For the past 50 years, people have always feared the Black Lake. Some say a demon lurks within the deep waters, while others call them completely insane and just say that it's infected with killer seaweed. Some just don't like swimming while others just never go out so deep. Some just don't care at all. Well… Those people have never been more wrong...
14-year-old Josh, with his black hair that always covered his eyes and his dark, mysterious self, stuck with reality. Well, that's how it seemed. While in public, like school, he would always stay quiet yet, at times, so factual and down-to-earth. When he came home, he'd say, "Hey." To his parents, then went to his room for homework. Sounds like a normal kid, right? Well, not this one. Once he was done, he'd always take out this Webster's College Dictionary sized book made in real black leather called Myths, Legends, and Monsters. And into the night, he would read…
One day, he decided to bring his book to school so he could use it for an essay. He wanted to check a few legends on the online libraries with the book and his brain of facts to see if they could possibly be true. He had been hearing about the suspicions down at Black Lake and he wanted to compare the recent happenings with the few legends he noted with sticky-notes. As he was walking into the Computer Lab, since he had a 2-hour study hall, a group of 3 guys saw him with the book and saw the title. Nigel, standing at about 5" 7', a spiky red-head with a few piercings in both his nostrils, eyebrows, all the way up his ears and even two lip rings, like Josh, tan ripped jean shorts and a grey hoodie with guitars and skulls, chuckled and looked to Ben. Ben, a bit shorter than Nigel at about 5" 6 1/2', wore his everyday baggy dark blue jeans and his black hoodie with his dark blue face-covering hair, grinned with his pierced lips and looked at his right, to Luke. Luke, standing at 5" 6', short blonde hair, his light blue jeans with a white shirt with a grey skull and a snake slithering out of the mouth and his ultra-dark grey hoodie, always unzipped, nodded and smirked, then grimly said,
"Let us see what this kid is all about." And with that, they went off to look natural. And as for Josh, he just barely caught sight of them leaving and very softly sighed in relief. He grabbed a laptop and went to a lab bench to work. A few other kids were working on laptops around him, but they were too busy messaging their friends, girlfriends and boyfriends, to even notice him.
He turned to page 439 in his Myths, Legends, and Monsters book and stared at the picture before him: Some kind of sea creature with a shark-like head, a curled green tongue and multi-colored eyes with different colored layers of what looked like spiked scales. A long body like a sea snake with different colors like blue, yellow, pink, purple, and red reflecting off the scales, long multi-colored fur as like on a dragon along the spine, webbed and clawed hands and a tail for swimming faster than any motor boat. He shivered a bit, but only because the air conditioner was on. Summer was almost upon them. He went to Google and began searching the legend Colored Jaws, though he knew what he'd find. He found a few online books telling about stories and ancient legends about this creature and Josh compared them all and wrote down the differences and similarities. Little did he know that Nigel, Ben and Luke were watching him from separate benches, pretending to write their own essays when they were already finished.
When the 2-hour study hall was over, Josh finished his notes, logged off the computer and shut it off. He closed his notebook, put it in his messenger bag along with the Myths, Legends and Monsters book, then slung it over his shoulder and groaned at the sudden weight on his shoulder. He tucked the computer underneath his arm then turned around, about to put it away, then bumped into the one-and-only Nigel. He looked up, then waved with a blank face.
"Hey, Nigel. Heard your grades have been booming. Nice improvement." He was about to pass him, then bumped into Ben. He shrugged.
"I also heard you got a girlfriend. Janice Kinns, right? Man, you two were made for each other." He turned in between them then bumped into Luke.
"I saw you in the park earlier. Nice skateboarding moves. Tweak those 360's and you could someday do a 720."
Josh didn't look nervous at all, since he wasn't at all. He just acted normal. He's seen these guys pick on and beat up other kids, some even bigger than them. They just do it for fun so they can all give out a nice laugh or chuckle, or even just share a smirk or two. He'd also pass them in the hallways and they just looked to him and smirked. He always thought if they were born with evil smirks on their faces. No one will ever know.
Luke looked to the laptop Josh had, then smiled.
"Want me to put that away for you? Don't want to fall and break it with such a heavy bag on your shoulders."
Josh raised an eyebrow, his icy blue eyes set on Luke's lime green ones, then shrugged.
"Sure. #13, thank you."
Luke took it politely and went to go put it back on its shelf after plugging it into its charger. Ben stepped aside, then playfully nudged Josh and smiled down at him.
"Hey. We saw you and your leather book. What's it all about?"
Nigel chimed in, smiling as well.
"It looks really thick. What is it, some kind of encyclopedia?"
Josh shook his head and chuckled.
"Not exactly. It's my Myths, Legends and Monsters book. What about it?"
Luke came back and went behind Josh, gently pushing him towards the door.
"We're just so curious. We aren't planning anything, seriously. Trust us?"
Josh shrugged and began walking down the hallway with Ben at his left and Nigel at his right, pushing people aside to make room for them as they walked by while Luke just kept watch for teachers. Nigel shrugged and pushed a girl against her locker, spilling her books and notebooks on the floor from under her arms.
"Not to be rude and inviting ourselves, but you wouldn't mind if we came to your place to check this thing out? Or does the library really sound better?"
Ben chuckled, then Josh shrugged yet again.
"Nah. Mom and Dad will be home, but they won't care. Just as long as we don't make too much noise since my room is upstairs and you guys don't stir up trouble, not to accuse anyone."
Luke patted his left shoulder.
"We wouldn't, not with our new buddy. Plus: We only push people around at school. Hahahah, we won't even yell. If anything weird pops up, which is what I'm expecting, we'll just go with it. Don't worry about a thing. We're just hangin', right?"
Ben and Nigel nodded in agreement. Josh smiled and nodded as well.
"Alright, if you say so."
After school, Josh met his new "buddies" on the stairs at the entrance of the school. All three got up and began giving Josh a few knuckle fists before walking down the steps. On the way to Josh's house, he talked about the rumors and how he found out that they seemed rather similar to the legends and myths about this creature. He found that the myths are telling of a water dragon of many colors that lurked many lakes from scattered areas. It moved from lake to lake, haunting the beaches and docks. Nigel, Ben and Luke were listening closely, noting everything in their head and were astonished to find themselves really interested.
The white house with black shutters and rooftop came into view and Josh went to the door first, unlocking it since his parents constantly locked the door to be safe, then led his new friends inside. He called to his mom and dad,
"Mom! Dad! I've got a few friends. We're just going to my room!"
For an answer, his mom yelled back from the back room,
"Yeah, yeah! Food's in the fridge!" A few groans and other sounds were heard through rather loud heavy metal music.
Josh shook his head and chuckled. Luke put his hand on his shoulder as they made their way up the stairs to Josh's room.
"Hey, what's so funny?"
Josh only chuckled louder.
"My mom and dad could be doing God-knows what in their room…"
Ben and Nigel couldn't help but burst out snickering their heads off. Luke finally understood and snickered as well. Josh unlocked his door and led all 4 of them inside. His room was a little big. Bookcases filled with different action games, adventure, completely blood-gushing ones, Guitar Hero's and Rock Band and such. Other bookcases were full of books on the unknown and other mysteries. Some were just free-time reading books. Another bookcase was filled with mystery and gruesome movies alike. A wide flattscreen TV with a PlayStation 1, 2, 3, a Wii, Xbox 360 and a GameCube sit neatly underneath it with a few small speakers in the ceiling corners of that part of the room. A window in the corner of Josh's room with a laptop computer with a mouse and a curved desk against one side of it so he can just look to his left to see his neighborhood. Since it was curved, he can even work while facing the street. Ben gaped at the game systems while Josh went straight to his computer and turned it on, signing on while Nigel sat at his right so they could still look out that window, which stretched towards the door. Luke looked at all the games and movies and books and thought,
"Dang, this kid has got some awesome stuff for looking so emo…"
Josh laid out all of his notes on the desk to his right and kept his book on the other side of the desk. Going online to access his e-mail, Josh opened up his essay and saved it to his computer desktop, then logged off his e-mail and began to type more into his essay. Nigel just watched him type so fast, seeing how Josh already had 5 pages worth of an essay. Ben came over and sat to his right while Luke just stood behind him, gaping at how detailed the paper was and the words were so descriptive. Once Josh got to the last sentence, he read it out loud,
"…and with a flash of colors and crystal white jaws, the beast shall remain."
Nigel and Ben grinned while Luke chuckled.
"I kinda like that. "…and with a flash of colors…" What does that part mean again?"
Josh didn't even turn his head. He was spell checking it.
"I'm referring to the beasts scales. Almost all of these legends and myths claim that it has scales in many colors, but in streaks with a base color of green, like moss, for camouflaging better."
Luke shrugged.
"And don't tell me, the "crystal white jaws" is referring to its shark-like fangs. That's still a really good end-off. Hahah, hope people shiver."
Josh laughed a bit.
"If I see people with pale skin or shivering, I'll let ya know."
"Dude, we're all in the same Writing class. We'll know if you did good or not."
Luke put his head on Josh's shoulder and gave him some advice.
"When you share your essay, say it dramatically, yet still factual. You don't want it to sound like it's fake. Also, try walking around the classroom and bend over someone when you get to a creepy part or something. It might help."
Josh nodded.
"Thanks, Luke. I'll remember that."
Luke's head came off Josh's shoulder and high-fived him then held his hand there before letting go. Josh did the same thing with Nigel and Ben, but with both his hands and they all smirked. Josh printed out his essay after making some final tweaks here and there, then put it into a folder and locked the fasteners tight. He put all of his notes away and put his book inside a wooden box under the desk and locked it in case. Then, he, Nigel, Ben and Luke all did their homework together then finished off the day by playing duo Rock Band.
A few hours later, Josh and his little gang were walking the streets down to the lake for some fun. They were planning on throwing rocks at the ducks, geese and just playing some basketball at the court with a few of the lights on. Josh carried the basketball and they all talked about how lame some teachers were, mocking them and their constant sayings and facial expressions, which sometimes made them, laugh even harder until they even doubled over. Once they got to the lakeshore, they raced to the basketball court, ditching their hoodies next to a light stand and began playing free-play basketball.
After an hour or so of playing, they took a break and grabbed the water bottles they bought at the machines next to the restrooms. They all sat on the rocks next to the water as it splashed up onto them. They just stared out to the water until Josh decided to speak up.
"You know, I also found out something else. Wanna know?"
Nigel, Ben and Luke looked to him curiously.
"I pieced together some pieces of information and conclude that this water dragon might be in this very lake, this very moment."
"That means that the "insane" people could be really right…", murmured Nigel. Ben just kinda stared out into the water and never took his eyes off it. Luke scoffed.
"Sorry to say it, but I don't believe that. I mean, I believe that there could really be a water dragon, but just not here. Nu-uh. This place just seems too… Dull for a dragon to be living in these waters."
Josh pointed up and retorted,
"Exactly. The creature is drawn to such activity. When it senses dullness in a environment, like a town, city or village, it finishes off its job in its previous place and runs to that sleepy environment and livens it up in deadly fear. People are too scared to kill it, or when they try, it kills them first. But it never leaves one place too quickly. Not until its job is done."
Luke stared at Josh, then shrugged and yawned out of tiredness and stood up, bravely stating,
"Then let's go find this monster. If it's in this lake then I want to see it. If I get killed, then at least I know it's here."
Josh stood and warningly retorted at once.
"Luke, are you nuts? It's about 30, 35 feet long with sharper teeth than that of a great white shark! No one has seen it and lived to tell the tale. No one. Even if you just go out there, it's suicide. There's no point in doing it."
Luke glared at him.
"Dang, you sound like my mother. Shut up and help me get that motor boat over there started."
He began walking towards a motor boat docked at the dock, which just happened to belong to his father. Josh grabbed his arm and turned him around.
"Luke, it's SUICIDE!!! Did you not just hear me! You'll die in pure terror, especially at night!"
Luke shook him off and pushed him to the ground. Luke's blonde hair flipped to the side as he turned to the motor boat again and got in, turning on a few lights. Ben helped Josh up and looked to Nigel. They both looked at Josh and Josh sighed.
"Come on, guys… Let's go and get rid of our lives, shall we?" he said in such an exaggerating tone.
Nigel and Ben stepped back. Nigel shook his hands and shakily spoke.
"Um… We want to live, thank you…"
Josh took one last look at them, then put his hands on their shoulders.
"Guys, if we die, then we die together. I may not have been your friend for long, but hey. I'd rather die with my only friends then survive without them. Wouldn't you agree?"
Nigel and Ben exchanged glances, then nodded. They all went to the motor boat and Josh threw off the rope and rolled it up, setting it aside. Luke started the engine and off they went into the lake. Nigel and Ben were more towards the center while Josh was at the head with Luke. The water was a green-ish color yet perfectly fine. The full moon above them shone brightly like a singer and the stars shined like spotlights on a stage with the wind whistling and the water splashing beneath them as its voice.
Before Josh knew it, they were all sitting in the dead center of Black Lake. Nigel and Ben both kept exchanging glances at each other, holding onto the boat tightly with their hands as if to glue them in place. Luke just kept looking around, looking for signs of movement in the water. Josh looked towards the full moon above them and sighed uncomfortably. Nigel finally gasped shortly and pointed to the water not too far out with a shaky hand and, scared silly, whispered in fear,
"I saw something! I saw a flash off something in the water! It wasn't the moon, it was a flash of colors!"
Luke simply chuckled.
"Oh yeah, Nigel. "A flash of colors"… Sure. You're so scared you're seeing things."
Ben turned to face Luke and glared.
"Luke, the only reason we're all out here is because you wanted to see something almost no one believes in anymore. You're just dissing yourself!"
Luke growled and turned and all went silent. Then Ben looked out and gasped as well.
"There it is! I saw a flash of colors! It was right over there this time!"
This time, Josh looked and saw nothing. Nothing but still waters. That was when his heart began to race, though his face still blank. This is not good. It's really out here. We might as well all die… Nigel and Ben both whimpered and then something bumped into the boat. They all let out frightened gasps, even Luke. Ben and Nigel held onto the boat, as if for their lives. Then, another bump and Luke gave out a cry.
As if time froze, Josh just stared at the sudden rush of water going away from the boat, then turn in a U formation. Ben, Nigel and Luke all huddled together and held onto each other for their lives, pale as ice in fear and whimpering silently. Josh simply sat at the edge, watching as the rush of water started swimming their way slowly, then rapidly, causing mini-waves. Josh could clearly see the flashes of colors from his spot. Nigel gave out a cry as it swam right underneath the boat. Josh stared at it as it came out on his side again and he caught a glimpse of a different kind of flash. It just grinned at me with crystal white jaws… Luke whimpered louder, then the creature gave the boat another bump, but more forceful to make the boys yelp and hang onto the boat with their lives. The creature swam away, then started rapidly towards them form a shallow end.
Luke looked around frantically, whimpering like a scared little girl.
"We're going to die… We're all going to die…" Tears ran down his face and he didn't bother to wipe them away. Ben simply curled up on the floor of the boat and hugged himself. Nigel crawled over to Josh and whispered,
"How are we going to get out of this alive, Josh? That thing, whatever it is, is faster than our motorboat. It could chase us down!"
Josh simply sighed and shook his head, then looked back at Nigel darkly with his piercing icy blue eyes seeming to glow in the moonlight.
"We can't…"
Nigel stared at him in terror as he continued.
"…No one ever has."
Ben simply jumped up and, through his tears of fright, he growled.
"Well, if I'm going to die, I'll go willingly. I'd rather just jump into it than it shred me apart slowly."
He looked out to the creature, which was now almost at the boat. He waved his arms and yelled,
"Hey, you beast from Hell! Over here! Just take me! End my life!"
He could just barely finish as the water arose and the creature sprung out of the water. It's head raised high, it growled demonically down at them. Ben sobbed and stared right into it's piercing multi-colored eyes. It's scales flashed beautifully in the moonlight like a dazzling show of colored spotlights from one single base. Ben crouched as the creature opened its jaws. Josh put out his hand.
"Ben, wait-!!!!"
But it was too late. Ben had already plunged into the creatures jaws and snapped poor Ben's body in half, the horrible sound of bones being crushed, skin being torn to shreds and blood being sputtered which oozed from its mouth and splattering onto the boat, just barely missing Josh, Nigel and Luke. Luke screamed and soon, what was left of Ben's corpse was swallowed and the creature wailed in hunger. Nigel clung to Josh's arm and whimpered; digging his head into it as Josh calmly stared up at the beast. It looked at him and then back flipped into the water, leaving Ben's blood to stain the water behind it.
Luke whimpered, his face stained in his very own tears while Nigel finally loosened his grip on Josh and whipped his face. Luke did the same and sniffled and choked out,
"W-We're a-all gonna d-die, a-a-aren't we?"
Josh looked to him and softly nodded.
"We have to accept such an end, Luke. We pretty much challenged the existence of the beast. For our punishment, we loose our lives."
Josh looked back to the moon, then murmured
"Well, you guys at least…"
Suddenly, all at once, the boat started to get trashed around in rough waves. Well, that's how it seemed, but when Nigel peered over the edge with his heart practically in his throat, he could see the flashes of colors from the scales of the creature below: It was using it's tail to try and tip the boat!
Josh had already noticed this and thought, It could capsize an entire cruise ship. It's simply toying with us. Playing with its food before devouring it. Luke suddenly screamed as he got flung out of the boat into the water, beyond their reach. Nigel yelled out to him but Luke had already gone under, trying to get back up. When he finally reached the surface, her gasped for air into his swelled lungs. He tried to find the boat, then finally did and saw that it was only softly rocking now. He could hear Nigel and Josh yelling to him to swim to the boat, and so he did. He kicked with all his might, stroke with everything he had, trying to fight against the weight of his completely drenched clothes.
When Nigel had outstretched a hand to grab a hold of Luke's, Luke's scream was cut off as the beast swam up below him and swallowed him whole, lingering in the air as if showing off it's magnificent scales and terrifying jaws. It made a gurgling sound before diving back into the water. All went silent as Josh helped Nigel back into the boat, Nigel's face now streaming with tears and his eyes wide open, hands trembling in fear. Josh hugged him close and Nigel simply dug his head into his chest and cried his heart out, sobbing heavily, trying to remember to breathe while Josh held him tight. He rubbed his back until Nigel finally calmed down miraculously and whipped his face.
"Luke… Luke and I have been friends ever since kindergarten… I was his only friend, as he was mine… We always stuck together, even when we had fights. We'd always get over it and go to the bay to shoot some hoops, race each other on roller blades or skateboards, or even just go to the Town Hall steps and just talk about anything random, even if we never talked… When Ben came into this when we were in 5th grade, he was a mess. But when he befriended us, we became a trio and we never separated…"
Nigel sobbed again as the memories started to flood his pulsing head and he leaned on Josh's shoulder to keep from falling over on the wrong side of the boat."Josh…"
Josh looked to him and smiled softly.
"Yes, Nigel?"
"Look… You have to live."
Josh stared at him deeply as Nigel went on.
"Listen: All creatures have a weak spot." He pointed to the back of his neck.
"The back of the neck: the soft spot. It gets the best of em. Break the spine, skull or brain and you got 'em."
Josh thought it over, then nodded.
"Alright, Nigel. But we need some kind of weapon. I don't think Luke's dad would really put one on his own boat."
Nigel simply lifted up a hand-held harpoon gun from the floor. Josh stared at it, then they both smirked. Nigel held it up and slipped the harpoon into the machine and boldly said,
"Let's go fishing."
Nigel stayed at the center of the boat while Josh looked out for any signs of the creature. Nigel knew that this was the job for him for his dad was once a great fisherman before he died a gruesome death by a great white while on a fishing trip at sea. Before his death, he had taught Nigel all he knew about fishing and harpooning in particular. Plus: Josh only read the history and myths. His parents never really took him anywhere so he didn't know much about hunting at sea.
Josh suddenly, yet boldly exclaimed,
"There! I saw the scales! It's coming fast, from a dock!"
Nigel got to the front of the boat, aiming towards the creature while Josh held a second harpoon in case if Nigel missed. Nigel gripped the gun but was careful not to shoot yet. The creature rushed towards the boat, creating mini-waves behind it, its scales yet again flashing in the moonlight. It soon came in shooting range and Nigel took proper aim. Josh added in,
"Nigel, wait until it leaps out of the water, then shoot it through the neck. You'll surely get it then."
Nigel nodded, yet concluded,
"Though if I get a better shot when it's still in the water, I'll take it. Thanks for the suggestion, anyway."
Josh nodded then Nigel suddenly growled.
"Now!"
"Nigel shot the harpoon gun, only making him flinch in recoil, but it didn't effect his shot. The harpoon cut through the air and only deeply gashed the creature across its neck. It wailed and dove deeper into the water and Nigel scowled.
"Damn, that beast! I almost had it!"
Josh handed him a second harpoon and Nigel locked it in, but the beast had already arisen out of the water. It glared down at him demonically before opening its jaws and growling sharply. As if all in slow motion, it jaws came over Nigel's head, to his chest, then clamped down and the horrible sound of blood splattering, bones snapping gruesomely and a muffled and cut off scream from inside the creatures mouth rang through josh's ears. He stumbled back and stared up at the beast as it swallowed Nigel not whole, but both halves of his body. Josh's eyes watered, but then narrowed and he growled. He lunged for the harpoon gun, aimed quickly at the creatures' throat while it swallowed Nigel's lower half, and with a large ka-BANG, the harpoon shot out of the gun and whizzed through the air, piercing all the way through the creatures' neck and spurting out the other eyes went wide in fear, then it let out a loud gurgling sound as its black blood oozed and fell from its neck. It gave Josh one last look of pure fright, Josh glared at it with his ice-cold eyes and the creature itself whimpered. Its body went limp and it fell sideways into the water, sinking slowly to the depths of the Black Lake, it's blood darkening the water. Josh watched it, though, all the way.
And with a flash of colors and crystal white jaws, the creature laid at the bottom of the Black Lake, defeated for the first time in centuries, doomed to remain there for all eternity.
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