The House Beneath The Lake

The House Beneath the Lake Chapter 1: The Message at Midnight Maya Reed had learned three things about the city after midnight. The first was that the streets became honest. During the day, people dressed their lies in expensive clothes and polite smiles. At night, there was nowhere for those lies to hide. The second was that loneliness sounded louder when there were thousands of people around you. The third was that you should never open a message from a dead man. Unfortunately, Maya learned the third lesson too late. Rain hammered against the windows of the small apartment she shared with her younger brother, Noah. The electricity had gone out twice that evening, and the only light in the room came from a cheap battery lamp sitting beside her laptop. She stared at the screen. 12:03 a.m. She should have been sleeping. Instead, she was working on another rejected article, trying to turn a boring story about the mayor's new shopping complex into something people might actually read. Her phone vibrated. Once. Maya ignored it. It vibrated again. She sighed and reached for it. One new message. Unknown Number. Her thumb hovered over the notification. Then she saw the name attached to the message. Daniel Reed. Her brother's name. Maya's breath stopped. No. It couldn't be. Daniel had been dead for six months. She opened the message. Don't trust Noah. Maya stared at the words. For several seconds, she couldn't move. Then another message appeared. I know what happened to me. Her heart began pounding. Daniel had been declared dead after a car accident on the highway. The police had told the family that he lost control of his car during a storm. There had been no witnesses. No suspicious evidence. No reason to believe anything other than an accident. Maya had spent six months trying to accept that explanation. Now her hands were shaking. She typed quickly. Who is this? The reply came immediately. You know who I am. Maya stood up so fast that her chair fell backward. “No,” she whispered. A floorboard creaked behind her. She froze. “Noah?” No answer. She looked toward the hallway. Her brother's bedroom door was closed. Maya picked up the nearest object she could find—a heavy glass bottle—and slowly walked toward the hallway. “Noah?” The door opened. Her sixteen-year-old brother stood there, pale and confused. “What are you doing?” Maya lowered the bottle. “Did you just walk behind me?” “No.” “You're sure?” Noah frowned. “Maya, it's midnight. Why would I be walking around?” She looked at him carefully. Something felt wrong. “Go back to bed.” “No. What's going on?” “Nothing.” “You're lying.” Maya almost laughed. Daniel used to say the same thing. Then her phone vibrated again. Noah looked at it. “Who is texting you?” Maya quickly turned the screen away. “It's work.” At that exact moment, another message appeared. He is watching you. Maya's blood turned cold. She looked toward the apartment door. The lock was still in place. The chain was still attached. Nobody could have entered. Then she heard three slow knocks. Knock. Knock. Knock. Noah's face changed. “Maya…” “I heard it.” The knocking came again. Three times. Maya grabbed Noah's wrist. “Stay here.” She moved toward the door. “Maya, don't.” She ignored him. There was a small security viewer in the door. She leaned toward it and looked outside. The hallway was empty. No one stood there. She stepped back. “There's nobody there.” Noah whispered, “Then who knocked?” Maya didn't answer. Her phone vibrated again. She looked down. Open the door. She stared at the message. Then another arrived. Your brother is not Noah. Maya slowly looked at the boy standing beside her. Noah's eyes were fixed on her phone. “What did it say?” She couldn't speak. “Maya?” His voice sounded different. Not deeper. Not threatening. Just… unfamiliar. She took one step backward. Noah took one step forward. “What did it say?” Maya's fingers tightened around the phone. “Who are you?” Silence. Then Noah smiled. It was a small smile. A calm smile. A smile Maya had never seen on her brother's face. “You finally got the message,” he said. Maya's stomach dropped. “What?” Noah reached into his pocket. Maya grabbed the door handle, ready to run. But Noah pulled out a photograph instead. He held it toward her. “Daniel didn't die in that accident.” Maya stared at the photograph. It showed Daniel standing beside a black car. Beside him stood a man Maya recognized immediately. Their father. A man who had supposedly been dead for twelve years. Maya's world tilted. “That can't be real.” Noah's smile disappeared. “There's more.” He turned the photograph over. Written on the back were six words. Find the house beneath the lake. Maya looked at Noah. “What does that mean?” Before he could answer, the apartment lights suddenly came back on. The hallway was empty. The door was still locked. But the window behind Maya was open. Rain blew across the floor. And sitting on the windowsill was a second photograph. Maya picked it up. Her hands went numb. The picture showed her. Standing beside Daniel. Standing beside Noah. And standing beside their father. But the photograph had been taken twenty years ago. Maya was five years old. Noah hadn't even been born. Someone had written a final message beneath the photograph. You were never supposed to remember. Maya dropped the photograph. Noah looked afraid. “Now you understand,” he said. “Understand what?” “Why Daniel contacted you.” “Then tell me everything.” Noah shook his head. “I can't. Not here.” “Why?” He pointed toward the ceiling. “Because they can hear us.” A sharp crack came from above. Both looked up. Then footsteps moved across the ceiling. Slowly. No apartment existed above them. Maya remembered that. The building had been abandoned above the third floor for years. Noah grabbed her hand. “We have to leave.” Maya didn't move. “Where?” Noah looked at the photograph. “To the lake.” Outside, thunder shook the city. Somewhere, a car engine started behind them.