Lake Mercurial

He watched his wife in disgust, her swollen belly obvious under the loose dress she wore. How dare the bitch get pregnant. He had made sure she took her pill every day so that this wouldn’t happen. Yet, here they were; and something had to be done about it. Adrenaline and anger surged through his veins. Under the guise of a romantic, midnight picnic, he had lured his wife to the banks of Lake Mercurial. So named due to its temperamental nature, Lake Mercurial was a mystery, a place where unexplainable things happened; like the odd multicoloured balls of light that could sometimes be seen hovering over the surface of the water, or the churning waves that randomly brought the still surface to life even when there was no wind. Even the occasional water spout and whirlpool had been sighted, right out in the middle of the lake. It was the perfect spot for him to put a stop to the madness plaguing his life. He doubted anyone would question him if it happened here. He could just palm it off as an accident caused by the unpredictable lake.

“Honey,” he said in a smooth, warm voice. “Why don’t we have some fun?”

Willow, her wavy cinnamon hair cascading over her shoulder, smiled up at him from where she sat reclining on the picnic rug, a hand resting protectively on her stomach. “What did you have in mind?” she asked playfully.

“Come for a swim. I read it feels amazing for pregnant women, helps take the strain off the body caused by the weight of the belly.”

It was spring and the night was warm, calm, perfectly peaceful, and the air smelled like flowers. There was no one around and the lake lay still, silent as the moon and stars glittered upon it in a perfect reflection. He felt confident that his wife suspected nothing.

“That sounds lovely,” she said.

He helped pull her to her feet then began stripping off his clothes. Willow watched, a cheeky sparkle in her blue eyes as she began to remove her dress. Before following him down to the water, she bent to pick up the glass bottle of sparkling grape juice they had brought in place of wine. He would have preferred her not to, but he let it be, not wanting to raise suspicions. It wasn’t like she’d be able to put up much of a fight as fat as she was, he thought, bile rising in his throat. He held his hand out and she slipped her dainty hand into his, letting him pull her into the water to where he could stand but she could not. She turned so her back was to him and he held her with his arm wrapped around under her breasts.

“How does it feel?” he whispered seductively into her ear.

“Wonderful,” she murmured, relaxing back against him.

Gently, he ran his free hand up over her belly, over her breasts, to wrap around the front of her neck. His other hand he moved from under her arm to the top of her shoulder. “It gets better,” he said. A slight edge of anticipation had crept into his voice. “Soon, you won’t feel anything at all.”

Startled, Willow tried to turn to face him, but he tightened his grip. Confused and suddenly frightened she asked, “Cain, what are you doing?”

“What I have to,” he spat. “You were never supposed to get pregnant, bitch. And you went ahead and did anyway! I don’t want whatever stinking brat is festering in your womb. And now that you’ve been tainted, I don’t want you either!”

With that, he plunged her beneath the surface and held her there as she struggled and kicked. Somehow, she managed to swing her hand around and smack him in the crotch. He screamed as pain temporarily blinded his vision. Realising what she’d done, Willow took firm hold of his genitals and squeezed, forcing him to let her go. Her head broke out into the night air and she gasped, treading water while gulping down oxygen. Cain was cursing her, calling her every foul name he could think. She knew she had to let go of him and try to get away. She also knew that, being eight months pregnant, there was no way she could move faster than him. Thinking quickly, she let go, and while he was still sputtering and swearing from the pain, spun around and whacked him over the head with the bottle she was still holding. It hit with a thud, shattering, leaving her with the jagged remains in her hand.

“You fucking dirty whore!” he screamed, lunging for her.

All of a sudden, she felt something hard rise up under her feet and she could stand with her chest above the water. At the same time, with a cry, Cain went under as though he had lost his footing. He came back up spitting water and before she could think, she lashed out and plunged the sharp, jagged glass of the broken bottle into his neck. It stuck there, grotesquely, and Willow stared in horror. Cain, shock plain on his face, reached up to pull it out. Blood spurted from the wound and he paled, realising his mistake. Willow could only watch, silent fear seizing her body as he struggled to find his feet, tried to speak, tried to start moving for the shore. But it was like the water wouldn’t let him move, locking him in place as though he were frozen there, holding him there until his body went still. And then he sank, or more accurately, the water sucked him down in a vortex, his lifeless eyes staring into hers as he disappeared into the now roiling waters.

******

Willow shook violently, a sheen of sweat covering her from head to toes. When would she stop having these visions? The events from Lake Mercurial haunted her still, despite four years having passed. In fact, it was four years to the day, and the visions were always strongest on the anniversaries. She still couldn’t recall how she had got back to the banks of the lake. There was a vague memory of being swept along in a watery caress, and that was where the memories stopped. She couldn’t remember going home, couldn’t remember what had happened in the days after; could remember nothing at all until the day her daughter had been born. Even the move to another state was a blank page in her mind. Giving birth however, that memory was crystal clear. Little Ava had been born a month later, a bundle of health and joy bringing light back into Willow’s world. Raising a child alone would be difficult, she knew; especially as she wasn’t exactly mentally stable. But Ava gave her purpose, a reason to live and move on from the past. Cain had not wanted a baby, but Willow very much had. She’d dreamed of having two, a boy and a girl, preferably the boy first so that he would be there to protect his little sister. Instead, she’d been gifted Ava as her first child and, to be honest, it was probably better that way. She didn’t know how she would have coped if she’d had a son who looked like Cain.

“Mummy?”

Willow jumped, the voice bringing reality back into sharp focus and she remembered she was supposed to be getting dinner ready. A knife, still held in the tight grip of her hand, hovered over a half-cut carrot. The sun had set and moonlight streamed through the kitchen window, bathing the yard in pale, dappled light. Ava was kneeling on the couch in the loungeroom, looking out the front windows and waving.

“Mummy?” Ava called again. “Who’s that man outside?”

Frowning, Willow crossed to peer out the window where her daughter was pointing – and saw no one. A prickle of fear started to work up her spine. Swallowing hard, her mouth suddenly very dry, she asked, “What man, sweetheart? There’s no one there.”

“Don’t be silly, mummy,” Ava giggled. “He’s right there! He’s waving at me. Why is he so wet?”

Anxiety set Willow’s heart racing. It’s nothing, she tried to tell herself, just Ava’s imagination. Ghosts weren’t real… But her thundering heart said otherwise. She pulled Ava off the lounge and snapped the curtains closed.

“Mummy!” Ava protested. “He was talking to me! He said he was my daddy and I need to let him in. Mummy, is it? Is it my daddy?” Her big blue eyes, so much like Willow’s own, sparkled with excitement. “I want to see my daddy!”

“No, Ava!” Willow grabbed Ava by the arm and dragged her to the kitchen. “It’s not your daddy. There’s no one there! Stop playing games right now!”

Ava stomped her little foot and tried to free herself from Willow’s grasp. “I want my daddy!” she wailed. “Why can’t I see daddy?”

Willow’s stomach convulsed and she barely made it to the kitchen sink before she threw up. She had never spoken about Cain to Ava. How were you supposed to tell a child that you had murdered their father because they had tried to kill you?

In her rush to get to the sink, Willow had let go of Ava’s arm, and Ava raced straight back to the window. “He says he has something for me, and for you,” she said, voice pleading. “Please, mummy, please can we let him in.”

Vomit dripping down her chin, Willow ran back to the couch and pulled Ava off it once again. “Stop it!” she screamed. “There is no one there! Your daddy is dead!” she blurted, instantly regretting it. Ava didn’t deserve to have her mother screaming at her.

Ava merely stared at her, eerily calm. “I know that, mummy. He said you killed him.”

Willow froze and a cold dread turned her heart to ice. This couldn’t be happening.

Taking advantage of her mother’s frozen state, Ava broke free and ran to the front door, throwing it wide open before Willow could do anything to stop her. “Daddy!” she cried in childish delight.

Horror-struck, Willow watched as her daughter gave a great shudder, Ava’s small body folding in on itself as though someone had punched her in the stomach. Then slowly, deliberately, Ava straightened and turned around, a wide, nasty grin splitting her usually sweet face. Her beautiful blue eyes had become coal black.

“No!” Willow gasped.

“Oh, but yes. Haven’t you missed me, dear wife?” The sarcastic voice was not her baby girl’s... It was Cain’s. “Do you see what I have to resort to? Possessing a filthy child’s body just so we can be together again,” he snarled. “They kicked me out of Lake Mercurial, said I was evil and didn’t belong even though that was where I died. Or more accurately, where you killed me. So, thanks to you, I’ve been wandering in the dark void, waiting, biding my time until this body, this disgusting thing with my blood in its veins, was old enough. And now that it is, I can finish what I started.”

Ava’s body lurched forward. With a shriek of terror, Willow bolted from the room, her feet carrying her automatically to the perceived safety of her bedroom. There was no lock on the door. She hadn’t thought it necessary given that it was just her and Ava. Why would she have a need to lock her daughter out of her room? Trembling and sobbing, she dragged her chest of draws across the floor and pushed it up against the door, belatedly realising she still held the kitchen knife. Her frantic eyes searched the room for somewhere to hide, settling on under the bed. The covers draped all the way down to the floor and she prayed it would be enough to fool Cain’s revenge-filled spirit. If it didn’t… she didn’t want to think about that. Cain would kill her; of that she was certain. Unless she stopped him. But how? She didn’t feel qualified to perform an exorcism. What was it he had said… something about waiting until a body with his blood in its veins was ready? So, did that mean an exorcism wouldn’t even solve the problem? Because, it sounded like as long as Ava lived, Cain would be able to possess her at will. She was his blood. They shared a connection.

Willow’s thoughts continued to race, keeping pace with her racing heart as she stared at the underside of her bed. She loved Ava. Of course, she loved her daughter. But the fear sharpening her senses revealed an unconscious truth, a truth she would have taken to the grave; that there had always been a deep resentment within her towards Ava for the DNA she shared with Cain. Tears of fear turned to tears of guilt and shame. It wasn’t Ava’s fault, obviously, Willow berated herself. Yet now she couldn’t help thinking whether choosing to raise Ava had been wise. Cain was evil to his core. Perhaps he’d passed some of that on to his offspring. Perhaps that was why Cain could now possess her, would possibly always possess her, coming for her again and again until he succeeded in killing her. A life spent running from her possessed daughter was not a life Willow wanted to live.

Loud pounding on the bedroom door interrupted her ruminations and Willow instinctively clamped a hand over her mouth to stop herself crying out in fright. Suddenly, the chest of draws crashed to the floor, breaking and splintering, and the door flew open with a bang.

“Really, wife, did you think that would stop me?”

The temperature in the room dropped to freezing and Willow could hear the soft padding of small feet on the carpet, inching closer to where she lay. Next minute, a small hand grabbed her by the ankle and whipped her out from under the bed with supernatural strength. Ava stood over her, grinning sadistically.

Willow forgot all about the knife she’d been holding. “Ava,” she whispered. “Ava, I’m so sorry.”

Those were her last words as a knife plunged down into her heart.

And then she was floating, free and light as a feather. It was over; it was all over. She didn’t have to worry anymore. A rippling, blue-tinged light appeared in her vision, and there were voices calling to her from within.

“Come, Willow, come home…” they invited

Home. Oh, how she longed to go home. She drifted towards the light, letting it lull her, letting it pull her into its brightness and through to whatever lay beyond. Water rushed up all around her, warm and soothing, like a relaxing bubble bath. Shapes swam by, materializing into ghostly figures, all of them glowing with the same blue-tinged light.

They seemed to speak as one, their voices a hollow, dissonant sound. Yet it wasn’t unpleasant. “Welcome back, Willow,” they said. “Welcome to Lake Mercurial.”

******

Cain watched with satisfaction as the light faded from Willow’s eyes. Finally, it was done. Oddly, he didn’t feel as sated as he thought he would, and it dawned on him that this was just the beginning. There was a whole world out there full of pregnant mothers, those parasitic fetuses waiting to be born so they could infect the population.

Ava was screaming. He could hear her thoughts, could feel her pounding against him, struggling to break free. But he was stronger, filled with purpose and rage. There was no way Ava would be able to eject him. They were one.

He chuckled at the irony. The daughter he had never wanted, had despised the moment he learned of her existence, was now the one who would help him carry out his mission.

“Come, daughter,” he said, smirking in anticipation. “We have much to do.”