The Accident (15 page)

J
ULIET TOOK A SEAT,
her hands clenched into tight little fists, as Justin started the motor.

“You’ll love this place, Megan,” Justin said soothingly. “It’s very private.”

“I can’t stay long.” Her voice was nervous. Her eyes swept the lake as the boat picked up speed. Megan knew she was searching the water for rocks, although there were none in this open part of the lake. “It’s late, and I’ve got to get some sleep so I’ll look really good tomorrow.” She was sitting stiffly on the seat, her hands gripping the sides of the boat. “You haven’t forgotten my party, have you?”

My
party, you mean,
Megan thought angrily. She remained a cautious distance behind the boat, fearful that Juliet would sense her presence.

The boat began to veer toward the cove.

Juliet’s body shot up straight in her seat, propelled by alarm. “Justin, what are you doing?” Anxiety made her voice shrill. “There’s no island over there. Just the cove.”

“Have to go through the cove to reach the island,” he said cheerfully. “There’s a little opening off to one side. Relax, Megan, we’ll be there in no time.”

“No! I don’t
want
to go to the cove! I hate that place!”

Justin half turned his head to look at Juliet. “Since when?” he said, a hint of mockery in his voice. “I thought you loved the cove.”

“I don’t. It’s too dangerous. People die there.”

“Tell you what,” he told Juliet calmly, “I’ll just scoot around the edge, okay? We’ll be there in no time. Relax.”

Megan could see Juliet fighting with herself. Megan was worried. Her plan wasn’t working. They’d been on the lake for a while, but Juliet hadn’t given up.

And there were only ten minutes left.

Would being in the cove — the rocky, treacherous spot where Juliet had lost her life so long ago — be enough? Would that scare Juliet away forever?

What if it didn’t?

Hurry, Justin, hurry!
Megan cried.

Justin sped up the boat, aiming straight for the cove.

Juliet jumped to her feet. “Justin, you lied! You’re not going around it! You’re going in there!” Her voice, filled with alarm, rang out above the noise of the motor. “Slow down! What are you doing?”

Leave, leave now, Juliet! Megan screamed silently. You know you want to. Do it! Give my body back to me! It’s mine!

“Justin, turn this boat around, right now! I want to go home!”

It’s not your home, Juliet, it’s mine. And I want it back. Leave!

“Sit down,” Justin ordered Juliet. “Sit down before you fall down.”

“Justin Carr, I demand that you turn this boat around right this minute! It’s cold out here, and it’s getting windy. Take me home!”

She was right about the wind. In just minutes, the trees lining the shores of the cove were bending low against powerful wind gusts, and the surface of the water was churning and boiling. Gray clouds flew past the moon, and the boat began to pitch and toss. Juliet moaned and sat down, clutching the sides of the boat, her face distorted with a terrible fear. The choppy water slopped up into the boat, drenching both of them.

“Justin!” Juliet screamed against the wind. “Please!”

Megan felt new hope. There was desperation in that voice. That was what Megan had been waiting for.

Megan decided it was time to let Juliet know that she was there. Learning that Megan and Justin had planned this together, that Justin knew the truth, might be exactly what was needed to send Juliet over the edge.

There were only five minutes left. She had to try.

“Juliet, I’m here. It’s me, Megan.”

Juliet’s head snapped up, her hair sodden now. She jumped to her feet, awkwardly straddling the bottom of the boat. “No! You can’t be here! Go away!”

Justin continued to steer the boat, at high speed, straight toward the cove.

“I can be and I am. This little excursion was my idea.”

Juliet, battered by wind and spray, peered into the darkness. “That’s impossible. You can’t communicate with Justin. I’m the only one you can talk to.”

“That’s not true. Justin and I think alike. We both have open minds, and Justin has a kind heart. You said that was all it took, remember?”

The boat sped the last few yards into the cove.

“Stop him!” Juliet screamed, teetering dangerously. “I can’t go in there! I can’t!”

“Then don’t. Leave. Leave now. Leave willingly, Juliet.”

And for one small, agonizing second, Megan thought it had worked. She could feel Juliet’s frantic need to flee, to escape the place she hated and feared so passionately.

But in the next second, a violent, ugly rage replaced the fear. “It’s not that easy, Megan!” Juliet screamed. “I’ll turn this boat around myself!” And in one sudden, fierce movement she leaped at Justin and began clawing at him, struggling to gain control of the boat.

“Turn it around!” she screamed. Pounding at his hands. “I’m going back! And you can’t stop me!”

Justin, fighting against the sudden attack, lost control of the boat. Megan watched in helpless horror as the small craft rushed straight ahead through the churning waters. …

… And slammed into a rock looming like a glacier above the surface of the lake.

Upon impact, Justin was knocked backward to the floor of the boat.

But Juliet, with a blood-curdling scream, was catapulted up into the air and then down, down, down, into the boiling black water waiting below.

J
USTIN PULLED HIMSELF TO
his feet. The sound of Juliet hitting the water paralyzed him for one shocked second. He stood in the motionless boat, frozen, as she disappeared from sight.

The boat’s lantern had been dislodged during the collision with the rock and now floated aimlessly an inch or two beneath the surface of the water. Battery-powered and waterproof, it cast an eerie glow over Juliet as she resurfaced, thrashing about violently.

Justin saw her trying to scream as water flooded her mouth and nose.

Megan’s mouth. Megan’s nose. He drew in a sharp breath. That was
Megan’s
body drowning.

Justin poised himself on the edge of the boat, preparing to dive into the lake. The violent wind raked at his long hair, tore at his body.

“No, you can’t!”
Megan cried.
“Justin, you can’t save her. Not yet. She has to leave my body
willingly.
She’ll do it, any second now. I can see it in
h
er eyes. She can’t bear to be in the water. We have to wait.”

Hearing Megan, Justin paused. But, watching Juliet thrashing about in the wind-blown water closing around her, he thought, What good will it do if Juliet leaves, but Megan’s body is lost forever?

And, although Megan cried out,
“Stop, Justin, no!”
he could see no other choice. He dove into the wild, dark water.

Desperation seized Megan. She had gambled on Juliet’s absolute terror of the water to make her abandon Megan’s body. But being in the boat hadn’t done it. And now being in the water wasn’t doing it. Juliet was still in there, and only three minutes remained.

Why was Juliet still struggling? Why hadn’t she given up?

Then the answer came: She was fighting, still, because she believed that Justin would save her.
She doesn’t know he’s not a good swimmer
—
that he’ll never be able to get to her. She thinks she’ll be free of the water in a minute or two, so she’s hanging on.

Megan felt time racing by. It was too late. She had gambled and lost. There was no more time.

I am drowning now,
she thought in despair.
My life is ending, there in the water. And so is Justin’s, because there will be no one to save him.

No. That is
not
going to happen! We’re going to live our lives, Justin and me. Juliet isn’t going to rob us of the time that’s ours. I want it! I want my life! And I’m going to get it back from her!

And so Megan went to Juliet, who was going under for the second time. Justin was trying to reach her, but the wind had whipped the water into a fury, and although he struggled valiantly, he was losing the battle.

Submerged, the light from the lantern surrounding her with a sickly yellow-green glow, Juliet’s features became misshapen, grotesque. Her eyes were wild with panic.

“Give me back what’s mine,”
Megan demanded.
“Justin can’t save you, Juliet. The wind is too wild. The current is too strong. You’re going to die here. Again.”

Juliet answered her mentally.
You’re lying. It’s not true.

“Listen to me! HE CAN’T SAVE YOU! No one can. And my body is dying and will do you no good now. Give it up. Give it back to me.”

Justin came up for air, gasping, his eyes wild. He began fighting again to reach Juliet. Foundering, he grasped her collar. With a massive, supreme effort, he heaved her up out of the water, straining desperately to grasp the side of the boat. He failed, and they both sank.

In her mind, Megan heard the grandfather clock beginning to strike midnight.
Bong, bong, bong, bong …

“Juliet, you’ve lost.”
Then she began repeating, “
I am Megan, and I want my body back. I am Megan, and I want my body back. I am Megan, and I want my body back.
…”

Juliet’s eyes had become deep sockets of glowing yellow. “No-oo,” she wailed, “no-oo. My party, my party …”

“No, Juliet. It’s
my
party. And there won’t be a party, if you drown. I am Megan, and I want my body back. I am Megan, and I want …”

The glowing eyes closed in despair.
No party? No party? Justin will not save me?

“No, Juliet, he can’t. You are drowning. Again. Just like before.”

Bong, bong, bong, bong …

Juliet’s mouth made a round 0 of agony.
Megan! Here it is! Here is your body. I give it back to you willingly. I have no choice. I cannot stay here in this terrible place. Take it, and know that you will never see me or hear me again.

Then her lips twisted and from them came a bellow of rage so despairing, so filled with anguish and torment, every creature within hearing distance shivered with fear. Animals hid in burrows and tree branches and bramble bushes, and people in their houses on the lake slid deeper beneath their bed coverings, taking refuge from the obscene sound.

Bong … bong … bong …

With a joyful relief so overwhelming it made her weak, Megan reclaimed her body as the wailing Juliet left it.

Bong.

As the blood-chilling cry echoed out across the lake then slowly, slowly, trailed off into silence, the feeling of weightlessness left Megan and she found herself in the water, supporting an exhausted Justin. The wind softened to a whisper, the lake became as still and subdued as a pond.

“It’s me, Justin,” Megan gasped. “It’s really me. Juliet is gone. Forever.”

Justin was too drained to do anything but nod weakly.

Helping each other, they struggled into the boat, and lay in the bottom, breathing hard and shivering with cold, but relieved.

After a while, Justin reached out for Megan’s hand. They linked fingers. Although their flesh was clammy and cold, each took warmth and reassurance from the other’s grasp.

When she felt her strength returning, Megan got up and found two blankets in a metal chest under one of the seats. Then, wrapped in gray wool, she tried the motor. It coughed, choked, and started.

Justin stood close beside her as she backed up the damaged boat and turned it away from the cove. Then he put an arm around her.

“Someday,” he said quietly, “you can tell me the gruesome details. I want to know all of it. But right now, let’s go home. We’re going to a very important party tomorrow, remember?”

Megan smiled and nodded.

She aimed the boat toward home, exhausted but happy, as the moon slid out from behind a bank of gray clouds and began shining down on the dark, peaceful water.

And only the wildest of the forest creatures continued to hear the echo of a despairing, tortured wail in the soft whisper of the wind.

Diane Hoh (b. 1937) is a bestselling author of young-adult fiction. Born in Warren, Pennsylvania, Hoh grew up with eight siblings and parents who encouraged her love of reading from an early age. After high school, she spent a year at St. Bonaventure University before marrying and raising three children. She and her family moved often, finally settling in Austin, Texas.

Hoh sold two stories to
Young Miss
magazine, but did not attempt anything longer until her children were fully grown. She began her first novel,
Loving That O’Connor Boy
(1985), after seeing an ad in a publishing trade magazine requesting submissions for a line of young-adult fiction. Although the manuscript was initially rejected, Hoh kept writing, and she soon completed her second full-length novel,
Brian’s Girl
(1985). One year later, her publisher reversed course, buying both novels and launching Hoh’s career as a young-adult author.

After contributing novels to two popular series, Cheerleaders and the Girls of Canby Hall, Hoh found great success writing thrillers, beginning with
Funhouse
(1990), a Point Horror novel that became a national bestseller. Following its success, Hoh created the Nightmare Hall series, whose twenty-nine novels chronicle a university plagued by dark secrets. After concluding Nightmare Hall with 1995’s
The Voice in the Mirror
, Hoh wrote
Virus
(1996), which introduced the seven-volume Med Center series, which charts the challenges and mysteries of a hospital in Massachusetts.

In 1998, Hoh had a runaway hit with
Titanic: The Long Night
, a story of two couples—one rich, one poor—and their escape from the doomed ocean liner. That same year, Hoh released
Remembering the Titanic
, which picked up the story one year later. Together, the two were among Hoh’s most popular titles. She continues to live and write in Austin.