Page 122 of Amnesty

The toes of my right foot hit the water first. The skin began tingling immediately. The inclination to recoil from the frigid temp was natural, but I held firm. Both feet sloshed into the dark waves. I walked forward just enough that the water was able to swallow both up to my ankles.

I spread my arms wide, staring out at the unforgiving body of water. Marveling at the secrets it held and the way it so casually homed an island of a madman.

“I’m here!” I yelled. “I know you want me. Here I am!”

I sounded like a lunatic, appearing to yell at no one. But I knew to whom I spoke. My words might have fallen on deaf ears, but the lake heard regardless.

“I don’t understand why you took Sadie. Or why you gave me Amnesia.” I went on, hurling the words into the wind. “You can’t have her back!”

A wave crashed close, splashing up my legs and saturating the lower portion of my pants. Maybe I was dreaming. Perhaps I was going insane, but my words seemed to evoke a reaction. A great gale blew off the water, and the waves became defiant.

“What do you want?” I flung the words. I was angry and confused. I was also slightly embarrassed.

I was standing in a freezing cold lake in the middle of the night, with barely any clothes on, challenging it as if it were suggesting war.

The violent reply from the wind and water was all I got. I stood there until my feet were numb and the numbness began moving up my legs and teasing the tips of my fingers.

I didn’t know what I expected, but it was more than I got.

Suddenly, a sick feeling plunged into me, coming up so quick my stomach revolted and the urge to vomit tickled the back of my throat. My body flung around. Turning my back on the water, I stared at my house. Scanning its outline, the yard, and everything around it, I searched for something. Anything. My eyes ultimately landed on the bedroom window, where Amnesia lay sleeping in my bed.

Knowing I left her in there alone gave me a creepy feeling. Maybe that’s what the lake wanted. Maybe it wanted to tear me away so Icouldn’tfight.

A large wave crashed into me, hitting me just behind the knees. My legs buckled, but I didn’t go down. The drenched material of my sweats clung to my legs, the weight shackles around my ankles.

A sound ripped from my throat, and I lifted one foot to trudge back home. Something bumped against the other leg. The one still anchored in water. I paused. It collided into me again, briefly tugged away, then clashed against me once more.

Whirling around, I stomped down, and the water splashed around me.

It took a moment for the sight to register. For the actuality of what I was seeing to seep into my mind.

The boat appeared out of nowhere. A small wooden craft not much larger than a canoe. The front end was pointed. The point was what bumped me, the surface rough even though it was wet. The edge caught my pants, snagging the material as if to yank me out to sea.

I kicked it back, sending the boat sideways. It was long, enough for a few people to fit inside. On the edge was a long wooden oar anchored by a clamp.

On the back of the boat, I could make out what appeared to be a tall metal rod sticking straight up into the night. There was a hook on the end, and I knew it was for a lantern that wasn’t there.

I didn’t know the boat; it wasn’t one I’d seen before. The idea of using a lantern seemed archaic but also served as a precursor to other thoughts.

Visions of blinking, bobbing light out on Rumor Island replayed in my head. The glow of what we always thought was Sadie’s lantern. Sadie roaming the island at night, waiting for her… master to return.

To bring back her sister, her replacement. What was his.

I gasped, the sound more like a yell of enlightenment.

Holy shit.

The boat rammed into my shins, forced close again by the ferocious water. I might have thought the lake was working against me, trying to stop me from rushing back to Amnesia’s side.

I have to get back to Am.

But it wasn’t.

The lake was warning me.

Friend or enemy, I still didn’t know. Maybe it was ever changing like the tide. But tonight? Tonight, Lake Loch appeared to be a friend.

As I shoved away the wooden vessel, just beyond it, something rose from the water. A paper-white arm shot up from the inky depths. From finger to elbow, the arm reached up as if it were trying to grab hold of some invisible rope to tow itself up.

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