The Waters

01. Prologue

It was never this hot in the city before.

The sun is in the middle of the sky. No clouds in the horizon, no chance of raining.

Nobody can feel the wind.

Everyone is either inside their homes, blasting their air conditioner or outside, wearing close to no clothes at all, hoping that somehow, the blazing heat will go away as they pack their bags to go somewhere to cool off.

Sam was neither of those people. She hates beaches or even going outside to mingle with people. She's packing her bag, not to go to a beach but to go to her mom's hometown in the North.

It was not that hot for her. It's bearable. Somehow.

She can see her mom walk back and forth across the hallway.

"Dear, are you sure you want to go there?" Sam squeezed in her last pair of shoes inside her luggage.

"Yes, mom. Please, come on, why are you so nervous?"

Her mom never stopped pacing around, "You know it has been years since I've been there. Nobody knows you, well maybe your grandma does but still, something might happen to you." Fear can be heard from her tone. Sam smiled, "Nothing will happen to me, chill."

"I can come with you if you want-"

"Work, mom. You have work. I'm pretty sure you can't take a leave with the excuse of you being scared for your daughter." She snorted.

She can hear her mom's footsteps behind her. "You are right. I will trust you.", She layed her hands on her daughter's shoulders, squeezing them tighter and tighter with each second passing by as she sighed. "Don't talk to anyone you do not know. And please, Samantha, please don't go home late." Worry was evident in her voice.

"I'm gonna be fine, mom, nana is with me." She reassured her. Her grip on her shoulders tighten once more before letting go.

"Have fun?"

As Sam turned around after zipping her luggage close, her mom smiled at her. "See you after two months."

-

The sound of crickets echoed through the woods as the van passed by.

"You've grown up so big, Samantha." The man with stubbly chin and ponytail said. He said he's her mother's second cousin. But she never heard of him from her. Maybe they're not that close. Her grandmother did say someone was coming to pick her up and he was there at the airport waving at her, so he must be the one. He looks kind and fun. She'll probably have fun with him this month. She took off her hair tie and let her wavy locks loose. The night wind caressed her face. It sent shivers down her spine in a good way. It was a very good decision to stay here for her break. Compared to the hot city this place is the total opposite. She dropped her shoulders and relaxed as the moon looked down upon them and the old but somehow sturdy vehicle.

They're the only one on the road. No street lights or anything but the moon guided them. The highway was not creepy, it felt like home. She's feeling good. Her uncle hummed to the jazz playing on the radio. The little tree air freshener hanging from the rearview mirror swinged side by side as the bass blasted gently through the van's speakers.

It took them almost 2 hours to the old, big, and secluded house in the middle of the trees. It faced the lake.

The van parked beside the house. The lake glistened as the moon rested in the middle of the cloudless, star filled sky.

Her grandmother did not greet her as she set foot inside the house.

"She's probably asleep, well, it's already 11." True.

The house was indeed old but not to the point where its not liveable. It was quiet inside but you can still hear the crickets outside. The moon is visible through a big window. The lake can be seen from where Sam is standing.

She looked at her phone and saw her mother's number on the screen.

Under the calm looking water something was brewing. Bubbles started forming out of nothing. Fresh water fishes started swimming frantically as if to run away from something.

'Here......She's he-re..'

The soft grey mud beneath the water started swishing around. Moving. Something was moving.

'Finally..'

Something under the thick layer of mud moved.

'..You've came back'

This time, no fishes can be seen. It was calm but at the same time menacing. The surface of the water was still calm. The moon was still in the center of the sky. But the animals in the woods quiet down. Even the crickets stop making their sounds.

Sam went down the hall and opened the door to her room. It was neat. A king sized bed was pushed to the side of the wall where a big glass window with thick white curtain layed. She approached it, kneeled on the bed and tied the curtain. The window can be opened and revealed the same beautiful lake she saw while coming inside the house.

She looked down and saw her uncle. He was opening the van's trunk and pulled out a big bag out of it. It was wet and looked heavy.

Sam shrugged it off. Unpacking her luggage was the first thing she must do but sleep was starting to catch up to her. She's already adjusting to the timezone. There's an 8 hour difference to her city and right now it's already 12:30 and it's still 4 in the afternoon where her mom and her cat is.

"Time does fly fast." She kicked her shoes off, changed her jeans into her pajamas but did not bother to change her shirt.