Lake

-What did Logan say to you? -was what Natalia asked me when I sat back down at the table.

-Actually it was something strange," I told her, starting to eat my hamburger. Logan's dark look had stayed in my head.

-Tell me about it, Logan doesn't talk to anyone just like that. Least of all to a girl at this high school.

I looked at her blankly.

-He doesn't talk to girls here? -I wanted to know, it seemed a little strange.

-I mean, he does talk, but only with one. They're always in a group so to speak. And the girl in the group is called Roberta Roberts, she's a redhead who, by the way, I don't think came in today.

-If he talks only to her, don't you think she's his girlfriend? -I hesitated a little.

-I don't know. Maybe I do, what I mean is that Logan isn't like his brother Chase as a womanizer. He's more... focused on that stuff.

I thought for a bit, he was the first cute guy in high school who wasn't a womanizer and didn't keep himself surrounded by women. Logan seemed darker to me.

-What do you say we go to the lake when we get out of class? -he asked me a little excited.

-To the lake? -I took a sip of my juice. I looked out the window that the day was cloudy, it wasn't windy anymore but the weather was still freezing. I loved this kind of weather. I'd like to be in my room doing some writing.

-Yes, I want to show you. It's amazing, there's a dock but there's also sand where we can put something to sit on and talk a little. We can also go for a swim if you want.

Natalia's eyes were shining when she talked about the lake, I noticed her enormous desire to go so I couldn't refuse.

-It's okay, we can go when we get out of class. The lake is near my house.

-Great!

We both laughed and continued eating our hamburgers.

-

-I didn't look at the Millers after lunch," I told Natalia. The two of us were leaving the high school, walking down the sidewalk to my car. It was after four in the afternoon.

-It happens, Lev, you have to know that the Millers disappear at any time. I think their father requests them to see things at work. Believe it or not, Mr. Miller is a wealthy man and his children will be heirs to that empire.

I took a deep breath and nodded. It was obvious that kids like that were wealthy.

-1, 2, 3 -I heard in the distance- don't go out after sunset.

-Did you hear that? -I asked Natalia.

-The song?

-Yes.

-1, 2, 3 or the wolf will eat you.

In the distance there were three girls playing tug-of-war, but this time it wasn't the triplets. They were other girls.

-What a strange song," I murmured, "Yesterday my neighbors were singing it too. What do you think it means?

The further we went into town the more I saw the Halloween decorations, there were pumpkins, some ghost hanging from a tree etc. The whole town of Hammond was dressed in October.

-I used to sing it with my friends when we were playing tug-of-war. It's like a tradition now.

-Why that song? What does it mean?

Samuel had also told me not to go out after sunset, I know there were huge wolves here but the one that came out yesterday didn't do anything to me so I thought maybe they weren't aggressive. However in that song they put them as beasts. They scare the kids, they restrain them in their homes after sundown. Maybe it's a way to put them in safety.

-My parents used to tell me that there were wolves in the woods and that they were dangerous, if I went out at night the wolf would come and eat me. Especially around this time in October, you never know if what you see is a costume or a real wolf.

I swallowed thickly and just nodded. It made some sense. When we pulled up in front of my house I noticed my sister perched on a chair as she was putting up Halloween stuff.

-Sara? -I asked her from the sidewalk.

-Lev, you're back!

-What are you doing up there? -I crossed my arms. The house was almost full of Halloween stuff too. I couldn't believe my sister had already started decorating like the other neighbors.

-Everyone is decorating their houses and only ours looked so plain so I went to the store in the morning and bought stuff to decorate. It looks nice don't you think? -looks at me, so I notice Natalia- Oh, hi.

-Hi, I'm Natalia," replies the girl next to me.

-Natalia and I are going to the lake," I let my sister know.

-That's fine with me; have fun. And, Lev? At six I'm leaving for the hospital so if you're not here by then you know what you have to do.

I rolled my eyes.

-I rolled my eyes. I'll call you later.

Natalia and I picked up our pace.

-Nice to meet you, Natalia! -my sister exclaimed.

-Nice to meet you too! -Natalia smiled, "I like your sister.

-She's a good person.

We got to the dirt road where there was a sign with the word "lake" and we went inside. All around us there was only forest, as the sunset was falling, colors were beginning to form in the sky.

-Come on, run! -Natalia takes my hand and makes us run faster.

-Nat, wait a minute! -I was not good at running.

-I want to show you something! -she exclaimed.

When we arrived in front of the lake we stopped, I was stunned watching how the pink and light blue colors formed in the sky and reflected in the lake.

-It's beautiful," I whispered.

Natalia took a camera out of her backpack and started taking pictures.

-Come on, let's go to the pier.

We both walked to the small pier. I felt like I was in some kind of paradise here, the colors in the sky gave me peace and filled me up. The colors were reflected in the lake, the water of the lake was so calm that it didn't move and that made it look like a mirror. A mirror where the colors looked amazing.

Natalia continued taking pictures.

-I like to come in the afternoons to wait for the colors and take pictures," she told me, "It is something incredible that I cannot explain. Here you seem to be out of the world. You could come to write here in the afternoons," she says.

I looked at her.

-How do you know I write?

-I guessed. Believe me, you can clear your mind here; it helps if you've had any kind of blockage.

That's what I was going through, I felt blocked since a few weeks ago. With these colors here I felt my mind at peace. I sat on the little Indian style dock and just contemplated them. Natalia also sat next to me.

-It's nice, isn't it? -she asked me.

-It is.

In the distance I heard cars.

-It's the Millers," he said, as if reading my mind, "They live near here. -He pointed across the lake. "That way, I think.

I thought for a moment about what Logan had told me in the cafeteria, it was something I couldn't understand.

-What are you afraid of?

-How?" Nat asked me.

-That's what Logan asked me in the cafeteria: what are you afraid of? -I looked at her.

She frowned uncomprehendingly.

-How strange.

-It is.

-What struck me as stranger was Logan talking to you. Apparently he gave you permission to do so. The rules don't work for you.

-Why do you say that?

-The Millers are exclusive, only the people they want to be with them are with them. Apparently Logan liked you and that's why he released you from the silly rules.

-I wasn't going to follow those rules, Natalia, whether he chose me or not. It's not like I wanted to talk to them anyway. Not at all.

The colors were beginning to fade, night was falling.

-We shouldn't be here after sunset, don't you think? -Natalia asks me.

-Do you believe in those things?

However I remembered the huge wolf from last night and that made me shiver. Maybe it wasn't a bad idea to be home before nightfall.

-We should.

Natalia and I stand up, she puts away her camera and puts on her backpack. I grab my bag and we start walking.

-The colors were amazing in spite of everything," I tell her. We head down the road.

-I know, it's something I'll never get bored of. Are you staying alone at night?

-Yes, my sister is on duty these days.

-Are you not afraid to be alone?

-Sometimes," I answered, "Other times it's nice to be alone.

-I can imagine. In another town it would be nice to be alone at night.

-Do you think not here? -I looked at her. Maybe we were halfway there, night had already fallen completely. Only the few stars in the sky gave us light.

-Well... sometimes things happen that make me doubt.

When we passed a sign that said "the town only a few miles away" I noticed a picture there.

-Look at this," I approached the sign.

The sheet of paper said:

Missing

Alia Banks, 10 years old.

Have you seen her? Call us at 5567800

But she had a date on the bottom:

26/10/1999

-It's a girl who has been missing since '99," I mumbled.

-It's unbelievable that that sign is still there, isn't it? -I heard Natalia say behind me, "We should walk, it's getting dark.

The girl was smiling in the picture, she had yellowish hair and was wearing a white shirt with pink. What surprised me the most was the date of her disappearance. The day of my birth.

Chilling, isn't it?

-It was the day I was born," I said.

-What? -Natalia stood next to me, "Are you sure?

-Yes, I was born on October 26th, 99.

-Chilling. Maybe it's not the only disappearance that's happened in Hammond. Maybe that's why our parents teach us that song. To keep any two girls in the future from looking at a sign like that with our name on it.

I made sense of what Natalia had said.

-Come on, Lev.

I was about to take a step to walk, but at that a howl was heard in the distance. I looked at Natalia with fright, she did the same.

-Shit, we have to run," she takes my hand and makes us run as fast as we can. My heart was beating a thousand per hour because I was afraid that wolf would come back.

When we got close to my house we stopped and took a breath. We were tired. The howling of the wolf made us stay in the same place. It could be heard closer. I looked at Ruth in the street, she was looking for something on the road.

-Ruth! -I exclaimed involuntarily.

She looked at us.

-My necklace is lost," she says, but what surprised me the most was that behind her, in the shadows, a huge white wolf appeared, tasting its tongue.