The Lake

by Natasha Preston

  Why am I not telling Kayla about this?

  21

  In the morning, we’re in the lake. The sun shines brightly through a thin smattering of fluffy clouds. Andy thinks it’s a good idea to keep the campers’ minds off the person in the woods by switching our hike today with the water sports that were scheduled for later in the week.

  My fingertips graze the lake’s surface of the water. I know the water is smooth, but all I feel is the rough texture of the carved initials. Lillian has been in our room.

  I’m in up to my knees watching my and Cora’s group swim the length of the lake.

  On the other side of the lake, four merged groups of boys are having a kayak-racing mini tournament. Andy said the winners will get extra s’mores, but we all know he’ll let everyone have extra.

  The inflatable water course is coming out soon. Some of the guys are setting it up.

  The atmosphere is somewhat tense. The staff have information that the campers don’t and it’s making us slightly paranoid. Well, it’s certainly making me paranoid.

  If I had a dollar for everyone I witnessed looking at the forest, I could buy a beach house in Malibu.

  “Keep going, girls, you’re doing great,” I call as they swim back to me. The trained instructors and lifeguards watch closely and occasionally tell one of the girls how to improve their stroke. Bless, some of them still look like they’re drowning.

  “Did you manage to speak to Rebekah?” Cora asks, staring ahead at the girls. Or maybe she’s staring beyond them, into the trees. “Kayla mentioned at breakfast that you were worried about her last night.”

  “Not yet. She got up late. She seems okay now, though, cheering her girls on in the race,” I say, blinking my heavy eyelids. I’m tired after last night and can barely focus on anything.

  I remember how weird Rebekah was at the arcade. And the possible sighting of Lillian outside.

  “Good,” Cora says.

  “Is it always like this? Not the ‘someone’s watching’ thing, but are there always issues coming from all directions?”

  She laughs. “Pretty much. How are you handling it?”

  “It’s slightly exhausting, but I’m much better at helping other people with their problems than I am with my own.”

  “You can talk about yours with me, if you want.”

  “Thanks, I’ll keep that in mind.”

  Yeah, no. I don’t think I’ll be doing that. Talking to Kayla right now feels weird and we share everything. How would she react to the initials on the wall?

  Not great.

  I shiver at the thought of Lillian creeping up onto my bed and carving those letters. Was she snarling as she dug into the wood? Did she pretend she was cutting into me?

  “It’s good to talk, Esme,” Cora tells me.

  I clench my jaw. “I agree. I’m fine for now.”

  “You’re a fixer.”

  “Sorry?”

  Laughing, she turns to me. “You fix things for other people, you’re good at it. Unfortunately, that usually ends with neglecting yourself.”

  Ugh, really? We’re going there. I can’t have her worrying about me or telling anyone that she has Esme concerns.

  “I overthink,” I tell her. “So right now I’m convinced that something bad is going on. Like, more than pranks.”

  “Ah. My sister is just the same. If I don’t check in, she thinks I’ve drowned in the lake or something.”

  “That sounds like me.”

  “You care, that’s not a bad thing. And bad stuff does happen at camps.”

  “What?”

  “Accidents, I mean. We’re doing games and sports in the water and in the woods, and that brings more dangers.”

  I gulp. “Has anything really bad happened here?”

  “We’ve had a few near misses. Last year a kid got into trouble in the water and almost drowned. That’s why we test their swimming ability before they get in and have the waist-high rule for non-swimmers. Another camper tripped over a branch when she wasn’t looking and broke her ankle.”

  I’m looking for something more sinister. Besides, I don’t think a camper is behind what’s going on.

  Lillian. Obviously. Hello, you have her initials carved into your wall!

  “There’s a shoe! Gross!” Ava shouts.

  Cora and I look up.

  Ava drops the shoe that she’s holding back into the water. She and Addison back up.

  “What?” I ask, wading over to her. The water hits my shorts. “A shoe?”

  “Ugh,” she mutters, and bends down, keeping her head above water as she reaches into the water. “Here.”

  I take the tennis shoe that was probably white once but is now green.

  “Wonderful.”

  “You think someone threw that in?” Ava asks.

  I nod. “Yep.”

  Addison’s eyes widen. “I would be so mad if someone threw mine in the lake.”

  “Me too,” I tell her. “Looks like it’s been here a while, though, so it was probably from years ago.” The shoe is slimy. “I’ll chuck this. You two go catch up with the others. You’re both doing so well.”

  “Thanks, Esme,” they chime in unison.

  They dive back into the water belly-first.

  I manage to turn before I get a face full of water.

  Holding the shoe by the heel with two fingers, I take it out of the lake and dump it in the trash.

  Andy shakes his head. “I once found a T-shirt and a hairbrush in the lake.”

  “I guess it’s not one big happy family all the time,” I say.

  “We have our fair share of arguments among the campers,” he confirms. “It usually happens week three, when they really feel like they’re family.”

  “A week of peace left.”

  “Enjoy it while it lasts,” Andy replies.

  “Have the cops got in contact yet?”

  “Not yet. I called last night, and they said they’ll keep me informed. I’ll let you all know when I hear from them. No one has noticed anything so far today.”

  “The forest seems quiet,” I say. Since I’ve been out here this morning not once has the hair on the back of my neck stood up.

  “Let’s hope it stays that way. The last thing the camp needs is a reputation for having a stalker lurking around. We’re the best youth camp in the area and I intend to keep it that way.”

  “Are you worried?”

  His red eyebrows meet in the middle. “No. Are you, Esme?”

  Yes, I’m worried. I’m scared for the campers, I’m scared for Kayla and I’m scared for myself. Mostly, though, I feel guilty. If I weren’t here, would any of this be happening?

  “A little.” He can tell that I am, so lying isn’t going to help me. “I don’t want the campers to be frightened.”

  “It’s okay to worry. In fact, it’s normal. This isn’t the first time I’ve had to deal with the public wandering onto camp land. It just takes a conversation. Plus, we have cleaning staff, cooks and delivery people coming and going, the campers rarely notice who’s supposed to be here or not.”

  Isn’t that more dangerous? If the campers assume everyone here is part of the camp, they could trust someone they shouldn’t.

  “Don’t look so concerned,” Andy says. “It really is fine. You’ll come to realize that in time, especially if you come back next year. There are things that are part of being a counselor that the campers have no clue about.” He smiles. “I bet there were people closer to camp than you think when you were last here.”

  I know there were.

  22

  Jake and Olly help the guys set up the inflatable obstacle course on the lake.

  All of the campers are standing on the edge of the water, bouncing.

  After anchoring the co
urse, the guys test it, climbing up, running through and around obstacles and sliding down the slide into the water at the end.

  Andy laughs. “Okay, looks like it’s ready to go. Four at a time.”

  Two counselors stand by the start and two by the finish.

  Kayla and I wade into the lake and stop about halfway along the giant orange inflatable. The water is almost up to my shoulders, but I love being in the lake, so I don’t care.

  I watch as camper after camper runs along the obstacle course, some making it and others falling in.

  When they get off, I’m getting on it.

  Kayla moves along the inflatable, a little further from me, getting a better look as the campers go by.

  My eyes drift to the forest, to the entrance of the trail that leads to the green flag route. It also leads to the site of the fire.

  I blink, my eyes flitting past and then shooting back. Was that a flash?

  I turn to face the forest, and through the pine trees, I see it again. A glint, like light bouncing off glass.

  Lillian is watching.

  I’m about to call to Kayla when the inflatable suddenly dips toward me. I gasp and hold my hands out as if I can single-handedly stop it from tipping over. The four campers on it scream as they’re thrown into the lake. It’s too deep here for some of them.

  I grab Ava as she kicks to the surface. The other counselors rush over, and Andy shouts orders to the rest of the children to get out of the lake. Kayla has two of the campers who fell in, and Isabel is tall enough that she can walk on tiptoes back to land.

  “Are you okay?” I ask Ava.

  “That was so cool!”

  That’s great, they loved it.

  The inflatable shrinks as it loses air.

  All of the campers are standing on the beach, laughing and chatting about the “inflata-fail.” At least they’re not scared.

  Cora takes over from me and Kayla. She sits the girls who fell into the water down with a towel and asks them what happened.

  “What the hell was that?” Olly asks me.

  I shrug. “I have no idea. One minute I’m watching them and the next minute the thing is falling toward me.”

  “There must be a hole in it,” Kayla says.

  Andy shuffles over, face ashen. “Are you two okay?” he asks me and Kayla.

  Kayla nods, linking arms with Jake.

  “Do you know what was wrong with it?” Jake asks.

  “I had a look and found a small hole.” Jake shakes his head. “I must have missed it when doing my checks.”

  Or Lillian did it after his checks. Then she watched from the forest as the thing went down.

  I shiver and wrap a towel around myself, though I’m not actually cold.

  “It might have torn on the way out there. These things happen, Andy,” Mary says, joining our group.

  They don’t, actually.

  Are none of them concerned that this could be more than an accident?

  How did it stay up for so long, though?

  The guys tug the inflatable to the beach and pull it up onto the grass.

  “All right, campers,” Cora says. “Let’s get changed and head back out for lunch. Hot dogs and s’mores!”

  There’s a collective cheer before the campers bundle into their cabins.

  I walk away from the group, my hands in fists, and head over to the inflatable.

  Marcus and Lorenzo are frowning at something.

  “What is it?” I ask, crouching down next to them.

  The inflatable material is slit.

  I take a deep breath through my nose. “What could have done this?” I ask.

  Lorenzo shakes his head. “I dunno. It looks like a neat cut but could have been a rock.”

  There are a few rocks on the beach, but none of them look particularly sharp. Something near the slit catches my eye.

  “Let’s leave this here until it’s dry, then see if Andy wants to get a new one or have this one repaired,” Marcus says.

  He and Lorenzo walk away.

  I run my finger over a sticky residue around the slit. It looks like the material was cut and then shoddily fixed. Someone taped it so it would stay inflated temporarily, until the water ruined the tape. It was probably masking tape, which wouldn’t hold for too long in water.

  “Esme, come on, we need to get changed,” Kayla calls.

  I stand and nod. “Okay.”

  What should I say to them all?

  I’ll tell Kayla while we’re getting ready and see what she thinks.

  I jog to our cabin and Kayla closes the bedroom door behind us.

  “That was insane,” she says, stripping off her soggy swimsuit.

  “Uh-huh,” I say, pulling clean underwear, a pair of shorts and a T-shirt from the tiny dresser. “It’s actually more insane than you think….”

  “Oh no,” she says, rolling her eyes. “I don’t want to hear any more conspiracy theories, Esme.”

  “It’s not a conspiracy theory. The cut looks like it was done with a blade and there was this residue on it, the kind you get when you try to wash off a sticker. It was taped, badly.”

  Kayla shakes her head. “You need to stop with this.”

  “Can you please listen to what I’m telling you? Right before it went down, I saw a flash in the woods.”

  “It’s daylight, a flash wouldn’t be visible.”

  “No, not like the camera the other night. This was like the sun bouncing off a lens. I’m telling you Lillian did this. She watched and took photos too.”

  “Okay, stop!” Kayla pulls on a T-shirt and scowls at me. “If we stop talking about this, then it didn’t happen. You’re playing with fire, Esme, and it has to freaking stop! Forget this and forget Lillian. The whole thing was her fault anyway. I’m not risking my time here or my relationship with Jake over that crazy freak.”

  I stand there, speechless, as she whips the door open and slams it behind her.

  Kayla has checked out. The games are getting more sinister.

  And I’m alone.

  23

  I spend the rest of the day avoiding Kayla, and she does the same.

  Andy sees no reason why we can’t have the night off as planned. The inflatable was an accident and the campers are all fine. He said the cops are looking into the ex-counselors.

  But I know they won’t find anything.

  I’m by the campfire with Tia, Rebekah, Olly and Jake.

  Kayla is getting changed into sweats and meeting us out here.

  The flames crackle gently as the last of the fire struggles to stay alight.

  I watch the embers float before disappearing into the air.

  Olly nudges my side with his. “What’s going on?”

  “Huh? Nothing.”

  “We can tell it’s not nothing, you know,” Tia says, scooping her long hair over one shoulder.

  I raise my eyes to hers. “I’ve been distracted, but I’m fine.”

  I’m on my own and have no one to talk to. Kayla has made it clear that she’s done with the whole thing, and I can’t bring anyone else in on this.

  Mostly I feel horrible for keeping the inflatable tampering a secret.

  Rebekah twists her hands together like she’s trying really damn hard not to voice her opinion.

  I’m not sure I want to hear it right now.

  There are more important things I need to worry about. Like Kayla.

  “What’s happening?” Olly asks. “Please tell us.”

  “We…I thought we were closer than this, Esme,” Rebekah says. “Whatever is goin’ on, we can help. Are you homesick?”

  That sounds much better than the truth. “I’m close to my parents,” I say. “I’ve missed my nan’s birthday. It was last week.”

/>   Actually, it was two months ago and I was there, at her place. We ordered Mexican food. She drank a lot of tequila and sang sixties songs on her karaoke machine until three a.m.

  “I’m sure she won’t be angry with you,” Tia says. “You can always celebrate when you get home.”

  “Yeah, I will. Thanks. What do you guys want to do tonight? No walks in the forest!”

  Please go with the subject change.

  Jake laughs. “The next time we go into the forest, I’ll find that creep.”

  “We don’t need to go search for anyone,” Tia says. “Town is a bad idea after last time.”

  “Does that mean we’re not goin’ back?” Rebekah asks.

  Tia’s smile widens. “Not at all.”

  I’m not going back.

  “Are you sure that’s it?” Olly asks me while the other three argue about whether we would be crazy to go back to town.

  “Uh-huh,” I reply, looking at the dimple in his cheek because I can’t meet his eyes.

  He nods. “There’s something you’re not telling me.”

  There’s a lot I’m not telling you, to be honest.

  “No, it’s just…Some things are complicated.”

  “I understand that we haven’t known each other for long, but you can talk to me.”

  It’s kind of weird, being secluded with these people twenty-four seven. It feels like I’ve known them for years. It’s the oddest feeling ever.

  “I can talk to you, and I’m grateful for that,” I say.

  “You want to start doing that now?” Olly asks.

  I really don’t.

  Olly thinks I’m a good person, and I’d like to keep it that way. He would hate me if he found out what I had been involved in. Maybe he could look past the accident, but his opinion would change if he knew I lied about it for ten years.

  “I’m freaking out that we were chased and watched. Okay, there you have it. I’m a massive baby.”

  Chuckling, he lowers his voice. “We’re all a little freaked out. Even Jake, but he will never admit it.”

  “What the hell is this?” Cora’s voice isn’t particularly loud, but it’s heard clearly by us and by a group of counselors on the dock.

  She comes running down the porch of the staff cabin holding a piece of paper in one hand and a kitchen knife in the other.