The Lake House 2: The Grudge
(Disclaimer: A piece of fiction inspired by, but unrelated to both The Lake House and The Grudge.)
It's Feb 14 2006. Kate quarrels with her fiancé (they are always quarreling, the fiancé is the paranoid and insecure type, her long hours at work is getting to him, he suspects that she's having an affair with a cute ER doctor named Julian Mercer.) She's upset and is driving recklessly along a dark and slippery road through the woods. Her cell phone rings, it's the fiancé trying to make an apology. While picking up the call, she is distracted and runs over a guy dragging a tree out from the woods to his truck parked along the road. She rushes down to check up on him. There's no pulse and she's freaked out. She runs into her car and drives away.
The fiancé is still on the phone, he implores Kate to assure him that she's all right, it sounded like she's had an accident. Kate goes back to his place, tells him about the hit-and-run. She's still distraught. Her job is to save lives, and she's just killed someone. He comforts her and starts thinking of a plan. At the end of the scene, he tells her to move away to another state, lie low and start anew. He's got the perfect house for her, right by a beautiful lake. They'll make things work out for them again.
Fast forward to a month later.
Kate and fiancé is nicely settled in the new house. As he has said, the place is beautiful and they are rekindling their romance.
Unfortunately, good times don't last. The fiancé starts to act up, he adopts a stray dog that gives Kate the creeps. She'll wake up at night and the dog, named Jack, is looking at her all weird and lusty, eyes glowing under the moonlight. The fiancé starts chain-smoking, listening to Van Halen, wearing black suits all the time with shades even at night, dyes his hair black and acquires various strange hobbies, like practicing martial arts with an expanding arsenal of weapons and chopping trees by the lake. Kate is spooked, he claims it's just more interesting than running on a treadmill in the gym.
More strange things happen. Kate starts to get strange letters through the mailbox. The letters say strange things like "You're living in my house, we should meet. Love, Alex", "We have the same dog, we should meet. Love, Alex" and "I'm hunkier than your boyfriend, we should meet. Love, Alex" etc. Kate suspects someone is stalking her. She spies the mailbox but realizes that the letters appear to be just popping up in the mailbox mysteriously.
It's Feb 14 2007. She lets the fiancé knows of the demonic mailbox, he thinks she's delusional. She wants to leave the Lake House, the fiancé thinks she's finding an excuse to run away from him. He accuses her of making out with strangers behind his back again. They have a bad quarrel, she stomps into the bedroom and accidentally dislodges a floorboard. She finds an old book, one that she's lost many years ago. Clipped to the book are old photographs of her, with her fiancé at the railway station and at her birthday party. She freaks out, her head is spinning. A yellowing note falls out of the book, it reads "Kate, we should meet, TONIGHT. Love, Alex"
The fiancé is at the door, he's shouting "Kate, you cannot hide from US!" Kate breaks the window and runs out. She gets into the car and drives into the woods. She wants to call 911 but her cell phone is not picking up any signals. Suddenly her car stalls on the dark and eerie road. She freaks and gets out of the car; she remembers to get her pistol out for protection. She spots a familiar truck parked by the road. A man in a dark trench coat is getting out of the truck, he has a gun. Kate runs for her dear life and fires a few shots at the guy. Its futile, he bends backwards effortlessly to dodge her bullets. She is hysterical, she runs into the woods. She's almost at the end, she can see the highway, she can hear the cars whizzing by. Suddenly, trees start "poofing" in front of her, blocking her way.
She tries to change directions to escape the "poofing" trees. But something else goes poof in front of her. It's not a tree this time. It's the guy in the trench coat, smoking a cigarette. She gets a better look at him under the moonlight, it's her fiancé. But his looks start to morph and look like Julian Mercer, her old fling in the ER. "Julian," she mouths; her heart is rapidly sinking. Fiancé/Julian flings the cigarette down, starting a rapidly spreading bush fire. Kate wants to run, but he's straddling her, clutching her neck. She can't breathe and continues to struggle; she's still holding the gun. She tries firing it but it's already empty.
Fiancé/Julian continues to snarl, "Oh I have many names. You can call me Alex for now. Or Julian. Or the one you knocked down. Does it really matter? I was dragging that damn tree out for you, Kate. Because you said you beep missed it!"
Kate is terrified. He continues, "What was your excuse? That you didn't recognize me 'cause I was lying with my face down? Kate, Kate, Kate. Such a smart girl… Such stupidity… You think you can sin and not pay for it? Never try to kill someone, who just… can't… die…"
He bends down to kiss her, with the ferocious hunger of a wolf biting into a dying lamb. Kate struggles, she can't breathe, she is passing out. She blacks out.
Fast forward 1 year later.
Feb 14 2008, the Lake House. A property agent checks the mailbox, nervously. There is a yellowing newspaper with frontpage headlines "Murder At Lake House. Body Burnt At Nearby Woods. Murderer Still At Large." He burns it hurriedly. A beautiful Korean couple walks up to him and says "The house is perfect. We'll take it." The property agent beams and hands them the keys. He walks back to his car and wipes the cold sweat off his brow. The Korean guy whispers to his girlfriend in Korean, "Let's call it Il Mare."
Camera swings to the mailbox. The dog, Jack, is standing under it. It has the look of a hungry wolf. END.