The Maiden

By

Richard Laymon

"I DON'T know about this," I said.

"What's not to know?" Cody asked. He was driving. His car was a Jeep Cherokee, and he had it in four-wheel drive. We'd been bouncing along a dirt road through a forest for about half an hour, it was dark as hell out there except for the headlights, and I didn't know how much farther it might be to our destination, a place supposedly called Lost Lake.

"What if we break down?" I asked.

"We aren't gonna break down," Cody said.

"It sounds like the car's shaking to pieces."

"Don't be such a weenie," said Rudy, who sat in the passenger seat.

Rudy was Cody's best pal. They were both a couple of pretty cool guys. In a way, I felt very honored that they'd invited me to come with them. But I felt nervous, too. Maybe they'd asked me to come along because I'm the new kid in school and they just wanted to be nice and get to know me better. On the other hand, maybe they planned to screw me.

I don't mean screw in the literal sense. There was nothing the least bit funny about Cody or Rudy, and they both had girlfriends.

Rudy's girl wasn't much. Her name was Alice. She looked like someone had taken hold of her by the head and feet, then stretched her out till she was way too long and skinny.

Cody's girl was Lois Garnett. Everything about Lois was perfect. Except for one thing: she knew that she was perfect. In other words, she was a snot.

I had a bad case of the hots for Lois, anyway. How could I not? All you've got to do is look at her, and she'll drive you crazy. But I made the mistake of getting caught, last week. She dropped her pencil on the floor in Chemistry. When she bent down to pick it up, I had a view straight down the front of her blouse. Even though she had a bra on, the view was pretty terrific. The problem is, she looked up and saw where my eyes were aimed. She muttered, "What're you looking at, asshole?"

"Tit," I answered. I can be a wiseguy sometimes.

It's a good thing looks can't kill.

Boyfriends can, though. Which was one reason I was a little bit worried about going off into the woods in the middle of the night with Cody and Rudy.

Nobody had mentioned the incident, though.

Not so far.

Maybe Lois hadn't told Cody about it and I had nothing to worry about.

On the other hand…

I figured it was worth the risk. I mean, what was the worst that could happen? It's not like they would actually try to kill me just for looking down Lois's blouse.

What they said they wanted to do was set me up with some gal.

I had been eating my lunch in the quad, just that afternoon, when Cody and Rudy came over and started talking to me.

"You doing anything tonight?" Cody asked.

"What do you mean?"

"He means," Rudy said, "we know this babe that thinks you're hot stuff. She wants to see you, know what I mean? Tonight."

"Tonight? Me?"

"Midnight," Cody said.

"You sure you've got the right guy?"

"We're sure."

"Elmo Baine?"

"You think we're morons?" Rudy asked, sounding steamed. "We know your name. Everybody knows your name."

"You're the one she wants," Cody said. "How about it?"

"Gosh, I don't know."

"What's not to know?" Rudy asked.

"Well… Who is she?"

"What do you care?" Rudy asked. "She wants you, man. How many babes want you?"

"Well… I'd sort of like to know who she is before I make up my mind."

"She told us not to tell you," Cody explained.

"Wants it to be a surprise," Rudy added.

"Yeah, but I mean… How do I know she isn't some sort of a… you know…"

"A dog?" Rudy suggested.

"Well, yeah."

Cody and Rudy looked at each other and shook their heads. Then Cody said, "She's hot stuff, take my word on it. This might be the best offer you ever get, Elmo. You don't wanta blow it."

"Well… Can't you tell me who she is?" Nope.

"Is she someone I know?"

"She knows you," Rudy pointed out. "And she wants to know you a lot better."

"Don't blow it," Cody told me again.

"Well," I said. "I guess… okay."

After that, we made plans about where and when I would meet their car.

I didn't ask if "anyone else" would be going with us, but I figured there was a chance they might show up with Alice and Lois. The possibility had me really excited. As the day went on, I got myself so sure Lois would come along that I pretty much forgot all about the mystery girl.

I fixed myself up and snuck out of the house in plenty of time to meet the car. When it showed up, though, it didn't have anyone in it except Cody and Rudy. I guess my disappointment must've showed.

"Something wrong?" Cody asked.

"No. Nothing. I'm just a little nervous."

Rudy grinned at me over his shoulder. "You sure smell good."

"Just some Old Spice."

"You'll have her licking you."

"Cut it out," Cody told him.

"So," I said, "where are we going? I mean, I know you're not supposed to tell me who she is, but I'm sort of curious about exactly where you're taking me."

"Can we tell him?" Rudy asked.

"I guess so. Have you ever been out to Lost Lake, Elmo?"

"Lost Lake? Never heard of it."

"You have now," Rudy told me.

"Is that where she lives?" I asked.

"It's where she wants to meet you," Cody said.

"She's sort of a nature girl," Rudy explained.

"Besides," Cody said, "it's a great place for fooling around. Way out in the woods, a nice little lake, and you've got all the privacy in the world."

That crummy dirt road seemed to go on forever. The Jeep shook and rattled. Branches or something squeaked against the sides. And talk about dark.

There's nothing like a forest when it comes to darkness. Maybe that's because the trees block out the moonlight. It was like driving through a tunnel. The headlights lit up the stuff just in front of us, and the taillights made a red glow out the back window. Everything else was black.

I was okay for a while, but I started to get more and more nervous. The deeper into the forest we went, the worse I felt. They'd told me that the car wouldn't break down, and Rudy had called me a weenie for even asking. A while later, though, I went ahead and said, "Are you sure we aren't lost?"

"I don't get lost," Cody said.

"How are we doing on gas?"

"We're fine."

"What a pussy," Rudy said.

What a shithead, I thought. But I didn't say it. I didn't say anything. I mean, we were out in the boonies and nobody knew I was with these guys. If I made them mad, things might get pretty drastic.

Of course, I realized that things might take a turn for the ugly, anyway. This whole deal could be a setup. I hoped not, but you just never know.

The trouble is, you can't make any friends at all if you don't take a chance. Whether or not a friendship with Cody and Rudy was worth this much of a risk—and I was having some real doubts about that—an in with them would mean an in with Lois.

I could just see it. There might be triple dates: Cody and Lois, Rudy and Alice, Elmo and Mystery Girl. We would travel crowded in the Jeep. We'd sit together at the movies. We'd go on picnics, have swimming parties, maybe take camping trips—and fool around. My actual partner would be Mystery Girl, but Lois would be right there where I could watch her, listen to her, and maybe more. Maybe we would trade partners sometimes. Maybe we would even have orgies.

No telling what might happen if they accepted me.

I guess I would do just about anything to find out—even take a ride into the middle of nowhere with these guys, where they might be planning to leave me stranded, or beat me up, or worse.

I was pretty scared. The deeper we got into the woods, the more I suspected a bad time from these two. But I kept my mouth shut after Rudy called me a pussy. I just sat there in the backseat and worried and kept telling myself that they didn't have a good enough reason to really demolish me. All I'd done was take a look down Lois's front.

"Here we are," Cody said.

We had come to the end of the road.

Ahead, lit by the white beams of the headlights, was a cleared place big enough for half a dozen cars to park. There were logs on the ground to show you where to stop. Off beyond the parking area, I saw a trash barrel, a couple of picnic tables, and a brick fireplace for barbecues.

Ours was the only car.

We were the only people.

"I guess she isn't here yet," I said.

"You never know," Cody told me.

"There aren't any other cars."

"Who says she drove?" Rudy said.

Cody steered toward one of the logs, stopped, and shut off the engine.

I couldn't see any lake. I almost made a crack about it being lost, but didn't feel much like joking around at the moment.

Cody shut off the headlights. Blackness dropped on us, but only for a second. Then both the front doors swung open, making the overhead light come on.

"Let's go," Cody said.

They both climbed out. I did, too.

When they shut their doors, the light inside the Jeep died. But we were standing in the open. The sky was spread above us. The moon was almost full and the stars were out.

Shadows were black, but everything else was lit up, almost like a dirty white powder had been sprinkled around.

That was one extremely bright moon.

"This way," Cody said.

We walked through the picnic area. I've got to tell you, my legs were shaking.

Just past the tables the ground slanted down to a pale area that reminded me of how snow looks at night—only this seemed dimmer than snow. A sand beach? It had to be.

Beyond the curve of the beach, the lake was black. It looked beautiful, the way the moon made a silvery path on the water. The silver came straight at us from the far end of the lake. It stretched past the side of a small, wooded island and came all the way to the beach.

Cody had said that this place had "all the privacy in the world," and he was right. Except for the moon and stars, there were no lights in sight: none from boats on the water, or from docks along the shores, or from cabins in the dark woods around the lake. The way things looked, we might've been the only three people for miles around.

I wished I wasn't feeling so nervous. This could be a great place if you weren't here with a couple of guys possibly planning to mess you over. A great place to be alone with a really terrific babe, for instance.

"I don't think she's here," I said.

"Don't be so sure," Rudy told me.

"Maybe she changed her mind about coming. I mean, it's a school night, and everything."

"It's gotta be a school night," Cody explained. "Too many people here, weekends. Look at this, we've got the whole place to ourselves."

"But where's the girl?"

"Jeez," Rudy said, "will you knock off the whining?"

"Yeah," Cody said. "Relax and enjoy yourself."

Just then we walked out onto the sand. After a few steps both the guys stopped. They took off their shoes and socks. I took off mine, too. Even though it was a warm night, the sand felt cool with my feet bare.

Next, they took their shirts off. There was nothing wrong with doing that; they're guys and the night was warm and a soft breeze was blowing. But it made me so nervous, I got a cold wad in the pit of my stomach. Cody and Rudy had really fine physiques. And even in the moonlight you could see they had good tans.

I untucked my shirt and unfastened the buttons.

They left their shirts on the beach with the shoes and socks. I kept mine on. Nobody said anything about it. As we walked down the sand toward the water, I almost decided to go ahead and take my shirt off. I wanted to be like them. And I sure liked the way the breeze felt. I just couldn't do it, though.

We stopped at the waters edge.

"This is great," Cody said. He raised his arms and stretched. "Feel that breeze."

Rudy stretched, flexed his muscles, and groaned. "Man," he said, "I sure wish the babes were here."

"Maybe we'll come back Friday, bring 'em. You can come, too, Elmo. Bring your new honey and we'll have ourselves a big ol' party."

"Really?"

"Sure."

"Wow! That'd be… really neat."

It was exactly what I wanted to hear! My worries had been stupid. These two were the greatest pals a guy could have.

A few more nights, and I'd be right here at the beach with Lois.

I suddenly felt terrific!

"Maybe we oughta just, you know, put off everything till then," I said. "My, uh, date… she isn't here anyway. Maybe we should just leave, and we can all come Friday night. I wouldn't mind waiting till then to meet her."

"That'd be okay with me," Cody said.

"Same here," said Rudy.

"Great!"

Smiling, Cody tilted his head sideways. "Wouldn't be okay with her, though. She wants you tonight."

"Lucky bastard," Rudy said, and slugged my arm.

Rubbing my arm, I explained, "But she isn't here."

Cody nodded. "You're right. She's not here. She's there." He pointed at the lake.

"What?" I asked.

"On the island."

"On the island?" I'm no expert on judging distances, but the is-land looked pretty far out. A couple of hundred yards, at least. "What's she doing there?"

"Waiting for you, lover boy." Rudy punched my arm again.

"Quit it."

"Sorry." He gave me another slug.

"Cut it out," Cody told him. To me, he said, "That's where she wants to meet you."

"There?"

"It's perfect. You won't have to worry about anyone barging in on you."

"She's on the island?" I was having a fairly difficult time believing it.

"That's right."

"How'd she get there?"

"She swam."

"She's sort of a nature girl," Rudy said. He'd pointed that out once before.

"How am I supposed to get there?"

"Same way she did," Cody said.

"Swim?"

"You know how to swim, don't you?"

"Yeah. Sort of."

"Sort of?"

"I mean, I'm not exactly the world's greatest swimmer."

"Can you make it that far?"

"I don't know."

"Shit," Rudy said. "I knew he was a pussy."

Screw you, I thought. I felt like slamming him in the face, but all I did was stand there.

"We don't want him drowning on us," Cody said.

"He won't drown. Shit, his fat'll keep him up."

Part of me wanted to pound Rudy for saying that, and part of me wanted to cry.

"I can swim to that island if I want to," I blurted out. "Maybe I don't want to, that's all. I bet there isn't even any girl there."

"What do you mean?" Cody asked.

"It's just a trick," I said. "There isn't any girl, and you know it. It's just a trick to make me try to swim to the island. Then you'll probably drive off and leave me, or something."

Cody stared at me. "It's no wonder you don't have any friends."

Rudy nudged him with an elbow. "Elmo here thinks we're a couple of assholes."

"I didn't say that."

"Yeah, right," Cody said. "We try to do you a favor, and you think we're out to screw you. Fuck it. Let's go."

"What?" I asked. Lets go.

They both turned their backs to the lake and started walking up the beach toward the place where they'd left their stuff.

"We're leaving?" I asked.

Cody glanced back at me. "That's what you want, isn't it? Come on, we'll take you home."

"To your mommy," Rudy added.

I stood my ground. "Wait!" I called. "Hold on, okay? Just a second. Let's talk this over, okay?"

"Forget it," Cody said. "You're a loser."

"I am not!"

They crouched and picked up their shirts.

"Hey, look, I'm sorry. I'll do it. Okay? I believe you. I'll swim to the island."

Cody and Rudy looked at each other. Cody shook his head.

"Please!" I yelled. "Give me another chance!"

"You think we're a couple of liars."

"No, I don't. Honest. I was just confused, that's all. It's just strange. I've never had a girl… like, send for me. Okay? I'll go. I'll do it."

"Yeah, all right," Cody said. He sounded reluctant, though.

They tossed their shirts down. As they walked back to where I was standing, they kept shaking their heads and looking at each other.

"We don't wanta be here all night," Cody said to me. He checked his wristwatch. "What we'll do, we'll give you an hour."

"And then leave without me?"

"Did I say that? We're not gonna leave without you."

"He does think we're assholes," Rudy said.

"I do not."

"If you're not back," Cody said, "we'll yell or toot the horn or something. Just figure you'll have about an hour with her."

"Don't keep us waiting," Rudy warned. "You wanta screw her till dawn, do it some time when we ain't your chauffeurs."

Screw her till dawn?

"Okay," I said. I faced the water and took a deep breath. "Here goes. Anything else I need to know?"

"Are you planning to keep your jeans on?" Cody asked.

"Yeah!"

"I wouldn't."

"They'll drag you down," Rudy pointed out.

"You'd better leave them here."

I didn't like the sound of that at all.

"I don't know," I said.

Cody shook his head. "We aren't gonna take them."

"Who'd wanta touch 'em?"

"The thing is," Cody went on, "those jeans'll soak up a lot of water. They'll get damned heavy."

"You'll never make it to the island in 'em," Rudy said.

"They'll sink you."

"Or she will."

"What?"

"Don't listen to Rudy. He's full of crap."

"The Maiden," Rudy said. "She'll get you if you don't swim fast enough. You gotta lose the jeans."

"He's just trying to scare you."

"The Maiden! There's a maiden who's gonna get me or drown me or something?"

"No no no," Cody said. He scowled at Rudy. "Did you have to go and mention her? You idiot!"

"Hey, man. He wants to keep his jeans on. He keeps 'em on, he'll never stand a chance of out-swimming her. She'll nail him, for sure.

"There's no such thing as the Maiden."

"Is, too."

"What are you two talking about?" I blurted.

Cody faced me, shaking his head. "The Maiden of Lost Lake. It's some bullshit legend."

"She got Willy Glitten last summer," Rudy said.

"Willy got a cramp, that's all."

"That's what you think."

"That's what I know. He ate that damn pepperoni pizza just before he went in. That's what killed him, not some stupid ghost."

"The Maiden ain't a ghost. That shows how much you know. Ghosts can't grab you and…"

"Neither can gals who've been dead for forty years."

"She can."

"Bull."

"What are you two talking about?" I snapped.

They both looked at me.

"You wanta tell him?" Cody asked Rudy.

"You go ahead."

"You're the one that brought it up," Cody said.

"And you're telling me I'm full of shit. So you tell it your way. I'm not saying another word about her."

"Would somebody please tell me?"

"All right, all right," Cody said. "Here's the deal. There's this story about the Maiden of Lost Lake. Part of it's true, and part of it's bull."

Rudy made a snorty noise.

"The true part is that a gal drowned out there one night about forty years ago."

"The night of her senior prom," Rudy added. He'd broken his word about keeping his mouth shut, but Cody didn't call him on it.

"Yeah," Cody said. "It was prom night, and after the dance was over her date drove her out here. The whole idea was to fool around, you know? So they park in the lot back there and start in. Things get going pretty good. Too good for the gal."

"She was a virgin," Rudy pointed out. "That's how come they call her the Maiden."

"Yeah. Anyway, it's all getting out of hand, as far as she's concerned. So to slow things down, she says they oughta go and take a swim in the lake. The guy figures she means a skinny dip, so he's all for it."

"Nobody else was around," Rudy said.

"That's what she thinks, anyway," Cody said. "So they climb out of the car and start stripping. The guy takes off everything. Not her, though. She insists on keeping her underwear on."

"Her panties and bra," Rudy explained.

"So they throw their clothes in the car and run down here to the beach and go in the lake. They swim around for a while. Play games. Splash each other. That sort of thing. Then they get hold of each other and, you know… things start getting hot again."

"They were still in the water?" I asked.

"Yeah. Out where it isn't very deep."

I wondered how he knew all this.

"Pretty soon she lets him unhook her bra. It was the first time he'd ever gotten that far."

"Finally got to feel her titties," Rudy said.

"He figures he's died and gone to heaven. And he figures he's finally gonna score. So then he tries to pull her panties down."

"He was gonna put it to her, right there in the lake," Rudy explained.

"Yeah. But then she tells him to stop. He doesn't listen, though. He just goes ahead and tries to pull her panties down. So she starts fighting him. I mean, this guy is bare-ass naked and probably has a boner to beat the band, so she knows what's gonna happen if he gets her panties down. And she isn't about to let it. She pounds on him and scratches him and kicks him until she finally manages to get loose and head for shore. Then, just when she's wading out of the lake, her boyfriend starts shouting. He yells, 'Guys! Quick! She's getting away!' And all of a sudden these five other guys come running down the beach at her."

"They're his buddies," Rudy explained.

"A bunch of losers who hadn't even gone to the prom. The guy, the Maiden's date? He'd collected five bucks from each of them and set up the whole deal. They'd driven out earlier that night, hidden their car in the woods, then waited around, drinking beer. By the time the guy showed up with the Maiden, they were plastered out of their minds…"

"And horny enough," Rudy added, "to fuck the crack of dawn."

"The Maiden never had a chance," Cody said. "They caught her while she was running up the beach, and they held her down while her prom date banged her. That was part of the deal, that he'd get to go first."

"Didn't want no sloppy seconds," Rudy explained.

"After him, all the rest of them took turns."

"Two or three turns each," Rudy said. "Some of 'em nailed her in the butt, too."

"That's… awful," I muttered. It was cruel and terrible—which made me feel guilty about how the story made me sort of hard.

"She was messed up pretty good by the time they were finished with her," Cody explained. "They hadn't beaten on her, though. There were four or five of them holding her down the whole time, so they never had to punch her out or anything like that. They figured she'd look all right once she'd washed up and gotten dressed. The plan was for the boyfriend to drive her back home just as if nothing had happened. They figured she wouldn't dare tell on them. Back in those days, you looked like the town slut if you got yourself gang-raped. She'd be ruined if she tried to get them in trouble.

"So they tell her to go in the lake and clean herself up, and while they're thinking everything's gonna turn out great, she goes stumbling into the water and wades out farther and farther. Next thing they know, she's swimming hellbent for the island. They don't know if she's trying to escape or wants to drown herself. Either way, they can't let it happen. So they go and swim out after her."

"All but one," Rudy said.

"One of the guys didn't know how to swim," Cody explained. "So he stayed on shore and watched. What happened is, the Maiden never reached the island."

"She almost made it," Rudy said.

"Had about fifty yards to go, and then she went under."

"God," I muttered.

"Then the guys went under," Cody said. "Some were faster swimmers than others, and they were spread out pretty good. The guy on shore, he could see them in the moonlight. One by one they each sort of let out a quick little cry and splashed around for a few seconds, and vanished under the water. The gal's prom date was the last to go. When he saw his buddies were going down all around him, he turned tail and tried for shore. He made it about halfway. Then he yelled out, 'No! No! Let go of me! Please! I'm sorry! Please!' Then, down he went."

"Wow," I muttered.

"The guy who'd seen it all, he jumped in one of the cars and went speeding for town. He was so drunk and shook up, he crashed after he got out to the main road. He thought he was dying, so he confessed while they were taking him to the hospital. Told everything.

"It was a couple of hours before a search party made it back here to the lake. And you know what they found?"

I shook my head.

"The guys. The boyfriend and his four buddies. They were stretched out side by side, right here on the beach. They were all naked. They were lying on their backs with their eyes wide open, gazing up at the sky."

"Dead?" I asked.

"Dead as carp," Rudy said.

"Drowned," Cody said.

"Jeez," I said. "And it's supposed to be the Maiden who did it? She actually drowned all those guys?"

"You couldn't exactly call them guys anymore," Cody said.

Rudy grinned, then chomped his teeth together a couple of times.

"She bit off their… ?" I couldn't bring myself to say it.

"Nobody knows for sure who did it," Cody said. "Someone or something did. I'd say she was the most likely candidate, wouldn't you?"

"I guess."

"Anyway, they never found the Maiden."

"Or the missing weenies," Rudy added.

"People say she drowned out there on her way to the island, and it was her ghost that took vengeance on those guys."

"It's not her ghost," Rudy said. "Ghosts can't do shit. It's her. She's, you know, like 'the living dead.' A zombie."

"Bull," Cody said.

"She just sort of hangs around out there under the water and waits till a guy tries to swim by. Then she goes for him. Like she did Willy Glitten and all those others. She gets 'em by the dingus with her teeth—"

Cody elbowed him. "She does not."

"Does, too! And pulls 'em down by it."

I suddenly laughed. I couldn't help it. I'd been pretty wrapped up in the story, and actually believing most of it, up till Rudy said that about the Maiden turning into some sort of a dick-hungry zombie. Maybe I can be a little gullible sometimes, but I'm not a complete dope.

"You think it's funny?" Rudy asked.

I quit laughing.

"You wouldn't think it's so funny if you knew how many guys have drowned trying to swim out to the island."

"If they drowned," I said, "I'll bet it wasn't because the Maiden got them."

"That's what I say," Cody said. "Like I told you, only part of the story's true. I mean, I'm willing to believe the business about the girl getting raped and then drowning. But the rest of it, I think somebody made it up. I don't think it's true about the guys getting picked off when they went after her. Much less that she bit off their cocks. I mean, that's complete bull. It's just somebody's idea of poetic justice, you know?"

"You can believe whatever you want," Rudy said. "My gramps was there with the bunch that found the guys that night. And he told my dad about it, and my dad told me."

"I know, I know," Cody said.

"And he didn't just tell me it to scare me."

"Sure, he did. 'Cause he knows you're just the kind of guy that might pull a stunt like those jerks."

"I never raped nobody in my life."

"That's 'cause you're scared you'll get your whang bit off."

"I sure won't go swimming in there" Rudy said. He stuck an arm out and pointed at the lake. "No way. You believe what you want, the Maiden's in there and she's just waiting."

Cody, looking at me, shook his head. "She is out there, I guess. I mean, I think she did drown that night. But that was forty years ago. There's probably nothing much left of her by now. And she doesn't have anything to do with the drownings we've had. People just drown sometimes. It happens. They get muscle cramps…" He shrugged. "But I sure won't hold it against you if you've changed your mind about swimming out to the island."

"I don't know." I stared out at it. There was a lot of black water between me and that patch of wooded land. "If so many people have drowned…"

"It's not that many. Only one guy last year. And he'd just finished wolfing down a pepperoni pizza."

"The Maiden got him," Rudy muttered.

"Did they find his body?" I asked.

"No," Cody said.

"So you don't know if he'd been… eaten."

"I'd bet on it," Rudy said.

I looked Cody in the eyes. They were in shadows, actually, so I couldn't see them. "But you don't believe any of the stuff about the Maiden… you know, waiting around in the lake to, uh, do that to guys who swim by?"

"You've gotta be kidding me. Only dorks like Rudy believe in crap like that."

"Thanks, pal," Rudy said to him.

I took a deep breath, and sighed. I looked once more toward the island, and saw all that blackness along the way. "I guess maybe I'd better skip it," I said.

Cody gave Rudy an elbow in the side. "See what you did? Why didn't you keep your big mouth shut?"

"You told him the story!"

"You brought it up in the first place!"

"He had a right to know! You can't just send a guy out like that without warning him! And he was gonna wear his jeans! Your only chance is if you can outswim her, and you can't do that with jeans on."

"Okay, okay," Cody said. "Anyway, it doesn't matter. He's not going."

"We shouldn't have tried to make him in the first place," Rudy said. "The whole idea was dumb. I mean, you-know-who's as hot as they come, but she ain't worth dying for."

"Well," Cody said, "that's what she wanted to find out, isn't it?" He turned to me. "That's the main reason she picked the island. It was supposed to be a test. What she told me, if you aren't man enough to make the swim, you aren't man enough to deserve her. The thing is, she didn't figure on Bozo here shooting off his mouth about the Maiden."

"It's not that," I said. "You don't think I believe that stuff, do you? But, you know, I'm really not such a great swimmer."

"It's all right," Cody said. "You don't have to explain."

Rudy said, "We just gonna leave now?"

"Guess so." Cody turned toward the lake, cupped his hands to the sides of his mouth, and yelled, "Ashley!"

"Shit!" Rudy blurted. "You said her name!"

"Ooops."

Ashley?

I knew of only one Ashley.

"Ashley Brooks?" I asked.

Cody nodded and shrugged. "It was supposed to be a surprise. And you weren't supposed to find out at all if you didn't make the swim."

My heart was slamming.

Not that I believed a word of it. Ashley Brooks could not possibly have the hots for me and be waiting for me on that island. She was probably the one girl in school who was just as stupendous as Lois. Beautiful golden hair, eyes like a summer morning sky, a face to dream about, and a body… a body that didn't quit. Talk about built!

But her personality wasn't at all like Lois. She had a kind of innocence and sweetness that made her seem like she was from another world—almost too good to be true.

I couldn't come close to believing that Ashley even knew I existed.

She was too much to hope for.

"It can't be Ashley Brooks," I said.

"She knew you'd be shocked," Cody told me. "That's one reason she wanted us to keep it secret. She wanted to see the surprise on your face.

"Oh, sure."

Facing the island again, Cody called out, "Ashley! Might as well show yourself! Elmo's not interested!"

"I didn't say that!" I gasped.

"Ashley!" Cody called again.

We waited.

Maybe half a minute later, a white glow appeared through the trees and bushes near the tip of the island. The glow seemed to be moving. It was very bright. It probably came from one of those propane lanterns people use on camping trips.

"She's gonna be awfully disappointed," Cody muttered.

A few more seconds passed. Then she stepped out onto the rocky shore, the lantern held off away from her side—probably to avoid burning herself.

"And you thought we was liars," Rudy said.

"My God," I muttered, staring at her. She was awfully far away.

I could only make out vague things. Like the goldness of her hair. And her shape. Her shape really caught my eye. At first I thought she was wearing some sort of skin-tight garment—tights or leotards maybe. If that's what she had on, though, it must've been the same color as her face. And it must've had a couple of dark spots where her nipples belonged, and a golden arrowhead pointing down at…

"Holy shit," Rudy said. "She's butt naked."

"Nah," Cody said. "I don't think…"

"Sure is!"

She raised the lantern high. Then her voice drifted over the lake. "Elll-mo? Aren't you coming?"

"Yes!" I shouted.

"I'm waiting," she called. Then she turned around and walked toward the woods.

"She is naked," Cody said. "Man, I don't believe it."

"I do," I said. She was out of sight by the time I got my jeans off. I kept my boxers on. They were a little limp in the elastic, so I hitched them up as I headed for the water. I glanced back at the guys. "See you later."

"Yeah," Cody muttered. He seemed distracted. Maybe he wanted to be the one going to the island.

"Swim fast," Rudy said. "Don't let the Maiden get you."

"Sure," I said.

As I waded into the lake, I could still see the pale light from Ashley's lantern and knew she was in the woods, just out of sight, naked and waiting for me.

The night was pale with moonlight and stars. A warm breeze drifted against my skin. The water around my ankles felt even warmer than the breeze. It made soft lapping sounds and climbed my legs. In my loose boxer shorts I felt almost naked.

I trembled as if I were freezing, but I wasn't cold at all.

It was just from too much excitement.

This can't be happening, I thought. This sort of thing just doesn't happen to guys like me. It's too fabulous.

But it is happening!

I'd seen her with my own eyes.

As the warm water wrapped my thighs and I imagined how she would look close up, I could feel myself rise hard and slide out through the fly of my boxers.

Nobody can see, I told myself. It's too dark, and my back's to the guys.

A couple more steps, and the lake water took me in. It was all soft, sliding warmth. I shivered with the pleasure of it.

"Better get moving" Rudy yelled. "The Maiden's homing in on you."

I scowled over my shoulder at him, angry because he'd shouted and ruined the mood. He and Cody were still standing beside each other on the beach.

"You can quit trying to scare me," I called. "You just want to make me chicken out."

"She's too good for you, barf bag."

"Ha! Guess she doesn't think so."

The water was up to my shoulders by then, so I shoved at the bottom and started to swim. Like I said before, I'm not the greatest swimmer in the world. My crawl pretty much stinks. I've got an okay breast stroke, though. It's not fast like the crawl, but it gets you where you're going. And it doesn't wear you out. Also, you can see where you're going if you keep your head up.

I like the name, breast stroke. But most of all I like how it feels to be gliding softly through the water that way. The warm fluid just slides and rubs against you, all over.

Or would, if you didn't have anything on.

Like boxer shorts. They were down low on my hips, clinging, trapping me. They wouldn't even let me spread my legs enough for good kicks.

I thought about taking them off, but didn't dare.

Anyway, they didn't have me completely trapped. I was still sticking out the fly, and I loved having it out and feeling the caress of the water.

This was all the more exciting because of the Maiden.

The risk.

Offering her bait.

Taunting her with it.

Not that I believed for one minute in all that garbage about the Maiden drowning guys and devouring their whangs. It was like Cody said: bull. But the idea of it turned me on.

You know?

I didn't believe in her, but I could picture her. In my mind, she was sort of suspended in the darkness maybe ten feet below me, her head about even with my waist. She was naked and beautiful. In fact, she looked sort of like Ashley or Lois. She was down there, drifting on her back, not swimming but keeping pace with me, anyhow.

The darkness didn't matter; we could see each other through it. Her skin was so pale that it seemed to glow. She was grinning up at me.

Slowly, she began to rise.

Rising to the bait.

I could see her gliding closer. And I knew she wasn't going to bite. The guys had it all wrong. She was going to suck.

I kept breast-stroking along, imagining the Maiden coming up and latching on. The guys had meant the story to scare me. It had scared me. But the mind is a great thing. You can turn things around. With a bit of mental legerdemain I'd changed their dong-chomping zombie into a seductive water nymph.

But I told myself to stop thinking about her. What with everything else—the sexy prom night story, seeing Ashley naked, the feel of the warm water—I was so excited that the last thing I needed was to imagine the Maiden underneath me, naked and ready to start sucking.

I had to think about something else.

What'll I say to Ashley?

That gave me a quick scare, until I realized there wouldn't be much need to say anything. Not at first, anyway. You swim to an island for a rendezvous with a naked girl, the last thing you do is chitchat.

I raised my head a little higher and saw the glow of the lantern. It was still among the trees, just in from shore.

I'd been making good progress. I was past the halfway mark.

Getting into Maiden territory.

Yeah, right.

Come and get it, honey.

"You better quit dawdling and get your ass in gear!" Rudy shouted.

Yeah, right.

"She's gonna get you! I'm not kidding!"

"You'd better swim faster!" Cody yelled.

Cody?

But he doesn't believe in the Maiden. Why's he telling me to swim faster?

"Move it!" Cody shouted. "Go!"

They're just trying to scare me, I told myself.

It worked.

Suddenly, the water no longer felt like a warm caress; it gave me chills. I was all alone on the surface of a black lake where people had drowned, where rotting bodies lurked, where the Maiden might not really be dead after forty years and where she might be a sharp-toothed, decayed huntress with nothing in her head except revenge and a taste for penis.

Mine shrank like it wanted to hide.

Even though I knew there was no Maiden coming after me.

I started swimming hard. No more breast stroke. I churned up a storm, kicking like a madman, windmilling my arms, slapping the water. There were shouts from behind me, but I couldn't make out the words through the noise of my wild splashing.

Head up, I blinked water out of my eyes.

Not much farther to go.

I'll make it! I'm gonna make it!

Then she touched me.

I think I screamed.

As I tried to twist away from her hands, they scurried down from my shoulders, fingernails scraping my chest and belly. They didn't hurt me. But they made me tingle and squirm. I quit swimming and reached down to get them away from me. But I wasn't fast enough. Gouging some skin, they clawed at the band of my shorts. I felt a rough tug. My head went under. Choking, I quit trying to grab the Maiden. I reached up as if trying to find the rungs of a ladder that would lead me to the surface, and air. My lungs burned.

The Maiden dragged me lower and lower.

Dragged me down by my boxer shorts.

They were around my knees, then around my ankles, then gone.

For a moment I was free.

I kicked for the surface. And got there. Gasping, I sucked at the night air. It took both hands to tread water. I swiveled around. Spotted Cody and Rudy standing on the beach in the moonlight. "Help!" I yelled. "Help! It's the Maiden!"

"Told you so!" Rudy called.

"Tough luck," called Cody.

"Please! Do something!"

What they did, it looked like they each raised a hand into the moonlight and flipped me off.

Then a pair of hands underneath the water grabbed my ankles. I wanted to scream. But I took a deep breath, instead. An instant later, they yanked me down.

This is it! She's got me! Oh, God!

I clutched my genitals.

Any second, her teeth…

Bubbles came up.

I heard the gurgling sound they made, and felt sort of a tickle as some of them brushed against my skin.

For a second I thought the bubbles might be gas escaping from the Maiden's rotting carcass. She'd been dead forty years, though. The rotting should've been over and done with, long ago.

My next thought was air tanks.

Scuba gear!

I stopped kicking. I squatted, reached down between my feet, made a sudden lunge with both hands, and caught hold of some equipment that I think turned out to be her mouthpiece. I gave it a tug for all I was worth.

She must've taken in a mouthful when I did that, because the rest was fairly easy. She hardly fought back at all.

From the feel of things, she was naked except for her face mask, scuba tank, and weight belt. And she wasn't any corpse, either. Her skin was slick and cool, and she had wonderful tits with big, rubbery nipples.

I hurt her pretty bad, right there in the lake.

Then I towed her ashore at the side of the island, so the guys wouldn't be able to see us. From there I dragged her a few yards to the clearing where she'd left her lantern.

In the lantern light I saw who she was.

Though, of course, I'd already guessed.

After doing her Ashley routine to lure me over, Lois must've gotten into her scuba gear real fast and snuck into the lake for her Maiden routine.

She looked great in the lantern light. All shiny and pale, her breasts sticking out between straps. She'd already lost the face mask. I took off her tank and belt so she was naked.

She was sprawled on her back, coughing and choking and having spasms, which made her body twitch and shake in ways that were very neat to watch.

I enjoyed the show for a while. Then I started in on her. This was the best.

For a while she was too out of breath to make much noise. Pretty soon, though, I had her screaming.

I knew her screaming would bring Cody and Rudy to the rescue, so I started swinging her weight belt. It caved her head in nicely, and finished her off.

Then I hurried to the tip of the island. Cody and Rudy were already in the lake and swimming fast.

I planned to take them by surprise and bash their heads in, but guess what? I was spared the trouble. They got about halfway to the island. Then, one at a time, they let out squeals and went down.

I couldn't believe it.

Still can't.

But they never showed up.

I guess the Maiden got them.

Why them but not me?

Maybe the Maiden felt sorry for me, the way I was being abused by my supposed "friends." After all, we'd both gotten betrayed by guys we'd trusted.

Who knows? Hell, maybe Cody and Rudy suddenly got cramps, and the Maiden had nothing to do with it.

Anyway, my little excursion to Lost Lake turned out way better than I ever would've dreamed.

Lois was stupendous.

It's no wonder people like sex so much.

Anyway, I eventually sank Lois and her gear in the lake. I found the canoe she must've come over in, so then I climbed aboard and paddled back to the beach. I took Cody's Cherokee most of the way home.

I wiped it to get rid of fingerprints. Then, for good measure, I set it on fire. I made it home just fine, with a while to spare before dawn.