Drowned [Ongoing]

P1: Vacation

Matt was driving the car with him, Edd and Tord in it, on the way to his lakefront cottage, where he'd invited his friends to stay for the weekend. It was getting late, the sun just about to finish setting, and the boys were very close to their destination. Tord fidgeted his hands uncomfortably while Edd smiled at the passing trees through the car window.

Matt drove up the dirt road to his cottage, and parked his car in front of it. It was a moderately sized log cabin that had been passed down to him from his parents. It was in very good condition, since Matt was a complete neat-freak when it came to his living spaces.

"We're here!" Matt exclaimed, getting out of the car. His two friends followed him out. Tord looked over at the lake sitting behind the cabin and shuddered.

"Wow! This is amazing!" Edd exclaimed, taking in the gorgeous view of the lakeside cabin. He wished he could have a cottage of his own one day.

Matt went around the back of his red hatchback and popped the trunk open. "Everyone, grab your own luggage!" He exclaimed, pulling his four sparkly purple suitcases out of the trunk. One by one, he dragged them into the cottage.

Edd went to the trunk and pulled out his two beige suitcases, mostly filled with cola. He brought them into the cottage as well.

Lastly, Tord grabbed his single well-worn suitcase from the trunk, and closed it before bringing his suitcase into the cottage as well.

The cottage only had one bedroom, which held two sets of bunk beds pushed against opposing walls. Matt claimed one of the top bunks by tossing his suitcases on to it. "We can't go swimming tonight since it's late, but there's a fire pit near the lake we can light!" He explained.

Edd threw his luggage on the bunk under Matt's. "A fire pit? That sounds like it could be fun! Right, Tord?" He asked with a smile.

"N-near the lake..?" Tord asked, gently putting his suitcase down.

"Yup!" Matt answered.

"Great, just great..." Tord muttered under his breath, and rubbed his arms.

"The lake is really pretty, especially at night when with all the stars." Matt said, grabbing one of his suitcases then leading Edd and Tord outside the back porch and to the fire pit area on the beach.

Matt gathered fire wood and got the fire going, then opened the one suitcase he'd brought outside. It contained 10 or so bags of marshmallows, and a few metal skewers. "Help yourselves!" He said, plopping a marshmallow on a skewer and then holding it over the fire.

Edd and Tord sat down beside Matt near the fire. Edd grabbed a bag of marshmallows and just started eating them raw. Tord stared at the lake.

"Are you okay, Todd?" Matt asked his friend, not noticing his roasting marshmallow burst into flames.

Tord looked over at Matt. "Y-yeah, I just..." He murmured.

"Juuuuust?" Matt asked, then blew out his flaming marshmallow.

"Do you... remember Tom?" Tord asked with a small sigh.

There was sudden large, cold gust of wind, which completely blew out the fire, leaving the boys in the blackness of the night. "Wow, I blow really strong!" Matt exclaimed.

Tord went completely silent, which was the exact opposite of Edd. Being terrified of the dark, Edd squealed and grabbed onto Matt for safety. Matt hugged Edd back, then tried to re-light the fire, but all the logs were soaking wet for some reason. "Hm, that's weird." Matt commented, poking a wet log.

Tord completely froze.

"Hm... Maybe that's nature's way of telling us it's time for bed!" Matt decided with a clap of his hands.

Tord felt something wrap itself around his ankle, but looked down to see that there was nothing there. He figure it must just be his nerves making his mind play tricks on him. Either way, he backed away from the burned out fire.

"Let's go back inside." Edd said, still holding onto Matt.

"I agree, I'm tired from all that driving." Matt said, grabbing his suitcase and heading back into the cottage.

Edd smiled and followed Matt back inside.

Tord stood for a moment in the stand and stared at the black lake. It looked dead and stagnent. Another blast of cold wind whooshed past, nearly knocking Tord off his feet. He then slowly made his way back to the cottage.

Matt pulled his suitcases off his bunk and put them in a corner of the room. He grabbed pjs from one of them, then went and changed into them in the bathroom. Edd flopped down on his bed, not bothering to change his clothes.

"Look at my new pjs!" Matt exclaimed as he burst out of the bathroom in a baby blue tank with matching boxer that also had little kitten faces on them.

"Looks great, Matt." Tord murmured as he sat down on his bunk. He looked over at the bedroom window, which had a perfect view of that dead-looking lake.

The air in the room suddenly went cold, and the bedroom door slammed shut with a bang. The lights flickered a couple times before they quickly went out.

Matt shrieked and jumped onto Edd's bunk to hug him for comfort. Tord reached into his pocket and pulled out his handy Swiss army knife that he always kept on his person.

After a moment, the lights came back on, revealing the word "MURDERER" written on the window in blue permanent marker. Water dipped down the window frame, and collected into a puddle near Tord's feet.

Tord shrieked and hid behind the shivering, hugging mess that was Matt and Edd. "What's going on?" Matt asked.

When none of the boys were taking or screaming, the room was completely silent other than the sounds of dripping water. The three boys were reasonably scared out of their minds.

Tord felt the sensation of sometime slip around his neck from behind. Something that felt like hands. He squeezed his eyes shut, not wanting to look at whatever might be behind him. However, as quickly as the sensation appeared, it disappeared again, leaving a trail of water dripping down Tord's neck.

Tord jumped off Edd's bunk and made a run for it, wanting to get the hell out of that terrifying cottage. He quickly learned that all the windows and doors were locked, no matter how hard he tried to push or pull them open. He screamed in a mix of frustration and fear.

Stray drops of water strangely dripped down from the wooden ceiling, landing on and around Tord. He curled into a ball on the floor, wanting whatever kind of nightmare this was to be over.

Then without warning, the drops all reversed, flying back up into the ceiling and disappearing into the cracks. Tord stayed curled up on the floor.

Once again, the cottage was as quiet as a mouse.