The Haunted Lake: Unveiling The Gargoyle [Fiction]

Cherry paled, words failing her as she gazed at the perplexed expression on her husband's face. "Talk to me," Paul urged softly.

She nodded and tried again. "That gargoyle—"

"Wait, what? The statue on the front building?" The manager interjected, confusion etched on his face, as he glanced between the couple.

"Yes. I saw…it's not a statue. It's alive and inside the water! It takes women."

"How?" Paul asked. At the same time, Cherry sat upright in his arms, and let out a shriek, pointing towards the path from the guest rooms. "Look. Stop her! It wants her."

Paul and the manager turned to look in the direction. A young lady dressed in silk pyjamas staggered towards the lake. Her eyes were wide open and glazed. A man stumbled behind her, his hands stretched to either catch or stop her. The manager rushed towards the couple.

Behind the man rushing to catch up with the hypnotized lady, the angry guests who went in search of Hank appeared, gripping Hank roughly between them. It was a commotion which further confused the manager. He lunged into the lady's path and held her back until the man caught up with them. The man embraced the lady and shook her repeatedly.

Paul helped Cherry onto her feet as the angry guests approached. One of Hank's eyes was swollen shut and blood trickled out of his nose.

"Hank!" The manager rushed towards the men, his chest heaving from efforts to calm a terrifying situation that threatened to disrupt the tranquillity of the lake resort. "Why? Why would you push these women into the lake?"

Hank stared down the manager with his good eye and kept mute.

"Well? Say something," a guest bawled.

In that instant, the lake bubbled and surged into a tempestuous state. A loud growling sound echoed from within the lake, causing the grounds to tremble, and throwing everyone into a frozen state of shock. Paul moved Cherry away from the shore and held her tight to his chest.

Waves and waves of water rose high and crashed again and again.

Out of the tempestuous water rose a fearsome-looking live creature which resembled the gargoyle statue erected on the front building. It roared, raising muscled, long hands with sharp claws high above its head. Its dark-brown skin gleamed as if oiled and impervious to water. Behind the thick shoulders protruded powerful wings that splashed water around as it flapped them.

"What the—", Paul exclaimed as some shocked guests yelled and began running back to the main building.

"No, please! You..you promised not to come out of the water if I lured more women to you." Hank pleaded, addressing the gargoyle. He turned to the men still holding him, his eyes wide in terror. "Please, don't let it take me."

The creature roared and swiped out a hand. The men swiftly dropped to the ground but two were caught in the impact, slamming hard against trees into an unconscious state.

Hank saw an opportunity to escape and tried to crawl away. He raised his head and bellowed in agony. The gargoyle had sunk its claws into his back when suddenly a whirlwind began to blow. It was dragging Hank into the water.

One of the guests shouted. "Hank! Our wives? Where are they?"

As half of his body slipped into the tumultuous lake, Hank cried out. "It asked for just one woman per tourist season. I'd always been faithful and one seemed enough for it. This time around I did not expect it to hypnotize so many women. I… I'm sorry—"

The rest of his words were swallowed into the water as the surface bubbled. The creature slowly sank into the lake as well.

The lake immediately settled into a tranquil state like nothing happened. A deafening silence enveloped the lake area.

In the next ten minutes, EMTs and police officers crowded the Irish Rose Lake resort. As some detectives took statements from the guests, the Water Rescue team dressed in underwater gear dove into the lake in search of the missing women.

As the paramedics took care of Cherry, Paul noticed her onyx pendant had stopped gleaming. She was safe, that was all that mattered to him. He walked up to the distraught manager and promised to sue the Resort to the ground.

As the sun beautifully rose on the horizon, Paul gently steered their car out of the Resort premises. Cherry sat solemnly in the passenger seat, her head resting against the window glass, lost in thought.

Their three-year anniversary would remain a memorable one.

The End.

^{Image created by AI in Nightcafe Studio}