Picture entitled: Dark Angel Rising © by John D. Stanton 2006 www.3AMBlue.com.
The Ghost of Mirror Lake
By Arthur Sánchez © 2007
Smoke rises off the water like the early morning mists you often find on lakes. Only it isn't early morning and this isn't a mist. As dark as molasses the haze stands out against the fading light like a black smear drawn across the horizon. It has a vaguely human form and merely watching it feels wrong, like Sam and Luke were invading someone's privacy.
“There it is,” Luke says with a grunt. It cost Sam twenty bucks to get Luke to come here. Now, looking into his coal-black eyes, Sam could see that Luke regretted doing so. But a deal is a deal and the old man isn't backing down now. “That's the Ghost of Mirror Lake,” he says. “Some say it's the spirit of a murdered woman that rises from the lake every evening to cry over her lost love. Others say it's the devil looking for his followers who were burned at the Salem Witch Trials. A few think it's the spirit of an Injun brave whose village was massacred by white settlers.” Luke grunts again. He happens to be full-blooded Mohegan so Sam discerns something different in this sound.
“Which one do you think it is?” Sam asks, trying to draw him out.
Luke looks back over the water and glares at the shape that writhes and swirls in the late evening breeze. “Me?” He spits into the marshy grass by his feet. “I like the story about the murdered woman.” He gives Sam a level stare as if daring him to ask why. When Sam doesn't he shrugs and forges ahead. “The other two don't make much sense. Devil's smart enough to know that his people are dead. As for an Injun brave, I'd think he'd rather be in the Happy Hunting Grounds then stuck in some shallow pond. Nope, whomever that is, it's one unhappy soul to be hanging around here.”
“Do you even believe it's a ghost, Mr. Kiwa?” It was a stupid question.
Luke, however, seemed disturbed by it. “Me?” He says with a shrug. “I don't think. I just show people what they want to see. Thinking gets you in trouble.”
Sam couldn't have agreed more.
Midnight. The embers of Sam's fire have long gone dead but the moon above would be more than enough. Luke only argued a little when Sam said he wanted to camp by the lake. An extra twenty bucks and Luke even promised to come back for him in the morning. Now, cold and alone, Sam sat staring at the surface of the lake wondering if she's still there. Luke's theories were all partially right. It wasn't the spirit of an Indian brave but that of a squaw who haunted this place. She was a witch but she never believed in the devil. And she wasn't murdered she was betrayed. The one thing Luke got completely right was that she was unhappy. That much Sam knew cause he could hear her in his dreams. Running Bear had once told him that's the price for having the gift. The gift always leaves a door open.
Laying out the materials for the exorcism, Sam couldn't help but wonder if he was in over his head. (Actually, he was certain of it.) He'd never done this before and bad things can happen to the unprepared. But what else could he do? So it's no surprise that he screams like a girl when, in the middle of the ceremony, Luke steps out from behind a bush.
“It's not going to work,” Luke says in a flat voice, ignoring the young man's embarrassment.
Sam doesn't even try to hide his fear. “W-Why do you say that?”
Luke looks out onto the lake and for a moment there's a sadness in his eyes. “I've tried,” he sighs as he moves to stand next to the younger man. “Lord knows I've tried.”
That's when some of Sam's dreams begin to make sense. “ You , you're the betrayer?”
Luke's head snaps around and his eyes flare with anger. “I did not betray her. I rejected her . . . for her evil ways.” Then they soften. “I didn't know that she'd take her own life. I,” he turns back towards the mist, “I never wanted that.”
Sam lets out a long breath. Relieved. He isn't crazy. It is real. “So what do we do now?”
Luke's eyes narrow. “We? We do nothing. She won't go till I join her in death and I'm not planning to do that anytime soon. But she has a claim and until I make good on that claim she'll continue to haunt this place.”
“And my dreams,” Sam says sadly.
Luke pauses, thinking. “You're a bit young to be a shaman. You in training?” Sam nods. “Where's your teacher?”
“Dead. I'm alone.”
Luke shakes his head in disgust and then gives a snort as if someone's just played a joke on him. “Guess it's time you got a new one,” he says to the night. “Come with me and I'll teach you how to keep her out of your dreams. After that you can find a proper teacher.” Without waiting for a response he turns and heads into the woods. Sam, surprised by this unexpected turn of events, rushes to gather his things. “Oh,” Luke says as he stops beneath the branches of a willow tree, “you still owe me twenty bucks. A deal is a deal. Always remember that.” He glances over Sam's shoulder at the fog. Sam looks back to see the shape hovering over the water stretch out its arms towards them. Calling to them. “Never give your word unless you mean to keep it.” Luke says with a nod. “Or there'll be hell to pay.”
Looking back at the figure Sam realizes that he's only beginning to understand what that truly means.
