Dead Mans Lake

My Parents decided that we would sell our perfectly good house in a perfectly good neighborhood and buy this old cabin way up north where our closest neighbor is miles away. And on top of that this cabin belonged to an old man, an inventor to be precise, who drowned in the private lake behind the cabin. Which is great. Really great.

"Mom, the twins are making a mess!" I call up to her from the back seat of the car.

"Sweetie, I can't right now." She puts her earbuds back in and leans her seat back.

"Ugh!" She can be so annoying. I close my eyes and wish I was back in my room in the city in peace and quiet from my little sisters. The car comes to a jolting stop. Ava screeches and Isla won't quit crying. "shhh. shhh. Shhh." I try to calm them down.

"We're here!" My dad states proudly. I unbuckle myself and Isla and crawl out of the car. Isla Immediately stops crying as I rock her in my arms. "Let's go." I head towards the cabin. The inside is creaky and dark. Oh yah, We sold our furniture and bought this place furnished. Great. That means I'll be sleeping in the bed of a dead man. The only furniture we kept was the twins stuff and my parents bed. everything else went. I set Isla down, but she clings to my leg. Ava comes waddling in after my mom, barefooted and in a onesie. I pry Isla off me and let them follow me as I explore the house. the place is pretty dusty, and there is only carpet in the bedrooms.

"Which one is my bedroom mom?" I turn around, but she's gone. My heart drops. "Mom?" She walks into the room. I'm flooded with relief and my cheeks go red, embarrassed for getting freaked out over nothing. "Mom!" she pulls her earbuds out. "Where is my room?" She points to the one off of the living room. I take a step forward, and another, and slowly open the door. My bed, A closet, and a window. I yank all the blankets off the bed and throw them on the floor. a dust cloud fills the air. "Children!" My fathers voice bellows, he bangs pots and pans together. "Coming!" I call and Lift the twins onto my hips.

"You must stay in your rooms while the movers come with our furniture."

"But we sold almost everything!" I say irritated.

He points at me and smiles, "Not everything. We changed our mind last minute. We'll have a spare room for guests, so you'll share a room with the twins in the old mans room, We'll have the room closest to the door, and the third bedroom will be kept for guests. All the twins stuff was saved, and we'll move some of the furniture around and add some of ours."

Before I could protest, there comes a loud knock from the door and Dad pushes us into our room and closes it. This room is much larger than the other one, with a double bed and a walk-in closet. A window seat looking out onto the lake. The Dead Mans Lake. there's enough room for all three of us to share. It's way to large for just one person. You could add a couch and some beanbags, maybe a coffee table, and the twins cribs.

"Door!" Isla screeches.

"No Isla, we can't go out. Dad says so." I walk over to set her on the bad. She points to the wall and Ava kneels down. "That's nothing guys, come on lets go to bed. I look around for a clock, but there's none to be found. The only light we have is the light from the window and it's getting dark. I lift Isla up and lay her on the bed. It's on a high wooden bed frame, and pushed up against the wall. I tuck her and Ava in, and place extra pillows from the closet on the side to keep them from falling off. Once they're asleep, I sit on the floor and doze off.

I wake up to a loud ruckus outside the window. I look around and wince at the pain in my neck. It was only supposed to be for a few moments that I sat down, but by the looks of it, it must have been hours. The sun starts to rise over the lake, casting a pink glow over the carpet. I race over to the window seat and watch it rise. Birds chirp, and I detect what was making such a loud noise. It's two squirrels chasing each other on a tree and toppling over in a wrestling match. It definitely is a beautiful view over here. I sigh and tip toe out of the room.

the living room is completely transformed. Our old furniture in place, and a rug added to the floor. An old couch, coffee table, and T.v. stand sits outside out bedroom door. Along with the twins cribs and bean bags. The room next to us, which would be the guest bedroom, has an old recliner and the bed which was moved out of the third bedroom.

The day flies by with moving and organizing. Before I knew it, the sun fell and our room was thrown into darkness. But I wasn't going to go to bed just yet. I found a set of keys in a cupboard, and Ava and Isla would not stop obsessing over this door here in our room. finally our parents fell asleep, so I wake the twins up and try out each key on this small door. When it comes down to the last key, I just about give up. Until, Ava starts messing with a string loose from the carpet, and ends up yanking a square of the carpet up.

"Ava!" I pull her away from the carpet and scold her. they are tired and cranky already, and getting n my nerves, so I set them in their cribs with a pacifier and blanket, and almost instantly they fall asleep. I kneel down at the perfect square in the carpet, and inspect the creaky floorboard underneath. Knocking on it, I can tell in must be hollow. I dig at the fairly large crack, and yank open a small stash with a key, some papers, and a small keepsake charm. My breath gets caught in my throat when the key unlocks the door in the wall. What's in it will haunt me forever.