The Mysterious Creature of the Lake

My family and I were on the road, heading towards our family cabin to spend another summer vacation. Our family-owned cabin was in California and was surrounded by dense forest and a large lake. It was right next to the lake which also had a dock where my dad kept his boat to go fishing. I’m 15 years old now and honestly, I always hated going to the cabin because the lake near there always gave me a bad vibe. I remember seeing something late at night either entering the lake or coming out of it. I always told my parents, but they would just laugh and say I was just dreaming or I just had a nightmare. We haven’t been up here in a few years due to the fires that always plagued the forest when summer came. It seemed like every year they got worse so we decided to take a break going for safety reasons. I remember the first year the fire got kinda close to our cabin; however, somehow the fire never actually reached it but got diverted elsewhere. Thinking back to that year, I believe it had something to do with that lake. Actually not just that one year, but every year that there was a wildfire our cabin and the woods nearby never got touched by any of the fires. My parents always thought it to be out of luck or that God was protecting our cabin but I believe that the lake had something to do with it.

We finally arrived, and it looked the same like it always did, it was completely untouched even by nature. I looked over at the lake and immediately got chills. I can’t believe I had to spend another summer next to this eerily lake and my pleading to stay with one of my friends was out of the question due to them all going to summer camp. We went inside and as usual, chose the rooms we’ll be sleeping in, and unpacked our belongings. I mostly brought comics and other books to keep me entertained since this part of the woods wouldn’t get internet reception. My dad tried to get it for years, but the electrical crew could never get it to work. I sat in my room for a few hours just listening to music on my phone and reading my comics. “Jake dinners ready, wash up and come downstairs”, my mom called out. I made my way to the bathroom and saw the sun already had set. I guess I really was passing a lot of time just being cooped up in my room all those hours. I glanced outside the bathroom and saw what looked like a 12-foot tall shadow standing by the trees blocking any light that could identify what it was. I stood there frozen in fear and rubbed my eyes to make sure I wasn’t seeing things. I looked again only to see that the figure was gone. “Jake come down before your food gets cold” my mom shouted out to me, getting me out of my dazed state. “Okay mom I’m coming”, I called back as I turned off the water and made my way downstairs. I sat down at the table and looked down to a plate full of meatloaf, mashed potatoes with gravy, mixed vegetables, and a yeast roll. “Mmm meatloaf my favorite”, I said sarcastically as I stuck my fork in it. “Jake it’s not so bad, you can’t like something you won’t even try”, my dad said as he took a bite of his meatloaf. “But Dad, you know I hate meatloaf. Could we have had chicken or something else?” My mom sat down at the table with her plate and gave me a stare that would make the most courageous man get chills. “There’s nothing wrong with my meatloaf, eat it or you’ll be going to bed on an empty stomach”. “Yes ma'am”, I replied as I took my first bite of meatloaf and forced myself to eat it. I managed to wolf down everything on my plate and excused myself to my room. “Jake don’t forget to do the dishes before you go to bed”, my mom shouted as I went upstairs. I put my headphones on and continued to listen to music and read my comics.

I hadn’t realized I dozed off and immediately sprung up to go do the dishes. As I went downstairs, I saw my mom and dad were already in bed asleep. I turned on the overhead light by the sink and proceeded to wash the dishes. I felt like something was watching me so I looked up and saw the same figure from earlier, only this time it was standing right in front of the window. I leaped back in horror and finally was able to see what the thing looked like. Up close it looked like it was only 8 feet tall, its eyes were crimson and fiery red, its head looked human, but it had hooves like a goat and hands like a human except they were long and bony with sharp claws at the end. It also was dripping wet like it had just been wallowing in a puddle of water or something. Once again I was frozen in fear, and could not move or scream. The thing was just standing there staring dead at me and suddenly it smiled, an unnatural smile showing its canine-like teeth, and said in the most god awful voice from the pits of hell “Jake, why don’t you come to play with me.” What happened next will forever haunt me to this day, the creature started laughing and proceeded to breathe fire and set our cabin on fire in the process. It took off running towards the lake and I scrambled upstairs to wake my parents up. “Mom, Dad, we gotta get out here!”, I yelled as they woke up confused. “Jake what’s going on?” my dad asked as he woke up just as confused as my mom was. “We gotta get out of here, the house is on fire!” My mom and dad quickly got up and grabbed as much of their things and I ran to my room to do the same. We tried to go out through the front door, but the fire had already got to the door and my dad nearly got second-degree burns trying to open the door. Luckily the back door hadn’t been touched by the fire and we were able to escape that way. My dad ran to his boat and grabbed a bucket, then went to the lake to get water. “Dad wai-”, before I could warn my dad about the thing going into the lake, the same creature from earlier emerged from the lake and grabbed my dad by the arm, and dragged him into the water. “Dad!” I yelled out in tears as I tried running to save him, but my mom stopped me. “Come on Jake, we can’t save your dad. Whatever that thing is, it'll end up killing you too. Our survival is our top priority right now.” We ran to the car and drove off, as we did, my mom called the forest rangers and told them where they could find the cabin that was on fire. We made it into a town where we stayed in a hotel till the investigation of the fire and my dad’s disappearance was over. I told the forest rangers what I saw, but they didn’t believe it even though my mom saw the thing drag my dad into the lake as well. They sent a team of scuba divers to look for my dad’s body in the lake, but they couldn’t find anything. No sign of my dad’s body nor the creature we mentioned. However, they did find hoof prints by the kitchen window where I saw that thing but ruled it out as being a large moose or deer. Another crazy thing is, the cabin, despite catching on fire, didn’t suffer any damage since they used the water from the lake.

It’s been 5 years since that incident. My mom’s mental state declined over the last few years, and she eventually ended up in a mental asylum. I can’t sleep without seeing the face of that thing smiling at me saying “Jake, why don’t you come to play with me.” As for my dad, his body still remains missing and our cabin has become part of the horror stories, and campfire talk of a supposed lake wendigo that haunts that forest and lake near that cabin. I refuse to ever go back there and my memories of that lake will both be unpleasant and nightmarish. Brave souls that are looking for a thrill or adrenaline rush are going to see if the rumors are true. There have been reports of some of the people brave enough to go, that have gone missing without a trace. Of course, it doesn’t stop others from going but I know the rumors aren’t just rumors and that thing that lives in that lake, won’t hesitate to kill anything that comes that way.