Into the Lake

By Katherine Dempster

Escaping the smothering life of suburbia for a lakeside home in the country was a dream come true for Kelly and Tom. The old farmhouse at the end of a long, lonely road was secluded and serene with sunsets that seemed to stretch on for miles. A perfect little place to make their forever home.

Unfortunately, like most people, they did not put much thought into the reality that one decision, one quick moment in time, could change everything.

While celebrating their new home with a happy get together of a few friends, they had no idea how much a dinner party turned spirit board session would turn their paradise into a nightmare.

After Kelly finds the diary of the original family's daughter, there are more questions than answers about who - or what - is still lingering.

It does not take long for Kelly and Tom to learn that the past will never sink away....

• Language: English
• Publisher: Katherine Dempster
• Release date: Mar 2, 2023
• ISBN: 9781778204951

Book preview

Chapter one

Still pegged on the lawn, the crooked sold sign swayed with the strong breeze of the imminent storm that pushed the dark clouds overhead. The shadows it cast crept back and forth in front of the modest old farmhouse set at the end of a long and lonely street. To Tom and Kelly Baker, the home was an oasis, and they were still overwhelmed with their luck in coming across their idea of a dream house on the very day it was listed. Even happier that the family selling had chosen them from the dozens of offers that flooded in within hours of being posted, and they had been making it their own over the past two weeks since they had moved in.

Looking to find a spot just on the outskirts of town, Tom and Kelly had decided to find something a little older than they had lived in before, something with a bit of history, and they had fallen in love at first sight with the two-story, three-bedroom red-bricked house. From its inviting, wraparound front porch that just begged to have a cozy swing for an evening glass of wine to its large dormer windows that looked out over the ten acres that spread around the edge of Lake Higgins, a small clay-bottomed lake that glowed aquamarine in the sunlight, it was a fresh start in their forever home that they had talked about for years. Escaping the cookie-cutter, shoulder-to-shoulder life of the suburbs that had been slowly suffocating them for expansive, field-length sunsets and serene, fresh air were more than they could have hoped for. Every time they watched the birds soar across the lake to sip a cool drink or the rustle of leaves in the thick trees surrounding them, it all seemed too good to be true.

Kelly stepped out onto the creaking old porch as the skies lit up with a blaze of lightning that crisscrossed above the budding farm fields, and she tugged up the hood of her sweatshirt against the sudden downpour of rain. A couple was quickly jumping out of their car in the driveway and making Kelly laugh when she watched them make do with bags and unworn jackets as umbrellas when they dashed for the shelter of the house.

You guys live in the middle of nowhere now! Ben laughed as he came into the mudroom, It’s pitch black all the way up the road, except for the lightning, he insisted and ran a hand through his short, blonde hair to shake out the rain. Ben was a true lover of the suburban life and had been quite vocal about the fact that he could not understand Kelly and Tom's decision for the life of him.

We’re fifteen minutes from town. That’s hardly the middle of nowhere, Kelly countered and reached around him to take a soaked jacket from his wife Karen’s hands, and country roads aren’t known for lights every five feet like your fancy city street has.

Hey, now, those were your streets just a couple of weeks ago. Don't act like you're all down-home country already, Ben cajoled with a teasing, toothy grin. It was rare not to see him smiling, even if he was made to leave the comfort of the city.

Don’t listen to him. He just hates driving in the rain, Karen offered, her friendly smile lighting up her face when she pushed her wet hair and shivered against the cold raindrops that clung to her, Where’s Tom?

He’s in the living room, starting a fire. This cool weather has been making the house feel so damn damp, Kelly cursed and ushered them into the comfort of the dry house. The autumn weather had been coming in quickly in the past few days, and the end of summer was upon them. Kelly tried never to speak ill of the house, looking a gift horse in the mouth and such, but the feeling of a cold, damp was one thing that always twisted her nerves. She focused on how cozy the stone fireplace made everything and pushed away her creeping annoyance, Come on in and dry off. Shelley and Billy just beat you here, but we’re still waiting on Sid, of course, she said with feigned annoyance. A blur of barking, shaggy blonde fur circled them, tripping them up, Come on, Mulligan! Can’t you control yourself for one night?

The dog looked blankly up at her before scampering away. The new house and the surrounding acreage had been an even bigger win for Mulligan, their five-year-old rescue mutt, and the excited doggy grin had yet to leave his face even when he collapsed from played-out exhaustion at the end of their bed every night.

Showing the couple into the dining room beside the front hall, Kelly laid the jackets over chairs to dry out. The joy of having her friends join her in celebrating the new house shone on her face. Her day had been spent organizing the dining room, the kitchen, and the living room to have everything in its place for the small get-together. The smell of chicken roasting in the oven drifted from the kitchen. It was genuinely becoming her happy, little dream house.

Isn’t it fantastic? Shelley, a petite, cheery woman who always seemed to have a giggle in her voice, and was one of Kelly’s oldest friends, appeared from the kitchen with glasses of freshly poured merlot for the new guests, Knowing Kelly, I was expecting something old and creepy. Especially when I saw the nightmares they had looked at before. But this is so cute, right? There’s barely anything to do it, she exclaimed, gesturing around her. It made the search much easier for Kelly and Tom thanks to their good friends Shelley and Billy being real estate agents – and patient real estate agents at that. Kelly had many things in common with Shelley, such as a dark sense of humor and a love of adventure. Their taste in homes, however, could be from different planets. While Shelley liked clean and fresh spaces, Kelly leaned more towards old and worn-in with history in every scratch. Shelley preferred to call Kelly's taste haunted house chic. The quirks and character of houses had always kept a soft place in her heart. Unfortunately, she had no idea how to go about fixing them up, so most were well out of their budget to get them up to code.

Tom usually preferred a more modern look like Shelly. Hence, one of the best selling points of the house was that it had been freshly renovated and modernized within the last year by the previous owners. The kitchen, which was smaller than Kelly had hoped for, had spacious new cupboards, gleaming tiles across the floors, and a freshly set stone backsplash that gave the room the illusion of being larger than it was. The two bathrooms, one on the main floor and one the ensuite of their second-floor bedroom, boasted granite counters and new shower heads over the deep soaker tubs. The family they had purchased from had invested a lot of money into modernizing a few key rooms before deciding that country life did not work for them. They had been told that the house had fallen into disrepair before they had saved it, and the multitude of previous renovations could be seen in the original hardwood floors that had been scratched and patched in areas where previous walls had been taken down, and new ones had been added in different places. The kitchen was an addition to the house a few decades before and where the original room was remained a mystery. There was enough of the original house to keep Kelly happy, and trying to imagine what the house looked like when it was built kept her imagination busy.

Ben and Karen followed the ladies into the living room, glad to have the fireplace heat starting to fill the room, and waved to Tom. He gave a friendly nod of his head as he poked at a stubbornly blooming flame. The fireplace in their last house was easily started quickly with the flick of a switch. Tom had made it his mission to become the master of wood burning, and there had been a few smokey starts that sent them coughing out of the room before he found his groove.

Those other places weren’t creepy, Shell… Kelly stopped when she saw the mocking grin that spread across Shelley’s face, What? They weren’t. They just needed…a little love.

Tom scoffed, standing from the fireplace. "A little love? Those places needed more love thn Mother Teresa could give."

He did not have Kelly’s appreciation for old buildings, although he was interested in the history of them. He just happened to prefer them to be pristine and modern inside. This house was as close to a compromise as they could find. That they could afford it was just the surprising icing on the cake.

Whatever, you guys just don’t appreciate the story of a house, Kelly scowled at them with a laugh as they settled onto the couch. Their new house was almost three-quarters of a century old and still had the original solid bones of the home that were lovingly built by someone decades before she had even been born. She could not fathom the stories that those walls could tell. Their new home wasn’t nearly as old as some of the homes they looked into, but compared to the cookie-cutter homes that crowded families into the suburbs, the house was practically ancient, Just think of the treasures you could find in the walls of an old house that hadn’t been touched in decades!

Yeah, like garbage, Ben snickered, or a portal to Hell.

Kelly ignored his quip, even as everyone else laughed, I bet the family that reno’d this place found some cool, old things.

I had a client once that found a little lockbox filled with antique, silver coins during a renovation, Billy added, in Kelly’s defense, It ended up being worth a couple of thousand dollars.

And I’m sure they had to sell them to pay for all of the unexpected costs of a full reno, Tom said, laughing when Billy shrugged and nodded, I’m just glad that the folks we bought this place from had taken the time to make it perfect for us.

There’s even a little cabin down by the lake that Kelly can turn into an art studio, Shelley added happily.

Painting had always been Kelly’s favorite pastime, even as a child. Shelley had pushed her to take a go at doing it professionally and show her work somewhere other than her own walls, and Tom had always supported the idea. Kelly had always resisted; the very idea of taking that step was intimidating to her. The thought of putting her bare expressions out for anyone to see was daunting. The universe had given her the push to take the leap when she was laid off from her mind-numbing office job just days after signing the papers on the house. She had decided to give herself a few months to focus on giving it a try since they had a little extra padding in the bank, thanks to the sale of their house in the city.

The little shamble of a shed at the far end of their yard was already in her mind for a studio when she first saw the property. It was run down and filled with ancient piles of clutter, but it had cracked, old windows that framed the view of the lake, and the inspiration that could be spirited by it all was invigorating to her. During the day, the water reflected the towering sugar maples and balsam firs rising from fields that spread up around them. It was not only wholly inspiring but also the perfect space to try to make a career out of being a full-time artist. Tom, who had spent his life working with his family’s grocery store chain, had been nothing but supportive of her decision. He loved how her eyes twinkled when they tossed the idea around before they had made the jump to country living. His office walls were a gallery of his favorite pieces she had created and was too shy to share.

A knock at the front door had Kelly on her feet again. Sid’s shouts of hello from the mudroom announced his arrival. He had been Tom and Kelly’s good friend for almost two decades and swiftly became everyone’s crazy little surrogate brother.

It’s coming down like piss from a cow out there! Sid leaned a wooden cane against his leg before lifting a shopping bag onto the side table, smiling broadly at the gathered group. For as long as they had known him, the cane he had relied on had been one of his greatest mysteries that he held close to the vest. His preferred version of events that led to his need for its use was a bear attack that occurred as a teenager. Although Tom swore that after they had lifted a few too many pints, he had gotten him to admit it was due to a car accident. The stories ranged from the bear to skydiving to a flesh-eating disease he acquired on one overly adventurous spring break. Regardless of how it happened, he never let it get him down, and the cane was as much a part of him as his other limbs.

It’s been steady all day. At least the grass will be green tomorrow, Kelly said, grabbing the bag from the table to bring to the kitchen. Mulligan did what dogs did best when their favorite people came to visit and wrangled Sid for attention until he knelt to give his fuzzy belly a scratch, and it’s a good test for the roof. So far, no leaking, so that’s a plus.

Sid looked around the living room, trying in vain to fix his rain-soaked spiked hair before joining everyone on the couch, These old houses have good bones. They’re a lot more reliable than the newer places they slam up in town.

Rounding the corner with a beer each for Tom and Sid, Kelly beamed at his words, See? He gets it. Old houses are the best. It has over seventy years of stories under this strong, rain-proof roof, Kelly grinned, secretly counting her blessings that she didn’t go all in on a house that would have been a complete re-do.

Being only the third family to own this house is pretty cool for a house this old. I couldn’t find out much more about this place when we were doing the offer up, but I did confirm that, Billy said, raising his glass to them, I think it’s a perfect fit.

Tom clinked his bottle to Billy’s glass, Apparently, it was in really bad shape when the people we bought it from first moved in. Even with the incredible property, I don’t think I’d be into the work involved in redoing a house. The mess, the chaos. I would just level the house and put up something new. While living in a condo somewhere else, of course, Tom laughed, I have no idea how you guys stay sane doing it so often.

Billy and Shelley frequently fixed up and flipped homes and did well with them, especially Shelley’s eye for design.

It’s a lot like childbirth. After it’s finished, you forget how awful it is and somehow end up doing it again and again, Shelley said before she gulped her wine and laughed, I’m still surprised by the price you got this place for, though, with all of the upgrades that they put in. There’s no way they got the money they put into it back.

It’s probably haunted, Sid grinned. One of the first things Sid and Kelly bonded over was a shared interest in the supernatural and horror films.

Oh my god, that would be so fantastic! Shelley’s face lit up, Kelly would love that!

Well, depending on the type of haunting, Kelly laughed when Tom shook his head at them, I mean, I wouldn’t want a blood dripping walls, being sucked into the tv, possession type haunting, but a cute little Casper would be fun.

A clap of booming thunder filled