Below him, deep in the dark water, a light was growing. It wasn't the blurry glow of a lantern or a fish; it was sharp, geometric, and impossibly bright. As it rose, the water began to hum. The ripples didn't move outward; they moved inward, toward the center of the lake, as if the water were being pulled down a drain that didn't exist.
He rowed back to shore in a fever, but he never told a soul. Some secrets are meant to stay under the surface, and some nights are meant to change you in ways the daylight can never explain. That Night on the Lake
When the spray cleared, the lake was flat again. The watch was gone. The moonlight was just moonlight. Elias looked at his hand; the tip of his index finger was glowing with a faint, silver shimmer that wouldn't wash off. Below him, deep in the dark water, a light was growing