Rhett McLaughlin - The Lost Causes of Bleak Creek

“I mean…probably.” Rex reached for some more goldfish to try and diffuse his discomfort. “It’s just another option. Maybe we can come back to it later.”

Everybody gave sort of a half nod, then looked back to Ben. As much as Rex hated it, he had no choice but to let Ben assume the role of leader, at least for now. He finally understood Leif’s frustration with always taking the back seat. When they got him out of the school, he’d make sure to apologize.

“All right,” Ben said, gesturing like a tour guide, “before we get into the details of our rescue mission, I’d now like to turn things over to Janine, who’s done some great research for us.”

Again, Janine had to hold back a laugh. Though she’d more or less gotten used to working side by side with fourteen-year-olds, there were still moments when she was struck by how surreal her life had become. “Thanks, Ben,” she said in a peppy newscaster voice. “Let me just…Here.” She passed the camcorder to Donna. “Could you film for a sec?”

“Oh,” Donna said, receiving the camera with reverence and care, as if she were holding a newborn. “Yeah.” Janine knew this was probably the first time Donna had held a camera since their teenage movie-making days.

“So,” Janine said once Donna had started filming, “when I went back to the library, I found…” Janine picked up a large book from the ground and dropped it onto the snack bench with a thud. “This.”

Donna zoomed in on the cover, which read Paranormal Phenomena.

“Out of everything I read during the, like, eight hours I was there, this one seemed to have the most helpful info for our situation.” Janine picked up the heavy book and began leafing through the pages. “I was trying to read about everything water related, and I found this whole section about…Yeah, here it is.” She put the open book back down on the bench, pushing aside the snack bowls to make room. Everyone huddled around.

“Pretty sure we’re dealing with a cursed spring ,” Janine said.

Rex sneezed. It was a dusty book.

“Feel free to read all the tiny print,” Janine said, “but for now, I’ll give you the Cliffs Notes: There’s this idea in Celtic folklore that springs can be cursed. And once they’re cursed, lots of weird shit goes down.”

There was a huge crash of thunder, bizarrely well-timed for dramatic emphasis. They all silently acknowledged it before Janine continued.

“So, the idea is that every spring has a spirit within it. And the spirits are thought to be capable of doing different stuff: They might heal people, or give them knowledge, and sometimes—in the case of a cursed spring—do bad things, like collect people, so to speak, storing them…alive.”

“Storing them for what?” Rex asked.

“It’s not clear, but it seems like the spirit feeds on the people in some way. Like, absorbs their souls or something.”

Janine realized that Donna had stopped filming, the camera held down by her side, a look of terror on her face.

“What’s wrong, Don?”

“I met the spirit,” Donna said.

The thunder boomed again as Rex, Ben, and Janine stared at Donna, unsure what to say next.

“So, like…” Janine said, trying to be delicate with her words. “How come you, uh, never…mentioned this?”

Donna shrugged. “Didn’t want to sound crazier than I already seem, I guess. Also it’s not the most fun thing to talk about.”

“That’s…awful. I’m sorry,” Janine said, reaching to take the camera from Donna, realizing this might be good to film.

“It’s not like I really saw it or anything,” Donna said. “I never even had a word for what it was until I just heard you say that. It was more of a feeling, like I was being surrounded by something. Some one . Who was, like, inspecting me or something.”

“I felt that too,” Rex said. “When I was swimming. I mean, probably not nearly as intensely as you did, but I know what you’re talking about.”

“And that’s what must’ve grabbed the camera,” Ben said.

“And what the cult is worshipping,” Rex added.

“What else does it say in there?” Ben asked.

Janine continued to film, now focusing on the open book as she spoke. “Blood is required for the spirit to collect someone,” she explained.

“Oh, man,” Rex said. “Like the blood that made the spring light up and bubble.”

“That was the spring opening up,” Ben said, putting it together.

“Exactly,” Janine said. “Once there’s blood in the water, that seems to create, like, a gateway.”

The rain suddenly intensified to a downpour, forcing them to speak louder.

“And if it’s a gateway in,” Ben said, “it could be a gateway out, too.”

“Maybe…” Janine said.

“Okay, wait.” Ben began to pace around the shed. “This could be good. This could be very good. If we put blood in the spring, like a lot of blood, maybe it’ll open the gateway even wider and longer for us to extract Alicia.”

“Yeah,” Rex said. “It could, like, loosen the spirit’s hold on her.”

“Again, that’s a huge maybe,” Janine said. “It doesn’t say anything about the amount of blood.”

“Anything else relevant in there?” Ben asked.

“Just something about how a curse can alter and reverse the properties of the water,” Janine said. “Not sure that really—”

“Kidney stones,” Ben said flatly.

Everyone stared at him.

“Bleak Creek Spring was once known to heal people, right?” He continued. “That’s why the Whitewood School used to be a resort. So if the curse reversed the properties of the water, then maybe—”

“But it’s not like people like Big Gary are out swimming in the spring,” Rex said, thinking he had a good point.

“No, but the creek is the town’s main water supply,” Ben said.

“Oh. Right.” Rex reached for some grapes.

Janine couldn’t believe it.

Somehow she’d ended up right back where she started. With The Kidney Stoners.

“Hmm. It also says that ‘those of us who drink of the waters shall be persuaded by the waters,’ ” Rex said, squinting as he leaned over the giant tome with a mouthful of grapes.

“Oh my bod,” Janine said. “Maybe that’s why people in town are willing to ignore the deaths at the school.”

“And why Whitewood’s followers will do whatever he asks,” Ben added. “They drink directly from the spring.”

Rex’s eyes bugged out, signaling a sudden revelation. “We gotta stop drinking the town water! And get our parents to stop too!”

“Okay, okay…” Ben said, holding his hands up like a conductor. “Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. For now, we need to focus on the task at hand. Here’s what I’m thinking.”

Ben’s plan was fairly straightforward. He and Rex would tie ropes around themselves, which the others would hold from the shore. Then they’d go into the spring—ideally in scuba gear—and release a very large amount of blood, overwhelming the spring and opening the gateway long enough for them to rescue Alicia. They’d use a couple of hammers to chip away at the rocks and dirt holding her in the wall, and once they’d gotten her free, they would tie her to themselves and all three of them would be pulled out of the water.

Rex had to hand it to Ben; this was way better than posters.

“Now,” Ben went on, turning toward Janine and Donna, “we want to be absolutely sure we can pull Alicia out of there, so we’re probably going to want to bring on a third puller to help you two ladies. Ideally a man.”

Janine and Donna stared at him.

“Sorry.” Ben shrugged. “But males are stronger. That’s just a biological fact.”