Silence on the Shore

Summertime in Maine, especially around any lake tends to be busy. Families busy themselves at their camps and go about their daily tasks maintaining the camp that they spend a month out of the year at. When things really start to drop off, is in the fall.

Families are either long gone from their camp or they are shutting down for the winter. Nash's Lake is one such lake in Maine. This cozy little lake resides very close to Calais. Calais itself can be fairly busy with continuous crossings into and out of Canada. But Nash's Lake is quiet. Mostly. You wake to the calls of the Loon in the morning. The slow fog rolling across the lake. In the fall you can smell the chimneys puffing out the locally chopped wood.

It is the kind of time where the temperature gets into sweater and light jacket weather. Where you want to wake up early in the morning just to make yourself a hot cup of coffee and sit in front of the wood stove. Watching the flames lick at the wood you just threw in. Feeling the warmth emanating from the cast iron stove. You can close your eyes and listen to the sounds of nature and almost forget about the things that don't matter.

Life on the lake is serene. Where the most dangerous things were snapping turtles and bears. The beavers would slap their tails on the water from time to time if you got too close to their lodge, but other than that, peaceful calm.

The cold could be bone chilling at times. Especially when you first woke in the morning, but it all melts away with that cup of coffee and the wood stove. Recalling things now, with so much more clarity, I should have listened to the warnings. I should have listened to the local lore. I should have.........done what? It's too late now.

The story was tragic. There were lovers on the lake once upon a time. I am sure there are many more now, but long ago, they were the ones who purchased the land. Anita and John Hemsworth. Barely a penny to their name when they first married. Lovers since high school. John worked as a mill worker. Making paper. Anita cared for the house and made sure when John got home dinner was ready. Anita would watch local children time to time when the need arose, but never really had a job. There really wasn't a need. John provided all the income they needed and they had no children so their expenses were fairly low.

One day Anita was talking with one of the neighborhood wives and discovered that her husbands father was selling a lake. Intrigued, Anita and Sarah drove out to the lake to have a look. Back then there were very few roads. You essentially had to drive down tractor trails on the edge of blueberry fields. But it was doable.

Upon first sight, Anita fell in love with the lake. Thousands of acres surrounded the lake and for some reason no one was bustling to get in there. It wasn't the biggest lake in the world. In fact it was fairly small, when compared to the great lakes or even other lakes in Maine, but she wanted it.

Anita and John discussed the matter over dinner and it was decided that they would buy the land for a whopping $15,000. That was nearly all the money they had saved over the years. But John could see how happy it made Anita. Once the land was theirs, they found a cozy little cove that was sheltered from the wind and setup a small camp there.

From the local woods of their property and some from the local hardware store, Anita and John made themselves a home. They were on in age, and decided that retiring with what remained of their savings and any sales of property would keep them financially secure. Their home, wasn't big. It had a single bedroom, living room and kitchen. Off to one side they had a porch that overlooked the water. They had everything they needed. They had each other.

They spent many years there together. Once in a while a brave fisherman would row a boat nearby the house, and occasionally they would wave. Over the years they had many guests come over and they became well known on the lake. Everyone knew they owned most of the lake, save for the few properties that were sold by them to keep living comfortably. They wanted for very little so needed very little in the way of money to make ends meet.

One day, October 12th 1962, they were both found hanged from tree branches on a tiny little island of rocks in the lake where only the one tree grew. There was no boat, there were no signs of a struggle, they were just hanging there. One of the other owners on the lake happened upon them early in the morning the next day and the community mourned.

It is said that every October 12th, there is a dark presence on the lake early in the morning before the sun begins to rise and that no one should leave their camp or be on the lake at all. There had been 12 reported deaths on the lake always on the 12th for nearly a decade. Always new camp owners enjoying their last days on the lake. But no one knew what caused this mystery. The people were always found dead away from the shore and other than what killed them, there was never a sign of struggle.

There were three additional hangings, two stabbings and the rest were of unknown causes.

I never prescribed to the stories. Why would I? If something happened I could always pull out my phone. But I didn't have service. Not that it mattered, I didn't stand a chance.

On the morning of the 12th of October. In the year 2019, I woke early. It was around two or three in the morning. I must have heard something or another. I figured it was a bear or porcupine rummaging around outside my camp. I didn't keep trash out in the open to discourage that kind of behavior, but occasionally they would get curious and poke around. I kept a shotgun with bird shot in it just for such an occasion. I tossed another small log into my wood stove and closed it back up. I figured I would get some tea going when I came back in.

I checked to make sure the shotgun was loaded, grabbed my flannel and headed out the door. I scanned around and didn't see anything of note. There were no shiny eyes as I pointed my flashlight around. I found myself near the water and I rested the shotgun against a tree. I was taking in the smells of the lake when I realized with a start that there were no smells. I also realized I couldn't see my breath and I started to feel confused.

I began to feel an oily presence on the edge of my mind. It was a like the terror and warning alarm in my head was being muted somehow. I knew I should be running for the camp thirty feet from me, but I was paralyzed. All I could do was stand there. I could see the water lapping at the shore and some of the trees blowing in the breeze close enough to me and outside of the beginning fog, but I didn't hear anything. Not a sound. No rustling of tree leaves as they fell from the trees in the breeze and certainly no whooshing or trickling from the lake waves.

I felt panic setting in, but it was mild and nothing like I felt I should be experiencing at this moment. A dark flowing blackness was drawing closer to me from the lake. It didn't appear to have a defined shape. It almost seemed to move with the breeze. But where it existed, there was only blackness. I wanted to escape, but my eyes remained fixed on the blackness that came to me. I could tell I was smiling when it finally reached the shore. I shouldn't be smiling, I should be running, screaming, reaching for my gun. Anything. I should be doing anything else but standing here smiling and staring.

When the blackness reached me on the shore, I could see it getting smaller. No, that isn't right, it was coalescing into something else. It was shrinking in size, but the blackness was taking on a form. At first it was only suggestive as a humanoid form, but slowly it formed arms and legs. There was also the appearance of horns on top. The moon wasn't out right now so I am not sure exactly how I was making sense of the shape in the blackness. I had dropped my flashlight long ago. It wasn't even on.

As I stood there smiling like a fool, I felt terror flowing through me in muted waves. I was going to be devoured. That much I knew. The form was beginning to take on very defined characteristics. There was a force flowing from the being now. Like a predator on prey. Still I could hear nothing. Everything moved around me, living and breathing and yet I was here smiling but not remembering the last time I breathed. How much time had passed?

The being now in front of me was a woman. She was adorned with twisted horns from her skull. Her outfit, if you could call it that was a blood red patch of clothing. Serving no purpose to warmth nor decency. It was almost painted on like congealed blood? Everything about her screamed sex and death. Her tail whipped out from behind her as she touched the sand in front of me. It whipped over to my right leg and curled around it like a snake. I could feel this. Why? I couldn't feel anything up until now. Her ashen skin looked like death and beauty at the same time.

Her blood crimson lips parted and a tongue slipped out and across her lips. She smiled darkly at me. Her black eyes looking me up and down. She looked so hungry. Her tail tightened around my leg and I could feel the pressure threatening to cut off the circulation. Slowly it lessened as she brought her slender fingers to my face. She caressed my cheek almost warmly save for the icy dead skin touching me. As she pressed into me I could feel her very large breasts press into my chest.

"You are young." She hissed.

"You will satisfy me, for a time." She growled.

She lifted me like a feather by the leg with her tail. I trailed behind her as she walked to the other side of the tree my gun was perched against. She eyed the gun like a person would eye so much trash. As I hung in the air by my one leg, I couldn't help myself but admire her ass. Her perfect, beautiful ass just swaying back and forth. Her hips......oh her hips.

There was a sweet odor in the air now. For some reason I could smell again. It smelled almost of cherry blossoms and honey? There was something else mixed in as well. I realized it was the smell of blood.

There was a flat spot in a small patch of grass on the other side of the tree. She gently laid me down on my back with her tail. It was surprisingly strong and nimble. If this was an anime I would be falling in love with this being. Although I am not sure why I felt this way. Moments before I was in terror. I still couldn't speak though. I felt as though I was breathing again, but still I heard no noise. Her footsteps had been absolutely quiet. Even laying me in the grass, which I had mowed a few days earlier, hadn't made a sound when I was laid on it.

She looked down at me as she turned toward me. A small snear appeared on her lips. Reflecting now, I realized she had to be close to eight feet tall. Muscles rippled below her ashen skin threatening to snap the garment buckles? Right off her body. Why was she so sexy? I could feel my pants tightening as I felt what could only be a boner setting in. Seriously? I am getting horny now? I realized then that her tail had been stroking gently up and down my thigh and between my legs.

This can't be happening. Is this what people call a succubus? The sexual energy, the fear, the lust. All these things oozed from me. From me!

"Oh, aren't you a clever one." She snarled.

I looked at her still smiling. My face reflecting no other emotion. My confusion only taking place in the recesses of my mind. I am clever I thought to myself? Why?

"You seem to have figured out the gist of what I am." She knelt down beside me. "I would promise to be gentle with you like in your movies, but unfortunately for you, that isn't how this works." She touched my lips with a finger.

Suddenly I felt a warmth inside of me growing in intensity. I managed to change my smile and realized I could talk again. "Why?" was all I could manage.

"Why do you eat cow or pig or plant?" She asked rhetorically.

She bent down at the waste and kissed my lips. She then turned slightly and kissed the tip of my penis that was still under my pants. I found I could no longer speak. She straddled me with her thighs above my waist. She was so tall she wasn't even touching me. Her tail then slid around my neck gently. Her black eyes stared intently into mine, I could feel the warmth inside me growing into a burning sensation.

Suddenly I began to experience a searing pain, as though I was on fire from the inside. My face once again locked into the form of a smile. I could see her skin turning from ashen grey to a more flesh color. Her lips began to brighten as if made from rubies. Even her clothing seemed to be brightening. Her curves becoming more obvious and muscle tone showing more. If I wasn't dying, she would be a goddess.

"You will experience pain like nothing you have ever experienced, I will try to give you equal pleasure, but I assure you, nothing can prepare you for the agony." She seemed to smile more gently.

She was right though. The burning increased in intensity. There was the presence of something getting caught on something. Like when you go fishing and you catch a fish. The initial tag on the line. But I couldn't quite place what it was. All I did know is although I had torrents of pleasure running through me, the pain was intense. If I wasn't frozen the way I was, I would be screaming, cold sweat and passing out. I could feel that my passing out would be a bad thing for her though. Not sure why I felt that.

I realized after what seemed an eternity, the pulling and snagging I was feeling, was my soul. She was devouring my very being. The tugging was the last remaining vestige of my soul clinging to my physical realm. Suddenly as if to accentuate the point, I felt a horrid ripping from deep within me. Then I felt nothing.

Blackness surrounded me. I should have listened to the stories.