Shadows moved across the ceiling like fingers reaching across the room. Moonlight poured through the thin curtains, shining through the branches of the tree in the yard. Shapes moved beyond the curtains. Faith lay awake. She had heard a wolf howl earlier, and it hadn’t been the wind this time. What if Suzie was outside, out there with the wolves? She tried not to think about it, but in the silence of the night, there was little else to distract her from it.

A creak came from the hall. Faith looked over at the closed the door. The creak came again, as though someone was walking down the hall toward the living room and kitchen. Faith sat up, then recalled the hall didn’t creak. It had never creaked all the times she had walked down it. What people had been saying earlier came to mind. Floors creaking that had never creaked before. Faith sighed. That was absurd. As absurd as blaming it on the lake.

The creak came again and her skepticism didn’t hold back her fear. Strange sounds were always scarier at night, when it felt like the source of the sound could be anything. She stood slowly and heard the creak again, further away this time. What if someone was out there? Faith opened the door a crack, then further. She looked down the hall, not seeing anyone in the living room. The kitchen was barely visible from her bedroom.

Faith opened her door further and noticed something straight ahead. Suzie’s door was open, and someone was standing in front of the window. Faith’s heart clenched and her breath caught. The light through the curtain created a silhouette. Whoever it was, they were tall and weren’t muscular, but it was definitely an adult.

“Who’s there?” Faith asked, failing to stop her voice from shaking.

Whoever it was didn’t answer, but neither did they move. Were they in the house or outside? Faith moved closer to the doorway of Suzie’s room slowly. The silhouette still didn’t move. She reached around the wall and pushed the light switch up. The light overhead came on, illuminating every corner of the room. Faith stared at the window, but there was no one there. This didn’t stop her heart from pounding and every hair on her arms and neck from standing up.

She moved closer to the curtain, then she pulled it back fast. Nothing. Through the window she saw the plains, the grass blowing in a slight breeze. The house was near the edge of Silverfield. There were no trees on this side of the house, just the open plains. The moon was bright enough that Faith would see anyone out there. The plains seemed to go on forever. A sigh escaped her as she closed the curtain, turned out the light, and went back to bed.

She hadn’t felt this foolish in a long time, but what could have made the shape of a person out there? As she settled back into bed, she listened. Nothing. Faith closed her eyes, trying to relax into the silence. The creak came again, right outside her door. She didn’t open her eyes. The creak moved toward the kitchen again and still she kept her eyes shut. It was the wind. It was the house settling. At some point, the creaking must have stopped. When Faith opened her eyes sleepily, it was morning.

She got up, dressed, washed her face, tied her long dark brown hair back, then headed for her bedroom door. She hesitated at the door. What would she find out there? She breathed out, forcing that thought away. Nothing would be out of place. Faith opened the door. Suzie’s door was closed again. Faith ignored this. More than ever, she worried there was really something wrong with this town. She went into the kitchen and opened the cupboard. Both coffee cups were upside down.

Faith took her favorite cup down and didn’t look in any other cupboard. She made coffee, downed it, then checked the phone. No messages. That chill had settled into the room again. After last night, whether it was rational or not, Faith didn’t want to be alone in the house. She went out, heading for the green park. It was a warm morning, and there were no clouds in the vast blue sky. She had almost reached the park when she noticed someone was walking toward her, looking right at her. Daena, from the day before. At least she had remembered someone’s name.

“Morning, Faith,” Daena said with a warm smile.

“Morning, Daena,” Faith said, managing a smile.

Daena’s smile vanished as she stared at something past Faith. “He looks familiar.”

Faith looked back and saw a man walking past. He seemed to be in a hurry to get wherever he was going. His black hair was short and somewhere between neat and messy. His casual clothes looked a bit dirty. He glanced their way with light blue eyes. Faith had never seen eyes that blue before. He continued past, not looking at the two of them again. If he knew Daena, he gave no indication of it.

“You know him?” Faith asked.

Daena stared after the man, then looked back at Faith with a faint smile. “Years ago.” She frowned. “Holtby will find your girl. If the lake hasn’t claimed her.” She turned and walked away.

“Wait,” Faith said.

Daena didn’t stop.

What had that meant? If the lake hadn’t claimed her? There was a lot of talk about that lake. It was time she saw it for herself. The lake that could supposedly open and close doors, flip cups over, and take people. She crossed the park to the dirt path that led in among the trees. Faith could almost see the lake through the trees from there. At least she wouldn’t get lost.

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The path ended where the forest did. A vast lake stretched ahead of her. Faith went down to the pebble shore. The water was still, more than any water she had seen. A man stopped beside her, staring out at the water. He wore a wrinkled dress shirt, but no tie. His tan slacks were as wrinkled as his shirt. His graying black hair was short and wavy. He looked over at Faith, dark circles under his dark brown eyes. He was hardly taller than she was.

“You must be new in town,” the man said.

Faith nodded and introduced herself.

His brows furrowed. “I heard about your girl. I’m Filbert Tetley, I live out there.” He gestured to the right of the lake, to a house barely visible among a few shrubs. He looked at the lake for a moment. “No good has ever come of those waters.” His gaze moved to Faith abruptly. “If you want to see something, come out here at night. If you’re sure you want to see it, what can’t be unseen. Something bad is waking up.”

“What’s waking up?” Faith asked, her voice coming out quiet.

Filbert said nothing more. He took another look at the water before walking away along the shore, toward his house. With another look at the still lake, Faith turned and headed back toward town. She would come back at night. She wanted to know why people were blaming things on the lake. Faith went home and sat by the phone. It didn’t ring. As sunset neared, she ate a sandwich at the desk, by the phone. A creak came from the hall, but Faith didn’t look at it.

As soon as the sun finished setting, she grabbed her light blue jacket and headed out. A chilly wind had picked up. Faith zipped up her jacket, sliding her hands into the pockets. She headed for the edge of Silverfield, for the path to the lake. The lake came into sight at the end of the path and the trees. A man was standing on the shore, the man Daena had recognized earlier. Faith was about to say something when her attention was drawn to the lake.

The water was no longer still. It tossed and rippled, waves crashing over waves. Something moved in the water, in the depths of the lake. Faith could barely see whatever it was through the waves. She moved closer. She couldn’t make out what exactly was down there, but it was massive and dark. The water became only more agitated. Faith took a step back as waves washed up against the rocky shore. The man backed away too, then he noticed her standing there.

“Who are you?” He looked almost alarmed. “Why are you out here?” He had to talk louder over the angry roar of the water.

“I could ask you the same,” Faith said.

He looked at the water and frowned hard. “Come with me.” He headed for the path back to town.

Faith hesitated, looking at the dark thing moving in the lake. She followed the man. Maybe he had answers. He stopped at the other end of the path, at the edge of the park.

“Who are you?” Faith asked. “What’s in the lake?”

For a moment he said nothing, as though choosing his words carefully. “I’m Riley Gault.”

Faith waited, but he didn’t continue. “Is that thing in the lake what took my daughter?”

Riley frowned hard. “I don’t know yet, but I’m going to find out.”

“What do you know about this? What is that thing?” Faith asked. Her mind was a mess of questions, of trying to make sense of what she had just seen.

“That thing is something you’d be better off not knowing about,” Riley said. “You’ll be safest if you don’t get involved. I’ll do what I can to find your daughter.” He turned and walked away.

“Wait!” Faith called after him.

He didn’t stop.

Faith didn’t have the energy to run after him, and she knew it would do no good. The wind had gotten stronger, rain coming down only to be blown about. There was something in the lake. Faith had a massive amount of questions, but now she had one answer. There was something in the lake and it was waking up. The rain blew harder and Faith hurried home, not knowing how to find more answers.

The house was colder than when she’d left. Faith took a warm shower and put dry clothes on. A creak came from the hall again, but she didn’t dare open her bedroom door. Something was definitely going on. The cups hadn’t flipped themselves over. Something had either been in Suzie’s room or outside the window the night before. A shiver ran through Faith, despite the house feeling warmer now. She went to bed and closed her eyes, but she didn’t turn her back to the door.

The creaks moved, getting closer to her door. She opened her eyes slowly and saw light under the door, from out in the hall. Fear gripped her. The kind of fear she hadn’t felt at night since she was a child. There really was something out there. Faith reached under her bed and pulled out the baseball bat. She had never played baseball, but Collin had always kept the wooden bat under the bed, in case someone broke in. Faith almost hoped that’s what it was now, but it didn’t seem likely after last night.

She moved to her door slowly. No other creaks came, but the light was still on. Faith reached for the knob and the light turned off. She opened the door, ready to swing. There was nothing and no one there. Suzie’s door was closed. Faith looked around the corner of the doorway and saw no one in the living room or what she could see of the kitchen. She closed her bedroom door.

For a long moment, she stood there and waited. No creaks. Only silence. She didn’t usually lock her door, but at the moment she felt anything but safe. Faith locked the door, hoping that would stop anything that was out there. She ignored the doubt that it would and went back to bed. She left the bat on the floor beside the bed, in easy reach.