The Curse of The Lake Monster

A short horror story that I hope you like! :)

My friends told me not to, but I didn’t listen. I jumped over the fence, landing right in the middle of the lake. At once, a horrid smell of fish and moss went up my nose. Ignoring the screams of protest behind me, I swam deeper into the lake. The lake was freezing cold, but I had to find it. What “it” was exactly, I didn't know. All I know is that there was a rumor saying there was a haunted artifact at the bottom of the lake near the cemetery. I dived and opened my eyes. For one second, my eyes stung. Then, it went away and all I saw was green. There wasn’t anything in my way so I swam forward. Then, right in front of me was a skull with moss and seaweed on its head. I reached out to touch it but the moment my skin grazed its slimy head, I felt pain. Pain beyond imagination pierced through me like a sword stabbed in my stomach. I couldn’t even breathe and my lungs longed for air. That's when darkness came over me. A dark silence.

                                    ………..

When I woke up, I quickly sat up feeling myself.  I wasn’t wet. And I wasn’t near the lake. In fact, I wasn’t even outside. Looking around I realized I was in my room. Bright pink walls with paintings hanging in a frame. On my right, there was a big shelf with lots of books. On my left was a closet and desk that was cluttered with paper. I let out a small sigh of relief. 

“It was probably a nightmare”, I said to myself. 

I got out of bed and looked at my desk. On the desk was a glass of water.

“That wasn’t there before”, I said. 

“ Hey, mom!”, I yell, “Did you leave a glass of water here?”.

No answer.

“Ok”, I said.  I was confused. It was Saturday morning and my mom was always home. Maybe she went shopping. Weird. I took one step toward the glass of water and heard voices in my head. 

“Turn back”, they said.

It was like somebody whispered in my ear. I took another step and the same thing happened.
“Save yourself”, It called out.

And being the dimwitted person I am, I took another step forward and took the cup. Before drinking it I looked at myself in the mirror, thinking maybe I could knock some sense into me. If you thought it would work, I suggest you think again. Carefully examining myself I get why my dream self jumped into a pond just to retrieve some so-called “haunted” artifact. The way my brown hair was cut short into a bob and how I only wore baggy t-shirts, you’d think I was a loser. Because of this, I ignored the warnings that were in my head and drank the water. Immediately I felt sharp pangs in my stomach and dropped to the floor. Before I could even cry out in pain, it stopped. I opened my eyes and stood up. But I wasn’t in my room. Or at least, I was in my room but it looked like a hurricane smashed through it. My bright pink wallpaper was sopping wet and grey and was peeling off the walls. My shelves were knocked down and the books were torn. My mirror was cracked and the floor was broken and had stains that looked like blood but actually, it was Kool-Aid I spilled last week.

“Hello”, I called out, feeling an immense cold sweep over me.

As if an answer to my call there was a loud creak and footsteps coming from my closet. Slowly, the doorknob was turning. As quick as possible I ran to the other door, opened it, and ran across the hallway. I looked back and saw, standing in my doorway, a hideous beast staring back at me. It looked like a human but was wet and had seaweed draped over its head. Whatever it was, it emitted a loud screech. I quickly covered my ears and ran out the door. Instead of a lot of houses and cars, I see a deserted flat area of land with dead trees. I could hear the wind blowing dead leaves on the floor. I didn’t even realize that the monster was behind me until it grabbed me by the neck and dragged me to a lake that pretty much appeared out of nowhere. I tried to scream but no sound came out. I kicked and squirmed but the monster wouldn’t let go. Before I knew it, we dove into the lake and swam toward the cave where the artifact was. I opened my mouth and tried to bite the monster but all it did was make me lose air. I was starting to lose vision when the monster made me sit on some rock. It placed the skull on the top of my head and chanted some words. A blinding light encased both of us. I could breathe again. But what I was looking at didn’t make sense. I saw myself where the monster was a second ago. Then I realized.

The monster took my body and left me in the skull. The girl (me) smiled and then swam upwards where I could hear the shouts of my friends. While she was to enjoy my life, I would be down in the lake. And wait until someone else breaks my curse.

               The End