Hidden In The Attic: An AJR Fanfiction

Chapter Two

↤↤↤↤↤ Kib ↦↦↦↦↦

In about forty-five minutes, everyone's done with their ramen except Jay, because he's a loser and doesn't like it. But for some reason, right after we've eaten, everyone agrees to go swim in the lake.

"Swimming after you eat is dangerous," I insist as they all gather around the door in their bathing suits.

I'm met with a chorus of everyone saying that it's a myth and I'm phenomenally stupid.

"I just won't swim," I declare. "I'll sit on the dock, though. You people can drown."

"Alright, let's go," says Ryan, disregarding what was basically a death threat. We all follow him outside, off of the porch and onto a little dock on the water. The lake is surprisingly clear; I can see rocks on the bottom a few feet down.

Danny, being the absolute idiot that he is, jumps in immediately and splashes everyone else. Jack follows, jumping farther out so that we don't all get splashed to the same extent. They both pop back up above the water, laughing with each other as everyone else yells at them for it.

The rest of us stay on the dock for a bit. Ryan, Hanna, Julie and Jay sit on the edge with their feet in the water, while Adam and I are on lawn chairs further back, reading and drawing, respectively.

"Get in, coward!" Jack is yelling at Ryan.

"I will!" he insists. "It's just cold."

I look up from my sketchbook to see Jack grabbing one of Ryan's legs while Danny grabs the other. They attempt to pull him to the water while he yells in protest, clinging to the dock like a coward..

"You people are animals," Jay remarks as Ryan thrashes against the rest of the people at the edge of the dock in an attempt to stay dry.

"Oh my God, just-" Hanna stops mid-sentence as she pushes Ryan in the rest of the way from behind. He yells and manages to take a breath before his head goes under the water.

"That's so mean!" Julie gasps. "He has his glasses on!"

Hanna smiles. "It's fine."

Ryan's head pops above the surface, his glasses crooked, but still on his face. He takes them off and tosses them onto his towel on the dock before splashing Danny and Jack, who retaliate with twice as much violence as Ryan.

After a few minutes, Hanna, Julie and Jay decide to get in the water, meaning it's safe for me to sit at the edge and put my feet in. I bring my sketchbook and Adam joins me with his book. I splash anyone who swims too close to me, not wanting to get pulled in like Ryan.

After sketching for almost half an hour, my neck is starting to ache so I decide to lift my head up to give it a break. I look around the water's edge a bit before eventually looking past the bay and into the deeper water. I squint slightly; there seems to be some kind of movement about twenty feet from where everyone else is.

I try to ignore it, looking down at my drawing again, but I feel my stomach tighten. For some reason, it just doesn't feel right to ignore something that feels so out of place.

I put my sketchbook down and, without looking at Adam, I say, "I'm gonna take a walk, my legs are asleep." Adam cautions me to be careful but I'm already too far away to distinctly hear what he says. I want to find a way to get closer to the water— close enough to see if I can make out what was moving.

Suddenly, I stop for a moment.

It could just be some fish, you dumbass, I think.

I stand there for several minutes debating if I really am stupid or not. Just when I'm beginning to doubt my sense of curiosity and turn back I feel the slight breeze that circles around the lake die down, leaving the space around me eerily still. I freeze mid-turn, the hairs on the back of my neck standing tall. Even without the breeze, it suddenly gets colder, like winter arriving way too early for my liking. I turn once more, back towards the lake, and automatically move.

Step by step I feel more pressure on my shoulders. This feels so wrong but I can't stop myself. I see a pile of big rocks that stretch out halfway to the middle of the lake and I start towards them, my chest beginning to feel like it's caving in. Climbing onto the rocks with my new-found balance, I creep along until I'm at the very edge. I sit down, looking at my reflection in the water. I look past my own scared face and wide eyes to see some movement underneath. It sways back and forth, as if it were calmly asking for help. I lean in closer. The water by the cabin is crystal clear, allowing me to even see the bottom in the deep spots, but the water here is so murky and dark.

Is that... a finger?

I lean in a bit closer.

My breath catches in my throat.

The noises of the swaying trees and lapping water die in my ears and are replaced by a ringing silence. I can hear my own heartbeat.

At the bottom of the lake is a human hand reaching up. Is it alive? Is it sentient?

I have the urge to lean closer. I just have to get a better look, because surely this isn't real? I look down at my own hands for a moment, wondering if it could be a reflection, but it's not. I stare back into the water.

Then I feel it.

A chill begins in my lower back and moves up to the back of my neck. A noise is growing louder around me, almost like whispers. I get on my hands and knees, my body weak from fear, and lean over the rock. It's like the hand is luring me in.

I reach my own hand down out of instinct, not thinking it through in my jumbled brain. The voices around me get louder.

This is crazy, I think, still not believing any of it.

I pull my hand back.

It's almost broken the surface of the water when the hand at the bottom of the lake shoots up and grabs my wrist.