Page 17 of Hexes and Hiccups (Mystery In A Bottle #3)

D aisy

The music from Swing Time still echoed in Daisy’s ears as they made the drive back into town.

The drive-in theater sat right outside of Willowbrook’s limits, and a few minutes away from the infamous Lake Silverpine.

As they drove away from their wonderful evening together, Daisy kept one hand tightly wrapped around Ethan’s while looking out the window.

The evening had taken hold of the town quickly, only the moon and twinkling stars shining down overhead.

Daisy felt lazy and hazy, stuck in a fictional romantic musical, with one foot stepping closer towards reality.

The investigation haunted her like a ghost, remaining within her mind no matter where she was.

All Daisy wanted to do was remain stuck in time alongside Ethan, as if they were within their own infinite movie.

But the future loomed, and her responsibility clung to her shoulders, with no intention of letting go.

The closer they came to Willowbrook, the more she remembered what lay ahead, and it brought an unpleasant sourness to her stomach.

So, instead of falling deeper into the hole, she clung onto Ethan’s hand tightly, her eyes catching onto the approaching Lake Silverpine.

A few cars were pulled up beside the lake, a growing crowd hanging around the shore.

Daisy’s eyes caught onto some young teens loitering in the water, some of them ducking in and out of the inky black lake.

They crashed through the water and waved their hands as a few more cars pulled out of the road and onto the dewy grass.

Men clobbered out of their cars, wielding flashlights and blankets.

“Is there something going on at Lake Silverpine today?” Daisy quietly asked.

Ethan’s gaze snapped over, as he was already slowing down the car. “Weird,” he murmured. “Not that I know of. Looks like quite the crowd.”

For some peculiar reason, Daisy couldn’t pull her eyes away from the lake.

Perhaps it was her intuition, or some sort of sense that lay deep within her.

There didn’t seem to be anything inherently wrong with the growing crowd.

They were rather joyful, it looked like.

She pressed her lips together and sat up straighter, unable to shake the unusual feeling that was beginning to take a strong hold over her.

“Hey, Ethan…”

“Do you want to check it out?”

She glanced over at him in surprise. “How did you know I was going to ask that?”

“Let’s call it a warlock’s intuition.”

Daisy let a smile grow across her face. She didn’t even need to say a word, and Ethan already knew what she wanted, knew what she was about to say.

Perhaps it was simply from their magical abilities, but Daisy couldn’t help but believe it was due to their growing bond.

Her hand tightened around his and she squeezed, hoping the intent behind it could be felt by him without explaining it.

Ethan simply beamed and pulled the car towards Lake Silverpine, parking alongside the other vehicles already there.

Daisy shouldered her purse and considered calling Tessa, but she decided against it.

Tessa was already spending her evening looking into the maps, and that was far more than she needed to do anyways.

There was no need to bother her with something as frivolous as a growing crowd around the lake.

Besides, Tessa would probably prefer a rundown of the situation when it was over, her own personal intake of gossip – the unharmful kind.

Daisy stepped out of the car in time with Ethan, immediately hearing a rush of excited chatter from the teens emerging from the lake.

A few adults, it seemed, had finally arrived with the cars they had followed.

Ethan, whose confidence surprised Daisy sometimes, jogged over to one of the men standing beside a hummer. “Good evening,” he said. “Mind if we ask what’s going on here?”

The man turned, his beer belly threatening to spill out of his tucked in plaid shirt.

“‘Course you can,” he replied gruffly. “Lou Stevens got a call from his boy earlier this evenin’. Somethin’ ‘bout a big find in the lake. Figured he might need some help luggin’ it out, so –” the man paused to pat his hummer, “brought myself on over to see what all the fuss was ‘bout.”

Daisy’s brow shot up. “Lou Stevens’ son wouldn’t be Tyler, would it?”

“Right you are, Miss.”

Ethan eyed her over his shoulder. “You know the kid?”

“He’s been diving into Lake Silverpine for weeks now,” Daisy explained, remembering old man Wesley Sharp’s plight in Town Hall. “Though I didn’t realize there were actually valuable things to find at the bottom of the lake.”

The man shook his head. “There’s plenty to find, if you know what to look for.”

“What exactly did he find?”

“Some sort of car, I believe,” the man replied. “Hopefully, a good one! Could use some old parts, if the boy’s willin’ to share!” He winked before beginning to head closer to the lake.

Daisy reached for Ethan’s hand as a chill rolled down her spine.

The air was colder as they neared Lake Silverpine, the wind picking up a gust from the water.

She clutched onto him tightly. They drew nearer to the group of teen boys that lingered beside the shore.

Their excitement was loud and tangible as one man, presumably Lou Stevens, waded into the lake to attach a hook to the treasure the boys found.

Daisy couldn’t help but feel a rush of excitement course through her at the idea of finding something within the dark waters.

Perhaps they managed to come across something valuable.

Beside her, Ethan had a similar expression on his face as he watched.

The boys responsible for the find lingered at the shore, a few of them wading in as Lou Stevens disappeared beneath the waves. One of them with sandy brown hair and shimmering blue eyes looked far more intrigued than the rest.

“My dad’s gonna pull that sucker right out,” the boy said, his sharp voice ringing through the evening air. “I betcha it’ll be a mustang. Just from what I saw, it’ll be a mustang.”

Daisy watched the boy closely. Tyler. He had been on lots of townspeople’s minds recently, with the news of him finding things at the bottom of the lake.

While Daisy had assumed most of the talk was nothing more than gossip, it seemed he had been diving into the lake, pulling out trinkets and whatever he could get his hands on.

A car, however, was quite the find. Daisy never considered herself to be a thrill seeker or a treasure hunter, but there was something about the buzzing energy around Lake Silverpine that caught her attention and roped her in.

She was just as eager to see the car as everyone else was.

Ethan tugged her forward as he drew closer to the lake. “This surely is something,” he mused. “The last time I saw something get pulled out of Silverpine was…was…”

“Have you really seen things being retrieved from the floor of the lake before?”

He smiled sheepishly. “Well, now, I don’t think I have.”

Daisy laughed and stepped closer to him, pressing against his side.

He wrapped an arm tightly around her back.

Without even saying a word, he left a kiss or two on the top of her head.

Daisy felt utterly content at that moment, no longer remembering what sort of reality they were slowly heading back towards.

The Book of Gossip and everything it entailed barely hung over her head.

All she wanted to know was what would be pulled out of the lake.

Within a few minutes, Lou Stevens crashed through the surface and gave his companions a thumbs up.

The hook and tether bound to one of the hummer vehicles had been connected to the car beneath the lake.

All it took now was a revving engine to fully release it from the water.

The man they had spoken to before quickly scurried into his car.

The vehicle creaked and moaned beneath the pressure.

The boys, including Tyler, bounced up and down impatiently.

Perhaps if Daisy was their age, she’d find herself doing the exact same thing.

Beside her, Ethan rolled around on his heels, his tongue poking out in anticipation.

She held back the urge to call him pet names, to embarrass him about how enamoured she was with his excitement.

Slowly but surely, a great mass began to break through the shore of Lake Silverpine. The hummer almost pressed onto the main road before managing to pull the entire car out of the lake. It rested against the shore as water began to surge out from the cracks in the doors and windows.

“Blessed be,” Daisy murmured. “That’s quite the car.”

The boys were whooping and hollering at the sight of their prize. Claps resonated through the evening, corralling Ethan forward with the rest of the men, despite not having a child amongst them. He held his hands on his hips as he overlooked the vehicle.

“Must be at least a couple decades old,” Ethan said. “Not in terrible shape, though.” He clapped a hand over Lou Stevens’s wet shirt. “Smart kid you’ve got there.”

Lou’s face burnt red from exhaustion and pride. “You got that right. At least he called instead of doing somethin’ foolish, like tryin’ to haul it out himself.”

“Well,” Ethan teased, “I’m sure kids his age could have worse hobbies, right?”

The group of men laughed as they watched the water slowly drain out.

It was practically impossible to see through the windshield, which was still covered with moss and underwater vegetation.

Everything about the car looked rather untouched - something that clung to Daisy’s mind for a reason she could not understand.

Even the paint on the outside, a deep navy blue, remained as bright as it would’ve been if it hadn’t been deep within the water.

While everyone reveled in their accomplishment, determined to see what the engine and parts looked like, Daisy couldn’t help but wonder how the car got to the bottom of Lake Silverpine in the first place.

Who did it belong to? Why had it been left there?

How long had it been sitting on the quiet floor?

Tyler jogged towards the car as the water pressure dwindled. He grasped the slimy handle to the driver’s seat, and jerked it a few times, his lips pressed together confidently. After a few unsuccessful tugs, Tyler raised his head towards the adults.

Ethan held a hand up. “Lou’s done enough work today,” he said, earning a smile from the tired-looking father. “We can get it together, can’t we, Tyler?”

The boy nodded rapidly, already making room for help. Ethan stood alongside him, planting his feet in the ground. They gripped onto the handle together, pulling it at the same time, and as hard as they could.

There was a sharp sound, one of air pressure being released, and the door popped open like a suction.

Pop!

Water gushed out over their feet, the last few bits of Lake Silverpine finally leaving the old vehicle.

The other kids began to rush forward, followed by the influx of adults.

Ethan reached to retrieve a flashlight from Lou, knocking it against his palm a few times before it shone brightly into the early evening.

Daisy approached with the rest of them, her arms wrapped across her torso as a cold chill came off the surface of the lake.

Owls hooted in the distance, their caws growing sharper and louder as she stepped forward.

Ethan raised the light to the driver’s seat.

A scream, boyish and young, ripped through the air.

The adults rushed forward, Daisy’s heart already racing.

She pushed through the kids, desperate to grab onto Ethan’s hand.

She’d lost him in the rushing crowd, as the parents hoisted their children up and dragged them away from the vehicle.

In the end, only Ethan remained, his figure as still as a statue as he stared down at the seat, where the light trembled and wavered.

Daisy touched his hand and it was ice cold, still damp from the door handle.

What her eyes saw next was something she had never seen before, something she wished to erase from her mind and forget ever happened.

The joys of their find were lost in the wind.

No longer were the teens thrilled to have dove into Lake Silverpine, no longer were they eager to get back in the water.

There was only an eerie stillness, an enveloping silence, shrouded by whimpers and relentless tears.

Trauma, Daisy realized, beginning to strike upon their young minds.

Ethan held onto her hand fervently. “I-I need to call the Sheriff.”

There was a dead body in the driver's seat. But that was hardly the most terrifying thing about it all. What was once a girl, Daisy believed, was now mangled and tainted by the water. To describe it further would’ve caused permanent damage on Daisy’s head, she realized, so she focused on the leather within the car, a piece of jewelry dangling from the cracked mirror.

There was a photograph stuck to the dash, only a mesh of color by that point.

There was once life in that car, once a story to be told.

Daisy tried to look away, but was only met with the teens’ cries, the shouts and scared whispers of the parents.

The ones who were meant to know what to do were entirely at a loss.

Ethan, who remained the strongest out of them all, had the phone pressed to his ear and was already pulling everyone together and being a commanding presence.

Daisy held her hands over her heart, the moon shining down overhead. The prayer to Hecate came in waves, the whispers leaving her lips before she ever realized she had been talking.

“Blessed be the weak. Blessed be the dying. Blessed be the impoverished. Blessed be those left behind. Blessed be…”