Chapter 14 - Frank woke to sunlight.He opened his eyes.
Sky.
Blue.
Cloudless.
He couldn't move.
Someone was standing beside him.
Emily.
She was crying.
Frank smiled.
“You always cry when you're worried.”
Emily laughed.
“You're alive.”
Frank blinked.
“Obviously.”
“You disappeared for three days.”
Frank looked around.
He was lying on the shore.
Rescue crews were everywhere.
Police.
Firefighters.
Scientists.
Boats.
The lake behind them looked completely normal.
Calm.
Still.
Beautiful.
Frank sat up.
“Joseph?”
Emily pointed.
Joseph was sitting nearby.
He looked exhausted.
But alive.
Frank smiled.
Joseph raised a hand.
“Morning.”
Frank laughed.
“You look terrible.”
“So do you.”
Frank touched his face.
His beard was covered in mud.
One eyebrow was burned.
He was missing two fingernails.
His shirt was gone.
He looked like a man who had fought a hurricane.
Frank smiled.
“Still handsome.”
Joseph laughed.
Then Frank looked toward the water.
“Mina?”
Silence.
No one answered.
Frank stood.
He searched the lake.
Nothing.
He turned to Joseph.
“Where is she?”
Joseph looked down.
“We couldn't find her.”
Frank's heart sank.
“No.”
“She disappeared before the rescue team arrived.”
Frank stepped toward the water.
Then he heard something.
A slap.
SMACK.
Frank froze.
Another.
SMACK.
He turned.
A small fish jumped from a nearby stream.
Not Mina.
Just a normal fish.
Frank laughed bitterly.
Emily touched his arm.
“She saved us.”
Frank nodded.
“I know.”
The scientists spent weeks investigating the ruins beneath the lake.
They found the laboratories.
They found the equipment.
They found hundreds of files.
But they never found Vale.
They never found the deepest chamber.
And they never found Mina.
The official report classified the incident as a structural collapse caused by illegal underground construction.
The truth was buried.
Frank hated that.
But he understood.
Some things were safer forgotten.
Three months later, Frank returned to Blackwater Lake.
His tiny boat had been repaired.
The bullet holes were patched.
The bent bench had been replaced.
The fishing rod was new.
His coffee was still terrible.
Frank sat alone.
He cast his line.
The lake was calm.
A gentle breeze moved across the water.
Frank smiled.
“Best day of my life.”
He waited.
Nothing.
He took a sip of coffee.
Then something bumped the boat.
THUNK.
Frank stopped.
His eyes widened.
Another hit.
THUNK.
He slowly stood.
“Very funny.”
The water remained still.
Frank waited.
Then a small shadow appeared below the boat.
He leaned over.
Nothing.
Then he saw two glowing eyes.
Frank's heart stopped.
The fish rose.
Mina.
But she looked different.
Smaller.
Her scars were gone.
Her eyes were blue.
She lifted her head above the water.
Frank laughed.
“You're alive.”
Mina clicked.
Frank nodded.
“I missed you too.”
She slapped the side of the boat.
SMACK.
Frank smiled.
“Still rude.”
Mina looked behind him.
Frank followed her gaze.
On the horizon was a black boat.
No markings.
No lights.
It was moving slowly toward them.
Frank's smile disappeared.
Mina sank beneath the surface.
Joseph had once warned him.
Some enemies don't die.
They wait.
The black boat stopped.
A man stood on its deck.
Frank reached for the radio.
The man lifted a hand.
Then shouted:
“Frank Miller!”
Frank froze.
The voice was familiar.
Very familiar.
It was Vale.
Frank grabbed the binoculars.
He looked.
And saw Dr. Adrian Vale standing on the boat.
Alive.
Smiling.
Frank lowered the binoculars.
“Son of a…”
Mina surfaced.
Frank looked at her.
She stared at Vale.
Her eyes turned red.
The water around Frank's boat began to ripple.
Then something moved beneath the black boat.
Something enormous.
May you like
Vale laughed.
And the entire lake started shaking.
