Lady Of The Lake

June 11th 2006

The gentle current of the lake slightly brushes my thighs as I walk knee deep in the water. Eventually everything around me has gone quiet, the only thing that can be heard is the rustling of the waters hitting the shore. Off in the distance I see something skim the surface of the water, and in a blink it's like it wasn't even there. my heart pounds as I continue to walk never going deeper, yet never tempted to leave.

Soon I got closer to where we set up camp, and stopped. Not yet wanting to leave the water, I turn to face the lake and just stand, closing my eyes and tilting my head to the sky. Humming a tune to myself. With no real words in mind, just to hear the sounds mixed in with the sounds of the waves. Soon the water goes still, and I feel a warmth hit my shins.

“Amethyst!!!” my mother shouts from camp

I jump causing the water around me to splash, looking down noticing I walked in deeper unknowingly and the warmth is gone replaced with ice cold water. Sending a cold chill throughout my whole body, I turn and leave the lake. Looking back as there's this internal tug on my body begging me to go in again, but deeper.

“What are you doing so deep in the water? You'll get sick, go sit by the fire!” my mom scolds

My dad is there holding a bag of buns and a pack of wieners, handing me a stick

“hungry?” he asks with a full mouth of food

I laugh at him and grab the stick jamming the wiener on the point of the stick, then slowly start to roast it over the fire. Suddenly everything goes quiet and the voices fade, as I hear the same melody I was humming while I stood in the water moments before. I shoot up out of my seat, and look to the lake. Scanning the surface, slowly I begin to walk towards the melody. Dropping everything in my hands.

“You hear that?” I whisper aloud, still unable to hear anything else.

It feels as if my heart is sinking with the tune, high notes making my heart race and low notes making my heart slow. the more it fades the quicker I move towards the water, hoping to catch what's singing. when my feet touch the lake It's warm and calm, like I'm still near the fire and the chills I had earlier had disappeared. As I'm about to take another step my mom yanks on my arm.

“I said no to playing in the water at night!” she yells and looks at my dad who's just watching in confusion.

I sit at the fire once again, this time facing my back to the water and tuning out the melody that continues to play. Focusing on the fire and watching it dance high and low with each log added and burned. What felt like minutes, was actually hours. When I looked up I noticed I'd been asked something by my father. “Huh?” was all I could get out

“Want to hear a story on why people don't live near this lake anymore?” he ask again

Which I nodded in agreement, he tossed a few more logs onto the fire. My mother took a seat adding her teapot close to the fire to heat up the water.

“It's been about 200 years now since anyone has lived close to here, and even to this day. No one lives near here, and if you camp here. You have to keep it less then three days.” he starts

“Why three days?” I ask

“I’ll explain it all just listen” he replies, and I nod as my mom hands me a blanket and I wrap up. Getting ready for the story.

“there was once a village on the other side of the lake, and on the little island over there.” he points to the patch of land

“There lived a beautiful young lady and her husband. Now the young couple and the villagers gave each other space because it was said that she was a medicine woman. Which people nowadays would call her a pagan, witch or demon worshipper. Yet she was much different from those terms, a medicine woman is someone who over generations has the magic passed down, meaning if her mother died just before she passed. She would give her power to the child of her choice within the bloodline, making the magic inside her generations stronger. Nowadays medicine women are hard to come by and it's even harder to find one of the original bloodline. It's said she was the last one to live within 1000 kilometers, only for the reason that most were hunted down and killed.”

“Why?” I ask

“Well over the years not every medicine person will use the power they are given for good. There was once a time where there were hundreds of medicine men, women and two spirits. There was a time when you would go to a gathering and if it was a fight with their medicine or magic. They could contort the other person's face, twisting and turning it. Deforming the person and causing them extreme pain in the process. But with doing something like that there was a price, yet none of them cared what it would cost them in the long run.” my dad begins to stand

“What was the cost?'' I ask. looking at him walk to the camper, hoping that's not the end of the story.

He walks into the camper, and a few seconds later comes out with a pen in his mouth and two cups, one with little water and the other half full. Sitting back down

“Well you see, let's say the cups represent people. This one almost empty is someone not yet gaining the gift or curse passed down. Depending on how you look at it.'' He then pulls the pen apart.

“Alright , so the price was that when the magic of a person was used for bad it would taint the bloodline with their bad magic. Meaning anyone after the person who gains the magic will also gain the negative. So take this cup for example.” he lifts it up and drops a few drops of ink and swishes it around mixing it

“This is the example of the person fighting with the gifts given from the earth, tainting the blood. Sometimes you will have children born with more magic in their body. Which would slowly help dilute the tainted magic yet if it isn't enough you could make it worse. Now that's why when someone is born into a medicine family the family is always large and there's a bigger selection of who could carry on the name and the burden of the magic. Now if you pick wrong, you'll do more harm yet if you pick right you'll slowly help erase what has been marked.” he lifts the other cup

“Now it's said this young woman, who was kind of heart and like a feather upon the world's wind, free and dancing. The magic of her mother was passed down to her, along with her father. Now when she gained her mothers magic, her heart grew and her singing was like listening to the sirens in myths, no matter what you were doing she could captivate you and steal away any sorrows, any of your hearts pain and even help the lost souls find their way back to the spirit realm. For years she spread love and one day when she met her partner. It was like the stars shined brighter that night and the northern lights danced in greens, blues, reds and pinks. Which in our culture meant the spirits were dancing. Yet not everything that's good lasts, when her father was passing he didn't want any of his sons to have the magic he had due to how dark his bloodline had gotten. So he passed it on the her while she was out in the village.” my dad began to drip the rest of the ink into the water turning it black.

“For a few moments the darkness consumed her, yet that's all it took. When she opened her eyes, bodies laid around her pale and sucked of life, the moon slowly disappeared and so did the northern lights. As screams from all around were heard and people began to toss stones at her, marking her now sickly pale skin. Driving her out of town, and with every step the life around her and the forest began to die.” placing the black inked water beside him

“Yet there was one person who didn't give up on her, which was the man she loved. He followed her to where the trail lead not caring for his life, cause in that moment all he cared for was her. When he found her she was scratching skin from her arms screaming “it's inside me!! GET IT OUT OF ME!!!” it began to rain, and as it did he walked closer to her. Trying not to vomit at the sight of flesh hanging and what looked like bone. He wrapped his arms around her to try and console her “shhhh its alright I got you, I'm here” not noticing his voice she shot up hovering off the ground, inhaling and as she did his breathing stopped and he began to gasp for air. Moments passed and she snapped back into reality falling to the ground and breathing out, causing him to gasp to air once again breathing. She began to cry begging him to leave for the fear of killing him. Yet his heart still belonged to her and he vowed to stay by her side no matter what.” My dad grabbed the cup and poured it on the ground, covering the water with dirt as my mom's teapot screams, it's finished and she moves it, pouring a cup. As we sit and listen

“Now back to them living away from the village in peace, or as close to peace as they could reach, now as time began to go on she became with child, or pregnant. Now with that, the fear in the villagers began to surface, yet months went on and it seemed like things were getting better. But again, with so much joy. Something horrible is bound to happen. Tonight wasn't like any other night, tonight was a full moon and when night fell she walked out into the lake and sang to her heart's content. Slowing the waves and heating the waters with her palms, as her lover left for the village to give her space, and to get the fabric they needed for the upcoming child. Ready to trade with pelts from hunting and gems they found. She walked deeper into the water laying back and floating and she gazed upon the stars, getting lost in time and forgetting the world around. She then felt kicking, the babies moving. Alerting her that it's probably time to get out of the lake. She started to walk back and as she looked up. His partner's head was on a pike and behind were villagers yelling to leave, some yelling to kill her and others just there to watch. It's said at that moment you could hear her heart break, with the breaking of her heart the earth fell still, only the breath or the villagers could be heard. When all was still and movement ceased to exist she let out a heartbreaking scream at the sight of her lover's head without a body. It Killed any shred of humanity he helped her find, any good that was in her faded and no longer did she try to hold back. Screaming to the creator begging him for the power to kill anyone in or around these waters. When given the price of what she asked for, she paid the price no soon to be mother should. The price was her unborn child, and to live forever trapped to the water and its edges.”

“No…” I whispered as tears swirled in my eyes

“She agreed without fully thinking and in that moment she felt the life of her child leave her body and the heart beat of it fade to nothing. She let out another scream, causing ear damage to the people near. as they collapsed to the ground holding their ears she walked out of the water, and with gestures not seen since the old times the people around her started to twist in unhuman like ways. As bones and skin pulled, twisted and ripped from bodies. Screams that night filled the air and the tears of realization hit her that her love and child have been ripped from her. She began to sing and anyone in hearing distance walked towards her, not knowing that they would die the most painful death that night. Once everyone was dead she set the village and forest a blaze hoping to kill anything and everything around. She then grabbed the head of her lover and held him in her arms as she gave birth to her still born child. She cried herself to sleep that night on the cold sand wishing she would die.. Yet her wishes made in anger and impulse have already been paid for. She would no longer die and would be trapped in and around the lake.” he looked up towards the moon

“Now on every full moon she's said to be near, only surfacing to kill or to dance upon the shore like she once did with her lover. It's also said that when you are alone near the water, the water will warm around you when she's near you, and you will hear a song unlike anything ever heard which will make you want to be in her waters, and when you're in the water that's when she’ll strike. Pulling you in and slowly drowning you only to let you swim up for air and repeating till all hope of life is driven from your body. Only then will she slowly kill you, trapping your soul in the waters just like she is trapped.”

“Can't she ask to get her life back?”

“She could but the price to gain her life back would be to damn her love and child to live in torment and pain. Reincarnating over and over for the amount of lives she has taken. Which by now would be thousands, so now and forever her love and child are free in the sky. Always there to see and watch but never again can she hold them or hear their voice”

I say nothing as turn to look out onto the water holding my chest. My dad stands by me looking onto the water as well

“We come here every few years, camping on a full moon. To pay respects to what she lost, laying flowers on the water and singing. So that she's not alone in this hard time.”

“Has anyone ever seen her?”

“Yes, the rumor is that if you're here 3 or more days she will single one person out, surface and slowly lure them to the water. It's also said that her hair turned to seaweed, her skin below her waist is scaled and is no longer pale but like the color of coal, yet her eyes. That's the only thing about her that has never changed. But no one has ever seen her eyes, and if anyone has, they are long dead by now.”

My dad turns around tapping my head “the reason you can't be in the waters alone at night is because no matter who you are, she will come to the shore and take you in. just to spite the humans.”

“But she was a human.”

“Yes she was, and for that reason. I think that's why she doesn't leave the water often, because she's punishing herself for the impulse of what she did, and how she became what she did.”

He and my mom turned to go to the camper for the night. But before I did I looked out to the water. still hearing the melody being sung and said “I wish I could have helped you.”