Here are all the dates for you to ponder over. It took me a while to notice the pattern. It is the pattern that makes me add number three in.

January 26, 1971
April 18, 1977
September 14, 1984
July 23, 1998
July 3rd, 2008

Nov 2, 1996 - disappearance
Jun 26, 1995 - drowning
Dec 18, 1992 - disappearance
Mar 21, 1986 - missing
May 15, 1983 - missing, later found drowned.
Sep 18, 1981 - drowning
Apr 2, 1979 - missing
Feb 18, 1975 - missing
Oct 20, 1973 - disappearance, later found drowned.

The other dates above where the information is lacking or the death/disappearance is explained away. Again the odd thing is the dates on these (there is a pattern I think), there were other referenced missing persons but they weren't in the pattern and I left them out. Anyways, these were missing people that were known to frequent the lake, headed to the lake, or at the lake but not at the right spot. I think that our creature while liking that one spot does travel around the lake area.

Sorry, I needed to edit this because I was really tired when I posted it.

I made a visit to the old lady that chased me away from the park the other day and stopped by the school. Both were interesting, but I will start with the school.

The school was originally two plantation mansions built near each other. Originally the two families were close but over the years they grew to first dislike and then hate each other. Their feud lasted until one of the families died out and the second purchased the land. Eventually when the farms started losing money they donated them to the town after selling the land around it and the school was founded.

Apparently, it is notorious for being haunted. There are at least three different hauntings that are regular and on occasion strange things happen. When I got there, I immediately felt something and even thought I managed to see one of the specters.

But, I am getting side-tracked. I visited the principal and only one of the guys still live in town. Unfortunately, he doesn't like talking about and the school wouldn't give out the information on who it is. Fortunately, public records and the internet make it a little easier. I am going to stop by tomorrow at his place of work.

For the old lady, she is related to one of the victims. She goes and visits the lake everytime around death or disappearance happens and prays for the victims. She too believes the place is haunted, and when I told her I wanted to stop it she was full of rumors and information. She had a collection of newspaper clippings that rivals the libraries. The part that was most helpful however is that she has lived her all her life and knows just about everyone (and all the gossip related to them). She gave me three leads to check up on.

She also believes like I do that the creature only attacks on nights of New Moons. When she was younger she would go out to that part of the lake and keep an eye on it, but she is too old to do it now.

Anyways, that is the update for now. I will check back in if one of the leads goes somewhere.

Some people use the Dark of the Moon as time to heal but it's also a time for evil magic. She's probably using some charm magic to get her victims. And since you're dealing with a physical being, physical problems often require physical solutions - which means it's likely to turn personal. Be ultra careful, Erik, when you go near that place; if you felt her eyes, it's possible she knows you're sensitive, which means she'll be extra interested in killing you. Sorry for the hasty post. Contact me if you have any questions, of course. Take care.

Ops by 'she' I was referring to the murderous undine nymph.

I'll be careful Natasha. I am hoping to find a solution that does not require me to go head to head with it. I really don't have much in the way of weapons and those that I do require me to be up close and personal. I am fairly sure that doing that will result in me being added to the list of victims.

I just got back from talking with the guy still living in town. He works a one of the local repair shops so I stopped in during my lunch. It is an understatement to say that he doesn't want to talk about it, and hopefully my new black eye and bruised skull will heal quickly.

I also got the joy of talking to with Officer Rick Bodie as a reward for todays events. I guess getting into a fight at a repair shop is not exactly his idea of laying low . Tonight I will starting looking into the leads Mrs. Davis gave me while hopefully doing a better job of staying out of trouble.

She has been watching the lake sine April 18, 1977. Her husband was the one that they claimed looked like he had aged 10 years overnight. He was the fourth disappearance in the area and she never believed the explainations the police or newspapers came up with.

Her husband had spent time in the navy and was an excellent swimmer. The day it happened he had just found out he had gotten a major promotion at his job. He had everything to live for and no reason to kill himself at they claimed.

Well, two of the leads were dead ends. That was literally with one lead since the lady I was to talk to died that morning of a heart attack. She was outside walking her dog and her ticker just gave out. The dog led people to her. No chance of foul play since she had needed two heart surgeries before and was waiting for a transplant.

The second was nothing and once the facts were straightened out became an obvious dead end. Way too many details that were altered in retellings and once straightened out didn't align with the facts.

Tonight I start looking into the final rumor. Although at this point I am not too hopeful about it.

DarKnyht wrote:No chance of foul play since she had needed two heart surgeries before and was waiting for a transplant.

Not to be paranoid or doubtful but it's the perfect cover.

Way too many details that were altered in retellings and once straightened out didn't align with the facts.

Seems to be the case a lot but you never know until go through the paces.

Tonight I start looking into the final rumor. Although at this point I am not too hopeful about it.

Tonight? As in sitting on your sofa or you're going to be in the field so to speak? I mean, I ask only because if you don't report back we know a place to start looking for you.

Tonight? As in sitting on your sofa or you're going to be in the field so to speak? I mean, I ask only because if you don't report back we know a place to start looking for you.

I will be going to the library and then over to visit some of the people related to the rumor after work today. I think the only reason I won't report back is if I get myself thrown into jail. That should only happen if I get another response like I did the other day from a question (man my head still hurts from that one).

Alright. I'll call jail before the morgue then

Sorry I'm sitting on your neck so but I just get creepy feelings about this whole thing that I can't shake.

It's ok there are parts of this I do not like either, and I appreciate that I would be missed.

I promise if the spidey-sense starts tingling I will be extra careful if not downright cowardly. I don't feel up to a fight today.

Thanks for the info, I will start looking in that direction and I think that gives me 8 days to solve the mystery.

I think I found what I was looking for. It was confirmed by the partial copy of a school record report from 1964. Apparently a group of students claimed another student gave birth in a school bathroom. When the teacher got there there was no sign of the supposed baby.

The family was pretty high up the town food chain and had the entire mess swept under the rug. There was very little investigation done by anyone. Essentially the school (and everyone else for the most part) just took the word of the parents. The girl spent the rest of her school years being schooled overseas until eventually even the rumors mostly died away.

Fortunately, one very stubborn schoolgirl refused to forget and now resides in the local retirement home. She was more than happy to tell the tale and tomorrow I think I will start looking for the girl through public records. The first question I want to know is who helped the girl get rid of/hide the baby?

Well, it has been a long and frustrating day. First, everywhere I went to ask about the girl in question I was answered with either blank stares or polite (and impolite) requests that I go away. It as if the entire town decided to never speak of that time or doesn't know about it.

Worse, I missed getting back to the post office to pick up the package that was left for me. I think it is the records I requested, and I really would have liked to get a good look at them.

I feel like I am working against the clock and it is starting to make me impatient. I really need to figure out this quickly, and it is frustrating to have an entire town to stonewall me.

Finally got a chance to sit down and fill everyone in. The past 48 hours have been busy. I got my copies of the records and there is not much there past what I knew.

I think I am on the right track however, since I was visited by two goons looking to get me to change my mind. Unfortunately for them, I was just finishing up practicing kendo and they forgot to bring anything bigger than a knife and bat.

I also received a mysterious note today. It was left under the door of my apartment. I am to meet someone tonight at an address. They want to talk about what I am looking into. So perhaps tonight I will know more.

I think I have the answer to all of this. I went to the location of the note and met someone that doesn't want to be identified. They gave me an edited version of a diary that details the guilt of someone over drowning a baby in the lake. They describe where they buried the child after it all took place. I found my stomach turning as I read this because I cannot understand someone doing something this horrible.

I was told that this was the final entry before the writer committed suicide. They were found in a bathtub of water with their wrists cut and a toaster in it. Unfortunately they had gone quite mad by the time this occurred so no one took the claims seriously. They had previously claimed to see ghosts and demons and were on heavy medication.

Fearing an investigation, the family hid the diary before calling the police. The entire episode was chalked up to a mental breakdown caused by the person not taking their medication.

Ron Caliburn wrote:I wonder what was edited out . . . or in.

I wonder if the timeline matches up with that other story about the highschool girl.

But I'm sure you're checking out plenty of leads.

I am sure any identifying information was edited out, but I am almost sure it is the same story (fact checking this afternoon). Even with the gaps there are statements in it that link it to the other story, details that were missed by someone rushing.

This person also has agreed to help fix the problem for their own reasons. While I generally am wary of strangers offering help. this person seems to be genuine in wanting to correct someone else's mistake. I actually think their biggest concern is that the name of the person in the diary not be found out.

Tonight is the big night. Me, Mrs. Davis and Pat (that is what they want to be called, since it is ambiguous to their identity) from the other night will be going out to the site where we now believe there is a body. If all goes well, we will get the body dug up, given the proper rites, and buried before anyone knows it.

After researching further into Michael T's suggestion it seems likely that the Rusalka, if it shows up, will be really weakened tonight. They seem to have their greatest strength during the New Moon and are weakest during the Full Moon. I am unsure why this is, but the few sites I found online suggest it is because the Full Moon is cleansing and healing.

I will try to post what happens in the morning.

We all met outside the park at 11 last night and slowly made our way into the park. I had prepared flashlights for all of us so that our night vision would not be compromised. I carried my sword and bag with salt, rice, garlic, and other choice spices and roots that generally counter the supernatural (I was unsure exactly what would and wouldn't work). We also had two shovels, a crowbar, and the materials needed to do the last rites.

We had scouted the area the day (actually Mrs. Davis did) before and were fairly sure where the location was. We quickly made our way there, and using the description in the diary figured out where they were talking about. The tree had grown old over the years and finally had started to die out, but it did still manage to point us in the right direction.

We slowly made our way along the shore behind it, around an outcropping that required us all to get ourselves a little wet as we made our way around it. Once we cleared that we found the hidden location that was described behind the driftwood, weeds, and other crap that grew there. It didn't take long before we were standing in front of the rock formation described. It was then that we started on the work.

At first we all pitched in, prying loose rocks and digging up dirt. It didn't take long until we saw the old faded canvas of the sack that was used. It was also about that time that the trapped gases escaped and made us sick. We also were reminded exactly what it was we were doing, finding a little baby forgotten for over 40 years. It was when we finally got the sack free that the trouble started.

I felt the presence before any of us saw it. I had told them to expect this and the plan was simple, I would attempt to delay the creature while they finished the rites. If we were correct we couldn't defeat it by confronting, but finishing the rites would complete the task. If we were wrong, we would all be in the news today.

The new moon caused the creature to be weakened. Instead of the beautiful seductress of legend and hideous hag rose out of the water. The flesh looked decayed and waterlogged, while it's eyes burned with green flames. It never spoke but slowly made it's way towards the two still working. I was confident that it's odds of charming me were little to none and I drew my sword to engage it.

But it never stopped approaching them until my blade bit into it. Then the scream of it's anger cut through the night. It sounded both like a baby shrieking and a wild anamal in rage at the same time, and it's backhand almost took off my head. My partners called out asking if I needed help and I had to call them off. It was then that the dance of death began in full. As much as I scored hits, it seemed to heal just as fast.

All my concentration was on parry, dodge, strike, but I could feel this pressure building in the back of my head. It slowly grew until it felt like my head was going to explode. It was then that in my distraction that the creature scored a solid hit and I went flying backwards. It was also then that I blacked out so the rest of this story is what I was told when I awoke.

As I flew backwards (bruising ribs in the process) something else slammed into the creature and threw it too. The splash of it going back into the water and the crash of me hits the rocks happened at the same time also. About the time I blacked out was when the creature started at the two again. This time it was pissed and came at them faster.

Pat grabbed a shovel and ordered Mrs. Davis to finish the rites. But before she ever got to the creature an tentacle of a gelled water-like substance grabbed her mid-stride and started to choke her. She said it was like being held by a jellyfish and trying to breathe through it. Anyways, she thought she was a goner when gunfire sang into the night and the creatures advance stopped as it was forced sideways by the bullets.

Rick Bodie stood holding his pistol, reloading as fast as he could. He apparently ordered Pat back to the side of Mrs. Davis and took on the creature. The gunfire continued as the finished and then everything just went silent. When they turned, they said the creature was nothing more than a pile water and algae.

I don't know what the official story is going to be, but I am sure it will involve us getting waylaid by a gang, drug runners, or some other fantasy that sounds good to the public. I know that Bodie will make sure the truth doesn't get out there. Mrs. Davis is happy to have closure and Pat disappeared as suddenly as they appeared. Hopefully my ribs will be back in top shape before too much longer, but the good news is that the child is finally at peace.