Dead in the Water-What if Peter hadn't waited so long to take his revenge?
Samuel Campbell walked into the house he shared with his wife Deanna and his daughter Mary. Deanna, I think I found something weird going on in Wisconsin?
"What?" Deanna asked.
"A 12 year old boy went missing last week, and this week 2 other 12 year old boys drowned in the lake. They can't find the bodies."
"That is weird. Well, it's summer vacation for Mary, so I guess we can go check it out," Deanna replied.
"Mary," Samuel called. His 12 year old daughter came into the room. "We're going to go hunting in Wisconsin."
"I don't like hunting, Dad. Some of my friends were going to go to camp this summer," Mary whined.
"People's lives are at stake, Mary," Samuel admonished. "How is summer camp more important than that."
"I guess it isn't," Mary agreed dejectedly.
"It won't be so bad," Deanna consoled her daughter. "There's a lake there."
"We're not going to let her go swimming in a lake where kids are mysteriously drowning, Deanna," Samuel said exasperatedly.
"Sorry, I guess I wasn't thinking," Deanna replied.
When they arrived in Wisconsin, Deanna asked "What was the first victim's name?"
"Peter Sweeney. He went missing a little over a week ago. They never found him or his bike."
"Let's go talk to his mother, though that will not be pleasant."
They found her address and the three of them headed over. Samuel rang the bell and a woman answered the door. "May I help you?" she asked.
"My name is Samuel, this is my wife Deanna, and my daughter Mary. We were passing through town and Mary wanted to stop by and say hi to Peter. They were pen pals."
The woman started crying. "I'm sorry, what did I say?" Samuel asked, knowing full well what he had said and feeling bad but knowing there was no other way. Not if they were going to stop other children from being hurt.
"My son disappeared last week." The woman replied between sobs."
"I'm so sorry," Deanna said. "What happened?"
"He was supposed to come straight home from school, but he never showed up. That's all I know. If you'll excuse me…"
"Of course, again, we're so sorry," Deanna said.
"That wasn't much help," Samuel lamented when they got back to the car.
"Who were the next two victims?" Deanna asked.
"Bill Carlton and Jake Miller. They went swimming out behind Jake's house and their parents saw them disappear under the water. They dove in to try to save them, but they couldn't find them. They also don't know what made them go under. They've lived next to the lake their whole lives and are both very strong swimmers."
"Let's go poke around out by the lake house," Deanna suggested.
They pulled up to the house. "Mary, why don't you go sneak around out back and poke around. They probably won't get to mad if they catch a kid," Samuel suggested. "We'll be along in a few minutes acting like we're looking for you. If anyone asks, we're here on vacation and you've gotten a little turned around. We're staying at the Lake Front Motel. OK?" Samuel asked.
"Do I have to?" Mary asked.
"Yes," Samuel said sternly.
Mary huffed and headed out back of the house. She poked around at the edge of the lake and noticed that tbe ground was disturbed. She looked up at the house to make sure nobody was watching and she began to dig. She dug up a bike. Just then, her parents came around the corner.
"Dad someone buried a bike back here. I think it's Peter Sweeney's. I saw a picture of him on this bike at his mom's house."
"Probably Bill and Jake killed him, either accidentally, or on purpose and Peter drowned them to get revenge. In which case it's probably over," Deanna hypothesized.
"We'll just stick around for a week, and see if anybody else drowns. If not we'll head home," Samuel decided.
"Well, that was a waste of time," Mary huffed.
"I'm sick of your attitude, Mary," Samuel said.
A week went by, there were no more drowning. The family headed back to Kansas, and kept an eye on the news from the lake, for the next several years. Nobody drowned again, and they realized that Peter had gotten his revenge and was now at rest.
The End