I look out the window and notice that the clouds are heavier than usual. The dreadful minutes of English class seem to go by slower today. We are reviewing Shakespeare for our big test on Friday, but it is the same thing over and over. Do I really need to be h ere? I ask to use the restroom, but my teacher does not acknowledge me, so I excuse myself. I didn't really need to use the bathroom, but I just couldn’t stay in that class. I decide to take a lap around the campus with no intention of returning to class.

The hallways are bare, and I can hear my own walk echo through the halls. The further I went, I could faintly hear another pair of footsteps. Tap. Tap. Tap. I turn around, but all I see are lockers lining the walls. I continue my little stroll, but I can still feel the presence of something else. Or someone else? 

I pass my English class, and debate whether I should go in or not. I’m usually not the type of student who ditches class.

I reach for the doorknob, but then I turn and see the school custodian looking over my shoulder. He has a friendly face, but it’s wrinkled with age and his hands are like sandpaper. “What are you doing out of class?” 

“I just needed to go to the bathroom,” I respond.

“You better get back before the Hallway Hunter getcha’,” he says jokingly. 

I awkwardly chuckle, “Ha ha, yeah…”

I’m well aware of the Hallway Hunter. Practically everyone in school is because our elementary school teachers told us about him. They would tell us he goes after students who ditch class, but I never believed a word they said, so when the janitor warned me about him, I thought that he must be crazy. Why is he telling me about a children’s story? Aren’t I too old for that? 

I officially decide to skip class, just to prove that janitor wrong, and hustle past the door so I wouldn’t be seen. While I walk, I can’t help but seem to think something is following me. I try to brush the thought of the Hallway Hunter away. He can’t possibly be real. He. Is. Not. Real. It doesn’t work. My mind is overtaken with his presence. 

I can feel my palms start to sweat. My heart pounds as I pick up my pace. I head for the exit doors at the end of the hallway, but it's like the halls are extending with every step. Then, I feel a tap on my shoulder. I look back hesitantly, but it’s just the janitor again. 

Relieved, I say, “Oh, it’s just you.”

“I warned you,” he responded sternly.

“W-what?”

“I told you to go back to class,” he says with more force.

“I swear I was! I just needed to go to the bathroom, remember?”

“I hate that I have to do this.”

Do what? Then it hits me. The Hallway Hunter. I make a run for it, but my legs are like jelly. I collapse to the ground. As the custodian looms over me, I see that his shadow looks strange. It doesn’t look human. The most I can make out are wings and giant, twisting horns. How have I never noticed this? I can’t bring myself to look him in the eye, but then I hear his sick grunts. I look up and see him contorting into a gruesome shape from the underworld. He has transformed into this monstrous creature. His uniform ripped as he grew to at least 7 or 8 feet tall, and he looks like an appalling mix of an elk and human. His wings flap in my face and his tail thumps and shakes the floor. 

“Please,” was all I could say.

He scoops me into his bristly arms and shoves me into what I think is a giant trash bag. I can feel him sling me over his shoulders, and hear the clicks of his animal feet walk out the door. The door I never made it to. I try to rip the bag, but the more I try, the more pointless it seems.

I can feel my hot breath fill the bag as I panic. I start to get light headed and can only be mad at myself for making such a stupid decision. After what seemed like hours, I know that I’m breathing my last breaths. Everything goes dark, and no matter how much I want to wake up, I can’t.

“Come home from your sleepover at 8 A.M” Karen says, “You have basketball practice at 10 A.M and you need to get ready.”

“Okay Mom.” Cody says. Cody leaves the house in a rush slamming the door shut like a bullet. He walks with his long legs down the block to the street corner. As he gets there he sees a pretty girl. Cody says nervously, “ Hello Lily, I’m going to Sam's house right now. Want to walk together.”

“Yes,” Lily says. Cody notices that she seems really out of it and her eyes seem dead. He thinks that she just didn’t get enough sleep and starts walking with her.

“Do you have anything going on tomorrow, I have Basketball practice at 10 so I have to leave early,” Cody says sadly. She nods her head without saying anything, almost zombie-like. Cody just keeps rambling ,“I think I’m probably the best on the team.” Lily keeps on nodding and shaking her head, almost like a robot. Code finally asks “ Hey Lily, Are you okay you seem kinda out of it, like you're not feeling good.” 

“I'm okay. Follow.” Lily says absentmindedly, almost inhumanly. Cody follows her thinking she's making excuses. Lily goes into an alleyway, secluded from the outside world. Lily holds Cody's hand firmly, not letting him go. Cody thinks that his feelings have finally got to her. As Cody holds her hand back Lily begins to change. First her eyes roll back into her head, her bones creak like a creaky floor board. Cody tries to grab her thinking she is seriously injured,but can’t since her grip has only tightened.

“Hello Lily! What's happening to you”, Cody yells. With one final yelp, Lily stops. A ball comes out from her throat into her hand. It rushes at Cody before he can even move. The ball is pitch black with an evil grin on it. It enters Cody's mouth and Lily stops him from running away. A few seconds later it's silent.

“It's done,” Cody says without having control of his body. The thing inside him wiggles and Cody doesn’t know what to do. The thing inside him starts walking behind Lily out of the alleyway. They continue to Sam's house without saying a word about it. Cody is panicking thinking of anything he can do to get back control of his body, but he can’t do anything. They finally get to Sam's house.

“Sup guys. You’re finally here,” Sam says jokingly. “ I see you two took a while.” They go into his house and meet his mother. Cody finally realized what's happening. He’s going to infect Sam too. They enter his room and Sam starts talking, rambling on and on. He holds onto Sam's hand stopping him from moving. He sees the familiar movement that he saw in Lily and breaks into a cold sweat. He realizes that this same thing happened to her and that she might not even be alive right now. The small ball rolls out of Lily’s mouth again and Sam starts flailing around like a snake caught in a trap. It enters his mouth as Cody’s consciousness fades away.

The next morning, I follow the bully to her school and wait in the water fountain until the kids come out for their lunch. I see as she approaches the same innocent girl as yesterday, but this time she does something different. As the girl is waiting under a sign that reads, “Lunch Line”, the bully sneaks behind her and harshly grabs her money from her hand. She gets startled and tries to take back her lunch money, but it's too late. The bully already has it in her possession and is taunting her. As the bully is walking away, she puts her hand on her throat and I immediately know that she is getting worse. BING! The bells ring and I watch her walk back inside the building. I am filled with joy because I know she will be done away with soon. I figured she would start coughing soon and would need a sip of water, so I waited in the fountain until she came to get a drink. Then I struck. I separate myself quickly, and I am ingested before she could see my color, which is dark rusty red, and try to spit me out. After the kids are released from school, I go back to the bully’s house. When the bully and her parents walk through the door, they appear to be happy as they chant, “Pizza! Pizza!” The mom turns to her and asks what kind of pizza she would like as a reward for being such a good girl at school today. I am shocked and irritated that her parents are giving in to their little girl's lies. After dinner, the bully goes into the bathroom to brush her teeth before going to bed, so I slip in the faucet and continuously infect her. Around 12:00 a.m. I watch as she tosses and turns, quickly sitting up struggling to breathe. She tries to take breaths until finally her lungs open and she begins to cough. 

I’ve decided to follow the bully to school again so I can continue to infect her. I waited for the kids to come outside for lunch in the same water fountain, hoping the bully would get thirsty again. I saw the bully approach the playground angrily, seeming like she was looking for someone. After a bit, she spots the innocent girl and runs to her. The bully starts attacking the girl and eventually pushes her off the playground. I hear the girl screaming in agony as the bully walks away as if nothing happened. I am filled with anger as no one suspects the bully for this brutal act. I notice the bully sitting down alone at the table, seeming like she has no regrets for what she has just done. This makes me finally decide to kill her so she can pay for all of her actions. She started coughing again and ran to the water fountain that I was hiding in. I realize that this is the perfect time to start my attack. I started mixing parts of myself with the water she was drinking, making sure she ingested everything. When she finished, she instantly started choking. Her face turned blue, her hands were on her throat, and she was struggling to breathe. I heard some of her classmates scream for help as a yard supervisor runs over to her and takes her to the nurse’s office. I’m filled with joy as I have finally made her pay for her actions. However, I see the bully walk out of the nurse’s office after about ten minutes. I was in shock to see her still alive since I was sure that I had finally killed her. The bully ended up getting picked up by her mother. 

I am absolutely astounded as this horrible little girl walks into the bathroom with ice cream all over her face. It is as if she has been rewarded for her behavior. That was it for me, that was when I knew what had to be done. The little monster must die. I have been acting on impulse, without a plan, but no longer. She’ll never know what hit her, I'll make sure she suffers, the way she made the girl on the playground suffer. No one was there to help the innocent so no one shall be there to help the guilty this time. As she closes her eyes and splashes water onto her face, I know this is my moment. I slip out of the faucet. The clear, crisp water that once was is now rusty as I run through it. My toxins seep into her pores and when she makes the mistake of opening her mouth I flud inside, navigating my way to her lungs. There I meet the parts of myself that have already been inhaled. As we gather I start the show. “AAAHHHHH!!!” she screams as the spout in the bathtub flies off and water erupts out. It fills, soon overflowing and growing ever more orange. I don't stop there, oh no. This little girl has hell to pay for what she did and I am only getting started. As the water wraps around her ankles I order the pieces of myself inside of her to slowly start inhibiting her ability to breathe. She tries to scream again, stopped the inability to take big gulps of air. Now water touches the tips of her fingers and her face starts to turn blue. The lack of oxygen reaching her brain is pleasing to me, as I know it is what she deserves. Waiting until she is fully submerged in water and the bubbles stop floating to the surface is when I know my job is done. I make sure to leave slowly, savoring the moment and making sure to leave no evidence of myself behind. As fast as I came I was gone, satisfied that I did the right thing. For the next few minutes I watch. Watch as the oblivious parents walk into the bathroom. Watch as they shriek and call 911. Laugh as the paramedics and later the police find no plausible cause of death. Pridefully snickering as rumors spread that I, Mygu, am the one to blame. 

As the days turn into weeks I occasionally stop by the playground where it all began and see the innocent girl on the swings, always on the lookout for my next victim.

In the city of Guanajuanto, our small community composed of three families, each with a young child around the same age, developed close relationships. The kids, Ricardo with the Florida shaped birthmark on his left hand, his twin brother Manuel and his bellowing laugh, and me, Lucita with the dark and unruly hair, became close friends. We spent all of our time together, in and out of school. At the end of our street stood one house, towering over the other three in stature. We would frequently journey into the house’s backyard to play our games. 

As we grew into our teenage years, our respect for our parents wavered. Listening to each other complain about an aspect of our home lives became a constant part of  our time together. Eventually, we designated ourselves one whole night to vent about these grievances, once a week, every Thursday. 

One Thursday afternoon, a family suddenly moved into the house at the end of the street. I say sudden because in the time it took me to get Ricardo and Manuel outside, the moving truck was already turning the corner and driving out of sight. 

The family’s son, Victor attended school with us, sticking out with his peculiar appearance. We would joke that he had to attend a funeral everyday after school, sometimes as the corpse. His suit and ties were always ironed, his pale face and slick hair made him look like he was a vampire, like he had died a million times and was somehow still walking the earth. We never had a formal conversation, but he agreed to let us continue using his backyard for our weekly venting seminar. One night, he made snacks and sat with us, listening as each of us shared.

“Alexandra snuck into my room again to snoop around and it’s so annoying!” Ricardo piled a chip with dip and chewed furiously, rolling his eyes with a heavy sigh.

“I hate my sister so much, I swear, sometimes I think the only thing she is capable of is annoying me!” Manuel seethed through barred teeth. It was the usual complaint, siblings, the primary agent of our downfall.

Victor suddenly stood, his suit wrinkled and a dark strand of hair falling in his face as he yelled in outrage, “you children. . . Taking for granted life’s greatest gift. . . You should be grateful that you have a family to enjoy your life with!” He stood in silence for a moment, his pale skin almost flushing in his anger. He quietly told us to leave, his thin lips barely moving as he spoke. I could feel his stare as we left, thinking it was so strange how sudden his rage came. I shrugged it off before going to sleep that night.

Little did we know that our lives would soon become a living hell, as Victor, elsewhere known as “el tomador vengativo”, would bring it to us. 

A few days later, my parents' behavior became noticeably strange and aggressive towards my brother, Miguel. When they weren’t ignoring him, their conversation was rude, clipped, and harsh, sending waves of tension throughout the house. One night it was windy, churning up little sand storms in our dirt backyard and banging the shutters against the walls. Miguel said he felt sick, insisting it was from eating our mother’s pozole, clutching his stomach and moaning in pain while he slept. I went to wake him for school the next morning, stunned to find him laying in bed, his face colorless and his mouth hanging open like the night’s wind had stolen his breath. I went to my parents, my hysterical rambling coming to a halt when their faces of concern transformed into ones of confusion.

“Mom, dad, Miguel looks like he isn’t breathing. He looks- he looks like he’s dead.” I finally managed to get out full sentences.

“Who is Miguel? Is that a new boy you're talking to?” My mom set down her coffee and looked at me curiously.

“W-what? No. . . Miguel, my brother. He looks like he’s dead.” I repeated it slowly, hoping her reaction was just a way to avoid the terrible thought of losing her only son.

“Mija, are you feeling okay? What do you mean brother? You don’t have a brother. ” My dad said the last part like it was the most obvious thing in the world, almost like it was laughable. 

My head spun as their questions replayed in my head, over and over again. Tears pricked my eyes as a small chuckle escaped my mom’s lips. I walked back to my room in a trance, sitting on the floor and trying to interpret the sick joke. Why would my parents do such a thing?

I finally swallowed the growing lump in my throat and got ready for school, walking out into the hall and averting my eyes from Miguel’s room. A week later, the wind picked up again, its cries circled our three little houses. At school the next day, I found Manuel and Ricardo huddled in a corner, their heads hung low and their curls hiding their faces. When I got closer and they finally looked up, I was startled to find them looking as horrible as I felt. Their younger sister Alexandra had faced a fate similar to Miguel. They choked back their tears, quietly mumbling small details about her and how much she would be missed. Something clicked in me as I heard them describe the pale, motionless body and gaping mouth of their late sister. 

I described how I found Miguel, how he looked so still it reminded me of the marble statues of Ancient Greece, so lifelike, but still so lifeless. We went to Victor’s house after school, relaying all of the details on his porch. He stood there, motionless, his pale face expressionless through both of the stories. He finally blinked, and sighed heavily before closing the door in our faces. The moving truck was back the next day, driving around the corner and out of sight as we got back from school. 

We didn’t find out about our siblings’ mysterious deaths until years had passed. We figured my parents had poisoned Miguel and Alexandra was smothered with a pillow by hers. We couldn’t make sense of how or why our parents would ever do such a thing. No, they wouldn’t- they couldn’t. 

But our neighbor Victor could. 

We still think back to that month, hoping to find some connection between the murders other than the victims’ blatant disrespect towards their parents. Miguel, who wouldn’t accept any reason other than my mother’s pozole for his stomach pains. He had screamed at my mother the day before for not getting the new comic he had wanted. Alexandra, who had interrupted every sentence of either of her parents, tried to speak for a solid two weeks after they told her she couldn’t go on a trip with her friend. 

We still get together on windy nights, bringing our children with us, and warning them of El Tomador Vengativo. He listens for the scornful cries children throw against their parents. Live cautiously, carefully, and calamously. Don’t be surprised when you get a new neighbor during a windy season!

Perfectly poised, the woman had a new essence. Her face is blank with nothing but the aftermath of last night painted in her sclera. She offered her deranged boyfriend a seat, guiding him to the velvet table, screeching the chair out of place. She wobbled over to the counter and followed back with a white bib and a set of utensils. The boyfriend looked up at her with an overflowing sense of pride through his irrational smile. Standing behind her boyfriend, she placed the bib around his neck and fastened it into place. Quickly grabbing the knife out of the wrapped utensils, the woman caressed his face and began her work of art. The in audible words of remorse were her drug, driving her love deeper into his tongue. 

Strangely, the lovers died and their bodys were never found, only the boyfriend's tongue with a note demanding revenge to be reborn in the alley. Names, origins, and every detail of them were never discovered. The Legend of Lezu was born when her physical form had mysteriously died. Some changed the story, but everything continued the same that if you lied in that alley way you would surely die.  

Everyone in town joked and laughed about the legend not believing it to be true yet nobody dared enter and tested the legend of Lezu. That was until Susanne, a young girl, first heard the legend. She was so sure the legend wasn’t true and that a serial killer was behind this entire mess and no myths or legends were true. Her and her friend Timmy on a walk home from college decided to test the legend and would lie to each other's faces to see if it would be true. They did not tell anyone about what they were doing because they were so sure it was not and could not be true. 

When they arrived at the alley with the dark gloomy atmosphere that awaited them the tense feeling in their stomach started to build questioning all they believed. Susanne spoke first, saying “Timmy, I think your new shoes are really good.”. A rumble and a few drops of water appeared in the alley way. A quiet distant bang was heard by the two. They came up with their own lies to hide the fact that it could have actually happened because of the lie. Timmy then spoke, “ Susanne, I really like how you put your hair up every day”. Right when he spoke a stream of water came running down part of the wall and that first bang they heard got louder and closer. Susanne spoke again “Timmy, I like playing hopscotch with you.” Water rushed the alley way in a rushed urge and the nag they first heard was right above them. It was Lezu, the ghost that was so called fake could possibly not be true in their eyes. Lezu screamed with the loudest, most frustrated sound a person could hear. Lezu was furious at the two of them for lying and had to punish them for their heartbreaking lies. Lezu asked the two what their final words would be but the two were so shocked they could not open their mouths because of the fear it would be chopped off by her. Lezu hesitated no longer and walked up to the two and widened her hands. This motion forced the two to open their mouths, they no longer had control. Lezu grabbed a broken bottle from the alleyway and sliced the tongue of the two liars off. The two had received their punishment and no longer had the right to speak because it was impossible without the help of their tongues. Lezu vanished in the blink of an eye and the two young people were left in the alley without a scar or scratch. The only thing missing was what they used to lie with. The tongues that they never really realised how much they needed. 

A beautiful, young woman by the name of Mrs. Love was sitting with her husband on a lovely evening. It was a cool spring day in 1947. The sun was setting behind the clouds as they were conversing over dinner. The conversation, like the many before consisted of him talking and her listening. The discussion was on how busy he had been recently with “work”. She was sitting there, quiet as a mouse, forcing herself to believe the words that left his lips. With him being gone so much, she was lonely and suspicious about how he was truly spending his time. She had a heart full of love for him, but something deep down told her that maybe the feelings were not mutual, or at least the feelings he had for her were slowly growing dim. 

She was stuck alone with her own thoughts, questioning to herself, “Was he really at work? Was he telling the truth? Is he the man I thought he was?”. She felt a wave of temptation come over her, feelings of desperation to figure out the truth. These emotions sparked her to go to his workshop to get to the bottom of it. First she peered through the window with big eyes filled with curiosity for what her husband could have been doing, and at the same time she wanted these thoughts to be proven wrong so things could go back to the way they were, before she was doubtful of him. She scanned everywhere with her eyes and was met by her husband being nowhere in sight. She decided to go inside the workshop, just to make sure. The employees greeted her as they usually would whenever she would stop by. When asked about the whereabouts of Mr. Love, they knew as little as she did. They said he hadn’t even come to work that day and assumed he was home, possibly sick. She thanked them with a polite smile, but with no joy reaching her eyes. She walked out boiling with an overwhelming anger and was left in confusion. With nowhere else to go, she decided to go home and wait for her husband’s arrival. She sat and waited, only the sound of a ticking clock filling the room.

Hours went by, but there was still no Mr. Love to be seen. She was sitting on the plush red chair in the living room, watching the hands of the clock slowly chase after each other. Finally, at three o’clock in the morning, the sound of a dull, creaking door woke her up. She looked in the direction of the sound with weary eyes. He looked over at her, shock written all over his face. He asks why she is not in their bedroom, sleeping. She asks him the same. For a few moments there was a deafening silence, but seemed like an eternity. He voices that it is not what it looks like, but she does not believe him. Although he would never admit it, she knew in her gut that her beloved husband was unfaithful and could not be swayed otherwise. She finally snapped, blinded by fury and tired of the never-ending lies, she picked up the lamp from the nearby dresser and hauled it at her husband. Her action was so out of the blue that he had no time to react. Without any protection, the lamp hit his head and shattered all over the floor, the unexpected blow throwing him to the ground. His head crashed against the tile, instantly killing him.  

Mrs. Love was left in the room in a state of shock and horror for what she had done, but also an unusual sense of joy, that the man who kept lying to her was no more. She swore that day that she would never let a man make her feel that way, and would try to do the same for others. She disposed of her husband's body in a nearby river, making sure that he would be so dismembered that he would not even be recognizable. She then went on with her life, stalking and eventually killing any man she found to be unfaithful to their wife. Every time she saw something suspicious, she would stalk the husband until she had no reason to suspect the man or if the man was as she thought, in which she would do the same thing she did to her husband, dismember them and throw their body into a river. 

Eventually, Mrs. Love met her end when she caught by a man who outwitted her, purposely acting suspicious around her so she would try to kill him, who then did to her what she did to so many, dismembered her to an unidentifiable pulp and was thrown in a river like yesterday's garbage. Once she tried to climb the stairs to heaven, she was denied, being thrown out and cursed to walk the Earth for the rest of her days, seeking out any man who was unfaithful and dispatching of them.

 

The white paint, the polka dot jumpsuit, the big shoes. That devilish smile. I remember it clearly. My mother had told the story with so much detail, well before she passed away, it stuck with me all throughout my childhood till now. My father abused me as a child, so I just needed something to let my anger out. I guess bullying was my way of relieving myself from my rage. I regret it now as an adult, I wonder how many people I hurt.

There is a circus that moved in today. Those mobile ones that come and go. I enjoyed them as a kid, even though I had to walk to them which would take at least half an hour. I decided earlier that I would go just for fun. I always used to enjoy seeing the exotic animals they kept in the cages. At the same time, I kind of felt bad for them.

I open the door and go for my daily run. Running is kind of my new way of relieving my anger. The clouds gloomily look over the town. The wind howls, shaking the trees violently. I’m running past the local library, but something catches my eye. I see a very tall man standing at the entrance, his back slouched, looking like he has not eaten in days with how skinny he is. He turns and we immediately make eye contact. I am drowned in the realization. It’s Levi.

Levi was one of the kids I bullied in school. I don’t know why, but I would always just pick on him. I regret it now, but I don’t think he would ever forgive me.

I walk up to greet him. I extend my hand out for a handshake and he just stares at me. His eyes look like glass balls,  lifeless and motionless. I look up at his hair. It looks like he has not showered in days. His clothes are torn apart. I feel a sense of uneasiness, the way he stands over me, like a tall skyscraper.

“Hey man, how are you?”, I say despite my discomfort. He continues to stare deep into my eyes, like he has seen a ghost. “You alright?”, I uttered.

He finally opens his mouth and says, “I’ll see you at the circus tonight”. He gives me one last look and walks away. What just happened? How does he know I am going? Does he seek revenge? My mind races with all these thoughts and I start to panic. I take a deep breath and try to calm myself down. I will not let this ruin my day. He probably just assumed I would be at the circus tonight and meant nothing by it. I just took it the wrong way. I walked back home.

I opened the door and sat down. I needed to relax a little after what happened. I close my eyes and doze off into a deep sleep. There is a ringing sound in my ears. I’m tied down to a chair. I look around and see a crowd of people cheering. There are bright lights and a large circle on the ground surrounded by the crowd. I am right in the middle. I look straight ahead and see a bright entrance. My vision is blurry but I can see a tall man standing there in a colorful outfit. I see him turn and run towards me.

The sound of an ambulance driving wakes me up. I jump up and can see my hands shaking. I’ve never felt this scared before. I can’t explain it. I look up at my watch to check the time. 7:23. I better start getting ready, I do not want to be late. I quickly dress into something more fit for the cold and walk to my car parked outside. I can see multiple children running by. They are probably going to the circus as well. I enter my car and start driving. I see parents walking with their children. I smile. 

I never got to experience good times with my parents. I just lived with my abusive father after my mom died. We never had a single moment where we got along. I only remember the times where he came home drunk, storming into my room. I’d always come to school bruised, but I never dared to tell any of the teachers because it would just result in more pain.

I reach the circus and can see all the beautiful lights and animals. I feel a warmth in my heart. I haven’t been to a circus since I was a child. It was nice to be here, after my encounter with Levi. The thought comes back to me. He said he would see me here tonight. I try to forget it so I don’t ruin my time here. I walk down the dirt paths and come across a big, red tent. There are clown faces printed onto the tent. I walk in and see a bunch of people sitting on the stands surrounding the middle. There is a chair in the middle. I walk to the stands and find a seat. Music starts playing but my ears start to ring. I look at the chair. No. I remember this. I run down the steps and leave the tent. I feel like vomiting. Everything starts to go blurry and I feel something hit the back of my head. Everything goes dark.

I wake up and I am tied down to a chair in a broken down warehouse. I can barely see because everything is dark. I squint and can see someone across the room. Suddenly, the lights turn on. My eyes burn, the lights are as bright as the sun. At least it feels like it after being in the dark. I look for the man I saw before and my heart drops. It's the clown. The white paint, the polka dot jumpsuit, the big shoes. That devilish smile. I am in disbelief. I thought the clown was only a myth my mother would tell me. My heart pounds out of my chest, beating like a drum. 

The clown skips over, closer and closer. I can hear my heart beat at this point. As he comes closer, I can see him. Tall as a skyscraper, with his back slouched. He looks so familiar, as if I had just seen him.

“Remember me?”, he says giggling. “It’s your best friend, Levi!”.

My heart sinks even further as I know what is about to happen. I should have never bullied him. I never wanted this to happen. I was just a stupid child, I didn’t realize how much I hurt people.

“Please, let me go. I’m so sorry, I regret what I did. I didn’t think it affected you this much. Please”, I cry out. He laughs at me.

“It isn’t funny anymore, is it? You remember what you did, every single day. Everyday, I dealt with your harassment. There wasn’t a day that went by that I didn’t wish death upon you. I hated you. You ruined my life”, he yells. 

“Please, just let me go. I can make it up to you, I’ll do anything!”, I scream.

“You should’ve thought about that when we were kids”, he replies. He reaches for behind him and pulls out a long machete. I see him lift it up in the air. “Goodbye”. He swings. Everything goes dark. I’m floating in a dark abyss, a night sky with no stars. Suddenly I see a bright light walking towards me. I see a face.

“Mom?”

It was dark by the time we had finally made it to the lake house. We traveled all the way to Lake Winnebago where our family owned some property. (The mansion-sized house is long gone by now but when I was a boy we spent every summer there. It was a dream for me and my late siblings). I stepped out of the car, I could smell the pine trees. The first thing I would do when we got there was go down to the lake. I ran over, leafs crunched under me, the wind blowing. It was my favorite part; I would spend most of my time there, looking at the glassy, crystal blue water that overlooked the town on the other side of the lake. But this time, the water did not look the same, as if something had taken over. I noticed something in the water that did not look like a normal fish. I saw its muddy-blue, scaly body ripple through the surface of the water. It was huge, the biggest creature I had ever seen. I immediately told my parents that we were not the only thing living here. But, when my father went down to inspect the water, the creature was nowhere to be found. The water was standing still, as if it had been like that all along. When we got settled in I stayed up all night thinking about this creature. I thought maybe I am hallucinating and it is just a really large fish. 

The next day we had to go grocery shopping for food. There was a rowboat out on the dock to get to town. My mother and I hopped in and as she was rowing the boat I saw it again. I felt like it was haunting me. I screamed at my mother to look but it vanished. She looked at me and told me to stop begging for attention. I sat there not saying another word; even though I could feel the creature under us creeping around, it blended in with the water, even the boat was agitated by the huge monster under us. When we got to the store something peculiar happened. An old man was just staring at me. I told my mother if I could go look at the snacks and I would meet up with her in a couple of minutes. The old man asked if I was the one who was staying in the lake house across Lake Winnebago. “Yes, my family and I visit every summer.” I told him. With a frightened look he whispers, “Then you have already seen it haven’t you.” I nod my head. I ask him what it was and he tells me that around 9 months ago there were sightings of a great fish. Children are all telling their parents but they will never listen. The creature tends to disappear the minute an adult comes. “Get as far away from it as possible.” he exclaims. At that moment I ran back to my mother and we left the store. We pack the boat with the groceries and I, terrified, step into the boat. The water rippled as the boat traveled through it. I could see it lurking under us. 

I thought the old man was just trying to scare me since I was only 8 and my older siblings had always teased me about monsters that would eat me, which was never true. The creature had not tried to harm us at that point, so I did not think it could really be a threat. For that reason, I did not see the danger in befriending it. Back at the house, I went down to the docs and watched it for a while. I decided to name it Jefferson, after myself of course, because I thought we were similar in the fact that nobody paid attention to us. Jefferson started getting closer to the doc and I got a weird feeling, so I got up and rushed back to the house without looking back. 

The next day, my family was going out on the boat. As we packed the boat, I tried to tell them that they would see Jefferson while we were out, but they shoved me aside. I watched as Jefferson followed us out to the lake. Once we got far enough out and decided to stop, Jefferson dove back down below the water. I said to my family, “You missed him! Now you won’t get to see him!”.  My dad yelled, “Stop trying to bring your fantasies to life! He is not real!” I pouted and went to look off the side of the boat. I called out to Jefferson so that my family could finally see the truth. “Jefferson! Jefferson!” I called. I ignored my family as they told me to knock it off. Suddenly, I saw all 18 of Jefferson’s yellow eyes emerge from the water. He towered over the boat and I no longer wished to prove my family wrong. I thought back to what the old man told me but I did not know what to do or where to run. We were stuck. We were already in the middle of the lake so by the time we tried to drive the boat away, we would find ourselves in Jefferson’s stomach. My family started jumping into the lake and tried swimming to the shore so I followed after them. I looked behind me to see what state Jefferson was in and the sinister look on his face boosted my adrenaline even higher than it already was.  

I could see all of his teeth snarling at me and his eyes, do not even get me started; all 18 of them glared directly at my family but because they were all about 30 feet in front of me (I have always been a slow swimmer), I noticed he did not seem to be observing where I was swimming. He was strangely focused on my family and looked as if he wanted to devour them. Was this because I called out to him? Was it because there were more people that he could eat? I still do not have an answer to these questions. His long neck dove down towards their direction and after I had blinked, he was about to attack. Right before my own eyes. I was in shock. The shock quickly turned into a panic because I think I am the only person in the world who can say their family got eaten by a lake monster and be telling the truth. Jefferson erupting from the water, all 7 of his slimy, prickly tongues ready to swallow up my family. His tongues went racing down, each of them picking up one of my family members and eating them one by one. Although most of them died before they made it to his mouth from the teeth stabbing into their bodies on Jefferson's tongues. After Jefferson chewed up, and gulped down all my family members with what looked like 3 rows of teeth, he vigorously swam away. How I got out of the water and what happened after that is all still a blur. All I know is that I was petrified and was left with no more members of my immediate family and I was the only one to survive to tell this traumatic affair.