Prologue

11 years ago | Age: 6

The car finally came to a stop outside of the old wooden house. It was anything but small or dusty as the sunlight shined down on it. The lake house was one of the typical getaway houses you would see on the shows and movies. Alison was one lucky little girl to be able to come up here every summer since she was one year old. It was their family tradition and her parents' friends always came as well.

"Finally! I felt like I was dying!" Alison dramatically stepped outside of the car and did a little twirl of happiness.

Her mother laughed, "It was only two hours, Allie."

Alison huffed, "And that felt like ages. I swear it felt like I turned twenty during those two hours."

The sound of two more vehicles could be heard pulling into the driveway where the rest of the people were. In a van was her aunt, Alison's mom's only sister, and her family which consisted of two kids. Johnny, he was eight, and Gabbie, she was five, both of them weren't Alison's favorite but that was because Johnny was always teasing her and Gabbie was always trying to follow her around like a little duck whenever they were together.

Alison was an only child and her mother couldn't have any more kids, so having to share a space with other kids her own age outside of school or related events always left her a little uncomfortable. Alison wasn't used to having a brother tease you all day or a little sister following you around but whenever Johnny and Gabbie were around she got to experience it at full force. Alison had once asked her mother if she could have new cousins but her mother shushed her and told her that was a mean thing to ask.

Alison still wanted new cousins.

The second Vehicle belonged to her dad's best friend and that came with one child. Raven was the same age as Alison, six years old, and Alison liked hanging out with her more than any of her other family members. Raven didn't always say much but she was very funny and peaceful to be around. Plus Raven and Alison had a lot in common from tv shows to their favorite types of activities. They were the best of friends and even hung out outside of coming to the lake house every summer.

Alison and Raven had actually grown up together due to the fact that their dads' were best friends. They went to the same daycare, kindergarten, and now elementary school together. Their mothers were very pleased with their friendship because Alison could be very picky with who she spent time with and Raven could be very shy, making it hard for either girl to really connect with other kids their age.

"Raven!" Alison screamed and ran towards Raven, wrapping her arms around her neck in a tight hug that Raven returned.

Raven smiled, "I missed you too, Allie."

Alison locked hands with Raven, " Come on let's go play!"

"Take Gabbie and Johnny with you guys!" Alison's mom shouted, stopping the girls in their tracks.

Alison rolled her eyes before turning to face her mother and giving a smile.

"Gabbie and Johnny you guys can come to play too." Alison said with fake politeness that only Raven could see-through, making her crack a light smile.

"I don't want to play with a bunch of girls." Johnny turned his lip up in disgust and Alison stuck her tongue out at him.

"I want to eat first." Gabbie said as she rested her head against her mom's leg, eyes closing to show how tired she was from the drive.

Alsion gave a grin that was real, "You can join us later! Bye!"

Raven waved back to the parents before Alison dragged her out of sight for them to go exploring together in the back of the house.

That night as everyone rested the skies cried for hours, dropping the temperature of the night air. It seemed to always rain at night at the lake house between the hours of one and four in the morning. Then after six in the morning, the temperature would slowly rise back up to the high seventies and low eighties. It was one of the many things that were peculiar about the lake house but no one seemed to pay it any mind, but Alison.

Speaking of Alison, she was beginning to wake up at the time of five in the morning. Whenever she was at the lake house she always woke up at five and it was strange to her. Back when she was at home, she never got up before ten unless her mother or father was waking her up for school. Her parents didn't think it was weird that she was up so early whenever they were at the lake house because they just assumed it was her excitement to come here.

Alison did love coming to the lake house and hanging out with Raven at the lake house, but not to the point of waking up early due to excitement. Plus Alison never went to sleep super early and it never made sense why when she would wake up she wouldn't be tired at all but if she was back home she would be glued to her bed, refusing to live in society until she got all the beauty rest her six-year-old self could get.

Alison sat up in bed and let out a yawn before glancing around the room. There were two twin beds in the room for her and Raven, but they always slept together in just one of the beds. Alison looked over at a sleeping Raven, trying to decide if she should wake her up or not but decided against it. She climbed out of the bed and shivered from how cold it was and noticed the bedroom window was cracked a bit.

Alison's little feet were silent as she walked over towards the window, moving the curtains and closing the window. She paused as she stared out the window towards the back of the lake house. The fog was thicker the farther out past the lake and the water seemed to move like someone was walking around causing vibrations to shift the water.

Alison quickly slipped on her slippers and grabbed Raven's sweater before heading toward the backyard. She moved quietly so that she wouldn't wake anyone else up and managed to exit the back of the house without being detected. Alison made it just towards the docs but not a step farther as she stared out past the fog. She stared for a few moments before they became clear to her vision, well as clear as one can get in fog.

They were huge and it was then that caused the water to sway the way it did. Alison could barely hear it but if she focused enough the sound of feet and voices swirled in the air around her. It was almost like it was teasing her and trying to lure her across the waters but Alison was smart enough to know a six-year-old shouldn't be in the lake unsupervised or alone. She desperately wanted to go but she couldn't and that seemed to frustrate her more than the fact that no one would believe her.

This was not the first time she had seen them and Alison knew it wouldn't be the last time. Every time she came to the lake house she could see them but as the fog faded away so did they and so when everyone woke up and she tried to tell her mom or dad they laughed it off. It was just a little girl's active imagination and nothing serious to look into. I mean who would believe a six-year-old when they say there are giant people in the fog, no one.

Johnny didn't believe her and Gabbie didn't either, but Raven did. Raven didn't necessarily believe that there were giant people in the fog but she believed in Alison. If Alison was sure of what she saw and knew then there was no reason for Raven to doubt her on it. Therefore Raven always listens to Alison when she talks about it and would always promise Alison that when they were adults they would go check it out. Alison always liked to hear that and they would seal it by locking their pinky fingers together.

"Alison!" Raven's quiet voice broke Alison's trance of staring out into the now fading fog.

"Our parents will be up soon. You have to come back inside or we'll get in trouble." Raven said as she rushed towards Alison and started dragging her back into the house. Alison wasn't allowed to be out back that early by herself and would always get in trouble if she was caught. And if Alison was in trouble, Raven also stayed by her side throughout it.

"I saw them again, Raven." Alison finally spoke.

"I know."

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