The Lake House

Part 5

As much as her heart pounded, as much as her blood thudded in her ears and her legs trembled beneath her, as much as every atom in her body demanded that she run until she was far from the attic, the lake, the whole vacation, none of it mattered. Her sister needed her.

She rushed up the stairs, imagining the horrors she would find inside. Rianon just needed to be safe. Aleksa would face it all, as long as she had her sister alive beside her.

The ornate door knob against her palm felt familiar. She twisted it and flung the door open.

"Aleksa!" Rianon crashed into Aleksa as she rushed through the door.

Aleksa blocked her. She reached back for the handrail to keep both of them from falling.

"The door was locked, I couldn't get out." Rianon sniffed. "Let's go."

"Wait." Aleksa shrugged her sister's hand off her shoulder and peered into the attic. "Why were you up here in the first place?"

She brushed past Rianon and stepped into the attic. Inside now, her fear had dissipated. Aleksa wondered what there was to be afraid of. The small room had two twin-sized beds lining the walls, and a worn brown rug in the middle of the room. A large wardrobe stood between two windows that overlooked the lake.

Sunlight shined through, but figures standing in front cast the room in shadows. The ghostly figures didn't scare Aleksa, but comforted her, just as the boy and the whispers had downstairs. She took a breath. Her mind cleared. For the first time since she'd almost drowned in the lake, she didn't feel the water's lust.

"Aleksa, let's go." Rianon whined and tugged on her sister's hand, wide eyes bouncing from the figures to her sister.

"They won't hurt us," Aleksa said.

They were all there, Avery Zimmerman, the woman Aleksa had seen in the early hours of the morning, Ross Finch, Nancy Zhou, Nick Ruiz, the young boy that had guided Aleksa to the guest book, and all the others. All martyrs of the lake, spirits trapped in the last house on the lake.

It all came back to her. The attic. The house. The lake.

At eight years old, water had flooded the yard and slipped into the house. Her father had brought Aleksa to the attic, but her mother's screams tore away him.

She hadn't feared the ghosts. They welcomed all the siblings into their space, protected them against the force born from the cracked Earth at the bottom of the lake. While her parents fought the forces below, Aleksa trembled in the middle of the attic. Luca and Rianon embraced her as water dripped from her heavy clothes onto the rug. She'd seen the power of the lake. While safe in her siblings' arms, she was terrified for her mother. Only Aleksa had gotten away.

Now, with the lake running through her veins again, she embraced the warm shield of the figures blocking the window view of the dark depths below.

Aleksa looked back to Rianon, who straddled the doorway, one foot on the second step down. "Really, Ri. It's safe." She held a hand out to her sister. Rianon raised hers, but hesitated.

"Ri! Lex!" Luca shouted from below.

The figures moved in unison. They turned to face the windows. Aleksa glimpsed the view. The shore pressed forward, lapping against the stone beach, inching closer to the grassy lawn of the house.

The lake was coming.

"Luca!" Rianon thundered down the stairs.

"Ri, no!" Aleksa stopped in the doorway. She could feel the pull of the lake the moment she left the protection of the attic. "Come back!"