The Figure

Jamie went missing in January. They stopped looking for him two weeks later. It's almost April now. Most people think Jamie's halfway across the country in the back of a van, some people actually think his parents killed him. The most popular story though, is that he's at the bottom of the pond in the woods. I've heard stories involving the dark, murky pond. Apparently, a girl fell in there in the 1930's and people say she's trapped there, forever haunting the pond.

When Jamie went missing, we held a search party in the woods for him, but it only lasted a few days, I still don't think it went on long enough. Jamie was my best friend, Beth's, little brother. She was a mess when he went missing. One thing, in particular, Beth said right after the incident has stuck with me these past few months. She said to me, "We have to get her Ima, we have to go after the girl in the lake." I immediately dismissed the idea. I thought it would be best to just comfort her and not say anything about it, which in hindsight wasn't the best thing to do, considering she also went missing a few days after.

I think that she vanished in the pond as well. The police never found her either, even after I told them about our conversation. The past few weeks my other friends and I have been researching the history of the pond. Every three years, there have been a few mysterious deaths surrounding our town. The last case was three years ago.

My friend, Jem, told me it was pointless to pursue this made up story and he wouldn't help if we were caught up in a fake world of ghosts and monsters. Our other friends agreed to help but there were many who still refused.

Our small group is riding down the trail through the woods with our rain-slicked jackets and rusty hand-me-down bikes. We almost slip in the mud more than once on our way down the steep slope. I feel the fat water droplets pound on my back and the branches skimming the top of my head as I will my legs to move faster. Everyone starts to slow down and I instinctively tense up at the sudden change in atmosphere. I let my bike fall into the mud and the ground shifts beneath my feet as I creep closer to the murky abyss in front of us.

"Ready?" Comes the questioning tone of my boyfriend, Aaron, from behind me. There's dark look gracing his slim features. We nod. The plan is for each of us to move to a corner of the pond as fast as possible- to come at it from all directions. Once we're all in position we signal each other to start moving forward into the freezing water. I'm focusing on the way the water starts to ripple slowly, somehow moving right towards Jess. He didn't even have enough time to scream before he's pulled under. None of us have time to react as I see him quickly sink into the deep icy water. I hear Maya scream and see her normally calm facade crumble into one of horror after he disappears. We all start frantically thrashing around to find him. My blood is pounding in my ears as I dive beneath the unnaturally calm water. I can barely see more than my hand in front of me in the inky darkness and as I resurface I see my remaining friends have abandoned any semblance of plan we originally had in favor of searching for Jess.

Rain is still pouring down in sheets upon us as I look around to find Maya gone as well. I start screaming her name as I look around for Aaron. I see him ten feet in front of me, but only barely, the sky somehow darkening as I start struggling to get to him before he's dragged under as well. My legs feel like they've just run a marathon when I finally get close enough to grab his arm. Just as I reach out, he gets pulled under, my hand swiftly slipping through his. I scream again quickly spinning around trying to find him.

Swimming to the shore proves to be harder than I thought, but after all the struggling through the mucky weeds and dirt, I finally get a good grip on the bottom of the pond. My leg gets caught on a long plant that feels suspiciously like long, slimy fingers. Almost as if something is reaching out to grab at my ankle. When I try to pull away and start swimming again I feel something grab my other ankle and start to panic. I kick behind me and my feet hit something solid. I try to flip my body around to see what it is. Pale, bulging eyes surrounded by floating black hair glare back at me and I start struggling even harder. I look back to see a furious, bony face getting closer, the skin missing in some spots and stark white in others. I'm still desperately trying to pull myself out of the water and onto the shore and when my head finally goes under the water, I really start to panic.

I feel my lungs strain with the effort of holding my breath. My head bangs against a particularly large rock and all my air rushes out of my lungs just as my vision starts to go black around the edges. I feel another burst of pain on my neck before I lose consciousness.