The Case of Park Jimin

Chapter 3

                    
Park Jimin was considered a 'normal' boy from birth until he was 8. That's where everything went wrong.

When people think of moving away, they think fresh start, new identity. That's what Mrs. and Mr. Park thought. So that's why they moved into Stonehaven manor.

That's where Jimin first met Mina, out on the back of the property, in a lake. The water too deep to touch the bottom and too murky to see your toes.

                    Flashback

Jimin hated it. He hated the new house with every ounce of his small body. He hated the way it didn't creak like the last one, and he hated the way it didn't smell like cookies. This house smelled like something he knew he hated, he didn't know what, but he knew he hated it.

The only thing he did like, was the space. The property stretched as far as his eyes could see, and he knew from what his mother told him, that somewhere, there was a lake.

Jimin kept bothering his parents about finding the lake, but the two lawyers were too busy. They told him no way to many times for him to count. So he decided to find it on his own, because what could possibly go wrong.

He left the house quietly without his parents noticing and he managed to dodge all the nosy maids. He jogged to the border of trees, the second he broke the threshold of the forest he knew there was no turning back.

A bright smile lit up on his face, so big that he eyes looked shut. He broke into a full out sprint. He didn't know where he was going but he didn't know that he was free. His short, trimmed black hair bounced every time his feet smashed onto the dirty.

The wind didn't slap him, it bent and formed around him, like a blanket, it guided him. Only the forest wasn't on his side, one misplace rock sent Jimin tumbling down a small hill.

He landed on his arm and he smashed his hand on a rock, and he skinned his knees. His arm throbbed and stung but he could move it. He moved his foot only for him to feel something wet on his ankle.

He jerked back before realizing that it was just water, lake water. A gleeful smile graced his lips, forgetting about the pain for the time being.

The water was dirty, and it looked like nothing had inhabited it in years. He took off his shoes and socks, laying them neatly by the bank. He stepped in the eater and shivered, it was ice cold, but he liked it anyway.

The mix of dirt and sand made the bottom squishy, and it tickled when he wiggled his toes. His mother wouldn't like this, not even two steps in and he already couldn't see his feet, but she wasn't here.

He kicked his right leg out violently and laughed as the water splashed, creating ripples. He liked the lake, he liked it very much, well until he saw the bubbles.

He didn't notice them at first, too busy splashing, but he did notice them when they came up faster and faster. Violently popping when they reached the surface, more and more bubbles came.

He moved towards the bubbles, forgetting about the saying 'curiosity killed the cat'. As he got closer, it was like the water cleared itself for him, becoming clearer.

He looked down into the water and froze. A sunken car, stared back at him, like right out of a horror film, but it wasn't what was making the bubbles.

The woman beside it was.

Her long brown hair stretched out around her, like a dark spider web. Her arms reached out above her towards him, hands making a clawing motion. She looked as if she was trying to crawl and claw her way out of the water.

Jimin just stood there, staring at her and the only thought he had was, can't she swim?

What he didn't know was her foot was caught in the thick weeds below the water, and she was slowly dying, right before his eyes.

He didn't move when she started thrashing more violently, he didnt move when the bubbles started to slow, and he didnt move when the bubbles completely ceased.

Her now dead, blank, brown eyes stared back at him hauntingly, blaming him for her dying. He didn't move to get her out of the water, he didn't move at all, he only moved when he heard his mother calling him.

He ran out of the water and put on his socks and shoes. He ran up the small hill but stopped at the top. He looked back just in time to see the darkness of the lake swallow the woman up, who was still staring at him.

He ran all the way home that day, and told a lie. A lie about what had happened. He said he met a friend, he failed to mention that he watched that 'friend' die.

It took months before he saw her again, in his bathroom. He was taking a bath, his mom had just left to answer a phone call. He closed his eyes and layed back in the water.

He felt a soft hand in his hair, his mother must have returned without him hearing. The hand ran through his hair gently and he sighed. It felt nice.

It felt nice, until the hand gripped his hair tightly and pushed him under the water. He thrashed as the air was knocked right out of him. He clawed at the hand that held him down, and he grabbed at anything that he could.

He was losing oxygen fast, and he was panicking. He looked at the person who was holding him down and he screamed, it was her.

The same dead brown eyes stared back at him, only this time it was him drowning. She had a sick smile on her face, revealing her already rotted teeth.

Just as he was about to lose consciousness, someone yanked him up. His mother stared back at him with worried eyes. "What were you doing jimin?" She yelled and hugged him to her chest, not caring that she was getting her shirt soaked.

He didn't say anything, not because he couldnt, but because the woman was right behind his mother, holding her pointer finger up to her lips. She smiled at him once more before vanishing.

His mother pulled away from him before staring at the water with disgust, "you dirty boy why did you have this much dirt on you?".

Jimin looked at the water in confusion, expecting to see clear and clean water. Only to see dirty water silently rocking around him, not just any water though.

It was lake water.