The Lake



Emily sulked on her bed, frustrated at herself for being so selfish and ignorant in the face of all of her friends' warnings. The twenty-year-old brunette girl was reeling from migraine of horrendous pain as she chastised herself mentally over and over again. ``Why did I have to touch, why didn’t I listen to heather, Why didn't I let one of the others go first’.She flopped over onto her front and pinned her head down with a pillow as if to smother herself into the mattress as she recalled the events of the night.



“What do you suppose that is?” Sierra announced to the group, her slender arm pointing skyward towards a purple stream of light. The other three girls tracked her vision to the animated trail in the sky. “It’s coming straight at us!” Thea exclaimed with slight worry in her voice, the four young women stood slowly as the purple light grew brighter in the sky. “No, It’s heading for the lake, follow me!” Heather declared, her blonde hair spray through the air as she spun and ran off towards the lake. Sierra and Thea glanced at Emily who was normally the voice of reason, Emily just shrugged and nodded after Heather, the three girls took off in a sprint, leaving their small camp behind.



The earth shook as the purple light smashed into the lake, the girls all stumbled and stopped to keep balanced as a wave of water washed over the banks and turned the field they were sprinting through into a damp marsh. Heather stopped as she reached the banks, stunned with what she had clearly seen. As the other girls caught up with her they formed a line of awe-struck faces as they stared out over the now shallow lake. A huge golden metal band lay stuck into the lake bed. Thea was the first to break out of the revery, “What is it? Spaceship?” she said hesitantly. Emily snorted, “No, don’t be silly, look at it.” Sierra gave Emily a dumbstruck stare and Emily felt she had to point out the obvious. “Look, It’s a golden band with a large purple gemstone inset into it, It’s a ring!”. As they all looked again they slowly nodded, It was massive in scale but as Emily had pointed out, it was clearly a ring. “Who would make a ring the size of our apartment building though?” Heather said, confusion laced in her voice as she started moving towards the towering metal, wading through the thigh-deep water. “A celebrity with way too much money?” Sierra added as she surged into the water after Heather, “Aliens?” Thea threw in, clearly not ready to drop the spaceship narrative just yet. “I’ve no idea, it fell from the sky though, It could be hot, we should be careful,” Emily said as she joined her friends wading through the water towards the towering gold.



Gold metal loomed over the friends as they reached the edges, water warming as they approached. Heather reached out to touch the metal but her hand instinctively withdrew before making contact. “It’s really really hot,” she said, turning to her friends who were ogling the huge purple gemstone. “It almost looks alive,” Thea said as she watched the swirling colours seemingly trapped within the building-sized gemstone. Emily stepped towards it, her normally dark eyes alight in the gems apparent glow. “EM! Don’t” Sierra said, stepping to catch her friend's outstretched hand. “IT'S HOT!” Heather called as she pushed through the waist-deep water to get her friend. “EMILY!” Thea called. Then her world went purple as her finger connected with the smooth surface.



``Why did I do it, Why me!’ she screamed in her own head as she rolled over onto her back. That was her last memory before waking up in the hospital nearly two days ago. Since waking she had suffered a neverending searing headache and what felt like lava burning through her veins. The endless pain and mental regret left her a mess inside but she had always hated doctors, so she had faked her way home to suffer alone. A loud knock on her door drew her to sit up on her bed, “Come in Heather.” she said, watching the blonde sheepishly open the door and slide inside. “How did you know it was me?” she said as she perched on the end of her friends' bed. Emily just sighed and flopped back. “Just did, sorry I've been out of sorts recently, the pain is slowly getting better.” Heather brightened at the news but then schooled her face into the serious one Emily always hated, “That's good, We are all concerned about you, there is something we haven't had the chance to tell you since that night.” For her part, Emily just pushed the pillow into her face and rolled over, “I really don't care about deadlines right now Heather, My body feels like its being microwaved.” Her friend reached out to touch her shoulder before recoiling back from the heat, “Yes, we’ve all noticed, It's not about school though, It’s about that ring we found After you touched it, the gem vanished, we think it went into you, but it was all so bright and fast none of us can be sure.” The brunette girl sat up, staring at her friend, “You telling me I've got an alien baby inside of me?” she blurted out, almost in horror, she hoped to herself she was joking. “No, but maybe an alien gemstone?” Heather replied morosely. The blonde studied her friend closely, the eye contact made Emily feel a little uncomfortable. “Maybe you could...puke it up or something? Will it to leave you?” Heather continued, keeping her voice steady although her concern was evident. Emily sighed heavily, “What have I got to lose, if I look like a moron doing this, you must promise to never tell anyone what happened!” she added before offering Heather her most serious stare. Once her friend had nodded her consent Emily pushed herself up onto her knees and half-heartedly gestured with her hand, “Leave me” she said, clearly not expecting anything, her heart skipped a beat when heather vanished.



Emily slipped back down into a seated position, staring at where heather had been sitting, she had simply vanished. Her mind ran wild with possibilities, as she thought the whole moment through in her mind. She pushed up onto her knees and again and pointed back where her friend had been. “Return to me,” she said, falling back down as Heather appeared once more, looking confused and bleached white with terror. “What did you do to me!” she said, her voice shaking as she pushed up from the bed, slowly backing towards the door. “I didn't mean to do anything to you! I was just following your suggestion!”, “Emily, One moment I was here, the next I was in a black void of nothingness, it felt like hours had passed of nothing!” Her friends outrage took her back a bit as she thought back over the words, “I….unintentionally...sent you away but I didn't specify where…” she mused, mostly to herself but aloud. Heather stepped back again as Emily pushed up onto her knees again, “Go home,” she said, with a wave of her hand. Quickly she repeated the return command, remembering how Heather had said those seconds felt like hours. As the blonde reappeared she sighed in relief, “Did it work?” she probed, her friend clearly disorientated. “WHAT THE FUCK EMILY! YOU CAN'T JUST TELEPORT ME AROUND LIKE THAT! OF COURSE, IT WORKED!” she said, clearly getting frustrated by being the guinea pig. Heather turned to leave, her hand harshly yanking the door handle as Emily spoke again, “Stop” she said, staring into the back of her head. Heather found herself frozen in place, hand on the door. “Interesting, Come and stand before me,” the Brunette said with amusement in her voice, Heather found herself turning and striding back to her friends' bed, cheeks blushing red has her anger seethed, She spoke with venom in her words, “Let me go, Emily, This isn't right!” Emily rolled out of bed and stood next to her taller friend. “Oh I know, the problem is that ever since I first made you vanish, the pain in my mind and body has lessened, with each command it becomes more bearable, so you’re helping me more than anyone has since it happened.”



Emily strode from the bedroom for the first time in days, feeling finally able to function as a normal person again. “Come Heather” she called over her shoulder, giggling to herself as her friend obeyed her commands like a puppet on a string. “EMILY! You can’t….” “Silence.” Emily cut off Heather's rant with a single word command. “Seems I can?” she grinned, finding herself enjoying this newfound control over her friend. “I’ve always liked you, Heather, I don’t want this ruin our friendship, If I release you, you have to promise to stay with me until we figure this out, I really don’t want to be alone right now.” Em looked into Heather's bright blue eyes, they were scared but sincere as she slowly nodded. “Ehmm ...Release?” she said hesitantly as she waved her hand at Heather, who immediately broke down onto her knees crying. “Oh come on, it wasn't that bad!” she complained down at her friend, Heather whimpered, “Have you….ever...had no control...none over your own body?” she got out between tear-filled sobs. Emily thought about what it must have been like for the first time and felt a pang of shame, “No I guess that didn't cross my mind, Sorry Heather, I truly am” Emily didn't mean it, she felt the excitement from her total control and found herself wanting more.