The Lake house

OF THE SAME FEATHER

The storm rained hard on the corrugated rooftop of the deserted cottage which was encircled by dry reeds which had tiny roots deeply rooted under the damp soil enabling its frail leaves to withstand the harsh wind that is brewing around carrying waste materials including dry leaves from nearby trees behind the abandoned cottage which shrouded its flanks exposing the front yard for the trios to find their way into the old cottage in order to take refuge from the approaching storm. The roof had been eroded by corrosive agents which had shortened it's lifespan after it had been deserted by the early settlers living in the the countryside before the campers arrived in area abandoning it to face total corruption which can be clearly seen on the wooden walls and windows of the cottage.

The trios had luckily evaded the terrible storm that came minutes later through the help of the abandoned building partially hidden by the tall grasses which cloaks its corners except for the front yard that gave the trios free access to the old building to shelter themselves under its eroded roof. Although its roof has now become fragile, it was still able to withstand the heavy down pour of rain incessantly throbbing on the top of the desolate house leaving hard throbs of rain drops on the poorly maintained roof with tiny holes which allowed water to penetrate through as mild drops of water dripping down on the dusty floor of the cottage.

Stacy gaze at the leaking ceiling covering the dirty kitchen filled with tiny holes that allowed liquid matter to penetrate through the holes which dribbled hard drops of water on three corroded chamber pots that lay empty on the ground collecting each drops of roof water directly under the holes of the decayed ceiling and left the others behind heading over to the main room where only an wooden couch could be seen resting it's back quietly to the coarse wall while an old worn-out photograph embodied by a black frame hung on a fixed loop on the wall above the couch.

She stride inside peering at the empty cell and stood in the middle of the room staring at the window while the others quietly entered into the room looking at the coarse walls with dirty picture marks boldly printed on it that has been left by the early dwellers and walked past Stacy to the wooden couch which they gently pulled away from the wall close to her leaving the old photo to remain hung up on the wall. She kept on peering at the harsh rain falling heavily outside the cottage through the opened window that remain exposed without a lid to shut it up and moved away from the duo behind her to the right corner beside the right window but the chilly wind sailing through the opened windows compelled her to withdrew away from the window to the wooden staircase which ran upstairs to an upper room. Stanley felt that she was thinking about someone else for her to be lost in thought and not paying attention to them ever since they stepped into the cottage but he didn't bother her about it instead he sat down with Fred on the old couch that partially exposed a good portion of its wooden skeleton which gave its exquisite shape and stared at the thick cobwebs at the top edges including corners of the grey ceiling board above them. They remained silent for a while listening to the throbbing sound of the harsh rain on the roof above as well as the thunder clap of rain falling outside along with the distant flashes of lightening striking the soil below the soft grass and watched the phenomenon of the clashing and clattering of elemental forces that operates in the natural existence of the forest regions.

Stanley turned his head around and saw her by the staircase trying to get warmth from the cold which made him walked from his seat to the window in order to shut it tight but found it totally exposed without a wooden lid to seal it from the invisible wind while a voice that resounded behind him prevented him from going any further to check the other window.

"Don't waste your strength searching for something that's completely broken off a long time ago", Fred said breaking the long silence and peered at the retreating man plodding back to his seat while Stacy continue to feel a bit cold since her outfit wasn't quite sufficient enough to keep her cozy from the chilly wind that was diffusing into the room but she wasn't paying attention to her body instead she was very worried about leaving Kelvin behind alone inside the stone house since they knew nothing of what might have befallen him already in the ancient building.

"Thanks for helping us to find shelter from the storm", Stanley appreciated gazing at a familiar face that he had encountered before he approached the chancellor of the campus, informing him of a teen trip he had planned especially for his department, to the beach comprising some students he had already chosen to participate in it.

"It's not a big deal to help someone out here. Besides, anyone in my shoes would have done the same thing", Fred replied trying hard to remember his face which looked so familiar to him. He didn't get to see Stanley including Stacy at the party since he arrived soon after they had left for the camp and was unable to figure out that they were the ones that the search party had been looking for.

"I agree but all the same, I would still be grateful for helping us out of the storm which would have been very terrible to be standing inside", Stanley said and took a shufti look at bad weather through the opened window while he placed his flashlight on the wooden couch behind his back

"Alright man, If you feel that way, I won't stop you", Fred replied feeling a bit curious to know the person who he's talking to right in front of him. Stanley was about to look away from him when Fred caught him back with his right hand leaving his flashlight on his left which prevented Stanley from turning around.

"Wait a minute, have you seen me before?", Fred asked griping Stanley's shoulder blade with his right hand while his left hand held his flashlight that almost touched the ground.

"I guess so. You must be....Fred Greenwood ..", Stanley replied finally able to recognize an important donor that had largely financed the party and was quite surprised to see him here at this kind of place and clapped Fred's right hand with his right palm.

"Yeah, that's right man.. and Stanley Grey right?", Fred asked chucking loudly but the noise outside grossly outmatched his small voice because of the heavy down pour.

" Yeah man, how come you came all the way here to this kinda place?", Stanley asked with broad smile across his lips and adjusted himself further back on the wooden couch pushing his flashlight backwards behind him further into the couch.

"It's kinda a long story but to make it short I wanted to see how well you could handle the party which was superb! And fun with hot chicks swirling around the party. You really did made it a wonderful party way bigger than I expected. And I had so much fun which I haven't had in a couple of years now", Fred replied feeling ecstatic to see the brains behind the beach party which was quite grand and gave him an embrace as his prize of attaining a great feat of devising a grand party which would entail a lot of hard work and cash to make it a reality.

"Thanks for the compliment man but I still find it strange that you would leave your mansion just to spend some quality time with some teenagers at the beach", Stanley replied being utterly perplexed at an affluent man whom he knew lived in a luxurious mansion that had everything he would have dreamed to have especially his four private jets which he placed on an aerodome which had a runaway that he himself built with his money and had ten automobiles including five Lamborghini Aventadors that are well maintained by ten experts engineers in a fancy garage that is built at the back of the mansion. Stanley had gone to his mansion to seek for assistance for some cash to plan for the beach party after being directed by a close associate of Fred, which left totally awestruck by the exquisite beauty of the mansion including his fancy antiques worth half a billion dollars which he used as a decor in his mansion. At first, Fred rejected his proposal since he didn't have anything in return to give back to him and even if he did, it won't match a quarter of his wealth which was quite large but he remained undaunted and went to him a second time which strangely turned out successful when he encountered him a second time. Fred's chamberlain told him to wait for him at the fancy guest lounge which was well decorated with fancy antiques exquisitely crafted by top-rated artists in the country likewise four large painting that were hung on the smooth choral wallpaper that covered the bare wall all around the inner compartments of the mansion and had four black sofa which he sat on awaiting the owner of the house.

He had waited for several minutes and was about to inform the chamberlain that he would come back the next day when Fred strolled in with his black natty suit and ordered his chamberlain to send for one of the servants to give them some brandywine with two glasses which was instantly brought by a female servant in the mansion and soon after the servant had left, Stanley noticed that Fred was in a very excited mood and friendly which was way different from his previous encounter with him which spell him off as a rude man filled with aggressive demeanor who rejected his offer without giving a second thought. This time however, Fred sincerely apologize for his previous attitude towards him and promise to support his beach party regardless of whatever price he mentioned and needed in raising sufficient cash enough to make it a reality and gave him one thousand dollars for the whole arrangements which was surplus in addition to the funds Stanley had raised for the party.

Unknown to Stanley, an imposter had impersonate the real Fred Greenwood whose corpse now lies in the bottom of a grave that's buried deep in the woods way far from the reach others and had took his mansion including all his assets that truly belong to actual Fred who is really dead, whom the imposter had killed using an old man as a perfect disguise to conceal his ill intentions of slaying the rich man in order to take his seat of power for him to assist Stanley in his endeavor.

"I understand what you mean. Even though I maybe wealthy, sometimes being up there above others is quite very lonely and far from the reach of good folks out there. If I were to throw a party at my fancy crib, it will undeniably be a grand one but fun won't be in it. That's why I decided to set aside my concerns and pay a visit to your party in order to cool my body and of course, the weekend off at the beach", Fred replied looking at his blue eyes which was obscured by the slight darkness. The rain was still pouring down on the forest but had greatly receded from it formers heavy state to a mere drizzling which was still quite strong enough to fully drench eight teens whom Fred had left behind to the maze in order to ascertain who passed through the barrier which he hadn't expected to happen so soon.

"Now let's forget about me, tell me what you guys were doing over there standing under the approaching storm without looking for somewhere to hide?", Fred inquired almost sidetracking away from his previous intentions of finding out who amongst the duo entered through the barrier.

Stanley paused for awhile thinking about the possibility that Fred wouldn't actually believe him that they were prevented from going to the stonehouse because of an invisible barrier which would sound crazy to him and peered at his face in deep thought deliberating if he should let the cat out of the bag or cover up the whole incidence with a fat lie.

"Why are you in deep thoughts man? What are you thinking about that you can't answer my question?", Fred asked looking at him desperately in need of an answer in order to clear his mind of vague thoughts of someone else other than Kelvin, presently in the stonehouse which he had kept safely out of the reach of others except for Kelvin who he alone had wanted to help him destroy one of the seals that protected the two realms from coliding with each other. He had wanted to make sure that no one else was in Kelvin's way of entering into the stonehouse by distracting the teens with his wild tales but Jake unexpectedly delayed his plans when he intruded into the party and ordered everyone else to search for those missing from the camp. Although he hadn't seen Kelvin when he was at the party, he speculated that he must be among the missing campers so he decided to join the search party with Jake who obliviously led him towards the wrong direction but fought his way back to the right direction with some teens whom he abandoned when he started feeling that someone whose identity he doesn't know must have enter through the barrier and likely be in the stonehouse which may likely ruin his plans or fulfill his secret objective to destroy one of the seals himself and six others had put in place to safeguard the earth from supernatural creatures that may come from the other realm.

"For goodness sake! Tell me why you two were standing there?", Fred burst out in slight frustration of Stanley's infuriating silence which seems to get on his nerves and almost making him to wallow in torments of his mind pestering him constantly and stood up glaring at him. Stanley was surprise at his outburst which he didn't expected would take place right there while Fred's voice which had woken up sleeping Stacy and had drawn her attention to them from her position behind them at the wooden staircase, that instantly got her up on her feet in order to see what the commotion is all about.

"Woah! Hold on man, be patient, I'm just trying to figure ...out if you would believe me if I told you that..... we ran into a kinda.....", Stanley tried to explain but fear had griped him completely which made him stuttered until Stacy intruded that timely saved him from having an heart attack.

"What is going on here, mister....?", Stacy intruded waiting for Fred complete her statement which he did after controlling himself.

"Fred....Fred Greenwood", Fred replied swallowing his bitter anger into his crisp throat that seems to have a lump inside.

"And what do you wanna know?", Stacy asked looking at Stanley who had gotten up from the wooden couch his black knapsack on his back staring at both of them. Fred felt elated when she asked since he was about to get a reply from someone else and gasped out dry air from his lungs trying to feel comfortable under the cold room.

"All I wanna to know is just why you guys were standing there alone looking at that strange stone house and for some odd reason Stanley here wouldn't tell me", Fred replied peering at Stanley who avoiding his gaze in shame and pointing his flashlight at his face with his left hand trying to figure out Stanley's expression. Stacy looked at Stanley and returned her stare back to Fred who was waiting for a response from the two of them in order to confirm his fears as well as his goals.

She understood why Stanley didn't tell him right away which would have sounded like a phantom tale and she didn't want to make the mistake which Stanley was avoiding in telling him right there without solid proof of the existence of an invisible barrier in an open field. She had noticed that the rain outside had stopped falling down on the forest and decided to show him instead of telling him right there without solid evidence of their story.

"Alright, for you to know why we actually stood there instead of taking shelter at the stonehouse over there beside the lake, you will have to come us back there for you to find out your self", She answered and stormed outside with Stanley's flashlight which she took from the wooden couch, walking past Fred into the front yard where she paused to see the others following behind her and led them back to the maze using the narrow pathway leaving the old cottage behind to be deserted again which turned silent except for the shrill sounds of the cricket which resumed soon after they left the building to the mercy of dry reeds which would once more encroach inside thus shrouding every nook and cranny of the cottage. Meanwhile, Julian and his seven crew were getting closer to the campsite but we're still trudging on the beach area despite all odds of the harsh wind going against them and the wet soil which made unable to walk faster in order to get to the campsite much quicker than expected since they were walking towards the camp from the beach but failed to hasten up their footsteps which sank into the wet sand each time they try to move faster while the ocean beside them kept calm unable to violently like it did during the passing storm as the ebb kept it's tranquil tidal movements on the seashore.