Lights Over Cloud Lake

by Nathan Hystad

I closed my eyes and remembered. I felt the tubes entering my arms, my legs. The liquid coursing through me, the blurry drugs they fed me. I knew they were watching me, taking notes on tablet-like devices I didn’t understand. I heard their voices, clicks and grumbles I couldn’t comprehend. Beads of sweat dripped down my sides.

  I couldn’t tell this man about it. I might never make it out of here alive. “It’s only a drawing from a kid with too much imagination.”

  He nodded. “And Carly Miller?”

  I straightened in my chair. “What about her?”

  “You found her, am I correct?” he asked.

  “I did.”

  “And what do you think happened to her?” The man leaned toward me, as if his life’s work hung in the balance of my answer.

  “She got lost in the forest and fields. I found her,” I lied. I knew what had happened to her. It was the same thing that happened to me when I was her age.

  “Right. Lost in two acres of trees. Are you telling me you don’t believe you were abducted as a girl, and that the same Grays didn’t take Carly?” he asked, unable to hide his interest any longer.

  “I think you’ve been drinking the Kool-Aid of Cloud Lake. You know it’s all a publicity scam, right? UFO sightings and missing townsfolk. This town is dying, and without something to wet the tourists’ whistle, there is no Cloud Lake,” I told him.

  “I know you don’t believe that,” the man said.

  Clark stood. “Listen here, guy with no name. Do you know what we’ve been through tonight? What Jessica has been through for her entire life? She’s answered your questions; now we’d appreciate you letting us visit a hospital.”

  The man smiled, almost as if he was impressed with someone standing up to him. “Very well.” His gaze slid to meet mine, and he shook his head slowly. “I know you, Jessica Carver. Maybe one day you’ll share the truth.” He pulled a business card from his pocket and passed it over to me. It was white with black lettering, spelling out an unremarkable email address. “When that time comes, contact me.”

  He left the room, and moments later, the female soldier was in the doorway. “I’ll drive you to the hospital.”

  August 18th – 2020

  “Are you ready to come out?” I asked Zoe. Our connection kept cutting out, and her face froze in place on the laptop screen before she smiled.

  “I can’t believe you’re keeping the cabin, Jess.” My sister used my real name, and I didn’t correct her. Eva Heart had died alongside Teddy Martin. She’d washed away with the rain that night.

  I looked at the cabin from the picnic table. The construction crew was packing up for the evening. Already, only a month later, the place had been fixed up from top to bottom. It helped having a boyfriend who could do the plumbing for free. He also had a lot of skilled friends who’d made quick work of the repairs.

  “Wait until you see it. Grandma would love the upgrades,” I said, smiling at the thought of Grandma walking around the newly renovated space. I’d kept a lot of the same décor she’d held on to for decades, while mixing in my own personal tastes.

  “I’m sure she would. And yes, we’re all ready to come out this weekend. Are you surprised Dad’s coming?” Zoe asked.

  “No. After he found out about Teddy, he seems in a better place,” I told her. Clark and I had visited my dad a week after everything had gone down, and I’d told him about Peter Martin. How he was innocent. I knew it would wreck my dad, but there was no hiding the truth from him. He needed to know.

  “How’s the ankle?” Zoe asked.

  I was still wearing a brace, but it was much better. “Good. I’m hobbling around just fine.” I laughed, feeling a freedom I hadn’t felt in my entire adult life. The cloud over me was gone, and I was finally able to let the sun shine on my face.

  “And Clark?” She waggled her eyebrows.

  I closed my eyes, recalling the first night we’d spent at his place. It was unlike anything I’d ever experienced. “He’s wonderful. Things are really great.”

  “Good. You know… I’m sorry about that night. I didn’t know,” Zoe said, for the hundredth time in the last month.

  I waved it away. “Enough already.”

  “What about Chris Barns? Any word?” she asked.

  Harry and I had been in touch. He’d moved out of the city and was working for a small publisher in Buffalo.

  “They couldn’t stick anything on him, since the trail was mostly dead. He disappeared, as far as Harry can tell.” As angry as I was with Barns, I wasn’t going to let it consume me.

  I heard a car door shut, and I smiled. “Okay, I have to go. See you this weekend. I can’t wait for you to get here. And you kids are going to love the lake!”

  “I can’t believe they’re going to see Cloud Lake. See you soon, missy.” Zoe grinned, and the call ended.

  Carly walked down the gravel driveway, and I waved at her father, who was staying inside the car.

  I rose to meet her. “Hi, Carly.”

  She was such a beautiful young girl, but I could see the effect this whole traumatic experience had had on her. She was thinner, her eyes sunken, and dark bags hung under them. Still, they glimmered as she met my stare and wrapped her arms around me.

  “Eva… I mean, Jessica,” she said. I’d explained my story to her in detail, two days after Teddy was shot. She’d accepted it with a grim strength.

  “I Googled you,” she admitted.

  “And?”

  She shrugged. “Was it hard?”

  I knew what she meant. “Growing up with this looming over me? Yes.”

  “It is hard,” she said.

  I led us to the dock, and we walked it, her in sandals, me in bare feet. The sun was lowering, but still hot and intense in the August evening. The air was potent with campfires, and music crawled across the water, reaching us as we sat at the end of the dock.

  “What do your friends think?” I asked. I remembered my own thinking I was a stranger, someone they could no longer have fun with or joke around. That summer had changed everything.

  “They ask me things. I just tell them I don’t recall. Amnesia, my dad says.” She glanced back to her dad in the waiting car.

  “And your parents?” I asked. “What do they think?”

  “The sheriff tells them he’s still working on it, but they know the truth. They’re in denial, though, Jess. They don’t want to believe that someone took me. Someone from…”

  I nodded. “I think I know what might help you.”

  “What?” she asked, her eyes going a little wider.

  “What if you and I had a night every week where we hung out? Talked about girl things, watched movies…” I lowered my voice. “Discussed boys.”

  She laughed, and a single tear rolled over her cheek. “I’d like that, Jess.”

  “Then it’s settled.” I patted her on the knee, and we sat in silence for a few minutes. “You’re going to be fine.”

  “What if they come again?” she asked, and it was a question I’d been asking myself almost daily.

  I put on a brave face, one that I didn’t always feel, especially during the nights I was out here alone. “Would I move back here if I was concerned about that?”

  She shook her head. “No.”

  “Good. Now, about that girls’ night. We can’t start this weekend, but I’d love you to come over for dinner Saturday night. My sister and her family will be here, and my dad too,” I told her.

  Sitting with Carly reminded me of the hours Zoe and I had spent out here, chatting away the summers, and it felt right.

  “As long as my parents say I can, I’d love to.” Her mood already seemed better, and I was going to make it my mission to see Carly Miller through this hard time. I wasn’t going to let her end up like I had for the last twenty years.

  The car honked once, a solitary unobtrusive sound. “Sorry. We have dinner in town. See you Saturday?”

  “You bet.” We hugged quickly, and I watched Carly run down the d
ock and into the car. I waved at her dad before they took off, backing out the driveway.

  My phone buzzed, and I pulled it from my pocket to see Clark’s name across the screen. “Hello,” I answered.

  “I’m going to be late. Got held up at a job. Can I bring supper when I’m off?” he asked.

  “Only if it’s Buddy’s,” I told him with a scolding tone.

  “Deal. You going to be okay alone?” he asked softly.

  I looked around and told him the truth. “I haven’t felt better in years. Come over when you can.”

  “Okay. Jess… I… I love you,” he said, not for the first time.

  “I love you too.” And with that, the call was ended.

  I limped across the dock, then the stone pathway that led to the cabin. Grandma’s cabin. I felt her around me as I entered through the replaced door, the hinges no longer squeaking in protest.

  The kitchen was new, the floors still not completed. I looked at the pile of bagged aprons in the corner of the room and knew I’d put them to use. My laptop was inside my room, and I went to get it, taking it from the desk where I’d found the drawings of a scared little girl.

  Minutes later, I had a hot cup of tea, and I sat at the kitchen island, a white quartz countertop under my laptop, and I opened the computer.

  I clicked a blank document to life and smiled to myself. The card the man in the suit had given me was inside my bedroom, safely tucked away, but it gave me comfort to know it was there. To know that I wasn’t crazy, that the military and government were interested in the same story. I wasn’t sure if what I was about to write would ever see the light of day, but I needed to pen it, to let my tale out, for my own sanity.

  The cursor blinked at me, staring from the screen, and I began to type. I started with a title: four simple words. Lights Over Cloud Lake

  The End

  About the Author

  Nathan Hystad writes science fiction and horror and thriller novels.

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  Try the series that started it all!

  THE SURVIVORS SERIES PAGE

  Reviews for The Event

  ★★★★★ "Easy to get into, hard to put down." - Hank Urban (Kindle Customer)

  ★★★★★ "I was very impressed with this book. As a first novel it is fantastic." - PJLea

  ★★★★★ "One of the best sci fi books I have read" - (Kindle Customer)

  ★★★★★ "I can hardly wait to see what happens in the next installment" - rajah622

  ★★★★★ "The Event held me place for the entire day. Greatbook, thrilling, well written!

  Definitely worth reading and highly recommended" - Jon (Kindle Customer)

  Reviews for New Threat

  ★★★★★ "What an amazing book 2. It takes what was good in book 1 and rolls with it." -Christy - Amazon Top Contributor: Fantasy Books

  ★★★★★ "Great read, just as bookone was" - Roy Kelly

  ★★★★★ "This book was just as entertaining as the first book in this series. I have read both essentially nonstop marathons sessions, as I could not wait to see what happens next. Very good pacing of story line. Good Characters. Well done." - W.A.H

  ★★★★★ "Couldn't put it down." - Gary C

  ★★★★★ "Excellent, believable story. Highly recommended." - LT (Kindle Customer)

  Reviews for New World

  ★★★★★ "Book 3 is the Best to Date - Great story" - Amazon Customer

  ★★★★★ "I have to say Nathan Hystad definitely is my new favorite author when it comes to the Sci-fi genre and overall story-telling." - Daniel Rodriguez

  ★★★★★ "I am loving this series. The characters are well developed and the story line keeps getting better and better." - Ray C

  ★★★★★ "Unlikely heroes, aliens, allies and invaders...what an original story! This author weaves a complicated web that will leave you wanting more." - Kindle Customer

  ★★★★★ "Loved it! Well written, great combination of current real and believable future space technology...and believable, unpredictable story line." - LT

  The Earth Fleet has known of the Watchers for years, unwilling to share the knowledge with humanity. Now it might be too late.

  Hidden away from the Fleet, one man is creating a new colony ship destined for the other side of the Rift, but he’s missing a few pieces.

  Three other people have varied paths to get there. Ace goes from the streets of Earth to the Fleet training facility on the moon. Flint, an ex-Fleet pilot, must decide if a job is worth his life, and Wren, imprisoned for a secret project years ago, is given hope as an unlikely ally whispers words of escape in her ear.

  Their journeys lead to Councilman Jarden Fairbanks, who knows of the impending invasion, and has prepared. All they can do is wait for the Rift to open once again, and see what’s on the other side.

  Rift joins an ensemble cast facing immeasurable obstacles. If you enjoy space battles, prison breaks, androids, and aliens, buried under a shroud of mystery, this book is for you. Try it today!

  RIFT

  There’s a dark shadow over Red Creek.

  Once a best-selling horror author, Paul Alenn is in a slump. His wife and daughter are across the country, leaving him alone in his Central Park-adjacent New York townhouse.

  When his sister calls, asking for help packing up his estranged mother’s house in his old hometown, Red Creek, he decides to put the past behind him and face his demons.

  What he finds back home is an ongoing mystery that stems from his childhood, a time he has no recollection of. When a boy is taken on his second night in the Creek, Paul starts to unravel a dark past…one he hadn’t even known was buried. All paths lead to the orchard and the eccentric owners, but Paul doesn’t know if the shadow he keeps seeing is real, or his imagination’s cover-up of a traumatic event.

  With help from his former best friend, his brother-in-law, and a cranky old sheriff, Paul digs up the truth of the shadow looming over Red Creek.

  RED CREEK