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Chapter 1
A DIM LIGHT SHONE THROUGH THE FOG RISING OFF the lake Wading into the water, I swam toward it until a red rowboat materialized fro into the night She was just close enough for me to see her hands trerew still The ripples lapped against my lips as I sank lower in the water Alert, the wo her dull hair flutter about her cheeks
"Who are you?" Annette LaBarge said, her voice carrying over the water The bea the surface
I didn’t dareus No one could knoas here
Her lips quivered "Show yourself" Her eyes seeaze was out of focus
I heldher boat drift Switching off the light, she dipped her oars into the water and began to roay fro left but a wake undulating behind her like two dark ribbons Soundlessly, I followed it
And then the water went still, and I was alone I stopped, treading in place as I listened for the sound of her oars, but all was silent Before I could look up, so down over rabbed the shovel in Miss LaBarge’s hands and twisted it fro around us as it slipped froers and sank into the depths of the lake
She stu the opportunity, I reached for the edge of her boat and curledmyself out of the water The boat tilted towardinto the darkness "Don’t come closer!"
Before I could speak, so in the distance splashed We both froze and turned to search the darkness Whispers traveled over the wind The water around us rippled with a nearby disturbance
Miss LaBarge’s eyes darted around in the dark, finally resting on me "Who are you?" she asked "Why have you followed an to swell around us "Be quiet," I said, ainst the side of the boat I had to take her now, before anyone could find us
Through the fog ca toward us Miss LaBarge turned, her scarf flapping against her face "Who have you co e of her boat The wood creaked beneath her as she backed away fro to control ht as I tried to pull myself onto her boat; but the water was heavy oner Thrashing, I made one last attempt to thrust myself onto the boat, but it bobbed away from me, and I slipped back into the lake
When I surfaced, Miss LaBarge shined her yellow bea at my shoulders
"You?" she said, surprised As she stared at lohite Before she could say anythingsplashed in the distance; this tilanced over her shoulder, her features contorting with fear
I didn’t have tiht into the boat and grabbed the oars Rowing as quickly as she could, she disappeared once more into theto discern her position Then came the sound of her breath, heavy and quick, in rhythm with her oars as they dipped in and out, in and out, in and out I followed the sound, pushing through the swells until a s
The waves rolled off the lake and crashed onto the shore, carrying Miss LaBarge’s tiny boat I watched as she ju her boat behind her When I picked up ure rose out of the wave in front of ed, followed by another--what seeular shapes, small and slick They crawled onto the beach, their an to run over the rocks toward Miss LaBarge I dove toward the shore,an oar wildly at the creatures as I approached Above us, a shrill and deafening cry resonated through the night
I awoke to the sound of the phone ringing Sitting up in bed, I blinked It was another wet August , so early the sun had barely risen behind the clouds Relieved to find myself in my room, I sluainst the panes of e, dark dreams all summer, all the same in only one way: in each of the for someone
On the pillow besidehistory My grandfather had givenof the summer, to educate me on what I hat everyone in my family was: Monitors, people born with the innate talent to sense death, or ed with the task of tracking the Undead and putting the me ever since I’d found out about the world of Monitors and the Undead
I glanced at the book Spread across the page I’d been reading last night was a passage on the Monitor raph of Lake Erie When I’d seen it, a wave of panic had pushed againstfelt heavy, and I couldn’t bear to look at the photograph any longer That was the last thing I re once htstand read 5:42 am, which was early even for the mansion staff; the only people awake at this hour were the kitchen help Outside, sorandfather’s bedroo, then voices