To Wendy Lynch’s great surprise, she had originally thought the area around Mirror Lake would be deserted and desolate. After all, in the future timeline, someone had gone missing here. However, the actual situation was completely different from what she had imagined.
The surroundings of Mirror Lake were far from quiet; at least a hundred people were gathered along the shore. There were people taking photos, others camping, and even a few anglers casting their lines. Several tents and canopies were pitched just a few meters from the water’s edge. Wendy even saw a couple taking wedding photos, the bride dressed in a white gown. Near a corner, there was even a public restroom built of concrete.
Seeing this bustling scene, Wendy immediately realized something. The future email only stated that Jared Carter’s cell phone signal last appeared at Mirror Lake, but it didn’t say that he went missing exactly here. Her previous speculations at home were completely off the mark. Wendy felt a wave of relief. It was a good thing she had come to scout the location in person; otherwise, relying solely on her imagination would have left her completely clueless about the reality of the situation.
Wendy followed the trail circling Mirror Lake, taking a full lap. The path was paved with gravel that crunched under her feet. The overall outline of the lake bore a seventy or eighty percent resemblance to a heart shape. The area where many tourists were taking photos and camping was the left half of the heart. The shore there was covered in gravel, and the terrain was very flat.
Currently, Wendy was on the right half of the heart, where the terrain was much more rugged. On one side was a steep rock wall covered in moss and vines; on the other, just a few steps away, was the deep water. There were no guardrails. Less than half a meter down was the bottomless lake. Let alone a scuffle or a fight here—even a single careless slip could easily send someone tumbling straight into Mirror Lake.
She turned her gaze to the other side of the path, which bordered an undeveloped, virgin forest. The impenetrable trees and underbrush formed a natural green barrier. A person could easily slip inside, and there were no visible trails to follow. Many of the trees bore warning signs that strictly prohibited entry. If someone strayed from the path here and plunged into that forest, it would be like a drop of water vanishing into the ocean—they would quickly lose their way and leave no trace behind.
Wendy stopped walking and took out her phone to check. In the top-left corner of the screen, the signal indicator showed only one weak bar, constantly bouncing between "1 bar" and "No Service." That middle-aged cab driver hadn’t lied. As she ventured deeper into Galen Park, her cell reception started becoming spotty. Earlier, in the open areas, she still had two or three bars. But once she got close to the forest, the signal was heavily obstructed.
It took Wendy nearly forty minutes to complete her full circuit around the lake path. By this time, a layer of cold sweat had soaked her back. She couldn’t tell if it was from exhaustion or fear. She wondered if the future email had planted a psychological suggestion in her mind, but she couldn’t shake the feeling that this so-called internet-famous attraction was practically a perfect place to dispose of a body. Whether someone fell into the lake or was dragged into the dense woods, they likely wouldn’t be discovered for a long time.
Having finished her scouting, Wendy didn’t linger. It was getting late. She quickened her pace and retraced her steps back.
By the time she returned to her dorm room, it was past eight in the evening. Exhaustion washed over her like a tidal wave. Too tired to even bother with dinner, she threw herself onto her bed. Wendy had only intended to rest for a moment, but the second her head hit the pillow, her eyelids snapped shut under a heavy weight.
A gust of cold wind hit her face, and her eyes snapped open. She was greeted by a darkness so thick it felt impenetrable.
"Wait! Where am I? Aren’t I in my dorm room?!" she thought.
By the faint light from the sky, Wendy was stunned to realize she was back on the shores of Mirror Lake. Unlike the bustling scene during the day, the lake was now deathly silent. No tourists, no tents, no anglers, no wedding dresses. She was surrounded by pure, suffocating darkness. The only light source came from the stars scattered across the night sky. The faint starlight draped a hazy white veil over everything. The lake water looked like a slumbering behemoth, ready to open its massive maw and swallow everything whole.
GULP.
Wendy swallowed hard.
Suddenly, a muffled, intermittent male voice drifted out from the darkness.
"Help... help me..."
The voice was fraught with struggle and terror, sounding as though an invisible hand was tightly strangling his throat. Wendy’s heart skipped a beat.
It was Jared Carter!
Although the two had never interacted, Wendy’s subconscious instantly concluded that it had to be him. She instinctively wanted to run over, but her fear of the darkness froze her footsteps in midair.
"No! I can’t go over there, it’s too dangerous!" she thought. "No! I have to go check!"
...
Wendy waged an internal war for a while before finally making up her mind. However, the moment she took a step forward, her body slammed into an invisible wall, preventing her from advancing even an inch further.
She was trapped in place!
"Who... who’s there?!" She tried to shout, but no sound came out of her throat.
"Help me..."
The only response she received was the sound of more violent struggles and muffled whimpers. She could feel that Jared Carter was just a short distance ahead, right in that pitch-black darkness. She even felt that if she just reached out her hand, she could pull him out and save him.
Like a madwoman, Wendy pounded on the invisible wall of air in front of her.
"Let me go!"
"Let me through!"
At this moment, Wendy was like a bird trapped in a cage. No matter how hard she fluttered her wings, she couldn’t break free. She could only watch helplessly as a murder unfolded right in front of her. Fear and a sense of powerlessness enveloped and drowned her from all sides, like the freezing lake water.
Eventually, the voice in the darkness vanished completely. Deathly silence shrouded the mountain forest once again.
BEEP BEEP BEEP—BEEP BEEP BEEP—
The shrill and urgent ringing of her alarm clock exploded in Wendy’s ears like a sharp blade. She bolted upright in bed, her heart hammering wildly in her chest as if trying to break free from her ribs. Cold sweat had soaked through her clothes, making them cling to her skin in a sticky mess. She gasped heavily for air, the impenetrable darkness seemingly still lingering before her eyes.
It took a long time for Wendy’s terrified pupils to refocus. The faint light seeping through the gap in the curtains of her rental room confirmed that she had returned to reality. Seeing the familiar surroundings, she let out a long sigh of relief and collapsed back onto the bed. Staring at the warm yellow ceiling light above, Wendy felt as if she had been completely drained of all her energy.
"It’s a dream! It was just a dream! Thank goodness, it was only a dream!" she thought.
But the dream had been far too real. So real that it sent shivers down her spine.
She grabbed her phone from the bedside table and turned off the blaring alarm.
It was exactly midnight.
Wendy sat up in bed again. Instead of rushing to check for a new future email, she walked into the bathroom.