The Nightmare of Belton Lake

CHAPTER 5

"NIGHT SWIMMMM!"
Carlos and Garrett charged forward in the dark murky waters of Lake Belton. They whooped and hollered and made waves, disrupting the stillness. Behind them, carefully walking in, were Savannah and Cassandra.
It was now 9 pm. The moon was dark, the lake was closed, and still no one knew they were there.
The restricted area of the lake for reasons unknownst to them.
Cassandra slowly wadded into the dark lake water after Savannah. She still felt nervous and scared of knowing they were breaking the rules. Plus, she had never been night swimming before either.
Cassandra leaned forward and dipped her chest and arms in the cool water. She shuddered for a moment and then relaxed. Her neon green bikini still shined brightly in the moonlit waters. Cassandra let out a slow breath and looked ahead of her.
Carlos was wearing red short swimming trunks. Garrett was wearing blue and black swimming trunks with a white T-shirt on.
Carlos had picked up Savannah and placed her on his shoulders. Without warning, he tossed her in the air. Savannah let out a small yelp just before landing in the water. Her blonde hair and red string bikini disappeared under Lake Belton for a split moment. She quickly surfaced and gave Carlos a dirty look.
Carlos and Garrett laughed together.
Savannah then lunged for Carlos. Carlos dove into the water. His red swimming trunks disappeared in the dark water. He resurfaced after a few seconds, closer to Cassandra.
Cassandra giggled as Savannah swore at him.
Garrett then looked over at Cassandra, a mischievous smile on his face.
Cassandra thought for a long moment, Garrett was going to do the same thing as Carlos did Savannah. However, to her surprise, Garrett lunged at Carlos and ducked his head under the water. Garrett laughed as Carlos came back up. His face was bewildered and shocked Garrett had betrayed him.
"Yes, Garrett! Drown him!" Savannah said jokingly yet in a vengeful manner. Garrett and Savannah lunged at Carlos. Water splashing and waves rolling all around.
Carlos retreated underwater and swam away from Cassandra and towards the open water.
Cassandra finally dared to leave the shore and slowly go into deeper water. She calmly floated in the water and watched Savannah and Carlos chase one another around.
Garrett appeared by her side, surprising her.
"Don't you dare dunk me." She said.
Garrett shook his wet hair and smiled. "Nah. It's more entertaining to watch these two."
For a long minute, they watched Savannah and Carlos swim after one another. Cassandra felt herself feeling flustered by swimming next to her crush.
What should she say?
"So, do you have a date to the End of The Year School Dance?" Garrett asked, surprising Cassandra.
That's a hell of a conversation starter. Cassandra thought to herself. Yet she was curious as to where this would lead too.
"No, I did but he is dating someone else right now. He told me last week he was going to take her instead." Cassandra explained.
"That was Louis, wasn't it?" Garrett asked.
Cassandra nodded. She wondered how he knew Louis was supposed to take her but guess it wasn't too surprising. Louis and Sabrina were the newest couple in high school.
"That's a bummer," Garrett said, looking back at Carlos and Savannah.
"It's okay. I told him I understood." Cassandra said, being reminded of the painful letdown she had recently. "What about you? Are you going?"
"I honestly wasn't because I didn't have a date," Garrett explained.
Cassandra looked at him confused due to the past tense terms he was using.
Wasn't?
Garrett then slowly looked at her. "Well, if I had a date... I would like to go... And so... Since you don't have one... Would you like to be my date?"
Cassandra smiled at the proposal. While it was obvious he was just as nervous around her as she was, it was still a dream come true for her to be asked by Garrett to the dance.
"Yeah! I mean, totally. Sounds cool to me." She said, trying not to sound too excited.
"It makes sense... Ya know..." Garrett said, looking away and seeming to be blushing.
"Ya, we don't... Have anyone else to go with." She finished for him.
"Yeah."
"Yeah."
The two of them floated in silence as Carlos and Savannah began swimming back to them. The feeling of love bloomed between the two, and yet, none of them acted on it besides the proposal for the dance. Yet it was enough for Cassandra. She lowered herself more in the water and his her lovestruck smile underwater.
For the next 30 minutes, the group played and swam close to the shore. The full moon lit the lake giving them small light. At the grill, a small fire burned, giving off more light around their camp area.
Finally, the four of them sat along the shoreline admiring the midnight view of the lake. Cassandra dug her toes into the rocky shore of Lake Belton. The rocks were pebble-sized and mixed in with sand. It wasn't very comfortable to sit on, but regardless, she wanted to enjoy the moment. A moment of freedom, youth, and rebellion. Her mind was not focused on consequences or what her mother was thinking or even would think if she knew they were out here. Cassandra only thought of the following day and what fun it would bring. She could hear the open fire on the grill behind them. The smell of it, as well as the surroundings, made her feel relaxed and carefree. Cassandra had to admit that she had not felt this relaxed in quite some time, if not ever. This might be the last time she could feel like this before college.
"So what did you tell your mom, Cassandra?" Carlos asked her.
"Oh, I told her that it was just going to be me and Savannah."
"Wow, and you didn't even tell her that me or Garrett were coming along?" Carlos asked her, surprised that goodie two shoes Cassandra had lied. "Not going to lie, I'm impressed. I honestly didn't think we were going to be able to pull this off because you're a terrible liar."
"The trick was just not to bring it up. Or even the very mention of boys." Cassandra admitted. Even she felt impressed by herself that she had gotten away with it all.
However, deep down, she still felt slightly guilty for lying to her mom. She and her mom have been open and honest with each other about most things. And Cassandra had no reason to lie to her. However, she knew her mother would have never let her go into the lake with Savannah if she knew two boys were coming with them.
Garrett stood up and stretched out his arms.
"I'm getting hungry again. Does anyone want a hot dog?" He asked.
Cassandra felt herself speaking up. "Oh, yes, please."
"All right. Two hot dogs coming up." Garrett said, turning and going to the grill.
Savannah tapped Cassandra on the arm and nodded toward Garrett. It was a hint to go with Garrett.
Oh, right, Cassandra thought. Savannah was trying to help her snag a future boyfriend.
Cassandra had yet to tell Savannah that Garrett had asked her to the school dance.
Cassandra nodded and let out a quick breath. She quickly got up from her towel and followed Garrett
"Hey, I'll go with you." She said to Garrett.
Carlos smirked and looked away while shaking his head. Savannah smiled and looked back at the lake. Cassandra felt herself blush slightly but shook it off when she got to Garrett's side. 
For the next 2 minutes, Garrett and she watched two hot dogs slowly cook on the grill.
Cassandra struggled to find something to say. Anything something. She needed to find a connection with Garrett. Besides the dance.
"So... do you and your dad still come here every summer?" Cassandra asked, hoping this would be a good conversation starter.
"Oh yeah totally. Despite him traveling a lot, he always takes the summer off."  He said.
"When was the last time you saw him?" She asked him.
"Well, I saw him through FaceTime a few weeks ago. He was in Hong Kong, so it was nighttime over there, and I was just about to head to school." He said. "I'm hoping he comes home for graduation at least."
"I think he will," Cassandra said to him optimistically.
"What about you and your dad?" Garrett asked.
Cassandra felt slight embarrassment and looked back at the hot dogs.
"Oh actually, my dad's not in the picture." She said.
"Oh, I'm sorry." Garrett quickly said. After a couple of seconds of silence, he asked, "Did he leave y'all or something?"
"Huh? Oh no, it's not like that." Cassandra said. "It's kind of embarrassing honestly. My mom had a one-night stand when she was a teenager. My dad was a much older guy. When she found out she was pregnant with me, she decided to tell him. He said he would come around and provide for us but he never came. I never met him. And my mom never saw him again."
"Oh.... Damn." Garrett said. He had an awkward look on his face as if he didn't quite know what to say. I'm sorry but that's going to be tough on you. I can't imagine if I didn't have my dad. Me and him are close."
"Well, it is kind of hard on Father's Day," Cassandra explained. "But my mom and I are really close like you and your dad. We support each other and get each other through everything."
"So I'm guessing that said it wasn't an easy feat to lie to her?"
Cassandra slowly shook her head. "No... It wasn't." She admitted slowly. She slowly rubbed her arm. "I feel really bad to do that though. But I knew she wouldn't let me come if she knew you and Carlos were coming on the trip with us."
"So you... Wanted to be with all of us huh?" Garrett asked, looking at Cassandra.
Especially you. Cassandra thought in her mind. But she dared not to reveal that out loud. She found herself smiling and slightly blushing once again.
However, before she could answer, there was a loud snort that caught the attention of her and Garrett.
Garrett looked up and peered into the darkness ahead of them. His eyes suddenly went wide.
"What the heck was that?" Carlos asked out loud.
Cassandra looked up as well, trying to find what Garrett was looking at.
However, she felt in her heart she already knew what it was.
Sure enough, it was there.
The horse had returned from the forest and now stood at least a dozen feet away from Cassandra and Garrett.
The flickering flames from the grill illuminated the white base coat of the horse like a ghost in the night. The horse's eyes illuminated brightly like a flashlight against a crocodile's eyes. Its nose was letting out long breaths of air that could be seen coming out.  It's tall and sturdy and seemingly staring straight out the teenagers. The horse was tall. Taller than Cassandra realized. Even though it was a good several feet away from them, Cassandra knew this horse would tower over Garrett and Carlos.
"Holy shit," Garrett slowly and quietly said.
"I told you," Cassandra said not leaving her eyes from the horse. Even she had to blink to realize that it truly was before them.
"What the hell, Cassandra was right!" Savannah said behind them.
Cassandra heard the rocks and sand move and she knew Carlos and Savannah had stood up from their spots and was looking at the horse as well.
Once again, a thousand thoughts entered Cassandra's mind. However, one question burned more into her mind than others.
Where did the horse come from?
Before anyone could say or do anything, the horse snorted again and slowly took a step toward the grill.
Garrett grabbed Cassandra's hand and had them slowly back away from the grill. The horse continued to walk forward towards them.
The teens came together and looked at the mystery horse before them.
Their back were facing toward the lake, and their fronts were facing toward the horse.
The horse snorted and bobbed his head. It stomped its foot into the ground, rubbing its hoof along the sand and rocks.
"What does it want?" Savannah asked nervously
"Maybe we should move. Maybe it wants to drink some of the lake water?" Garrett suggested.
"Okay, let's just carefully move to the left towards the Jeep, okay?" Carlos said.
After everyone nodded and agreed, Carlos slowly took side steps. Everyone followed him.
No sooner had they started than the horse reared it up and let out a loud, terrifying cry. It was sharp, shrill and it pierced Cassandra's ears. Cassandra let go of Garrett's hand and covered her ears. Everyone else did the same.
It was no ordinary neigh or whinny that she had ever heard of from a horse. She had seen plenty of horses and heard what kind of noises they made. Surely they didn't make this kind of noise. This was a terrifying noise.
The horse raised on its back legs and struck out with its front hooves.
"Everyone, get out of the way!" Garrett yelled out. He shoved Cassandra to the right. Meanwhile, Carlos grabbed Savannah and dragged her to the left.
The horse charged forward and galloped towards the teenagers.
Garrett and Cassandra fell to the ground. Cassandra rolled on her side and watched the horse run into the still waters of Belton Lake.
The lake water splashed wildly as the horse charged in it. Finally, the horse had to stop as it now was in deep water.
It was snorting wildly all while doing so and splashing around in the water. It loud out another ear-piercing neigh.
Cassandra covered her ears again. She looked on feeling scared by what she saw. What kind of horse was this? Why was it displaying such aggressive and odd behavior? The neigh was more like a scream at this point. Something that came from a terrible horror movie, one that would make anyone jump out of their skin when they heard it.
After several seconds, the horse went quiet and shook its mane. Then, it surged forward, swimming further into the lake.
"What the fuck?! Where is it going!?" Savannah asked aloud.
No one said anything as nobody knew the answer. Carlos and she slowly came back over to Garrett and Cassandra. Cassandra found herself in awe and still on the ground when Garrett offered her his hand. She took it and he helped stand her up.
"Are you okay?" He asked her.
She nodded and looked back at the dark lake. Within the moonlight, you could barely see the horse trailing off into the deeper part of the lake.
It loudly snorted with excitement and determination of wherever it was going.
"I told you that there was a horse," Cassandra finally said as they watched it get further away.
"Yeah yeah," Carlos said. "You forgot to mention the part where it was a fucking psycho."
"It didn't try to do that with me. But it was much further away when I saw it." Cassandra admitted.
"I wonder why it did that," Savannah said. "Are horses even good swimmers?"
"Depends on the horse."
Cassandra looked over at Garrett, who seemed to be stunned in silence.
The four teenagers watch the horse disappear into the night and out of the moonlit path of the lake.
Savannah put a hand to her mouth suddenly scared.
"Do you think it drowned?"
"I highly doubt it," Carlos said. "The guy seemed to know what he was doing."
"Should we maybe alert someone tomorrow morning?" Cassandra asked out loud. 
"Like who?"
"Maybe someone at the entrance where we came in?" Cassandra said. "Maybe we should make a report of a loose horse in the park someone could come and get it and return it to their owner."
"If we do that then we'll have to explain how and where we saw it. Then I'll get us in trouble." Savannah pointed out.
Cassandra said nothing and knew Savannah was right.
The teenagers turned away from the lake water and went back to the grill. The four teens tried to shake their scares off and laugh away at the incident. However, despite the effort, it seemed Cassandra couldn't shake off the eerie feeling that came from the horse.
The horse was weird. It's behavior was weird. The very fact it was loose on the Belton Lakeshore was perhaps the weirdest thing of all.
Yet no one had any answers for it.
Cassandra noticed that even Carlos was turning his head toward the lake as if to double-check the horse was not doubling back. She even noticed that Garrett was slightly jumping at every noise that wasn't from them.
After an hour the four teenagers finally called it a night. However, sleeping was nearly impossible for Cassandra. Her mind was constantly rewinding on the experience.