Beasts of Bonnie Hill

Monsters?

          Calvin pulled the RV off onto a gravel road that had a sign that simply read "Lake". Hadleigh jumped around the back grabbing things before they fell as the camper jumped up and down like it was on a giant washing machine. Calvin let out an audible gasp. "Guys it's like a legitimate campsite!" He said stopping the vehicle a little harshly, causing a jolt. "There's benches a place for a tent and one of those weird old grill thingies," he finished.
          "Park it!" Hadleigh cried, "I want to go exploring!" She said. Calvin parked.
          "Alrighty guys let's go have a great time!" Ethan said practically bounding out the narrow camper door after Calvin. Hadleigh went out next, Cayden and AJ followed and lastly Tally trotted out.
          The weather was still overcast but the temperature had risen by the lake for some reason. Small tendrils of steam exited the lake as if ascending to the heavens. Thick reeds outlined the entire lake except for the groups campsite. A rickety dock slumped into the water as if tired of being neglected  and there was very little underbrush amongst the trees around the campsite. The lake looked very large and no doubt went very deep. Cayden even guessed that based on the climate it may even connect to the ocean.
          Hadleigh and Tally took their luck on the dock. "Hadleigh if you fall in with no swimsuit on I'm going to laugh my ass off," Tally teased.
          "Oh hush Tally," Hadleigh said placing a delicate step onto the dock. It moaned and creaked. The wood was soft. She put out her arms for balanced and inched forward. After a few more nervous steps she stood up and turned to the group. "I think we'll be fine as long as we don't run, jump, or have sex on this dock or anything," she laughed.
          "Very brave!" Cayden said shooting her a smile and giving her a thumbs up. "Braver than I am!" She rolled her eyes and giggled. The then jumped from the dock onto the pebbly beach. She walked forward and dipped a toe into the water.
           "Wow that's actually quite warm. Maybe there's a spring or something around here," she said.
           "Yeah maybe," Cayden shrugged looking around.
          "Well it certainly is a possibility!" Ethan said, "shall we change and go swimming?"

          The water was a nice temperature. Warm enough to be comfortable yet cool enough to be refreshing. It certainly housed a boat load of life too. Tally pointed out multiple times how many fish, and even large fish, were this close to the shore. Cayden and AJ both chalked it up to there obviously being no people here for quite some time.
          "I never thought you'd get," Hadleigh said swimming up to Cayden who treaded water.
          "Oh yeah? And why's that?" He said.
          "Becauss you're a baby!" She laughed.
          Cayden gasped with exaggerated surprise and offense, "ExcUUUse me!" He said, "I am NOT a baby," he grinned.
          "When it comes to temperature you are," she cooed swimming around him.
          "PfFt," he scoffed back, "Well you can't take the heat, punk!" He shot back.
           "If there's water I can," she said matter of factly. Then she smiled "I'm Cayden, 'it's too cold', 'where's all the heat?', 'I'm FREEZING!'" She gave her best imitation of him. He leapt up and playfully pushed her under.
          "I sound nothing like that!" He cried.
          She made a pitiful face at him and then swam off. He smiled.
          "Hey guys wanna see how deep it is?" AJ said from the end of the dock.
          "AJ I swear to god if you jump in and dive to the bottom..." Tally started but AJ kept off the dock. Under the water AJ kept his eyes closed as he swam deeper and deeper. He started to wonder why it went so deep. Around him he could feel the water cooling. Then something brushed up against him. Reeds. He knew he was getting close now but his lungs were just barely starting to ache. Then he hit something. Something solid and large. He stopped, stunned and started to feel with his hands. The thing was smooth and almost rubbery. He pulled his hands back and opened his eyes a tiny bit to get a glance of whatever it was. Between the bright green reeds he could see something large and grayish. The water sting his eyes so he slammed them shut. The water around him began to shift like he was in a boat wake. He reached out again but felt nothing and that's when his lungs started to give in. He shot up towards the surface. He breached in...in open water. He turned to hear Hadleigh crying his name. The group was at least 500 feet away. But that's impossible he thought he swam straight down. The group ushered him in as he swam as fast as he could. Once on the beach and in a towel  he told them about his encounter.
          "It was really weird," he started off frantically, "I thought I just went straight down but I didn't or something because I ended up all the way out there!" AJ threw a finger out to the lake.
          "AJ, did you come up for air anywhere else?" Ethan said concerned.
          "No," AJ said confused, "I was only down there for like I dont know,"
          "15 minutes," Ethan said.
         "What the...how??" AJ said, he looked to the ground trying to wrap his head around this.
          "We don't know that's why we thought you came up somewhere else," Hadleigh said.
           "Well I didn't," AJ said still confused. "Anyway I was down there and it went really deep or at least it felt like it," he said, "but then I finally hit some reeds and then something really weird happened. I ran into like, a rock? It was a soft rock though but what else would it have been? It almost felt like rubbery, I dont know it was really weird." He glanced at Cayden who had been weirdly quiet this whole time...and continued to be quiet. "Well anyway," he continued "I opened my eyes to see what it was but it was just gray and the eater hurt my eyes so I shut them but when I reached out again the thing was gone and that's when I came up for air."
          "That's really weird," Ethan said.
          "And exactly why I dont get in the water!" Calvin called from his lawn chair by the firepit.
          "I dont really want to swim anymore," Hadleigh said looking to the lake.
          "Me neither," Tally said, "Besides it's getting late and we should probably eat." Everyone agreed.
          The sky was a light purple streaked with orange and flecked with small white dots that were the first emerging stars. Ethan had started a fire and Cayden used it to cook baked beans. The others pulled out other foods. As they say around the fire the world got increasingly dark, and loud it seemed. A number of bugs and frogs started to chatter and were joined by other noises of the night. It was quite comforting actually. They sat in silence enjoying each others company. Hadleigh was swaddled up in a cute blanket, Tally was close to her, AJ twiddling a stick into a...sharper stick, Calvin fiddled with his banjo, and Cayden greedily ate his baked beans. When he finished he turned to the group.
          He leaned forward and supported his weight on one knee, "If anyone needs to go outside for any reason tonight, or any other night, I want you to use a buddy system,"
          "But why?" Tally asked, "I doubt there's anyone for miles around here,"
          "I'm not worried about people," Cayden said and leaned back in his chair. They sat in silence for a little longer and then they gradually shifted into the RV leaving the crackling smolders of the fire.

          "So...do you think it was anything?" AJ asked Cayden in the loft, "like a cryptozid or something?"
          "Cryptid," Cayden corrected, "and possibly," he pulled a folder labeled "lake/water" on it and revealed its contents. AJ gulped. "There are tons of water 'monsters'" Cayden made finger quotations in the air around the word 'monsters'. "You could've ran into any but I have an idea," he said shifting through the papers, he settled on one, "what you described sounds like a lake plesiosaur to me, and if this lake connects to the ocean that's all the more possible," he said.
          AJ looked over the paper. The creature had a long thick neck, four clawed flippers and a small whale like tail. "I was down there with THAT?"he asked alarmed.
          "Possibly, but then again it could have just been a whale," Cayden shrugged, "but that wouldn't explain the weird distance and time thing...well! I'm tired we can talk more in the morning I guess," Cayden rolled over and flicked the light off leaving AJ alone with his t hmmm lights in the dark...