That Night On The Lake -

Elias pulled the oars in, letting the rowboat drift. He shouldn't have been out there—not after the stories his grandfather told about the "mirror days," when the water got so still you couldn't tell the sky from the surface. "Just one cast," he whispered to the silence.

Elias reached out, his hand trembling. As his finger brushed the cold, vertical wall of water, the humming stopped. The pillar collapsed instantly, a heavy splash drenching him to the bone. That Night on the Lake

The moonlight didn’t just reflect off Blackwood Lake; it seemed to sink into it, turning the water into a sheet of cold, hammered silver. Elias pulled the oars in, letting the rowboat drift

The silence didn't stay quiet for long. A rhythmic thrum began to vibrate through the floorboards of the boat. It wasn't a sound, really—more like a heartbeat felt in the soles of his feet. Elias looked over the edge. Elias reached out, his hand trembling