The Alligator

My best friend went missing. Her body was never found.

To this day, no one knows what happened to her. Her last sighting was at the town lake, where an alligator resided. The last person to see her was our math teacher in high school, Mr. Luis.

He had been driving by the lake, and he spotted Ellie out there. Authorities had questioned him, asking if he had seen anyone with her. He claimed that he never saw anyone.

Mr. Luis had been gone from school for about a month, feeling broken about Ellie’s disappearance. I remember seeing him on the local news, sobbing as he spoke to the reporter.

“She was a young lady with a bright future ahead of her,” he said.

Ellie and Mr. Luis had a bond. He was a like a mentor to her, and he was always there to cheer her on in everything she accomplished in school. He was even there for her graduation, to congratulate her in person.

It hurts to think about how close they were. They were almost like family.

Authorities strongly believed at first that she had been killed by the alligator, but no body parts were found.

Not even the alligator.

It was then determined that she had been taken from the area. By who…I don’t think we will ever know.

I was the last person that Ellie had spoken to. Well, she had sent me a text message. It breaks my heart every time I read that text.

ELLEISCOOL: Going to the lake to relax and chill. XOXO. LOVE YA CHLOE

Ellie was the type of person that really loved nature. She would always go outside to do whatever she wanted, and she would even take pictures of the animals she thought looked cool.

Ellie had left to go check out the lake around the evening time.

Then Ellie went missing.

I felt so bad for her family. They loved her, she was meant for bigger things in life. She was taken far too soon.

I still remember the flood I shed when I first discovered that Ellie was gone. My dad held me as I cried all night, dreading what happened to her. I wish I could have told her one last time that I loved her too.

At least I have that text message as a reminder of Ellie’s kind nature.

I was in my bedroom, scrolling through old photos of the two of us, smiling or making funny faces. I don’t know why I did this to myself, my chest always hurt whenever I went through old memories.

I was playing with a bracelet, a gift she had given to me on my birthday. She had worn the same bracelet, and it was in the shape of a broken heart.

I had the other piece, and together, we were the ones who could put the heart back together again. It was so corny, but it was so her. I could feel tears starting to well in my eyes again.

I haven’t been to the lake.

I couldn’t bring myself to be near the place that Ellie had disappeared.

Today however, was going to be different.

I had to go to the lake.

I needed some form of closure.

I left my bedroom, and walked downstairs to find my dad watching TV in the living room.

“Chloe? Where are you going?”

“I’m…I’m going to the lake. I want to…I want to say goodbye.”

He stood up from the couch.

“Do you want me to drive you? I’m not comfortable with you going out there. Ever since…”

“It’s alright, dad. One of my friends is coming with me,” I lied.

My dad nodded.

“Alright. Just please be careful.”

“I will, dad. I love you.”

“I love you too.”

My dad blew a kiss at me before I left the house. He was my rock; without him I never would have recovered from the loss. I felt so guilty for lying to him, but I needed to do this alone.

I needed to be alone with her.

I walked to the lake. It was already getting close to the evening time. The same time that Ellie had vanished.

No one in the town ever stepped foot to the lake ever again. I didn’t blame anybody. Who would want to come back to a place where someone went missing?

I eventually reached the lake. It wasn’t that hard to find, since this was a small town. Even though something so sinister took place here, the lake was still the same. It was the calm, beautiful setting that Ellie loved.

The water was still, and it was a wonderful color. The trees provided a really cool reflection for the lake.

Knowing this was the last thing that Ellie saw broke my heart. I cried all over again. I sat on the ground, sobbing into my knees.

A snap of a branch echoed behind me. I screamed.

“I’m sorry! I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to scare you!”

I turned around to find Mr. Luis in his usual school attire. He had his hands in the air, his face littered with a bewildered expression. I instantly relaxed.

“It’s OK. I came here…I came here to say goodbye.”

Mr. Luis stuck his hands in his pockets, avoiding my eyes.

“I come here sometimes. She was a good person…I thought of her…as my own daughter.”

I pulled at the broken heart on my bracelet.

“Yeah, I think she saw you as her dad. You both were inseparable.”

Mr. Luis lifted his face, tears in his eyes. We were both silent for a long time, lost in our own thoughts.

Mr. Luis sniffled and scrubbed at his eyes.

“It’s getting late. Do you want me to give you a lift back home?”

“Sure. Um…could you wait a bit more? I want to say goodbye.”

“Sure. I’ll be waiting. Take your time, Ms. Grant.”

Mr. Luis left me alone, giving me my space.

I waited for a few moments before saying my goodbye. I didn’t speak my goodbye to Ellie aloud. In a strange way, I felt she could hear me. I made sure to lift up my arm, showing my bracelet to the lake.

“You complete me, Ellie. You always will.”

My voice cracked at the end, but a sort of relief left my shoulders. It wouldn’t be enough, but it was a good start to the healing process. Whatever that meant.

I quickly ran over to where Mr. Luis was waiting for me. He opened the door for me, a wan smile on his face.

“Are you alright, Chloe?”

“No. But I’ll be alright.”

“Good. Come on, it’s time to go home.”

Before I could get in, I saw something that made me stop in my tracks. A bracelet with a broken heart was hanging from the rearview mirror. Mr. Luis noticed my face, and his smile faded.

“Mr. Luis…why is Ellie’s bracelet in your car?”

“She gave it to me.”

“Why? That was something between us.”

“What are you insinuating, Chloe?”

I took a step back.

“Nothing. I just find it strange.”

“Oh.”

I saw Mr. Luis reach for something in his pocket.

I ran.

I stupidly ran toward the direction of the lake. I heard the car door open, and Mr. Luis was now going after me. I kept on running, my heart beating in my chest.

For a second, I felt Mr. Luis brush his fingers against my T — shirt. I let out a cry and ran even faster. I reached the lake and almost fell in. Then I felt Mr. Luis grab me from behind.

I felt something sharp sink through my shirt, into my waist. I let out a weird sort of sound I didn’t think I was capable of, and Mr. Luis tackled me to the ground. I kneed him between the legs, and Mr. Luis let out a gasp.

I tried to get up, but the pain in my side was too much. I fell to the ground on my back. He took hold of my leg, and started to yank me back.

I kicked out my feet. I felt my foot connect with his face.

Mr. Luis let out a howl of agony. I attempted to get up again, but I kept falling back down again. The pain was horrible. I could feel my own blood spurting out of me like a mini volcano.

Everything was starting to feel different. The world was fading from my eyes. Mr. Luis was now crawling on top of me, his hands wrapping around my neck. At that moment, the heavy weight on top of me was yanked away.

Mr. Luis was screaming. I slowly turned over to see what was happening. It was an alligator. It was dragging Mr. Luis into the lake. A look of pure terror was etched onto his face.

I watched as my math teacher was pulled into the lake. The water was left a red color as Mr. Luis disappeared into the water.

I passed out.

I had woken up in the hospital. My dad was by my side the whole time I was in there. He held my hand, his eyes bloodshot.

Police officers had come into the room at some unknown amount of time, asking me questions about where Mr. Luis went.

I told them that I saw an alligator drag him into the lake. They searched for his body, and some of his parts were found.

My math teacher was responsible for the death of Ellie.

He had killed her. With the same weapon he had used on me.

A switchblade.

I ended up learning that Mr. Luis had kept some items of Ellie after he killed her. When I found out what items they were…it haunted me for months. Her death was much more disturbing than I thought.

He was apparently obsessed with her. He never viewed her like family.

He had dumped her body in the lake, but why authorities never found her didn’t make any sense.

It’s a mystery that will never be solved, and even though it’s heartbreaking that she won’t be laid to rest; I’m glad that justice was served.

Her family had visited me in the hospital, grateful I had survived. We shared a lot of heartfelt tears as we talked about how much Ellie loved me.

This was the closure that I needed.

During that night, as my dad was snoring next to me in the other hospital bed in the corner of the room; I thought back to that day.

There was one piece of information I kept from the authorities, from my father, and from Ellie’s family. I didn’t think anyone would believe me. I couldn’t believe it myself.

I chalked it up to losing consciousness from the pain…but the image I saw was so clear. When the alligator was dragging Mr. Luis to his death, there was something strange about the alligator.

While I was slowly starting to faint, I saw several things there were odd.

The alligator’s feet resembled human hands.

The teeth were straight white teeth, like a person’s.

There was hair hanging from the top of the alligator’s head.

Black hair, like Ellie.

I went to sleep that night, all thoughts of the alligator saving me, fading from my mind. I never thought about that night again.

Nor did I ever go back to the lake.

Thank you for reading!

Emy Quinn