Louis Vander -2012
Louis Vander -2012
The sky was cloudy, and the waters below me we dark impossibly dark.
"Lake Michigan isn't like the other great lakes."
I turned to look at the professor, we were going to beaver island to do some research.
"How so?"
He looked troubled.
"Check your cell phone."
I looked at it no bars.
"Cell phones don't work here, radio doesn't work here, satalites cant see anything on the lake, any way to communicate to the outside world that cant be delivered by mail doesnt work and if you take pictures? Well those always seem to be blured no one knows why."
I looked at the sky.
"Grey today."
"Grey everyday, last reported case of the sun shining over the lake was 1811."
"Water is black is it safe?"
"To drink yes, to swim in....well weve measured it and this park of the lake is 12,000 meters deep."
I stared at him.
"Thats deeper then."
"The Marina's trench we know, deepest fresh water lake in the world, and it gets deep fast once you get past the 500 meter mark it just dropps off like a cliff you still get islands though have no idea how they exist considering the depth, but this place. Its not normal."
Still no reception.
"Its not going to get better, like I said cell phones don't work here, radio doesn't work here."
"I assume the government's working to fix it?"
"Tried failed just like everyone else, they take advantage of though thats why the military has a base on Door island."
I looked around me.
"I don't see any Candian flagged ships."
We were getting closer to the island.
"Candian ships are not allowed in Lake Michigan."
I frowned.
"That has to piss them off."
"The Canadian government was the one who made that rule not us, look these waters...there not natural or at least not any more. These waters are not kind to people who are not tied to america by birth or blood."
I frowned at the professors unprofessionalism.
"That sounds like nonsense."
"There are three things that happen when outsiders get into the deep waters Lou, they either die, go insane or their changed. Every single time."
He looked at me with tired eyes.
"Countless sailors have died, warships have been destroyed subs crushed, if they go on american crewed ships they...they seem compelled to throw themselves off into the waters and if you keep them from doing it, they go mad. Unable to speak coherently, just staring into space and muttering nonsense. I've seen it happen and most of the people that toss themselve into the waters die."
"And the ones that dont?"
"The lucky ones? They end up being....changed."
I stared at the man and wondered how he got his PHD.
"This sounds like bullshit."
"Your from New York right?"
"Born and raised."
"The lake isn't like that, this place....there is a very deep unnaturalness to it it changes people."
"Any idea why?"
"None but I hear folk lore, ledgend says that a man named Brian Black made a deal with something powerful during the war of 1812. He wanted power and it was war time so he made a deal, the creature could have any non american's it wanted, and in exchange him and other scholars would have access to its forbidden knowlege."
"And?"
"According to local folklore a library was built full of things man was not supposed to know. If one is able to get to the island and write their name in one of the forbidden texts one will be gifted power."
We got closer to shore.
"Any proof of that?"
"Every now and then you get people who claim to have seen blacks library."
We got to the shores of the island and I looked at the endless grey above me.
"Did you bring an unbrella?"
"No."
It started raining.
"You really should have."
The sky was cloudy, and the waters below me we dark impossibly dark.
"Lake Michigan isn't like the other great lakes."
I turned to look at the professor, we were going to beaver island to do some research.
"How so?"
He looked troubled.
"Check your cell phone."
I looked at it no bars.
"Cell phones don't work here, radio doesn't work here, satalites cant see anything on the lake, any way to communicate to the outside world that cant be delivered by mail doesnt work and if you take pictures? Well those always seem to be blured no one knows why."
I looked at the sky.
"Grey today."
"Grey everyday, last reported case of the sun shining over the lake was 1811."
"Water is black is it safe?"
"To drink yes, to swim in....well weve measured it and this park of the lake is 12,000 meters deep."
I stared at him.
"Thats deeper then."
"The Marina's trench we know, deepest fresh water lake in the world, and it gets deep fast once you get past the 500 meter mark it just dropps off like a cliff you still get islands though have no idea how they exist considering the depth, but this place. Its not normal."
Still no reception.
"Its not going to get better, like I said cell phones don't work here, radio doesn't work here."
"I assume the government's working to fix it?"
"Tried failed just like everyone else, they take advantage of though thats why the military has a base on Door island."
I looked around me.
"I don't see any Candian flagged ships."
We were getting closer to the island.
"Candian ships are not allowed in Lake Michigan."
I frowned.
"That has to piss them off."
"The Canadian government was the one who made that rule not us, look these waters...there not natural or at least not any more. These waters are not kind to people who are not tied to america by birth or blood."
I frowned at the professors unprofessionalism.
"That sounds like nonsense."
"There are three things that happen when outsiders get into the deep waters Lou, they either die, go insane or their changed. Every single time."
He looked at me with tired eyes.
"Countless sailors have died, warships have been destroyed subs crushed, if they go on american crewed ships they...they seem compelled to throw themselves off into the waters and if you keep them from doing it, they go mad. Unable to speak coherently, just staring into space and muttering nonsense. I've seen it happen and most of the people that toss themselve into the waters die."
"And the ones that dont?"
"The lucky ones? They end up being....changed."
I stared at the man and wondered how he got his PHD.
"This sounds like bullshit."
"Your from New York right?"
"Born and raised."
"The lake isn't like that, this place....there is a very deep unnaturalness to it it changes people."
"Any idea why?"
"None but I hear folk lore, ledgend says that a man named Brian Black made a deal with something powerful during the war of 1812. He wanted power and it was war time so he made a deal, the creature could have any non american's it wanted, and in exchange him and other scholars would have access to its forbidden knowlege."
"And?"
"According to local folklore a library was built full of things man was not supposed to know. If one is able to get to the island and write their name in one of the forbidden texts one will be gifted power."
We got closer to shore.
"Any proof of that?"
"Every now and then you get people who claim to have seen blacks library."
We got to the shores of the island and I looked at the endless grey above me.
"Did you bring an unbrella?"
"No."
It started raining.
"You really should have."