In Bed With a Water Ghost

"Does she have a bruise on the inner side of her knee?" Will asked.He wasn't wrong about that. My heart had ached when I'd seen the bruise on Ivory's leg earlier. She'd just told me not to worry. She said she'd simply fallen by accident while walking and that it didn't hurt anymore.I hadn't told anyone about it, and Ivory had only just gotten back. So how did Will nail it in one shot?Was Ivory really a drowned wraith? I didn't dare think about it.In the group chat, I said to Will, "Yes, there is. How'd you know? But it was just from when she came back and fell."The guys in the group chat were stunned and chimed in quickly."Damn, you were right about that.""Will, I seriously suspect you've been stalking Ivory this whole time.""Ew, dude, that's creepy."Will replied, "That's not an ordinary bruise. It's what happens when the nether aspect in the water congeals in the blood vessels. Look closely and see if it looks like a bluish-purple web. That's how you can tell."I wa

I needed to figure out a way to get out of here, fast. My mind spun as I searched for an excuse."Well, alright. I won't go fishing, Ivory. I'll just swing by to drop off the fishing rod that I borrowed from Will last time. It wouldn't be nice to keep them from fishing. I'll get some food on the way back, and we can eat together then," I said.Ivory stood there without moving, her gaze unfocused. She seemed to be thinking about something.Then, she smiled faintly and pulled out her phone from her pocket, saying calmly, "Fine, but I'm calling Will to verify this first. What if you're just giving me the slip and sneaking off to fool around?"She made the call before I could say anything.Cold sweat broke out across my back. In my heart, I silently prayed that Will would be sharp enough not to blow my cover."Hey, Will," Ivory said when the call connected."Oh? Ivory?""Are you guys seriously dragging Harvey out in the middle of the night to go fishing instead of letting him sleep

The view ahead was nothing but pitch-black, perfectly still water.The front of my car was just over a foot from the guardrail by the lake. If I'd reacted even a second later, the car would've smashed through the barrier and plunged straight into the icy water.Thank goodness I'd snapped out of it in time.From memory, this road was supposed to have several curves, but the GPS had kept insisting that I go straight. On top of that, the creepy phone call had thrown me off. I'd almost gotten myself killed.I picked up my phone from under the seat, where it had fallen during the sudden braking. At some point, Ivory's call had already disconnected.I checked WhatsApp and saw that she had sent me several desperate messages asking for help. I ignored them and immediately started a video call with Will."Will, can you see this? I think I'm lost," I said. I pointed the camera toward the front."Holy shit!" Will yelled. "Why are you so close to the lake? I told you not to go near the wate

Will's face hardened. "Planting roots by the water makes it easy to draw in all the resentment at the bottom of the lake. No wonder this drowned wraith is so strong. As I said before, we'd better move fast."I nodded. Thankfully, I'd been clutching the shovel the whole time and hadn't dropped it. It made digging into the dirt much easier.I'd just driven the shovel in a few times when a woman's sobbing suddenly exploded from beneath my feet. The next second, a pool of blackish-red liquid seeped up through the soil. It carried a thick scent of blood.I was so startled that I stumbled back several steps."Don't panic. Keep digging." Will caught hold of me, his expression steady.I took a deep breath and sped up my movements. The hole grew wider and deeper as I dug, until I had gone nearly three feet down. Below the top layer of soil, the willow tree's thick, gnarled roots finally came into view."That's enough," Will said. "Next, scatter the crushed garlic."I patted my pants pock

Will stared helplessly at the chaos spiraling out of control before him. His voice trembled as he spoke, and he sounded on the verge of a breakdown."The ritual went off without a hitch, didn't it? Where did it go wrong?"Ivory's shrill screams echoed all around us as the flames burned higher and higher, until there was nothing left of her but a pile of ash.I'd been sprawled weakly on the ground, but I now slowly pushed myself to my feet. I looked straight at Will and said calmly, "Because I quietly changed the formation you set up."His eyes went wide. Bloodshot veins crawled across them in a twisted web as he stared at me in disbelief. "You? You did this? But how can you possibly know anything about these arcane arts? And when did you mess with the formation?"I answered steadily, peeling back the truth one word at a time. "Did you really think it was just regular crushed garlic that I scattered? It was soaked in holy water from the church."You thought you had everything unde