod and grab a corner of the sheet. Together, we pull the sheet up. We pause when we reach their chins.
Teddy looks at me over the bodies of my friends. “Are you ready?”
“As ready as I could possibly be.”
Together we pull the sheet over Hayley and Oliver’s eternally sleeping faces. Henry and Peyton go downstairs first, then me, and then Teddy. He pauses at the top of the stairs and searches for the light switch.
“Don’t,” I say. “Hayley hated the dark.”
“Okay,” Teddy says. He reaches for me instead of the switch.
We walk away until there’s nothing left to see except for the night-light kept on for the dead.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
It’s not even four o’clock yet. Two of my friends have died and it’s not even time to have supper. No one has spoken for twenty minutes. After we took care of Hayley, we came to the living room. We haven’t moved since.
“We need to call for help,” Henry says. “We can’t just sit here and wait until tomorrow afternoon for the gas truck to show up or for the phone lines to get fixed. Not with Hayley and Oliver upstairs like that.”
“We can try to hike back down the mountain,” I say. “Now that we know Hayley isn’t coming back, there’s no point in staying here.”
Teddy shakes his head. “We wouldn’t make it down until the morning, if that.”
“Didn’t you say there were bears out there?” Peyton asks. “I’d rather sit outside and wait for help than risk being bear bait.”
“She’s right,” Teddy says. “It’s not worth the risk. Especially now.”
Henry shoots to his feet and starts pacing. “Then what do we do? I’ll go fucking crazy if I just sit here and think.”
“Let’s check the houses,” I say. “That’s what Olly and I were going to do. Maybe there’s a satellite phone or a radio.”
“Good idea,” Henry says. “Let’s go.”
“We should split up,” I say. “Teddy and I will check the houses to the right, you guys take the left. We’ll meet back at the house once we finish. Bring back anything useful you find, especially walkie-talkies, radios, and laptops. Even a different brand of cell phones could help. Some of those old brick ones can find a signal anywhere.”
“How are we supposed to get in?” Peyton asks.
I jump up and rifle through one of Mom’s many junk drawers. I grab a key ring with eight keys on it. “We all have keys to each other’s houses in case something happens. Our neighbors spent the weekend at our house last summer after their sewage pump died. It’s handy.”
“I’ll say,” Teddy says. “I thought we were going to have to break into all these shacks.”
I grab four keys and pass them to Henry.
“Thanks,” Henry says. “I’m going to change. Do you guys want to check the houses and meet back in an hour?”
“Sure. I need to change though.” I start pulling off my swimsuit before I’m even in the room. I know the lake is huge, but the idea of it wearing something cloaked in Hayley’s death water gives me the willies.
Teddy follows me and closes the door behind him. “How you holding up?”
“Honestly? I’m okay. Don’t get me wrong - I’m one stubbed toe away from a complete melt down. Keeping busy is helping though. As long as we’re doing something to get Hayley and Oliver home, I’ll be okay.” I put on a fresh pair of shorts and a new tank top. I corral my tangled, damp hair into a bun. I almost feel normal again. “Are you alright?”
Teddy shrugs and gives me a small smile. “Being in the water, alone, was the hardest part.”
I run my hands over the goose bumps speckling Teddy’s biceps. “Thanks for doing that, For staying with her. And for trying to get me to stay in the house. It was very brave.”
Teddy ducks his head and presses his lips to my forehead. “No problem. Now how about we go find that satellite phone I just know one of your neighbors is stashing.”
Peyton and Henry do not look happy that they’re forced to spend more time alone, but they’re smart enough not to say anything.
“Are we all clear on what we need to get?” I ask Teddy, Henry, and Peyton.
Teddy and Peyton nod.
“You guys should check the vehicles for gas, too. That creepy old dude could’ve been lying to us,” Henry says.
“Good idea,” I say. “See you guys in an hour.”
Teddy and I take off in the opposite direction. Luckily, the houses aren’t too far apart. Our closest neighbors, the Sanderson’s, are only a couple minutes away.
“I can’t believe we didn’t check the cars already.” Teddy shoves his fingers through his hair. “We could’ve been home already and none of this would’ve happened.”
“We all wanted to stay,” I say. “Hayley and Oliver, too. Of course we could’ve looked for gas, but no one wanted to. We came for the weekend to get away from everything and have some fun. And up until today, that’s what was happening.”
“You’re right, I guess.” Teddy lets go of his hair and grabs my hand instead. “I keep thinking of things I could’ve done to save Oliver. If I was on the roof with you, I could’ve grabbed him.”
I thread my fingers through his. “There’s nothing you could have done. Trust me. Oliver was freaking out. I don’t blame him though – all these ravens came out of nowhere. They were terrifying.”
“That’s messed up,” Teddy says. “Especially since I haven’t seen a single bird all weekend.”
We come to the end of the Sanderson’s long winding driveway. Their jeep is parked in the driveway. I cross my fingers that is has fuel, but I’m not going to get my hopes up. I grab the key marked with a grainy number thirteen engraved on it. Teddy follows me to the door.
“You should let me go in first,” he says.
“I’m pretty sure the house is empty.” I stick they key in the lock and turn until it clicks.
Teddy wraps his arm around my waist and tugs me back. “Can I go in first? Please?”
“Sure.” I shrug and step away from the door.
“Thanks,” he says. “I just have a weird feeling. Something isn't right about this lake. I can’t shake the feeling that something bad is going to happen.”
“Something bad already did,” I say. “Two somethings.”
Teddy clenches his jaw. “I know. That’s why this feeling is making me
edgy.”
“Well, go on into the house, fearless leader,” I say. I shouldn’t be teasing him, but I need Teddy to lighten up before he grinds his teeth into powder.
Teddy walks in slowly. The muscles in his forearms are taunt, his hands balled into fists. He freezes only a few feet into the house. “When was the last time you saw the Sandersons?”
“My parents saw them last time they were here,” I say. “That was not even a month ago. Why?”
“You need to see this.” Teddy waves for me to come inside. He won’t take his eyes off whatever the house is hiding.
I walk into the house and gasp when I see the place. ‘Fuck.” I take a few steps further into the living room.
“My thoughts exactly,” Teddy says.
The house is a disaster. Not “we forgot about the dishes in the sink” messy, but all out abandoned-house filthy. Every surface is coated in a thick layer of dust. It’s so deep the cockroaches skittering along the countertops leave tracks. The huge bay window that overlooks the lake has been smashed. At least three autumns worth of leaves cover the dining room floor. Most of them are twisted and grey. Every single cupboard and drawer is open. Pastel dishes litter the floor in jagged pieces. A decorative glass bowl holds rotting, hole-covered apples. I peek into the small half bath next to the laundry room. The toilet is missing the lid and the seat. The water is thick and black. It smells like the rest of the house--a putrid mixture of sewage and rotting food.
“This isn’t possible,” I say. “My parents had dinner here three weekends ago. Weekends, Teddy. Not months. Not years.”
Teddy picks up an old newspaper by its corner and blows the dust off it. A crimson wineglass ring circles the date of the paper. August 12th, 2014. Almost three weeks ago to the day. “I don’t know what to tell you, Murph. Maybe someone purposely trashed the place to make it look like this?”
“Let’s go with that,” I say. “And lets get out of here. I don’t want to touch anything, let alone snoop around to find any stashed electronics.”
“Me neither.” Teddy plucks a set of keys off a jilted key ring. “We can check the jeep though.”
