The Lake house

INTO THE SHADOWS

"Hey! Hold on! Where are you going?!", Kelvin asked in utter surprise while holding his heavy knapsack that he had pulled off from his back and ran towards Stacy.

"I'm going back to the party! I have to get my Jacket from your brother", She answered without turning back and kept on treading on the dark path that led to the beach.

"You've to dress up your wounds first, so that the others may not know what happened earlier. Beside, your bra is kinda exposed and you need to change your clothes.. Do you want the others to see it?", Kevin asked trying to persuade her to change her mind and returned back to the camp after he had caught up with her. He held her bruised arm after she stopped in her tracks but she wriggle her hand away from him and glared angrily at him for mentioning her bra earlier that she finds very offensive every time hooligans jeer at her saying awkward things concerning her bra back at the campus field which infuriated her each time she heard about it. She stared at him for a while and suppressed her temper before noticing that he carried an heavy knapsack on his left arm.

"Why are you carrying that thing?", She asked peering at the red knapsack behind him and move forward to have a closer look but he withdrew away from her preventing her from having a close observation of his heavy knapsack. She didn't bother to reply to his questions as she suddenly became curious as to why he held the knapsack.

'It's nothing much... It's just few of my stuff", He replied with a pretentious smile that wasn't enough to convince her.

"Are you going somewhere else during this late hours of the night?", She inquired noticing a huge flash light inside his red knapsack that bulges out profoundly making her suspect that he's really going somewhere.

"No!..... no, no, I'm not..,... I'm just.... checking the area around the campsite after Jake had deserted his post", He said with a lame excuse trying hard to conceal his imminent departure on his secret quest which will soon occur as the time gently struck an hour before midnight.

"Were you tasked by Stanley to be in charge of the security here or assigned to perform night duty before midnight? She shrewdly asked an inevitable question which would resulted to her final discovery of his plans since his brother's night duty had ended a long time ago and was replaced by Leo after Jake who had completed his night shift, retired long ago to the party leaving Leo who had actually secretly deserted his post to the party, to take over for the rest of the night until 3am in the morning.

"No I wasn't.... assigned night duty nor was I put in charge but I decided to do it anyway regardless of the fact that Stanley didn't assigned me for night shift. I'm using this as means to repay for my earlier disappearance from the camp", He explained convincingly which seems credible to Stacy but she remained adamant feeling that he must be trying to do something else rather than check out the security level of the camp.

"Alright, I understand but you are taking me along with you. I can't let go by yourself into the darkness", She replied looking at him,

"Nah... you can't come along. There many hurdles in the woods which doesn't suit you at all, besides you are already wounded and that injury might attract hungry wolves", He responded trying to scare her off his back but failed in his attempt to get her off his shoulder. She didn't relent from his constant effort to dissuade her from accompanying him into the dark woods which is fraught with dangerous animals.

"I have to in order to ensure your safety even though I am not strong like you but I can handle it trust me", She said staring at him boldly without any traces of fear.

"You wanna ensure my safety?", He chuckled slightly and said laughing which irritated her, "You aren't fully equipped for this, besides I rescued you a while ago from the dangerous clutches of your boyfriend and you want to tag along in order to protect me?",

"Yes, that's right and even though I may be a lady, I can still defend myself. And if I may fall into danger, won't you be there to rescue me again?", She asked sneering at him and walked past him towards the camp leaving him dumbfounded but he soon regain consciousness and followed her. They moved towards the camp but Kelvin stopped at the entrance which surprised Stacy who thought he would escort her inside.

"Why did you stop right here? Don't you want me to join you?", She asked looking surprised at his actions,

"Well.....I want to wait for you here so that we won't waste precious time doing nothing in the camp... and I still think that you should reconsider following me into the dark bushes since you aren't equipped", He said looking frustrated with her unrelenting effort to follow him despite the dangers that lie ahead of them.

"You can't stay here and let me enter alone into the camp which Stanley whom we didn't see earlier might have entered the camp. He might do something drastic to me so I need your help again.... and as for the equipments, we have to get them from the storage", She replied gazing into his brown eyes which peered away from her towards the ground.

"So you need my muscle to defend you from your boyfriend?", He asked bringing his eyes towards her, staring at her with a smirk on his face which irritated her pride.

"Ye..ah, I have no other choice than to ask for your help...... again", She stuttered trying hard to swallow her pride from requesting his help to protect her from her boyfriend.

"Okay, let's go inside but don't make any noise. Stanley might have gone inside so don't make a sound", He whispered softly to her putting a finger across his lips and stealthily entered the empty camp with her following behind him quietly. The camp was silent when they entered through the entrance and stealthily plodded towards her tent leaving Kelvin to keep a lookout for anyone if possible, Stanley who lay quietly inside his tent waiting for midnight to strike.

Stacy quickly changed her pink dress into a yellow T-shirt that almost covered her short skirt which she didn't bother to change and dressed her bruises with a little ointment she carried along with her to the camp. Then she went outside and together, they quietly went to the storage room beside Kelvin's tent but found out that it was locked with a heavy padlock dangling down the iron handle of the green door which made it impossible for them to open.

"I can't open it without the key... it's totally shut", She whispered to him who was keeping a tight lookout for the others who might interrupt their break-in.

"But what about the keys? Does Stanley has it? If he does, you can't come with me because the equipments inside isn't sufficient for both of us", He muttered keeping his voice soft as possible. She turned head looking at Stanley's tent at the far side close to the perimeter of camp and looked back at Kelvin whose face partly glitter under the yellow light from the rays of the small light bulb inside the storage.

"I think he gave it to Jake before the party.... but he kept it inside my jacket when I give it to him which I left behind at the party", She said recalling that Jake had kept the keys inside the front pocket of her denim jacket and had placed it into his knapsack which he had used during his night shift.

"Oh no! You have to go back to retrieve it and if you can't, you can't follow me. I have to leave now because time isn't on my side right now", He replied steadily placing his right foot fully on the ground In order not to slip down the slippery stairs.

"I can't go back now, I know that you would leave before I come back so let me follow you without those gadgets", She pleaded gazing at him but he didn't waver and walked away after shaking off dirt from his T-shirt, leaving her behind to decide if she should give up or not. She suddenly remembered that Stanley had purchased three keys to the storage room, he had given one of it to Jake for security reasons during the arrangements of the party earlier in the afternoon while he kept a second spare key and given the last one to Rose who luckily kept it in her room, just in case Jake might lose his keys or himself.

"Hey! Hold on! Wait for me!", She almost shrieked at Kelvin who was quite frustrated with her actions of delaying him from going back to the house by the lake.

"Aww, what's it this time around? Can't you just let me go?", He questioned no one and turned around in sheer frustration at the sudden entanglement with her after saving her from being ravished by Stanley. He had used all possible means to prevent her from accompanying him in order for her not find out that he's hiding something but none of them seems to work as she kept coming back to him repeatedly as if being glued to him.

"I remember that Stanley had bought three keys and gave one to Rose but I don't know if she took it to the party", She explained calmly reading his reaction in response to her solutions she presented before him which seems to frustrate his efforts to chase her away. He looked at her and didn't respond for a while as he kept thinking about what happened if she actually finds out that he really had something hidden away from all of them like Stanley who had broke her heart already by his evil actions. He decided to give up trying to keep her in the dark and to let her know the truth at least he believes she won't freak out like she did earlier which paralyzed her spirits and seeing her smiling after facing such an ugly scene, melted away some pain in his heart.

"Have you tried checking her tent?", He mumbled out asking very soft and gazed at her with his weary eyes which seems to endure the heavy weighing down on his body.

"No, I haven't done that yet ... because I wasn't sure if she took it to the party, that's why I came to you first", She replied feeling ecstatic about the possibility of finding the key to the storage inside her friend's tent.

"We have to go and check it inside but I won't go in instead you will enter inside alone while I stand watch outside to keep a tight lookout for the others", He replied and took her to Rose's tent which was quite close to the entrance. They surreptitiously went towards her friend's tent but He stayed outside to keep watch while she entered into the tent where she rummage through series of weird clothes and stuff in search of the keys to the storage room. She searched everywhere for twelve minutes using Kelvin's torchlight but couldn't find it and was about to give when she caught sight of an object on the ground by the corner of the white mattress that was shrouded with a white blanket. She quickly took the spare key from the ground and went outside without wasting a second inside leaving behind the muddled tent and tapped Kelvin on his back who turned around to see the spare key to the storage safely in her hands.

"Very good. Now let's not waste anymore time. Let's go to the storage room and get whatever items you need so that we can get out of here before the others come back from the party", He whispered softly taking shufti looks around the camp and beckoned on her to put the keys inside his pocket which she did. They both stealthily moved towards the storehouse luckily evading Stanley who peeped outside to see who was chattering loudly after hearing weird sounds outside his tent which woke him up but saw no one else except the empty tents that stood before him and retired back to his bed. Getting to the door of the storehouse, Kelvin swiftly took out the keys from his back pocket of his shorts and quietly unlocked the huge padlock giving them free access into the store house which open its door for them to enter. He slowly opened which creaked slightly revealing a good number of stacked equipments neatly arranged in three large shelves that were enclosed in brown cartons except for some large containers having some stashed tapes inside that was sealed with a blue lid, and beckoned to Stacy to go inside the store house while he held the door standing outside to keep a tight lookout.

"Hurry and get the tools from the left shelf over there", He muttered pointing towards a two huge brown cartons on the left shelf on the first large wooden shelves that contains a catalog of boxes, using his blue flashlight. She obeyed without any response and stride inside the room and gently took out a large torchlight including two red bleepers from the brown cartons and a stash of scotch tape which she carefully took out in order not to arouse any noise but she accidentally fell a small transparent container which dropped on the ground with a loud thud disturbing the quiet camp except for the raging party which almost reach its end. The noise wasn't loud enough to attract the others at the party except for Stanley who got out of bed consequently because of the sound that came out from the storage.

"Hey, what was that noise?", Kelvin murmured trying hard to keep his voice down and at the same time, taking quick glances around the camp to see who might have gotten attracted by the noise.

"I ... think something fell out of the box when I tried to place it back on the shelf", She replied feeling nervous about the noise and peering at the container which she quietly picked up from the ground. She instantly kept it inside the carton and placed the huge box back to its former position on the shelf. Then she took out a small knapsack from a large container beneath the shelf and inserted all the items she needed inside the knapsack filling it to the brim completely leaving out five worn out knapsack inside the container. After putting things in array, she instantly left the room quietly carrying the knapsack strapped on her shoulders and stood outside beside Kelvin who switched off the lights leaving the room in total darkness. Then he shut the door and locked the handle with the huge padlock leaving it securely sealed. They left the camp in haste leaving the camp empty once again except for Stanley who had seen them departing from the storehouse and the campsite from his hidden spot and decided to follow them in order to ascertain their destination during this late hours of the cold night. He had totally forgotten to shut down the party for campers only except the guests who free to end it whenever they want it to end, and had took his own spare key to padlock of the storehouse, from his room which he used to swiftly open the sealed door leaving it wide open when he went inside in order to get some needed items that would enable him chase them down lurking from behind especially the flashlight and a beeper which he took from a brown cartons from the third wooden shelves filled with other items after rummaging through in haste for a perfect flashlight as well as a compatible beeper. Then he closed the door and forgot to locked it up since he was trying not to lose their trail which led into the dark bushes behind the campsite and left the camp in pursuit of the duo who left earlier into the darkness. He had forgotten to switch off the lights leaving the store house vulnerable including the empty camp when he hastily passed through the gates into the dark shrubs.

Meanwhile, back at the party, Jake had finished consuming a bottle of white whiskey at the bar where several other teens gathered to drink endlessly into the night while listening to the unending music which Michael set automatically and had retired to the bar as well to have some drinks with some pretty girls chattering away with them in their midst as they swirl around him beside Leo who sat together with Jake facing Max behind the counter. Leo was quite drunk after having gulped down large quantities of alcohol from two bottles of pure whiskey into his fragile system which wasn't strong enough to withstand the harsh effects of hard drinks. He wasn't legally allowed to consume alcohol but he did anyway without the knowledge of Max using an empty red soda as a disguise cup for the white whiskey he secretly shared with oblivious Jake. Jake was carried away by the intoxicating effects of the whiskey which made him forget that Leo should be performing his night shift which he secretly deserted back to the party through the dark bushes.

"Man.......l....... totally feel heartbroken", Leo said looking at the pretty girls chattering round Michael as if being under his malicious spell.

"Why do you say... that.. dude?", Jake queried feeling a bit dizzy from the harsh drink and was playing with his empty glass that stood on the counter. He nudged sleeping Leo who collapsed into his shoulder, waking him up again to reality.

"Yeah!.... I'm okay man.... thanks man. What.. was I saying?", Leo asked looking confused at him as part of his memory seems to stop functioning properly after having lost total control of his mind and senses.

"You were saying that... you felt heart being ripped apart by someone else", Jake said beckoning to Max to take his glass including the empty bottles away from the counter while Michael burst into a loud laughter which caught their attention towards him after a hot lady among those who encircled him whispered something into his ear. They gaze at him but Jake and Max resumed their boring activities leaving Leo to stare totally enthralled by his weird laugher.

"Those... girls... reminds me of my.... girlfriend back at the....camp...us", Leo stuttered fighting hard to remain to stay awake as his tired eyelids that keeps falling down preventing him from peering at the teens flocking round Michael.

"And who might that be? Is it Rose or someone else", Jake asked placing his rough palm behind his head while his elbow, he rested on the counter, trying hard to clear his head that has gotten a bit twisted after spending much time listening to the never ending beat of the background music.

"No....it definitely not Rose..... but sweet Chloe Jones, the pretty law student.... in the art department", Leo stammered with a firmer speech than before and tried to steady himself from coliding with the counter.

"So... what did she do that broke your heart, my dear friend?", Jake inquired placing a palm on his shoulder and drew closer to him perceiving an atmosphere which reek of alcohol emitted from his friend's body.

"She......dumped me for some... cool guy accor..ding to her", Leo explained suppressing a tear drop while counting his words with his mouth as he fought on to gain control of his mouth.

"I feel your pain dude. But take my advise, forget her tonight and take one of those chicks swirling around Michael over there", Jake said pulling him against his body and indicated some pretty girls chattering round Michael with his right forefinger while Leo rolled his forward and peered towards their direction. He decided to take Jake's advise and got up from his seat but almost collapse to the ground if not for the timely intervention of Jake who held his abdomen and assisted him back on his feet again.

"Thanks man.....I owe you a lot!", Leo appreciated his help and trudged towards the ladies at the right flank of the bar. He approached them but they seem irritated by his presence including his stench of alcohol emitting from his tired breathe into their faces.