As if on cue, Lewis came riding up. He dropped his bike at the edge of the path.
“What happened?” Christina asked.
“Nobody was there.” He kicked off his shoes and pulled off his T-shirt before running into the water.
“Don’t splash me!” Christina put her hands on her hips.
He cupped his hand and sent a spray of water at her.
“I’m serious,” she shrieked, holding her hands up to shield herself.
He splashed Scoot and me as he hurried past us, the deeper water slowing his pace. Once he got out to chest height, he went under. His kicking feet broke the surface as he swam away from us. He was a few yards away when he popped up again, treading water.
“Come on,” he called. He went under again and swam a little farther out.
Scoot and I looked at each other. “I’m not going out there,” I said. We always played in the lake, but neither of us was a strong swimmer. We knew better than to go out too far.
Christina waded out a little farther, the murky water wrapping around her thighs and wetting the hem of her shorts.
Lewis went under again. When he came up, he looked annoyed that none of us had joined him.
He doggy paddled, his head bobbing up and down in the distance. The usually still water rippled around him. Sunlight sparkled on its surface like glittering jewels.
“You said you wanted to swim. Come on. Let’s swim,” Lewis called.
His invitation was tempting. I wished I could swim out to him.
I was thinking about trying when I noticed something strange a few yards behind him. The water began to bubble and churn like a pot coming to a boil. The disturbance was minor at first but steadily grew. Thick shadows darkened the water’s surface as clouds rolled in from nowhere, covering the sun.
“What’s that?” I asked. I didn’t wait for an answer before starting to back out of the water. Lewis turned around and saw it too. Christina, Scoot, and I got out of the water as fast as we could.
We stood in silence. Water dripped off us as we watched the lake bubble and heave. A slick, black dome broke the surface. Rising out of the water, it glistened with a viscous slime that trailed off it like oil.
“Oh my God.” My throat constricted, and a chill ran through me.
Christina grabbed my arm as she stared at the dome with wide, frightened eyes. She took a step back and nearly fell. I reached out to catch her, and we both almost toppled over.
“What is it?” Scoot whispered in awe.
Lewis stayed in the water as if mesmerized by the sight of it.
The dome-shaped thing undulated and pulsed only a few feet from him. A single amber eye opened in its center, confirming it was a living being. The eye blinked once, slowly and deliberately. I felt an inexplicable connection to it, as if the thing in the water peered not at me but into me.
Scoot and Christina yelled.
“Are you seeing this?” Lewis, who was still in the lake, looked back at us with a gleeful expression. “It’s amazing.”
“Run!” Scoot yelled back at me as he got on his bike. Christina was already riding away.
