The trees reached out ominous, jagged branches in the dark. Anything could happen behind the forest's nighttime veils. But I had to brave the blackness. So I kept my misgivings to myself as he steered the car onto the shadowy road leading to Loch Raven Reservoir. He slowed; a low barricade spanned the entrance with an official-looking sign hanging from it: Loch Raven Reservoir—open 7 am-sunset. "Damn," said Blake, who my friends and I secretly nicknamed The Scrumptious. "It's closed." I sighed and peeked at him. He craned his neck to gaze at the sign through the windshield. A prickle of fear crawled down my throat. Literally anything from wolves and bears to bloodthirsty homeless dudes could be hiding in the murk. But I'd waited forever for a chance to hang out with Blake. I couldn't let it pass me by. Come on, Sadie. You'll be fine. Nothing can get you with Blake here. I took a steeling breath. "Pull over. Let's just walk there." His eyes widened a bit, a half-smile showing the dimple in his left cheek. "Yeah? You sure?" "Yeah," I replied with a little bounce in the seat, showing a confidence I didn't feel. "Come on, it'll be fun." He shrugged, then pulled the car around and parked it alongside the thick grass growing by the road. "There's a flashlight in the glove box," he said as he turned off the ignition. I opened the glove box, found the flashlight, and pushed the button. Light flooded the car's interior. I flicked the switch off again. He reached for the flashlight. I held it away from him, grinned, then got out of the car. "Hey!" he said, but got out after me. I backed down the road toward the reservoir. "You want it? You'll have to catch me." I grinned and started running, then climbed over the barricade. His footsteps followed. Gravel scraped under my feet. My flashlight beam skittered across the road ahead and played on the ragged tree trunks on either side. Sweat slicked my neck from the fading summer's residual humidity. I looked back, then tried to run faster. He was still behind me. I smirked; Blake was a star on our school's basketball team. He had to be holding back. Then he put on a spurt of extra speed and reached out for me. I laughed, dodged his grasp, and kept running past the sign bearing the words Loch Raven Reservoir in big, chipping letters. "Come on, you can run faster than that!" I cried. "Maybe I'm letting you win," he replied. In the dark, I could just make out his beautiful smile. With another laugh, I kept running. Soon, the trees opened up to reveal the shining, dark expanse of the reservoir. Moonlight glimmered on its surface. Stacks of canoes and a neat line of of moored rowboats lay along the shore. I slowed and watched as I came near the shadows of a wooden, cabin-like building bearing the sign Fishing Lodge, just in case anyone was still here. Blake took advantage of my distraction and plowed into me, his arms wrapping tight around my waist to keep me upright. A squeal burst from me and I dropped the flashlight. "Shh," he said, swaying as we gained our balance. "You're the one who ran into me." I grinned and turned in his embrace to face him. In his arms, my fear melted away. All that existed was beautiful moonlight shining down on us, casting silver over the trees and water and earth. The shadows didn't touch us here. "And I'm not sorry," he replied. He leaned closer. I laughed and slipped away again. He bent to pick up the flashlight and ran after me. A zing of pleasure zoomed up my spine. My game of cat and mouse was working. I ran nearer to the water, then onto the dock jutting out into the lake. My footsteps pounded a hollow rhythm to match my heart rate. When I got to the end of the dock, I grabbed the end of the metal railing and stopped. "Looks like I'm trapped," I said. He turned the flashlight off with a grin. "What are you going to do about it now?" I leaned my back against the railing. While my pulse had sped up during our playful chase, now it rose to a sprint. Blake came closer. Heat flooded my belly and rose up my spine to fill my cheeks. He leaned in to kiss me, but backed off the slightest bit, leaned in again and brushed his nose against mine, then backed away. His turn to tease. I grabbed his jacket and pulled him toward me. Our lips joined. I wound my arms around his neck and hummed, welcoming the rush of hungry wildfire between us, when something splashed in the water nearby. I turned my head. "What was that?" I asked. He kissed my cheek and jaw while I stared at the ripples in the lake's surface. "Nothing," he said. "Just a fish." With his lips leaving tingling trails along my jawline, I smiled, forgot about the splash, and turned back to kiss him again. He dropped the flashlight onto the dock with a thud and wrapped his arms around my waist. He moved to kiss my neck and I breathed in deep, relishing the moment, when something caught my eye. Another splash—only it didn't look like a fish. I stared at the water. "Blake," I whispered, straightening and pulling away. "What's wrong?" "I think there's someone in the lake." He turned to search the water. "Where?" "Over there." I pointed to where I saw the splash. The person didn't come out again. "It looked like a person's foot." "It's just fish, Sade," he said. He pulled me closer to him again. "They jump out of the water to catch bugs." But I slid away from him to watch the black ripples. I gripped the railing and waited. Whoever it was, they had to come out sometime. What a sick joke to spy on people like that. I was about to turn away when something massive swam right below us, crossing beneath the dock. I gasped and backed away from the edge. "What?" said Blake. He was starting to sound annoyed. "There's something in the water. It must've been like five or six feet long!" "Catfish," he said. "I told you. They eat bugs on the surface. And they're massive." Catfish? I gazed at Blake in disbelief. "No, it couldn't have been a fish." He sighed and reached out for me. "It's fine. Come back." I kept my eyes on the water, waiting for something to change. The hair on my skin prickled. I swallowed down the rising fear. "I think we should go." I picked up the flashlight and started walking toward the shore. But Blake didn't move. With his mouth hung half open, his eyes fixed with horror toward the sound of lapping water on the other side of the dock. I turned and gasped. A woman with masses of sopping wet hair slithered from the grassy shallows a few yards away from where the dock met the lakeside. She coughed and gasped. Her thin arms clawed the ground while her naked legs trailed behind her. Alarm seized me at first, but the struggling woman soon tugged at my heartstrings. "Is she okay?" I asked. "She looks hurt." "Who grows their hair that long?" Blake asked. "How can she swim with all of that?" I walked slowly toward the shore until I stepped off the dock. The woman got to her hands and knees, her breath labored, her hair hanging like matted moss over her body. Then she turned her face to me. Freakishly round, shining eyes peered at me below a heavy, hairless brow. A row of broken teeth poked from her dripping mouth. She made a gargling, growling sound and lumbered to her feet. I cried out. The flashlight fell with a clatter and rolled into the water. Blake grabbed my hand and ran, but I stumbled and landed hard on the grass. My hand slipped from Blake's. Glancing behind me, I spotted the woman limping after us. I couldn't move. "Sadie, get up!" Blake grabbed at my arm to pull me back to my feet. We ran for the Fishing Lodge. Blake tried the door, but it was locked. He pounded on it. "Help!" he cried. My insides twisted into a violent pulse of panic. I pawed at Blake's shoulder. The woman lurched closer. Closer. I screamed again. Blake shoved me behind him and swung his fist at the woman. She dodged the blow and dove at me. My screams tore from my throat over and over. I couldn't see. I couldn't feel anything but her cold, wet fingers gripping my neck. Blake's voice cried out and the woman's hands ripped away. I coughed and writhed while my vision cleared enough to see Blake grappling with the woman. Amid her guttural snorts and snarls and high-pitched keening, Blake grunted and swore. "Sadie, run!" Her hands found his neck. I stumbled to my feet and lurched back toward them. He hit her over and over, but with a vicious shake, she shoved him. He fell backwards and landed hard with a crack. "Blake!" The woman turned her skeletal face toward me. I couldn't leave Blake. But this murderous thing, this nightmare from the water would kill me if I stayed. I scrambled away. Her uneven footsteps and harsh breaths followed. I ran down the road, to the car where we'd left our cell phones. My shaking hands pulled the driver's side handle. Locked. I circled the car, desperately grasping at every door, but none of them would open. Then she appeared from between the trees. I ducked behind the car. If I could stay hidden and backtrack through the woods, I might be able to get back to find the car keys, help Blake, and get us out of here. The woman's scraping, lopsided stride came closer. A whining shriek sounded from the other side of the car and I jumped. Keeping low to the ground, I circled the back bumper and watched her stooped form searching, her tongue lolling out and her breath wheezing like a patch of dry reeds in the wind. She came closer while I crept bit by bit around the other side of the car. Once she skulked behind the opposite side of the car, I hurried toward the trees, ignoring the road and the noise I made as I fumbled my way through dark bushes and trees. Was she following me? I darted behind a tree and pressed against it, sucking in breath and listening hard. She was still emitting a harsh grunt and her footsteps crunched in the woods, moving farther and farther away from me. I let out a breath and moved carefully toward the direction of where I thought the road might be. It took longer than I thought, but soon, I spotted the cleared line of trees where the road led to Loch Raven. Then I ran as hard as I could. The Fishing Lodge came into view and in the dirt beside it, Blake still lay unmoving. I kept running, then skidded in the dirt beside him. A wide circle of dark blood framed his head. "Blake," I said. My voice trembled with the adrenaline and terror racing through me. I grabbed his shoulder and shook it. "Blake, get up. We have to get out of here." He didn't move. His blank eyes stared straight ahead. "Blake!" He couldn't be dead. I bent over and listened for breath, felt his chest for a heartbeat. My stomach turned, my own breath came in sharp gasps. I grabbed Blake by the shoulders again and tried to pull him up, revealing a sharp rock underneath his head. I cried out, blinded by tears. I had to get out of here before the thing came back. Keys. I needed keys. Choking on a sob, I reached into his pockets until grasping the rattling key chain. "I'm sorry," I cried. "I'm so sorry." Then, with numbness slowing my legs and horror weighing my shoulders, I turned away to take one crawling step. A snarl. A shriek. A pair of hands around my throat. Not the wet, icy hands of the woman from the water though. Warm, dry hands. I fought hard, but my fists didn't connect. I tried to scream. I couldn't inhale. Dizziness spun my head and black spots appeared in my eyes. Energy drained from my muscles. My arms stopped working. My legs. And then