Surface Level

Chapter 4

Philipa Green's body was found submerged in the murky depths of the lake, weighed down by heavy chains and anchored to the silt below. The water had preserved her in a ghostly stillness, her pale skin contrasting against the dark, algae-covered chains that bound her wrists and ankles. It was a gruesome discovery that sent ripples of shock through Pineview Heights and the neighbouring

towns.

More than a decade ago, Philipa Green had vanished from a small town not far from Pineview, disappearing without a trace. She had been a beloved member of her community—a high school teacher, a dedicated volunteer at the local animal shelter, and a devoted single mother. Her disappearance had rocked the town to its core. When she failed to show up for work one morning, her friends and family had sounded the alarm immediately, igniting a search that spanned miles of dense forest and countryside.

Her case had gripped the town for months. Posters lined the streets, volunteers combed through the woods, and the media covered every agonizing update. But as time wore on and leads dried up, hope faded. Despite the intense search efforts, no trace of Philipa was ever found. She had simply vanished, becoming another unsolved mystery in a small town haunted by her absence.

Now, over ten years later, the discovery of her body—anchored at the bottom of a lake that countless people had grown up swimming in—had reopened old wounds. Philipa's grim fate, hidden beneath the very surface that had once seemed so familiar, was a chilling reminder that the truth had always been there, just waiting to be uncovered.

When authorities finally pulled her body from the lake, the weight of the chains left no doubt: this had been no accident. Someone had gone to great lengths to ensure Philipa would never be found.

For the detectives on the case, the discovery of Philipa Green's body raised more questions than it answered. Why had she been taken? What had brought her to Pineview Heights, a town she had no known connection to? And perhaps most chillingly—was her death somehow linked to Ariana Roberts. How did Ariana know she would be there?

All these questions plagued Eric as he lay in bed, staring at the ceiling, the dim light of the clock casting shadows on the walls. The ticking of the old wall clock echoed in his ears, amplifying the silence of his apartment. No matter how much he tossed and turned, sleep remained elusive. His mind kept circling back to the haunting discovery of Philipa Green's body in the lake. The weight of it felt crushing, and the connections to Ariana—or Elizabeth, as she insisted—seemed more tangled with every passing hour.

Had Philipa's death been part of something larger? Was there a link between her and the Roberts family that they hadn't yet uncovered? And why did Ariana insist they check the lake? Did she know about Philipa? Had she seen more during her years of captivity than she let on? Or was there something else, something darker, lurking in those woods?

Eric groaned, frustrated, and rubbed his hands over his tired eyes. Tomorrow, they would interview Ariana again—at the request of Captain Collins. He couldn't shake the feeling that the girl knew more than she was telling them, but she was either too scared or too traumatized to say it outright.

What if she shuts down again? What if she's too broken to help us put the pieces together?

His phone buzzed on the nightstand, interrupting the spiral of thoughts. Eric grabbed it, half-expecting an emergency, but instead saw a text from Clara.

Clara: "Can't sleep either?"

Eric sighed, tapping a quick reply.

Eric: "You too?"

A moment later, his phone buzzed again.

Clara: "Yeah. I keep thinking about the lake. Do you think Ariana knew about Philipa?"