Post by Spirithawk on Dec 1, 2009 10:04:27 GMT -5
The Pool
Dominic stepped to the edge of the pool. The merciless sun beat down upon his pale shoulders. The water looked deep and inviting, but he didn’t give in to its siren song. With a pool as deep as this, he should have seen his image more clearly. He knew that his eyes were green, and sunken into his face, but he couldn’t make out anything. He leaned closer and peered into the increasingly murky depths. The pool was clear until about halfway in, then the color changed, becoming murkier as the pool deepened. When they had moved here, the entire pool was dark. He stood there and watched as his distorted image was further by waves caused by some unseen entity.
“Not this time. I won’t fall for that,” he muttered.
“Dom?” His wife looked worried as she stepped onto the porch. “Dom you shouldn’t be outside. You’ll get a heat stroke.”
“Coming Lina.” He glanced back at the pool and stepped back. The water had risen and nearly touched his booted feet, or he had stepped forward without realizing it. He was certain that it was the former. “You won’t get me.” He told the water before turning to go back into the cedar log house.
“You look like you’re feeling better.” Dominic could tell that she was trying to sound cheerful. He loved her for it, he really did, but he knew better. He had seen his face in the looking glass that morning, and he looked no better than he did the day before. Dominic hovered between illness and health, not getting worse, not getting better. He didn’t tell Lina anything. He didn’t want to suffocate the hope she had in her heart, though he was no longer sure if there actually was hope.
“Have you got any more of that soup?” He wasn’t really hungry, but she didn’t need to know that, and he had to keep his strength up if he was going to fight its pull. He was rewarded with Lina’s painfully bright smile. It was as if she didn’t want to accept the fact that there wasn’t much hope. He could forgive her that though. She loved him, and he would try to make things easier for her.
“I’ll heat some up for you right away.” Dominic studied the subtle sway of her hips as she crossed the small kitchen to prepare his meal. There had been a time, not so long ago, when the sight of her curvy hips would have aroused him unbearably. Now, he couldn’t focus on anything other than fighting the seductress that was trying to steal his soul.
“You should have some yourself,” he said, wanting to make things seem as normal as possible for her sake.
She was quick in the kitchen, he mused. Lina would make a good mother. Already, he could see the thickening in her waist that indicated that she was breeding. Dominic thought that she just hadn’t realized it yet. Her pregnancy would go quickly. It had been a month since he had planted his seed in her, and a few days short of a month that he no longer desired her as he had since their marriage. At least his legacy would live on, despite the fact that the being in the pool had cut his own life short.
The soup was hot, and he relished the dulling of his taste buds as they died. At least he felt something other than the cold. Lina must have seen him shiver, because Dominic felt the weight of the faded quilt settle on his shoulders. He let her fuss. It wouldn’t hurt her, and if it kept her happy, he’d play along.
“The soup is excellent my dear, and my thanks for the quilt.”
“The good doctor George called today to see if you were recovered. He wishes to stop by tomorrow.” She picked up her knitting needles. She was working on a blanket, probably for a neighbor’s child. Soon, she would be working on one for their own son or daughter.
“He may stop, but I doubt it will do much good.”
“Dom. Don’t be that way. Perhaps a new posset will help. Mrs. Towman makes good possets.” He could hear the pleading in her voice. She wanted to think that he could get better.
“Lina dear, I am feeling better. I do not think I will need George’s or Mrs. Towman’s services for much longer.” He felt better when she beamed. Dominic hated causing her distress. She shouldn’t be getting upset when she was with child, especially not with his child.
Dom finished his soup and left the bowl in the sink. It would please Lina to have something to do. She loved caring for them, but she was prone to fussing. Dom decided he was going to sleep, to delight her. She always hovered, worried that he would tire himself unduly and take ill. A harsh laugh emerged from his mouth, rusty from misuse. As if he could take ill. He was beyond ill.
“Dom is that you?”
“Nay dear. It was nothing, probably an animal in the woods beyond.” He would have to take care not to worry her more. After a nap, he decided he felt well enough to chop wood. Since the incident had occurred, he had tried to keep up with his chores, but Lina had been forced to take over most of them after he had finally roused himself after the incident. His prowess had been vast at the beginning, but now his once strong body was sapped of vigor. He could remember how Lina had been awed by the muscles in his arms and chest as he held her for the first time on their wedding night. He had been worried that he would hurt her, but she was stronger than her delicate frame suggested. He had been tan, and tall. His dark brown hair had been thick, and his green eyes clear.
That was changed now. He held his hand up to his face and blinked to clear the blurriness from his eyes. The pasty paleness of his skin underneath the tan didn’t hide the blueness of his sluggish veins. The shaft of the axe had once been engulfed in his fist. Now, it trembled from the weight as he swung it down onto the wood. He felt the jarring through his entire body, and the axe barely made a cut in the wood. Dominic felt a muted disgust in himself. He knew that he was not to blame for his weakness, that thing was, but that didn’t change the regret he felt for his body’s decline.
“It is a sad day when a man can’t provide for his wife.”
“Hopefully we can change that.” Dominic looked up to see the bespectacled figure of the town doctor George.
“I hope so.” He shook hands with George, but there was no conviction in his voice.
“Perhaps if you tell me what happened that night, we can puzzle out what you might have caught.” George’s hands were nearly as cold as Dominic’s own, but they were stronger. Dominic had never thought he would envy an old man, but he envied George his wiry vitality. The doctor’s bones were aged by time, not some force he couldn’t figure out how to beat.
“I’ve already told all there is to tell. I awoke in the middle of the night. It was well after midnight but the moon hadn’t set. The forest around the house was quiet and the water bucket was empty. I didn’t want Lina carrying the bucket to and from the well so I went out. The water reflected the moon in the pool and I stopped to admire it. The pool was always murky. That was why we dug the well rather than draw water from it. That night, it was clear and beautiful. I was drawn to it. I remember leaning towards it. The next thing I remember is being hauled out of the water with Lina sobbing beside me.” Dominic left out the part where he had been pulled in, and thrashed, by nothing. He had already tried to tell Lina, and she had become distressed.
“I don’t know what could have caused the bruising you had. Perhaps you tangled yourself in some net that a redskin left in the pool before you moved here. Maybe you and Lina should think about coming back to town, at least until you are better.” Dom was facing the pool as the doctor spoke. At the mention of moving back to town, the waters shivered violently, as if in aversion. Dominic felt an echo of that aversion in his own body.
“Nay George. I will not let such a small setback send me running back to town. Lina and I intend to make a life out here. Besides, there are no two bedroom houses for rent in town.
“There’s a small cottage that the Widow Helman is letting out.”
“It is a one bedroom cottage.”
“Surely one bedroom is enough?” George looked confused.
“It won’t be soon enough.” Dom took a seat on the firewood to hide the fact that he was feeling even more drained than before. He attributed it to the exertion, but the closer he went to the pool, the more drained he felt, and the stronger its pull became.
“Are you sure?” Dominic could hear the pleased excitement in the physician’s voice.
“She’s already showing.”
“I’ll have to tell Midwife Janet. She will be thrilled. Is she well?”
“Lina is well. She couldn’t be happier. I don’t think she has realized it yet.” Dominic struggled to keep vigor in his voice. If he convinced the doctor he was feeling better, the man would leave.
“Good, good. Well, I have rounds to make. You seem to be doing better.” George gripped Dominic’s hand. “Dom, if either of you need anything, don’t hesitate to ask. I know that there was some stir about you buying this place, but you’re still one of our own. We’ll come if you need help.”
“Thanks George. I’ll keep that in mind. I think we can manage for now.” He was glad when the doctor took his leave and climbed back into his cart. His shaggy pony’s hoof beats made his head pound, and Dominic rose to go back into the house. He could almost taste the pool’s disappointment. It would have to remain disappointed. He would not succumb.
҈
“Youkeeps glaring at me,” Dominic stated, gazing out the kitchen window at his nemesis. “You are taunting me. I won’t let you win. I won’t be drawn to you.”
“Dominic?” Lina stood in the doorway, her dress stretched around the growing bulge in her belly. “Are you alright?”
“I’m fine Lina.” He let her press her hand to his brow, searching for fever.
“You are a little warm Dominic. Perhaps you should sleep.”
“I said I am fine Lina.”
“Dom you were talking to yourself.” She sank into a chair.
“I was talking to the pool.” He corrected her, though he knew it was useless. She would only become more distressed and it would upset the babe. He rose. “You should rest. I’m going feed the chickens.” He left, before she could comment on the fact that he was talking to the pool. She was too delicate. He would spare her the distressing knowledge of the entity that lurked in the small lake on their property. He would find some way to make things better. Dominic glanced back at her. She was already growing bigger with child, faster than he thought she should have. She was easily tired and he didn’t want her to be troubled further.
҈
Dom was worried. His strength continued to wane, and Lina was quickening faster than she should have. He had suspected it before, but it was obvious now. Her belly was already great with child as if she was near the birthing time, and she was only two months into her pregnancy. The pool continued to clear, and now its depths were crystalline. A small portion of the pool was still murky, but that muddy area seemed to shrink as the days wore on. Winter was fast approaching, and Dominic hadn’t been able to chop enough firewood. Lina was bedridden. The child was draining her, even as Dominic’s own body became increasingly feebler. He had been proud that his seed was growing in his beloved wife. Now he feared he had unleashed a force that he wouldn’t be able to resist. The town had been right in their concern for them, but it was not wolves and savages that he needed to protect himself and his family from. It was that infernal lake a few feet from his door.
“I won’t let you get me.” He glared at the pool from his window. He imagined that the pool reflected the sun back in his direction, in a glare of its own. Dominic rose and walked to the door. He would not allow the pool to win. Its progeny would not be allowed to emerge and ravish the land. He grabbed the axe from the chopping block outside, and returned to the house. His boots were loud to his own ears as he crept into the large bedroom. The rug that Lina had made herself muffled his footsteps, and he was able to reach the bed without alerting his wife. Lina was sleeping in their bed. A bed that he had fashioned with his own hands, for her. Hands that could barely hold the axe he struggled to raise above his head. The pool would not claim him, or his wife. He would not let the thing that was growing in his wife’s belly free. Dominic watched as she stirred, murmured, and then shifted, trying to find a comfortable spot.
The axe grew heavier in Dominic’s hand. He didn’t want to wait any longer. He wanted to end this nightmare. He must have made a noise because Lina opened her eyes. He hated the fear that clouded their hazel depths when she saw the axe.
“Dom! What are you doing?”
“I’m not letting the pool win. I won’t let its bastard take you.”
“The pool? Dom I am carrying your child.”
“The pool used me to get to you.” He tried to bring the axe down, to end the monstrous existence in her belly. She twisted on the bed and the axe hit the coverlet instead of her belly.
“Dominic. No! You aren’t yourself.” Panic infused her voice, and he felt a twinge of regret. He knew no other way. He swung the axe again, and Lina pushed it away. He let out a frustrated growl. “Dominic stop this please! The pool is just a dirty pond. We made this baby, not the pool.” She scrambled to rise.
“You think I’m crazy, but I know the truth. The creature is growing too fast in your belly.” He would try to make her see that she was carrying some monster.
“Dom. I’m 6 months along. I’m going to be big, especially with our first child.” He could taste the fear in her. The pool was afraid because he was going to end its progeny’s existence. He found the strength to raise the axe again.
“It has only been two months since I impregnated you.”
“No Dominic, I’ve been pregnant for 6 months. It has been two months since you were attacked by those wolves. We found you in the pool. Do you remember? I fear you must have contracted something from them.”
“Nay, not from the wolves. There were no wolves, only the tendrils of the pool as it fought to consume me, but I escaped. And I will escape it again.” He lunged towards Lina, but she grabbed the axe. He wrestled with her for possession of the axe. He had to end it.
“Dominic stop!”
“Never. It will die!” He gasped as Lina pulled the axe from his weak fingers. Even drained by the creature’s offspring, she was stronger. The pool must have given her strength to fight him. She held it away from him and he thought he detected a glint of blue in her eyes, the same blue that winked in the depths of the pool.
“No.”
“Dom stop this nonsense. I’m going for George. You aren’t well.” Had her voice become deeper? Dominic was certain of it. She had the axe. The pool wouldn’t let him live now. He knew too much. He could get to the town and warn people about it. They could come back and handle the pool’s demon child. He was only sad that it was too late for Lina. She tried to edge past him to the door and Dominic realized that she was going to try to get him from behind.
“You won’t win. You are aligned with it now. I won’t let you beat me. I will kill you at your source.” He tore out of the room and grabbed a knife from the kitchen.
“Dominic! No!” Lina screamed as he ran into the winter dusk. The pool thrashed from its own storm. He ignored the wind howling in the trees, and Lina’s frantic cries. The pool would die. He leapt in to face the beast, but it was too much for him. It closed over his head as he stabbed it over and over. Darkness licked at the edge of his vision, and he felt the pool wrap its tentacles around his throat. His scream was a watery gurgle as the pool overcame his pathetic attempt to end its existence. Domninic sank to the bottom, his face frozen in fear, certain that he had allowed a demon to escape when he had failed to kill the creature growing within his wife. The pool was stronger than he was, and he was done.
Dominic stepped to the edge of the pool. The merciless sun beat down upon his pale shoulders. The water looked deep and inviting, but he didn’t give in to its siren song. With a pool as deep as this, he should have seen his image more clearly. He knew that his eyes were green, and sunken into his face, but he couldn’t make out anything. He leaned closer and peered into the increasingly murky depths. The pool was clear until about halfway in, then the color changed, becoming murkier as the pool deepened. When they had moved here, the entire pool was dark. He stood there and watched as his distorted image was further by waves caused by some unseen entity.
“Not this time. I won’t fall for that,” he muttered.
“Dom?” His wife looked worried as she stepped onto the porch. “Dom you shouldn’t be outside. You’ll get a heat stroke.”
“Coming Lina.” He glanced back at the pool and stepped back. The water had risen and nearly touched his booted feet, or he had stepped forward without realizing it. He was certain that it was the former. “You won’t get me.” He told the water before turning to go back into the cedar log house.
“You look like you’re feeling better.” Dominic could tell that she was trying to sound cheerful. He loved her for it, he really did, but he knew better. He had seen his face in the looking glass that morning, and he looked no better than he did the day before. Dominic hovered between illness and health, not getting worse, not getting better. He didn’t tell Lina anything. He didn’t want to suffocate the hope she had in her heart, though he was no longer sure if there actually was hope.
“Have you got any more of that soup?” He wasn’t really hungry, but she didn’t need to know that, and he had to keep his strength up if he was going to fight its pull. He was rewarded with Lina’s painfully bright smile. It was as if she didn’t want to accept the fact that there wasn’t much hope. He could forgive her that though. She loved him, and he would try to make things easier for her.
“I’ll heat some up for you right away.” Dominic studied the subtle sway of her hips as she crossed the small kitchen to prepare his meal. There had been a time, not so long ago, when the sight of her curvy hips would have aroused him unbearably. Now, he couldn’t focus on anything other than fighting the seductress that was trying to steal his soul.
“You should have some yourself,” he said, wanting to make things seem as normal as possible for her sake.
She was quick in the kitchen, he mused. Lina would make a good mother. Already, he could see the thickening in her waist that indicated that she was breeding. Dominic thought that she just hadn’t realized it yet. Her pregnancy would go quickly. It had been a month since he had planted his seed in her, and a few days short of a month that he no longer desired her as he had since their marriage. At least his legacy would live on, despite the fact that the being in the pool had cut his own life short.
The soup was hot, and he relished the dulling of his taste buds as they died. At least he felt something other than the cold. Lina must have seen him shiver, because Dominic felt the weight of the faded quilt settle on his shoulders. He let her fuss. It wouldn’t hurt her, and if it kept her happy, he’d play along.
“The soup is excellent my dear, and my thanks for the quilt.”
“The good doctor George called today to see if you were recovered. He wishes to stop by tomorrow.” She picked up her knitting needles. She was working on a blanket, probably for a neighbor’s child. Soon, she would be working on one for their own son or daughter.
“He may stop, but I doubt it will do much good.”
“Dom. Don’t be that way. Perhaps a new posset will help. Mrs. Towman makes good possets.” He could hear the pleading in her voice. She wanted to think that he could get better.
“Lina dear, I am feeling better. I do not think I will need George’s or Mrs. Towman’s services for much longer.” He felt better when she beamed. Dominic hated causing her distress. She shouldn’t be getting upset when she was with child, especially not with his child.
Dom finished his soup and left the bowl in the sink. It would please Lina to have something to do. She loved caring for them, but she was prone to fussing. Dom decided he was going to sleep, to delight her. She always hovered, worried that he would tire himself unduly and take ill. A harsh laugh emerged from his mouth, rusty from misuse. As if he could take ill. He was beyond ill.
“Dom is that you?”
“Nay dear. It was nothing, probably an animal in the woods beyond.” He would have to take care not to worry her more. After a nap, he decided he felt well enough to chop wood. Since the incident had occurred, he had tried to keep up with his chores, but Lina had been forced to take over most of them after he had finally roused himself after the incident. His prowess had been vast at the beginning, but now his once strong body was sapped of vigor. He could remember how Lina had been awed by the muscles in his arms and chest as he held her for the first time on their wedding night. He had been worried that he would hurt her, but she was stronger than her delicate frame suggested. He had been tan, and tall. His dark brown hair had been thick, and his green eyes clear.
That was changed now. He held his hand up to his face and blinked to clear the blurriness from his eyes. The pasty paleness of his skin underneath the tan didn’t hide the blueness of his sluggish veins. The shaft of the axe had once been engulfed in his fist. Now, it trembled from the weight as he swung it down onto the wood. He felt the jarring through his entire body, and the axe barely made a cut in the wood. Dominic felt a muted disgust in himself. He knew that he was not to blame for his weakness, that thing was, but that didn’t change the regret he felt for his body’s decline.
“It is a sad day when a man can’t provide for his wife.”
“Hopefully we can change that.” Dominic looked up to see the bespectacled figure of the town doctor George.
“I hope so.” He shook hands with George, but there was no conviction in his voice.
“Perhaps if you tell me what happened that night, we can puzzle out what you might have caught.” George’s hands were nearly as cold as Dominic’s own, but they were stronger. Dominic had never thought he would envy an old man, but he envied George his wiry vitality. The doctor’s bones were aged by time, not some force he couldn’t figure out how to beat.
“I’ve already told all there is to tell. I awoke in the middle of the night. It was well after midnight but the moon hadn’t set. The forest around the house was quiet and the water bucket was empty. I didn’t want Lina carrying the bucket to and from the well so I went out. The water reflected the moon in the pool and I stopped to admire it. The pool was always murky. That was why we dug the well rather than draw water from it. That night, it was clear and beautiful. I was drawn to it. I remember leaning towards it. The next thing I remember is being hauled out of the water with Lina sobbing beside me.” Dominic left out the part where he had been pulled in, and thrashed, by nothing. He had already tried to tell Lina, and she had become distressed.
“I don’t know what could have caused the bruising you had. Perhaps you tangled yourself in some net that a redskin left in the pool before you moved here. Maybe you and Lina should think about coming back to town, at least until you are better.” Dom was facing the pool as the doctor spoke. At the mention of moving back to town, the waters shivered violently, as if in aversion. Dominic felt an echo of that aversion in his own body.
“Nay George. I will not let such a small setback send me running back to town. Lina and I intend to make a life out here. Besides, there are no two bedroom houses for rent in town.
“There’s a small cottage that the Widow Helman is letting out.”
“It is a one bedroom cottage.”
“Surely one bedroom is enough?” George looked confused.
“It won’t be soon enough.” Dom took a seat on the firewood to hide the fact that he was feeling even more drained than before. He attributed it to the exertion, but the closer he went to the pool, the more drained he felt, and the stronger its pull became.
“Are you sure?” Dominic could hear the pleased excitement in the physician’s voice.
“She’s already showing.”
“I’ll have to tell Midwife Janet. She will be thrilled. Is she well?”
“Lina is well. She couldn’t be happier. I don’t think she has realized it yet.” Dominic struggled to keep vigor in his voice. If he convinced the doctor he was feeling better, the man would leave.
“Good, good. Well, I have rounds to make. You seem to be doing better.” George gripped Dominic’s hand. “Dom, if either of you need anything, don’t hesitate to ask. I know that there was some stir about you buying this place, but you’re still one of our own. We’ll come if you need help.”
“Thanks George. I’ll keep that in mind. I think we can manage for now.” He was glad when the doctor took his leave and climbed back into his cart. His shaggy pony’s hoof beats made his head pound, and Dominic rose to go back into the house. He could almost taste the pool’s disappointment. It would have to remain disappointed. He would not succumb.
҈
“Youkeeps glaring at me,” Dominic stated, gazing out the kitchen window at his nemesis. “You are taunting me. I won’t let you win. I won’t be drawn to you.”
“Dominic?” Lina stood in the doorway, her dress stretched around the growing bulge in her belly. “Are you alright?”
“I’m fine Lina.” He let her press her hand to his brow, searching for fever.
“You are a little warm Dominic. Perhaps you should sleep.”
“I said I am fine Lina.”
“Dom you were talking to yourself.” She sank into a chair.
“I was talking to the pool.” He corrected her, though he knew it was useless. She would only become more distressed and it would upset the babe. He rose. “You should rest. I’m going feed the chickens.” He left, before she could comment on the fact that he was talking to the pool. She was too delicate. He would spare her the distressing knowledge of the entity that lurked in the small lake on their property. He would find some way to make things better. Dominic glanced back at her. She was already growing bigger with child, faster than he thought she should have. She was easily tired and he didn’t want her to be troubled further.
҈
Dom was worried. His strength continued to wane, and Lina was quickening faster than she should have. He had suspected it before, but it was obvious now. Her belly was already great with child as if she was near the birthing time, and she was only two months into her pregnancy. The pool continued to clear, and now its depths were crystalline. A small portion of the pool was still murky, but that muddy area seemed to shrink as the days wore on. Winter was fast approaching, and Dominic hadn’t been able to chop enough firewood. Lina was bedridden. The child was draining her, even as Dominic’s own body became increasingly feebler. He had been proud that his seed was growing in his beloved wife. Now he feared he had unleashed a force that he wouldn’t be able to resist. The town had been right in their concern for them, but it was not wolves and savages that he needed to protect himself and his family from. It was that infernal lake a few feet from his door.
“I won’t let you get me.” He glared at the pool from his window. He imagined that the pool reflected the sun back in his direction, in a glare of its own. Dominic rose and walked to the door. He would not allow the pool to win. Its progeny would not be allowed to emerge and ravish the land. He grabbed the axe from the chopping block outside, and returned to the house. His boots were loud to his own ears as he crept into the large bedroom. The rug that Lina had made herself muffled his footsteps, and he was able to reach the bed without alerting his wife. Lina was sleeping in their bed. A bed that he had fashioned with his own hands, for her. Hands that could barely hold the axe he struggled to raise above his head. The pool would not claim him, or his wife. He would not let the thing that was growing in his wife’s belly free. Dominic watched as she stirred, murmured, and then shifted, trying to find a comfortable spot.
The axe grew heavier in Dominic’s hand. He didn’t want to wait any longer. He wanted to end this nightmare. He must have made a noise because Lina opened her eyes. He hated the fear that clouded their hazel depths when she saw the axe.
“Dom! What are you doing?”
“I’m not letting the pool win. I won’t let its bastard take you.”
“The pool? Dom I am carrying your child.”
“The pool used me to get to you.” He tried to bring the axe down, to end the monstrous existence in her belly. She twisted on the bed and the axe hit the coverlet instead of her belly.
“Dominic. No! You aren’t yourself.” Panic infused her voice, and he felt a twinge of regret. He knew no other way. He swung the axe again, and Lina pushed it away. He let out a frustrated growl. “Dominic stop this please! The pool is just a dirty pond. We made this baby, not the pool.” She scrambled to rise.
“You think I’m crazy, but I know the truth. The creature is growing too fast in your belly.” He would try to make her see that she was carrying some monster.
“Dom. I’m 6 months along. I’m going to be big, especially with our first child.” He could taste the fear in her. The pool was afraid because he was going to end its progeny’s existence. He found the strength to raise the axe again.
“It has only been two months since I impregnated you.”
“No Dominic, I’ve been pregnant for 6 months. It has been two months since you were attacked by those wolves. We found you in the pool. Do you remember? I fear you must have contracted something from them.”
“Nay, not from the wolves. There were no wolves, only the tendrils of the pool as it fought to consume me, but I escaped. And I will escape it again.” He lunged towards Lina, but she grabbed the axe. He wrestled with her for possession of the axe. He had to end it.
“Dominic stop!”
“Never. It will die!” He gasped as Lina pulled the axe from his weak fingers. Even drained by the creature’s offspring, she was stronger. The pool must have given her strength to fight him. She held it away from him and he thought he detected a glint of blue in her eyes, the same blue that winked in the depths of the pool.
“No.”
“Dom stop this nonsense. I’m going for George. You aren’t well.” Had her voice become deeper? Dominic was certain of it. She had the axe. The pool wouldn’t let him live now. He knew too much. He could get to the town and warn people about it. They could come back and handle the pool’s demon child. He was only sad that it was too late for Lina. She tried to edge past him to the door and Dominic realized that she was going to try to get him from behind.
“You won’t win. You are aligned with it now. I won’t let you beat me. I will kill you at your source.” He tore out of the room and grabbed a knife from the kitchen.
“Dominic! No!” Lina screamed as he ran into the winter dusk. The pool thrashed from its own storm. He ignored the wind howling in the trees, and Lina’s frantic cries. The pool would die. He leapt in to face the beast, but it was too much for him. It closed over his head as he stabbed it over and over. Darkness licked at the edge of his vision, and he felt the pool wrap its tentacles around his throat. His scream was a watery gurgle as the pool overcame his pathetic attempt to end its existence. Domninic sank to the bottom, his face frozen in fear, certain that he had allowed a demon to escape when he had failed to kill the creature growing within his wife. The pool was stronger than he was, and he was done.