Tales From Lake Bottomless: The Infection

Part 1: Tales From Lake Bottomless: Levi The Leviathan

Part 2: Tales From Lake Bottomless: The West Side

Hey everyone, Howard Greene back again. Things have gotten quite strange since I last shared my experiences here at Lake Bottomless. Which may seem like an oxymoron, but I promise you I have much to tell you all.

First off, my uh… Well, I guess I should just be outright and call it an infection. Because that’s what it is. And while you might think that sounds not so positive, this infection has so far given me some strange new abilities.

For example, earlier today I come home to find another one of The Submerged had made its way out of the lake and onto my property, I spotted it roaming around in my damn backyard. So I naturally went outside to confront it with the new baseball bat I had bought after my original one had been snapped in half by a relative of his. I figured now that I had a good grasp of what these things can do, I’d be better equipped to kill one this time around.

The abomination turns as he sees me, readying the bumpy and ruby-red tentacles it had in place of fingers, they wiggled and squirmed in a skin-crawling manner as he began to move toward me. Opening his rectangular mouth and revealing his misshapen black teeth.

I lunge forward and take a swing at the beast, and upon the bat colliding with the creature, I was quickly drenched in a splatter of its blood. As my blow not only completely obliterated his head and turned it into a gory mess, but it also sent the remaining mass of its body flying backward well over twenty feet as if he had been hit by a speeding car.

Even I was shocked, as I had felt like I still had some strength to spare, and yet. That just happened, and there I stood looking like a dumbfounded moron while drenched in its blood.

The Submerged’s corpse had impacted with the ground and continued sliding along the grass, all the way to the edge of the bank that bordered the lake. The body stops just at the edge, but copious amounts of its blood spill below into the murky lake water. Turning it into a brown and red mix.

I drop the bat and look at my pale hands, dumbfounded at what I had just done. I knew that I felt stronger, faster, and other such things after some time had passed from the initial incident of my infection. But this was completely unexpected.

However, my little moment of pondering was interrupted as I jumped backward at the sudden sound of a massive and crashing splash. Water shot up on the bank like a bomb had exploded just underneath the surface.

And the cause? It was none other than the big, yellow giant himself. Levi.
His serpent body rises up from the surface of the water, with almost two dozen feet of it exposed above the water, with plenty left unseen underneath it.

Levi’s cold and reptilian eyes hungrily narrow down to focus on the corpse of The Submerged member. A glance that lasted for a mere instant before Levi lunged his massive head downward, opened up his gargantuan jaws, and clamped them
down around the body.

Blood splatters and squirts in various directions as his fangs sink into the bumpy and hive-textured flesh. Levi raises his head back up with the corpse still in his mouth, now turning his attention to me as he chews his food.

“Oh hey, how’s your wound doing?” He inquired before tilting his head up and letting what remained of the corpse fall into his throat as he swallowed it.

“It’s uh… Well, we’ve got a lot to talk about.” I reply, unsure of where to start.

“Get in your boat, we’ll discuss it on the water,” Levi says in an inviting tone. And it was an offer I was happy to take him up on. Who else was I supposed to talk to about stuff like this with? A therapist? Yeah right.

I got the boat and equipment ready as Levi and I set off towards the deeper east side of the lake. I informed him of my incident with that Submerged, or at least, what occurred before he had arrived to devour what was left of it.

“I don’t see any negatives so far.” Said Levi as he continues to slither and swim on pace with my boat.

“Yeah, but what am I gonna tell people at work? I’m so damn white that I look like a ghost.” I reply, glancing at my pale skin.

“Tell them nothing.” Levi fires back. “If you’re not causing any harm towards them, then it is none of their concern. And if they stare? Just ask them what they’re looking at. Works nearly every time.”

“Eh… I guess you’re right.”

Our conversation then shifts to more about each other’s lives, as I figured it would help get my mind off the more… fantastical stuff going on. We went back and forth about several things, our family for one. Or, my family at least. Levi was a bit more hesitant to discuss his. But given the interaction I saw between him and his father, I didn’t blame him.

We continued on for about several more minutes, and something about having this massive serpent cruising along next to my boat had become oddly comforting. The whole time we were talking I’d watch as the water foamed up as he pushed through it, creating mini waves in the process. Like something you’d see in one of those “oddly satisfying” videos.
However, something would occur that would quickly disperse that sense of comfort. As Levi and I continued our journey across the lake and approached closer to the bank that was still a part of the east side of the lake but, was on the opposite side of the water from my property…I noticed something… Odd.

You see, the immediate land around my property was mostly cleared of trees, bushes, and other shrubbery. And that was less than ten thousand square feet. Meaning I was a mere needle in a haystack that was the forest that surrounded the lake.

So when I focused my attention on the treeline just about fifty feet in front of me. I saw what looked to be some sort of figure attempting to cloak itself in the thick shrubbery. One that was bipedal in nature, but I wouldn’t say it was quite human.

And while I couldn’t make out the exact details of said figure. I could tell that it was far too tall to be human, its arms and legs were thin, really thin. I even got a glimpse of its fingers, which were quite long, too long for them to belong to any man or woman I had ever seen. It had this, inky black tint to its skin. As if it was a shadow given a three-dimensional form.

I made sure I didn’t take my eyes off of it as I quietly choked out words to Levi.

“Do you see it too?”

“I do.” He replies. “It’s not giving off a scent. And I’ve never seen it around here before.”

This creature continues to stand completely still, and I honestly couldn’t even tell if it was directly watching us. But I knew in my heart it was. Several more moments passed of this beast having a stare-down with Levi and me.

Although I’ll be upfront when I say Levi didn’t look like he had an ounce of fear in him. He looked mostly intrigued. And after everything I had seen at this lake, I wouldn’t say I was necessarily terrified, but I definitely felt like my gut was trying to warn me that something was off. That slight churning feeling we all know so well was making itself known. I wasn’t sure how much longer this would go on for, but it quickly came to a halt when Levi began to suddenly swim forward at a rapid pace toward the land that creature was standing on.

“Wait!” I called out with a raised voice. But Levi simply ignored me, I turned around for only a second to start the motor of the boat back up, only to return my gaze to the treeline a mere second later and find that the creature had vanished completely out of sight.

I get the boat going and catch up to Levi, who had raised about ten feet of his body above the surface of the water and began to scan the treeline from his position in the water, attempting to sense if the entity was still nearby.

“It’s gone.” He declares. Confirming my suspicion that it had fled.

I approached the bank, the tip of my boat bumping into the grassy landscape. After which I hesitantly stood up, and walked to the end of the boat, preparing to climb up onto the bank.

“You’re not planning to go after it, are you?” Asks Levi with a presence of concern in his tone.

“Shouldn’t we try to find out if it left something like a clue as to what the hell it is behind? If even you’ve never seen it before then it might be something that doesn’t belong here in the first place.”

“It seems to think the same of you.” Levi rebuts, but I could only stand there in confusion as to what he meant.

“Huh? What are you talking about?”

“On the tree, behind you.” He retorts before pointing his snout forward at whatever it was.

I raise a brow as I turn my head and lay eyes on the tree directly behind me, my stomach now churning more intensely than before once I fully comprehended what I was seeing.

About eight feet up the length of the trunk of the tree was the word “leave” carved into it in a jagged and sloppy manner. As if it was trying and failing to imitate human handwriting. It was clear to me that this… Thing. Was not going to be any ally of mine here at Lake Bottomless.

I’ll be sure to keep you all posted.

Credit: mrmills45

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