Act 1: Lake Stratos

"Can't we talk about this?"

"I'm afraid not, Alex," Jack sneered. Alex Morner was afraid of many things. Drowning being one of them.

"Don't you think this is going a bit far, Jack?" Terry asked, shivering.

Jack turned to face Terry. "You want to be next, Templeton?!"

Terry held his hands up and backed away, terrified.

Alex scanned his surroundings. They were at the edge of town, him at the edge of Lake Stratos, the lake the town was named after. Old town legends said the lake was haunted. But Alex wasn't thinking about that.

He was thinking about how Jack Samuels was about to kill him.

Jack turned back to Alex and stepped forward, grinning. "You deserve this Alex. You shouldn't have punched my sister!"

"It was an accident! I told you a million times! Don't do this, please!" Alex said, tear streaking down his face.

Jack pushed Alex. And in the moment, Alex could swear he saw the insanity in Jack's eyes.

Alex plunged into the river, water surrounding and weighing him down. He couldn't breathe. His vision became dark and he closed his eyes and gave up.