Michael Channing stood at the end of the dock watching the diving crews work across the lake. They were searching for the body of 13 year old Laura Shuple. The girl and her brother Jacob had been kayaking across the lake when according to the boy it suddenly flipped, dumping them both in the water. He had come up in moments, aided by his life jacket, ready to yell at his older sister.

“Laura that wasn’t funny!” He yelled as he rubbed the water out of his eyes. Laura, a year and a half older than her brother wasn’t one to play pranks, but she knew he was scared of swimming in the lake, and he thought this must be payback for the scare he gave her last night.

She didn’t reply, and he didn’t hear the laughter he had expected. “Laura?” He called out. Eyes clear, he treaded water, turning in a circle to look for his sister. Jacob saw that he had drifted some from the kayak, which was still overturned. He thought she must be hiding under it. He swam awkwardly to the kayak, and with a little effort, flipped it back over. No Laura. He climbed in carefully, so as not to flood it with water.

There was real fear on Jacobs face now. They were almost in the middle of the lake, and there was no way Laura could swim to the shore without him seeing. Was she wearing her life vest, he wondered, in panic. He couldn’t remember.

Jacob stood up, shouting his sisters name, and nearly fell back in as the kayak bobbed. He spotted her paddle floating towards the shore. It was nearly halfway there. Maybe she did swim back. Jacob knelt and began paddling with his hand. It wasn’t long before he made it to the paddle, and then took even less time to make it to shore. He raced across the lawn to the cabin his parents had rented. He wanted to yell at his sister, that was some evil prank. She wasn’t there either, and his heart leapt in his chest.

That was six hours ago. Now the dive crews searched the lake, and Michael stood on the dock. He could see the boy, with his parents standing to the side watching the crew work. It was too far to see their expressions, but he could imagine. He had stood in that exact same place twenty years ago as the lake was searched for his sister. They had never found her body, just as they would not find Laura’s body.

In the last twenty years, eight girls had disappeared in this lake and none had been found. The boy, Jacob, had been right to fear swimming in this lake. There was something that lurked beneath the water. Something that liked to prey on girls.