The Weight of The Dark River

The first rumble of thunder had Alecia checking her clock for the fourth time in fifteen minutes. Eight-thirty-five. Her apartment smelled faintly of antiseptic and coffee, stubbornly clinging to her hair and scrubs. She had showered, had changed, but the hospital scent lingered like a shadow. Nights like these were heavy not with sleepiness, but with the strange inertia that settled when the world outside lost its light. The storm had been forecast, but the clouds rolled over the lake faster than predicted. Rain began in stuttering drips, then heavier, like someone dumping buckets onto the roof. Alecia sat on the edge of her couch, knees pulled tight to her chest, staring at the bright glow of her phone. She hated how quiet it was when she was alone; the silence pressed into her chest as if it wanted to hear her heartbeat.

A sharp, frantic knock at the door startled her. She froze. Only a handful of people she allowed into her apartment at night. None of them would come knocking in a storm. “Who is it?” Her voice sounded smaller than she intended. “Miss Alecia?” The voice was small, trembling, barely audible over the rain. “It’s me. Joey.” She blinked. Joey. Her neighbor’s boy, barely ten, is always barefoot in summer, always carrying some scraped knee or lost dog story. She opened the door, letting in a gust of wind that whipped her hair. Joey’s dark hair plastered his forehead; his eyes were wide, glistening from rain. “Joey?” she asked. “What…? What is it?” “Dad…” His voice cracked. “Dads gone. He went to check the dock hours ago. He hasn’t come back. He…he’s not there.” Alecia felt her stomach tighten. “The dock?” She tried to keep her voice steady. “Joey, are you sure?” He nodded vigorously, chattering teeth. “I waited. I called. I went down there, but…he’s not there. Miss Alecia, I’m scared.”

Her first instinct was to shut the door and to tell him to call the police, to tell him to go to a different door. That dock gave her bad vibes, but the fear in his eyes rooted her to the doorway. The storm howled, and for the first time that night, Alecia felt the gnawing pressure of responsibility like she couldn’t just leave him alone. She would normally go about her day or night because she wasn’t doing anything for others any longer, she barely was around people besides the hospital, and she could never remember why she just isolated herself. “All right,” she said. “Grab your raincoat. We’ll go check.” The power went out before they even left the building. One second, the hallway lights glowed pale and familiar; the next, darkness swallowed them, leaving only the occasional flash of lightning to illuminate the apartment’s stark edges. Joey whimpered. Alecia grabbed his small hand, guiding him through the blackout.

Outside, the wind drove sideways rain against their faces. She squinted at the road, at the lake in the distance. The dock should be just past the row of birch trees, past the old boathouse. “You…you think something happened?” Joey asked, his voice barely whispered. “Maybe,” Alecia admitted, gripping his hand tighter. She didn’t want to tell him it might just be an accident her imagination was already cataloging possibilities she didn’t want to name, especially to a child. By the time they reached the edge of the lake, the storm had become a relentless curtain of rain. Alecia fumbled for her flashlight, cursing herself for leaving her emergency kit in the apartment. Joey shivered, pulling his coat tighter. “The boat’s…over there,” he said, pointing with a trembling finger. Alecia followed the direction, heart sinking. An overturned rowboat bobbed slightly in the water, tether line snapping against a dock post. Nothing else moved.

She approached slowly, flashlight beam bouncing over wet planks. “Don?” she called. Her voice sounded strange to her, echoing across the lake. Only wind answered. Joey’s small hand pressed against her arm. “I think…he was here. He…he was arguing with someone. He said the water keeps secrets. And…he…he said he admits it to someone. He looked…scared.” Alecia froze. Don had always been quiet, steady, the sort of neighbor who mowed the lawn meticulously and waved from the porch. Fear like that…wasn’t him. Not unless something more serious happened. Her mind wandered to months ago, to a patient who had deteriorated under her care, by picking up a completely different chart for a different patient with different problems, she gave the wrong medication. She had buried the memory deep, especially admitting the fact she grabbed the wrong chart instead of the lingering lie of a chart already in the basket. Now, standing in the rain, the edges of her guilt seemed to brush her shoulders like cold fingers. She thought something in the way Don had looked at her back then made fragments of memory she had long tried to forget disappearing, just his appearance gave her a calm mind. She thought what if under my search he…

No. She couldn’t think that way, not now. She had to focus and just keep looking for him. The search dragged on for hours. The storm never relented, only softened in intensity, like a pulse waiting to explode. They found Don’s coat snagged on a low tree branch, muddy footprints leading into the woods bordering the lake. The mud clung to her shoes as she followed. Joey stayed close, whispering updates as he scanned the dark. At some point, Alecia realized she hadn’t blinked for ten minutes straight. The rhythmic splash of rain, the feel of mud underfoot, Joey’s small, damp hand they combined into a vertigo she didn’t have words for. She began to see shapes moving at the corner of her vision: tree roots that weren’t there, shadows that didn’t belong and voices that should of vanished. And then she saw him.

Don. Half-hidden behind a thick cedar, huddled face pale, eyes wide with the same fear she had felt months ago at the hospital and in the nights after. “Don,” she called. He jerked. Recognition flared but not relieved of something sharper. Anger? Accusation? Alecia stepped forward. “You” he started, voice hoarse. “You…” “I’m here to help,” she said, keeping her voice calm and sweet. “Whatever you fear, we can get through the night.” “I…can’t stay,” he said, glancing at the lake as if it told secrets, it felt like it was bringing mine to my own attention, a force to yell it out, admit. “I owe you for telling me…you know I do. I can’t let anyone find out…” Joey’s small voice interrupted, trembling. “Dad? Who? Why?” Don shook his head violently. “It’s not safe here. Not for anyone. Alecia…you could have stopped this. You know what you did, the lake told me.” Alecia’s hands shook. She thought of the patient the one she had failed months ago “Don, what are you talking about?!” “My wife…your patient, the river told me”.

It was Don’s wife. Shock and horror surged through her. And beneath it, something she hadn’t admitted to herself until this moment a quiet, long-held crush on Don made the weight of her responsibility almost unbearable. She liked him. She had liked the husband of the woman she could not save. “I mixed up the chart… grabbed the wrong one from the desk by mistake… it said high fever on the chart, so I treated that… I told the boss someone left it on my cart; the cameras were being updated and no one admitted it. I am the best nurse they have and always showed dedication, loyalty, honesty, respect, and a love for my job. They didn’t fire me they trusted me, and I have lived with that guilt for months, I am so sorry…” she cried to Don.

He couldn’t let anyone know what really happened… “but wait the other chart was a case of being poisoned, your wife was poisoned… how? What happened? Why were you drawn to this lake?” Every questioned asked seemed like it came from another breath, another voice not mine. The same voice of Anger? Accusation? It would bring forth the truth. He broke; he couldn’t speak like the night took his vocal cords with no evidence of return. “What are you hiding?! Tell me…”

The river took his voice “I poisoned her, under the never-ending thoughts of her cheating. Late nights at the office, never any time for me, I always send our son to bed, and we always start our day at the docks. As months went by the friendly man I was began to deteriorate. I started hallucinating different men dropping her off, phone calls, and little things left around to drive me mad. Then the voices started telling me to harm her, but I argued I loved her it was like I was compelled to my insecurities, so I did it!”. Joey’s small hand pressed against her arm. The boy’s fear was raw, his trust in his father unwavering. “Dad…please,” he whispered. He felt a weight lift and continued. “I regretted it quickly and took her to a hospital where I wanted her to be saved but the night of regrets turned into a soul lost. I blamed the doctors, then I blamed you, but it was me, it was all me!” He cried. “All those months coming up to the dock the river was planting thoughts I know it, I was compelled to come here tonight to confess my sins”

Alecia swallowed hard. Her chest felt too tight, but she forced herself to speak. “Don, it’s just us here. Whatever you think, whatever you fear, we can face it together. Please come with us. Let’s get out of the dark.” He hesitated, then slumped against a tree, exhausted, trembling. Alecia moved closer, putting both hands on his cold wet cheeks, looking in his eyes “Don we have to go”. Hours passed slowly as they limped through the woods from exhaustion. The storm began to die down, rain weakening into a persistent drizzle. Alecia helped Don toward the dock, keeping him steady. Joey ran ahead, checking for signs of danger. Every step was deliberate; every shadow, every rustle of leaves, made her heart pound. By the time the first hint of pale light touched the horizon, she could see the outline of the police car parked near the road. Someone had noticed their absence, and called it in. Relief was immediate, but complicated. Don stiffened. Alecia squeezed his arm. “Go. it going to be ok,” she whispered. He hesitated, looked at Joey. The boy’s wide eyes were filled with trust and admiration, and Alecia knew that the night had made them confess. Don’s shoulders sagged. He nodded once, short, sharp.

Alecia turned to the approaching officers, heart hammering. “Were here,” she said. “Alive. The boy is scared. Needs help.” They tended to him and gave us a farewell. That was all. As the sun rose, painting the lake gold and silver, Alecia stood at the dock. Joey tugged her sleeve, pointing at the water. Don’s boat rocked gently, moored now, everything seemingly ordinary. Yet Alecia knew the lake held truths the daylight could never fully reveal. The night had pressed down on them, exposing hidden accidents, fears, and guilt. She glanced at Don, standing silently, pale and exhausted, and felt the ache of the crush she had never dared admit, now tangled with the raw guilt of what she had failed to prevent. The weight of the night pressed heavier than any storm.

Joey looked up at her. “Will Dad be okay?” She knelt, looking into his earnest eyes. “He’ll get help. And so will you. We all will buddy” The boy nodded, not fully understanding the depth of the night, but trusting her, nonetheless. Alecia drew a deep, shaky breath. She had faced her failures, her fears, and even the vulnerability of her feelings tonight and survived. The sun climbed higher, and for the first time in hours, Alecia allowed herself to breathe. The night was over. But she knew some things would stay with her forever, lurking in the shadowed corners of her mind. The darkness had revealed everything, and the dawn offered no relief, only clarity. She looked back once at the lake while walking away with Don and Joey. Calm, deceptive, reflecting gold. She would never see it the same way again.

And maybe that was the point.

The End.

Questions?

How does Joey feel after finding out his mother passed away?

What will they do now that they know it’s a haunted lake right up the street?

Does Don and Alecia end up together?

Does Alecia or Don confess to anyone besides themselves?

What’s the river end game?

Ask your own questions in the comments if you want and Ill add them to Part 2.