The Body in the Lake

THE BODY IN THE LAKE

I heard them talking about it on the local news shows. An unidentified person's body had washed up in Weston Lake.

It had been discovered by one of the many people who fished at that lake regularly.

"It's such a shame that human beings are still so cruel to each other," some people had said.

Another senseless murder, no doubt. 

A few other bodies had washed up in that same lake in previous years. Apparently, it's one of the preferred dumping

areas for killers to dispose of their victims.

The latest body was that of a female, a young woman who was possibly a student at the local university, according

to what the news reporter said.

An item of clothing had been missing from her body, and her feet had been bare.

A possible rape victim? No one knows yet. Medical tests will have to be run on the corpse. An autopsy would have

to be done to find out what her cause of death was, of course, even though the assumption would be that she died

from drowning.

She had been lying face down when she was discovered.

She appeared to be in the first stages of decomposition. So, that means that she hadn't been killed that long ago.

Maybe a week or so ago.

"Who could do something like this?" lots of people asked, as expected.

By the end of the week, or maybe in just a couple of days, after the law enforcement people and medical examiners

finished with their investigations, they would most likely have some of their answers. They'd probably be able to identify

her. And, they'd know her cause of death.

But still, none of their knowledge will bring her back. None of their knowledge will console her family and friends.

She will still be dead. And the lake will still be her last known location.

...It's a day later now, and as predicted, law enforcement in this town know the name of the deceased. They checked

her dental records and identified her that way.

Her name was Cariana Shires, and she had been a student at Weston Sails University. She had only been 20 years 

old. Hadn't even had her first boyfriend yet.

Hadn't had any enemies, as far as her family knew.

Who could have killed her? people sill wondered.

It was discovered that her cause of death was cardiac arrest, due to poisoning. A slow-acting poison had been found in 

her system.

"Why would someone poison her?" a few of her teary-eyed loved ones asked when they were being interviewed by 

news reporters.

The medical examiners had found no evidence of rape, which was one of the only good things about this case.

So, right now, all they had was the dead girl's name, and her cause of death. They'd have to do further investigations

to try to find out who'd poisoned her and dumped her at the lake.

But..., they'll never find out, because I am the one who killed her. I am the Earth-bound ghost of Cariana's twin

sister. My name is Coriona--Cori, for short. But I was the one that was forgotten, because right after our birth, I

died. And I never thought it was fair that I had to be the one that didn't make it, while Cari got to live and grow up

and have experience a human existence. That's why I had been planning her death for quite some time, while existing

here in the Earth-bound realm, a realm that's still close to humans, but that also can't be accessed by them.

I've been lonely in this Earth-bound state that I've been in for so long. That's why I slipped the poison in Cariana's water bottle

one day, right before she grabbed it and headed out the door to take her daily run along the trail near the lake.

She never saw me, because being a ghost, that means that I can keep myself invisible to the living, of course.

It had taken me awhile to gather up enough energy to reach into the living world to tamper with human inventions, but I had finally

managed to do it.

By the time,Cariana had gotten to the part of the trail that was directly in front of the lake, the poison had kicked in, and she

became hot, burning hot. So hot that hse began to rip at her clothes.

She managed to remove her T-shirt, socks and shoes. Then, when she still wasn't receiving any relief, she ran forward into

the lake, in hopes of cooling herself down.

But before she could emerge from the lake, the poison had kicked in completely and shut her whole system down. And she'd died

right there in that spot.

...Now, we are together again. She's a newbie in the Earth-bound world, so she is still a little dazed and confused. I am not only the

older twin, I am also the bolder twin. Always have been. Everyone would have known that if I had lived after being born 20 years ago

just two minutes before Cariana had arrived.

Now that I have my sister in my world again, we can decide if we want to remain Earth-bound ghosts, or if we are both ready to 

walk into the Eternal Light together...