My dad used to take me fishing at a secluded lake on my grandfather’s property when I was growing up. I always looked forward to seeing my grandparents, going on hikes, sitting around the campfire, going fishing and all of the adventures we used to have. I will never forget the day that I met her; I was six years old, and my dad and I were setting up at the lake with our bait and fishing poles. My dad cussed and took off his hat, glancing towards the still, steely blue water.
“I forgot the radio, Cody. You sit tight and I’ll be right back, alright?”
“Okay Daddy.”
My dad turned and hurried back up the long slope that we had to descend every time we came to the lake. I sat there whistling, staring up at the sky and the massive, ancient trees that surrounded me. The wind blew, and the fresh, clean scent of nature reached my nostrils. I inhaled deeply, closing my eyes and tilting my head back. The birds were chirping, critters were scurrying, and everything seemed completely right. I had opened my eyes and sat there for a few more seconds before I actually noticed her, less than six feet away from me.
My heart nearly leaped up my throat and out of my gaping mouth I was so startled; How had this…thing so stealthily snuck up on me? And I only say “thing” now because that was how I perceived her at first. Only her head and shoulders were exposed, the rest of her hidden beneath the water. She was completely bald but had what looked to be tiny, dark green horns, dozens of them, protruding all over her scalp. Her skin was as green as the leaves in the trees, her huge eyes taking up the majority of her face, completely black. She had no nose, only two slits above her mouth, which was long, flat, and slightly open as she gazed upon me.
The two of us sat staring at each other in what felt like an eternity. I only looked away when I heard the country music blaring on my dad’s radio; I looked back, watching as he appeared at the top of the slope. I glanced back at the water less than two seconds later, only to find that she was gone, leaving only ripples in her wake.
I didn’t tell my father about what I had seen; Hell, I wasn’t even sure if I had really seen anything real myself. That was the curiosity that drove me back to the lake later on that night. I had to creep barefoot through my grandparents’ house, slowly edge the back door open, and walk quietly through the fog back down to the lake. I don’t know why, but I brought a case of bait with me. She lived in the water like fish, so she definitely ate what they ate, right?
I came to a stop several feet away from the dark water. The air was cool, and the moonlight shimmered on the surface of the lake I had come to love. I sat down and picked up a handful of worms. I tossed them into the water, waiting. Nothing. I pulled out my Nintendo DS and started playing a Mario game. Maybe I really had just been daydreaming, I figured. But I was already out here, so why not enjoy the night.
I had apparently dozed off because I suddenly awoke to the sound of the Super Mario theme. Or…what sounded eerily like the Super Mario theme. Wiping my eyes, I looked down at my DS. It was dead. I then looked down at the water. She was there, one scaly green/white arm out of the water, her horny head resting on it as though she was bored. She was humming the music in a way that a human, or any other animal for that matter, ever could. Her black eyes were set upon me, never blinking. I sat there all night with her, the two of us simply keeping each other company. When the sun began to rise, I snapped out of my trance and stood up, dusting myself off.
“I have to go now…but I’ll be back, okay?”
She made a strange sound, something that reminded me of a dog’s whimper. I had a feeling that she didn’t want me to go. But I knew I had to get back before my grandparents woke up. I began my ascent up the slope. When I glanced back, she was gone.
I began to visit my grandparents’ more and more over the years. What used to be twice a month visits soon turned into every weekend, and even sometimes weekly if I could convince my dad to drive me over. My grandmother was delighted to have me around so much, but my grandfather had a look in his eye that I didn’t like. It was as though he was suspecting something. I found myself wondering if he knew about my new friend down in the lake.
She would never show her face if my dad, mom, or grandparents were there; She had eyes only for me it seemed. I would bring her food, finding that she had an appetite for fish and shrimp, but wouldn’t touch vegetables or desserts of any kind. She would hum different songs for me, and sometimes I would bring my iPod down to the lake, playing it low so that no one could hear it. She would hum my favorite songs back to me, and I would sit and talk with her, telling her about the different things going on in my life.
One night when I was 12, I brought a women’s magazine down to the lake. I whistled, a low, long note, and she came, like she always did. She placed both arms out of the water, her webbed, four-fingered hands clenching onto the wet soil as she looked innocently at me.
“You know, I’ve told my friends about you. They didn’t believe me. Well, Tommy did, and he thinks that you’re…well, that you’re kind of a like a pet, I guess? I don’t think he’s right, but it got me thinking. You need a name. That way I have something to call you. I brought this magazine down to read a few to you…what do you think about Emily?”
She stared blankly at me, tilting her head as though she had no idea what the hell I was talking about.
“Okay…not Emily…Rebekah? No, hmmm….what about Vanessa?”
She submerged for a moment and came back out, shooting water at me from her nostrils. “Okay okay, not Vanessa. I don’t like it either, I know a girl named Vanessa and…ugh. Kelly? No? How about…Selena?”
She leaned forward slightly, turning head sideways as though she wanted me to repeat what I had said. “Selena? Do you like that one? Selena?”
She made a guttural sound and, for the first time, dipped into the water and hopped back out, performing a flip in the air. I saw her entire body for the first time; She was at least seven feet long, built like a power forward with a powerful frame. She had thorny breasts and a scaly, powerful tail that looked serpentine rather than fishlike. When she landed back in the water she sent a huge splash out onto the banks, drenching me in the process.
I sputtered, wiping my face off and looking at hers, which seemed to be full of joy. “Selena it is then!”
“Dakota? Dakota what are you doing down there!”
Selena immediately sank into the water and I turned, watching as my grandfather descended the slope. He was shirtless, walking in heavy boots and carrying a shotgun. I realized what it looked like; I was completely wet, sitting in the dark and holding an open women’s magazine. I felt my cheeks turn red as my grandfather’s eyes scanned the water suspiciously. “Boy what the hell are you doing out here? Get up, come get your ass back in bed.”
A few more years passed. I was sixteen and had my first car, so I began to sneak over to my grandparents’ place late at night when they were fast asleep. I came down to the lake one warm summer night with a sheet of paper in my hand. As I descended the slope towards the lake, I could have sworn I heard what sounded like a woman’s scream far off in the distance; Cougars, I thought, knowing how terrible they could sound sometimes at night. I made my way down to the very edge of the water and touched it gently, running my hand through it.
“Selena?”
She took longer to come up than usual. When she did, she seemed different; I chalked it up to it being that maybe I had awakened her from her sleep…if she even did sleep.
“Hey, Selena. I want to read you a poem…it’s about a girl I like. Can you let me know what you think about it?”
I won’t go into details about what I wrote, but Selena hummed a beautiful, haunting tune the whole time that I was reading. When I finished, we sat very close, simply looking at each other. I could hardly believe it…she really had understood my intention, my words, after all. And who they were meant for.
I began to lean in, and she followed my example. I kissed her on the mouth, then sat back, awaiting her reaction. She released air through her nostrils slightly, then leaned in again. I did as well, and felt her hand clasp the back of my neck. I felt something slimy in her mouth, and wondered if all girls tongues felt this way. I was beginning to put my hand on her shoulder when I heard another loud, terrible scream. Selena pulled away from me and we both glanced in the direction from which it had come. Then she vanished beneath the surface of the lake.
“Hey! Wait, come back!” I whispered. A few minutes passed and she hadn’t returned. I was beginning to think that I had messed up somehow, but just as I stood to leave she resurfaced. She raised something out of the water, and I nearly puked.
She was holding a soggy, waterlogged arm that had surely once belonged to a human.
“No…no…noooo!” I turned and ran, looking back in terror at her. She watched me quietly, slowly lowering the corpse arm back into the water. I turned and kept running, never looking back.
I didn’t go and see her for weeks after that encounter. How could I have been so foolish? I couldn’t fall in love with a creature, she wasn’t natural and she had clearly killed someone before. That could have been my body at the bottom of that lake…how could I have let my guard down, getting close enough to not only let her touch me, but kiss me as well? I could have easily been dragged in…But I hadn’t. And, as much as I suddenly hated myself for it, I knew that I was in love with Selena. I found myself thinking about her all day in class, and dreaming about her at night. I couldn’t stay away. I needed to go and make things right, get to the bottom of this.
When I stealthily snuck onto my grandparents’ property again, I brought a pistol with me this time. Just in case. I kept it tucked into the back of my belt, completely out of sight. I don’t even know why; It’s not like Selena knew what a gun was anyway.
I made my way down to the murky water, keeping my distance this time. I sighed deeply and fell to my knees. Shakily, I called out, “Selena.”
A few seconds later she emerged, and immediately shot water at me from her nostrils. She came flapping onto the land, clearly happy to see me, but I stumbled backwards, glaring angrily at her.
“Whoa whoa whoa! Things aren’t okay, do you hear me? What did you do to that person!”
Selena gazed up at me. She slapped at the ground and pointed back at the water. She opened her mouth and made a stressed sound, then motioned back at the water again.
“You must be insane if you think I’m going to go into the water with you. You killed someone! I never thought it’d be possible, but…but I can’t go on with you knowing what you’ve done! I’m sorry, but…I can’t see you anymore, Selena. I’m so, so sorry.”
I turned and began walking away, my feet heavier than anything I had ever carried in my life. Selena, behind me, was making a desperate panting sound.
“Dakota!” she screamed, and I spun around. The bullet hit me right in the shoulder; I fell to the ground, clutching at my wound, and stared in horror at my grandfather, who was emerging from a cluster of trees. He was covered in blood, holding his shotgun.
“So you figured out what I’ve been doing out here, huh? Your little fish girlfriend here told ya, didn’t she?”
“Pawpaw…I…I…” I saw the canoe behind him, resting at the edge of the water. A dead woman lay in it, chained to a couple of cinder blocks. Then it all made sense. Selena hadn’t killed anyone…my grandfather did.
“I’m sorry, Cody, but you force me to do this…it would break your grandmother’s heart if she ever found out. And I ain’t gonna let you do that.”
He raised his shotgun again, and I didn’t have nearly enough time to grab my pistol. As soon as he fired, however, Selena leaped into the air, taking the bullet right into her chest. She then surged forward, faster than anything I had ever seen, and converged on my grandfather. The two of them began struggling, my grandfather grabbing at her throat as they thrashed around the ground.
I stood, watching helplessly, and saw that somehow he was getting the upper hand; It seemed that either Selena was getting weaker from being out of the water so long, or else the bullet was taking it’s effect. I whipped out my pistol, aimed carefully, and fired twice. Both bullets missed their mark; I had wounded my dear Selena even more.
Shaking, she suddenly lay still, and I cried out in agony as I fell to my knees. I no longer felt my gunshot wound; My soul was torn.
My grandfather stood up, picking up his shotgun. “Fuck….now, where was I-“
Selena grabbed his legs and thrust them roughly in opposite directions. My grandfather split in half from the crotch all the way up to his torso. The shotgun fell to the ground, and I dashed down to Selena.
“Hey, hey, everything’s gonna be okay! I’m gonna…gonna…”
Her black eyes were full of sorrow. She reached out and touched my face, leaving teal blood smudged upon it. She pulled me into an embrace and I felt the life leave her body. I don’t know how long I knelt there with her. But eventually I stood up and returned her body to the place she belonged: The lake. I left my grandfather’s corpse lying there; My grandmother would surely find it and the corpse of the woman he had murdered as well in the morning.
I can say with certainty that I will never fall in love again. My heart will always be at the bottom of that lake.