The Nixies of McGillivray Lake

By Sheryl Dorion-Powers

A family vacation in the remote British Columbia wilderness with no cell signal or electricity was not Alexis’ ideal Labour Day weekend. Not that she had much choice in the matter. Rather than find herself grounded, the 16-year-old resigned herself to a dull weekend alone with her parents, surrounded by nothing but trees. While her friends back home threw their back-to-school parties and had the time of their lives, she’d be forced to miss out on all the excitement and spend her last days of freedom trying not to die of boredom.
Out of her element and focused on her frustrations, it took her a moment to notice that all was not as it should be out there in the deep, dark woods. There, beneath the dock, the eyes of a fish peered out from beneath the shadows. It watched her closely, almost as if sizing her up. Her mother’s assurance that fish don’t watch people did nothing to ease her mind, and she soon became aware of other creatures that lurked in the shadowy recesses all around her.
The arrival of two other girls her own age from across the lake should have been a welcome distraction. Instead of relief, however, Alexis found they made her uncomfortable and was suspicious of them. While city life may not have prepared her for the wilderness, it had taught her to trust her instincts. Wanting to get to the bottom of the sense of mystery the sisters presented, Alexis decided to forego a jaunt on the lake with her parents to investigate on her own. This led her to discover the dark and dangerous secrets of McGillivray Lake, hidden beneath nature's picturesque façade.

• Language: English
• Publisher: World Castle Publishing, LLC
• Release date: Sep 13, 2021
• ISBN: 9781955086882

Sheryl Dorion-Powers

Sheryl Doiron-Powers is a diverse Canadian writer who dabbles in many genres including horror, young adult, science fiction, creative non-fiction, and everything in between. She decided to return to school as a mature student and graduated with distinction from St. Thomas University in 2016, where she studied Communications and English. Encouraged to try her hand at writing by her professors, she entered a concentration in creative writing and has been writing ever since. She currently lives in a small community just outside of Fredericton, New Brunswick with her horror writing husband, Joe Powers. She holds her three children and five grandchildren close to her heart, even when life takes them on their own adventures hundreds of kilometers away.

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The Nixies of McGillivray Lake

by

Sheryl Doiron-Powers

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events, locations, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

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World Castle Publishing, LLC

Pensacola, Florida

Copyright © Sheryl Doiron-Powers 2021

Smashwords Edition

Paperback ISBN: 9781955086875

eBook ISBN: 9781955086882

First Edition World Castle Publishing, LLC, September 13, 2021

http://www.worldcastlepublishing.com

Smashwords Licensing Notes

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in articles and reviews.

Cover: Karen Fuller

Editor: Maxine Bringenberg

Chapter 1

The slam of the car door punctuated Alexis’ aggravation more eloquently than the teen could have managed verbally. Her parents must be insane. That was the only thing she could figure would explain her being forced to spend the final weekend of summer freedom in the damned wilderness.

I’m missing out on Dylan’s pool party for this! she yelled in anger, oblivious to her surroundings. She failed to notice the breathtaking scenery as she stomped towards the rustic cabin. To sleep in a shack! You’ve got to be crazy if you think I’m staying here.

"Well, we are staying here, whether you like it or not, her mother stated flatly. It’s one weekend. You’ll get over it. You might even find you enjoy it if you’d stop being unreasonable."

Unreasonable is you thinking I would want to waste Labor Day weekend at this stupid lake, she grumbled.

Alexis, I can understand that spending a weekend in the wilderness is not on the top of the list for a sixteen-year-old, but stop being rude to your mother, or you’ll find yourself grounded for the next several weekends, her father interrupted sternly.

You should have just let me stay home instead. I’m perfectly capable of taking care of myself, ya know. It’s not like I’m four. She pulled her phone out of her pocket and turned in a circle, raising it above her head. And there’s no service up here. What am I supposed to do all weekend?

"This is a family vacation. Last I checked, you are still a part of the family, hence why you’re here. Enough with the histrionics. You’ll live without your phone for a few days. You’ve been grumping since we left Vancouver, and I’m done listening to it, her dad said. You’re here whether you like it or not. And if you don’t, you can at least be quiet about it and keep your crappy mood to yourself, so your mother and I can enjoy our weekend."

Alexis knew when her father had had enough and wisely kept further comments to herself. The back-to-school dance was coming up, and she didn’t want to find herself grounded and unable to go. She trudged back to the car to get her backpack and followed her mother inside. The lurid orange and brown flowered bedspread that covered the single bed in her microscopic bedroom made her grimace with distaste. If she had to live without a cell signal, at least she could use her device to play some games, she thought as she searched the small space for an outlet.

You’ve got to be kidding me, she said aloud to herself, and went in search of her parents. The main room of the cabin was a catch all space that contained the kitchen and living areas, and it was there that she found her mother putting away supplies. Where are the plugs in this place?

There aren’t any. There’s no electricity here, Alexis, her mother said. I would have thought that would be obvious, seeing as we had to drive in here on a dirt road, and there hasn’t been a utility pole in sight since we passed the last town.

She stared in disbelief. Are you friggin’ serious? There’s no power?

Yup. It’s camping, not a hotel.

"When you said we were going to McGillivray Lake, I thought there would be a hotel, is the point, she grumped. Why would you want to come here? And why make me come with you? I mean, if you want to live like it’s the Stone Age, good for you. But why should I have to?"

It’s about time you did something other than stare at that phone every minute you’re awake. Don’t worry, it won’t kill you. We grew up just fine without them. It’s going to be fun if you give it a chance. We’re going to go fishing, explore the trails, and have a picnic, and we’ll even have a big old bonfire.

Alexis didn’t find this particular news reassuring in any way and stepped out of the kitchen onto the patio to calm down before she said anything else to get herself in trouble. As she looked at her surroundings for the first time, she realized just how remote the location was. The lake was hemmed in on one side by a rather impressive mountain and totally ensconced by trees which had just begun to show the first hints of fall. The city was so noisy by comparison that the silence made her anxious, and the urge to break it rose within her.

Her father called out to her from somewhere behind the cabin and broke the weighty silence. As she rounded the side of the building, Alexis wondered if she’d been hearing things, as her dad was nowhere in sight.

Dad? she called out.

Over here. He popped his head out of a garden shed almost hidden in thick bushes. I need an extra set of hands.

Alexis followed him into the large shed and soon discovered that he had been trying to extricate a canoe from where it was suspended between the rafters.

Stand on that chair and just hold that end still, he instructed. Every time I try to lift and slide this end up out of the bracket, the other end gets jammed.

The pair struggled with the cumbersome craft for a few moments before they managed to free it and drag it awkwardly out of the small shed.

Coming fishing with us? her father asked as they began to drag the canoe to the shoreline.

"Dad, what makes you think I’d want to go fishing? All you do is sit