Hauntings of the Lake

Camping Trip

The two-hour drive to the lake and town was Blake's stretch. Their whole group of six were tired. Allen and Theo with their girlfriends Jackie and Natalie were on a break from college, and about to graduate in May. Blake had just got a job in the IT department at a Spectrum business. His new wife, Alivia, was hired on at an insurance firm as well. All the friends were taking one last trip together before they took their own paths in life.

Everyone had crammed into Alivia's 2004 Ford SUV for a week of fun out on the lake. Alivia had started out driving, but the others had taken turns driving from their home in Nevada up to the northern woods. It was decided they would take two days to get there. Now on their second day, Blake was eager to arrive there even though it was now midnight.

"Dude, slow down, we're gonna get there." Allan shouted from the back seat, laughing.

"I know man, but we got deadlines! And I want us to have plenty of time to get there!" Blake said, rubbing his eyes. Alivia was struggling to stay awake as well.

Alivia perked up, "Honey, we aren't going out to the lake tonight, are we?"

"Of course not, we'll stay at a motel or whatever they have. I definitely don't feel like tramping around the Lake this time of night." Blake laughed and then grabbed her hand, "Tomorrow we can look around town, stock up on food, and then leave."

She sighed, and visibly relaxed. "Good." She said, "I really don't feel like hiking at night."

"O-ho! Remember that time when Tally got scared on our last night hike?" Jackie laughed, "Her face was hilarious!"

"And when she...she thought we...we were being chased by bigfoot?" Alivia said between giggles.

"What are you guys talking about?" Theo, Natalie's boyfriend, asked, waking up from his snooze. Natalie shifted but never woke up.

Blake, Jackie, and Alivia were giggling too much to reply. Theo snorted and went back to sleep, causing the others to become more subdued. After another twenty minutes, they arrived. Though it was night, they could see it wasn't a large town at all. The population sign said there was only about two thousand residents.

"And we're here." Blake mumbled, "Liv? You mind lookin' out for a motel or the like?"

She grunted in reply. The made their way through the tiny main street through the town. Their eyes peeled for any sign of a one-night stay. On the other side of town, they found a small shady space. The office was luckily open. Two rooms were quickly rented, one for the boys and the other for the girls.

The next morning, at 6:30 am, Blake and Allen woke up and decided to get some coffee and explore. It didn't take long to find the only coffee/breakfast house and diner there.

"I am so tired." Allen groaned, dragging out the "so" dramatically.

Blake laughed, "Suck it up, I was the one who had to drive us in while y'all were snoring in the back."

They continued their banter, all the while drawing suspicious looks and glares from the locals. Finally, they ordered four coffees to go and headed back to the motel. Everyone cleaned up and hopped in the car.

"Hey! Can we stop by the library? I'll make it quick!" Natalie asked.

"Why on earth?!" Allen looked at her quizzically, "You know we still have to go to the store, right?"

Jackie perked up and slung an arm around Natalie, "If my girl wants to go, then we can make a stop." She whispered to Natalie, "I got you Tally."