Black Water

Lurking Beneath

Jared's condition was getting worse. His meals, once elaborate and expensive, were now reduced to two bowls of oatmeal every day. He didn't seem to focus on anything in particular, instead cooping himself up in the master bedroom. When Jenny woke up in the morning, she found Jared's side of the bed to be empty, as it usually was these days. After searching through the Lodge, she found him inside the garage, scribbling over a large sheet of construction paper with a black pen. Upon further inquiry, Jenny saw that he was solving simple math problems - forty one times twenty two is equal to nine hundred and two. Twelve plus seven is equal to nineteen. Five hundred and sixty seven divided by seven is equal to eighty one.

Jared would tell her that he was fine - that he was simply doing this for fun. He refused to eat, he refused to drink, he refused to sleep. His eyes were bleary, his speech blurred, and his hands shaking most of the time. "You're not fine," said Jenny, "come on, have some rest. Do you want food? Anything?"

"No. I want to do this..." Jared began to write a number - his hands were shaking so badly that he couldn't finish. "This is...relaxing..."

Jenny watched Jared - she was even more than worried at this point. She remembered Dennis' words. I can't keep him safe, but you can.

"Listen, Jared...Lisa's been having some weird dreams. They're of the well."

At the mention of the well, Jared winced - it was almost as if he had swallowed something unpleasant, "Um ...great! What...um...what did she see? I mean, it's a dream right? So it's...uh...not real?"

"It has to be real. Listen, Jared." as she spoke, Jenny grabbed his arm, preventing him from continuing his scribbling, "listen to me. You're not okay. You have to sleep. Doing this is not going to help anyone. I can tell you what Lisa saw, but you have to rest first."

"I can't. I'm busy right now, can't you tell? I...I have to do this..." Jared began to turn back towards the paper, but before he could begin scribbling again, Jenny grabbed his pen, and threw it into a corner, "Listen, damnit!" she almost yelled, "what the hell's gotten into you? I thought that exploring the well was your thing!"

Jenny noticed how loud she was talking, and quickly lowered her voice. That was the first time she's ever exploded like this towards Jared - the first time ever. "I need you to focus," she said, after a few seconds of blank silence, "I need you to think...just think."

Jared stared at her. His shoulders were slumped, his eyes were downcast. This wasn't the Jared that she knew. "What's gotten into you?" she suddenly asked, "I thought that you were the one who always talked about thinking logically. Why can't you do it now, when I finally want you to?"

He didn't respond to that. His feet began to move, and the next thing Jenny knew, Jared was opening the garage door, and was going back into the Lodge. After the door slammed shut, Jenny was left in the garage, with nothing but herself, a sheet of paper covered with pointless numbers, and a feeling of dread that was beginning to slowly eat her up from the inside. 

By the time Jenny got to the master bedroom, Jared was already asleep. Next to him, the clock read 9:33 AM. A new tapestry hung over the nightstand - it was an odd weaving, one that had a strange modern-art look to it. But either way, she was glad that Jared was finally getting some rest. He really needed it.

Going back downstairs, she was surprised to see Allen lugging an entire box of equipment through the living room. He waved at her when she came downstairs, "Bringing some diving equipment over to that damned well," he said, "I've got another specialized diving crew driving down from my company's headquarters right now. As soon as they get here, we'll be filming Endeavor III."