Chapter Three: A Storm Is Coming

"They were the Gossmans," Mr Hart starts as Kara gets comfortable. There's a somber edge to his tone. "They lived in that house for twelve years, until one summer about fourteen years ago."

"Dad, the sink is stopped up again!" Avery pokes her head around the door, a smile on her face. For a ten year old, she's sometimes more mature than he is. "I think we should really call a plumber this time."

Frank looks up from the small kitchenette with his mug lifted half-way to his lips. He sets it down with a frown. "I could take another look at it, first. It's probably just, uh, some kind of block in the pipes. Nothing another snake won't fix."

Avery raises an eyebrow at him and comes down the hallway with her toothbrush in hand.

"Dad, you have no idea what you're talking about, do you?" His frown breaks into a sheepish grin.

"Not a clue, pumpkin."

"Don't worry, Dad, I'll call a plumber. I know you hate the phone."

"Come on, at least let your old man do some things. You're growing up too fast," Frank grumbles as he sips at his coffee. Behind his mug, he's hiding a smile. Sometimes his daughter makes him so proud.

Avery leans over him and slumps against his shoulder with a dramatic sigh, saying, "I know. Pretty soon I'll be old like you." Frank snorts and picks his daughter up without warning, causing her to shriek and giggle. "Daddy! Put me down!"

"Only if you take that back, missy. I'm not old yet!" He spins her around a few times before setting her down, hiding the twinge in his back behind a cough. Maybe he is getting a little old. "Well, I better go take a look at that sink. If I can't get it fixed by tomorrow, we'll call a plumber. Deal?"

"Deal."

A knock at the door makes her brighten up.

"Teo! Dad, can I-?"

"Yeah, go ahead," he interupts with a wave of his hand. "You kids go play."

Avery hugs him before running to the front door. She throws it open to greet her neighbor, Theodore. "Teo, wanna go play on the docks?"

"Sure! I brought the water guns, we can feel them up in the water. I'm going to beat you this time, though!"

"No, you aren't! You're too slow," Avery reminds him. "I'll win because I'm taller and faster than you."

"Just you wait, one day I'll be bigger than you and you can't bully me anymore," Theo says with his arms crossed, pouting.

"Tiny Teo is never gonna outgrow me," she teases, standing tall with her chin up and chest out, proud. "I'll just grow taller if he tries."

"Nuh-uh! Pretty soon I'll hit another growth spurt and be twice as tall as you," Theo shouts.

"No, you won't!"

"I will!"

"You're gonna be short forever and everyone will point and say, 'look at Tiny Teo, he still looks like a baby.'" Theo opens his mouth and before the fight can dissolve into insults, Frank intervenes.

"Alright, alright, that's enough. Avery, no one is going to call Theodore a baby. I swear, you two fight more than any friends I've ever seen."

"Sorry, dad."

"Sorry, Mr Gossman."

They run through the house towards the back door, seemingly over their little fight, and Frank shakes his head at their antics.

"You two be careful on those docks," Frank calls, leaving the back door slid open to have a better view of the kids as they play. The lake may not be as deep near the house like some parts further out, but all water is dangerous water. Besides, that lake has claimed its share of victims over the years.

There's a storm rolling in, so the two don't get to play for very long before they're called back inside. Frank sends Theo home with a stern warning to go straight to his house and stay safe. Avery makes silly faces standing behind her dad while he's talking, which Theo does his best not to giggle at.

"I'll be careful, Mr Gossman," Theo promises.

Once he's out the door, Frank goes back to working on the sink in the bathroom. He gets lost in the task and before he knows it, half an hour has passed. The sink is draining again, though, and he's proud of himself.

"Looks like we're not calling a plumber after all! I guess your old man isn't so clueless," he calls out to Avery. When he doesn't get an answer, he steps into the hallway. Avery's bedroom is empty and she isn't in the living room. "Avery?"

One of Theo's water guns is on the table and the back door is open. Frank is struck with a sick sinking dread as he crosses the room and looks outside. It must have been left open awhile, the rain is leaving a puddle on the floor.

He doesn't see Avery, but he sees a bright neon orange toy floating at the end of the dock as well as one of her slippers.

Donna and William Hart are making dinner when William jumps and almost drops the bowl in his hands. He sets it down and shoots a worried look at the window.

"I'm going to go check on Frank and Avery. I think I heard something." Theo looks up from the table where he's scribbling in his notebook, confused.

"Honey, it was probably just the storm." Despite Donna's reassurances, William kisses her on the cheek before going. He slides his shoes on.

Theo looks on suspiciously as his dad foregoes his jacket and hurries out the door. It's raining really hard, now. Weird...

William is gone for nearly an hour. Donna is getting worried, even if she hides it well, but the door opens and William comes inside. He sees Donna hovering and goes to her immediately.

"It's Avery," he whispers, voice cracking. "S- we think she fell in the lake and we couldn't find her. We called he cops and they sent someone out, but search and rescue said no one is going out on that lake until the storm blows over. Officialy she's missing, but..." They both look up as the stairs creaks, Donna gasping. Theo's eyes are red, his lips trembling.

"What are you talking about," he demands.

"Theo-"

"Avery is fine! She isn't-! She can't be-!" He turns and runs out with a sob. He slams the front door behind him. It done take a genius to guess where he's heading.

William goes after him. "Theo, wait!"

The woods pass in a blur and Theo doesn't feel the sting of the torrential rain on his skin or he bite of sticks under his bare feet. When he gets to the end of the trail, he darts around the house to get to the back porch.

"Avery! AVERY!" Theo runs down the dock with his feet slipping and sliding on the wet wooden boards, consumed with one goal; find Avery. Before he can get to the water, strong arms wrap around him. It isn't his father, though, that sinks down to hold him in his lap, keeping him away from the water.

"She's gone, Theodore," Frank says. "She's gone."

Theo can't tell which of them is crying more, and which drops are tears or rain.

Theo can hear his dad just a few feet away, breathing hard from the sprint through the woods. He doesn't speak, though, giving them both space until Frank stands up and tugs Theo with him.

"You should go home, kiddo," the man rasps. He gives William a small nod before dragging himself back into his house. Theo notices tough his blurry vision that he doesn't close the back door. William gently grabs Theo and drags him into a hug.

"Come on, let's get you home."

Three days later, William and Donna Hart are sitting in their kitchen with a somber air still hovering over them.

"Have you spoken with him since... Since it happened," Donna asks.

"Yesterday, yeah. He said he's moving back home, where his sister lives," William says gently. "He isn't selling the land, though. Said he'll have the place torn down once he... Honestly, I think it'll do him some good to get out of that house and away from that lake."

"Yeah," Donna agrees with a small sad nod. "Lord knows that house has taken enough lives... I think we ought t' keep Theo away from there, too. At least until he's a bit older and can swim better."

William breaks at that, ducking his head and burying his face in his wife's neck to cover his sobs. She wraps both arms around him, but makes no effort to hide her own tears.

"I know, baby, I know."

"She was only twelve. Twelve year olds aren't supposed to die, Doni."

Theo sits with his back against the door, listening to his parents' every word with bloodshot eyes and shaking hands. He silently makes a promise to his parents, Frank, and Avery.

No one will ever drown in that lake again.

"They never found Avery," Mr Hart whispers in a tone that aches with an old sadness. Even after all these years, Kara knows it must still hurt.

It doesn't matter what or who you are, grief is all the same. Even a siren like her knows that.

"Exactly how many people have died in the lake," Kara asks. She isn't able to hide her upset after hearing the story. Plenty of people had drowned in Raverden. Boating accidents, people who didn't wear life-jackets, late night lake party goers. Kara had always done everything in her power to stop it, but people make stupid mistakes, sometimes. The reason doesn't make it any easier.

William doesn't turn to look at her, choosing instead to focus on his grilling. Just barely, she can see a tremble to his shoulders.

"Seven. Avery had been the only one to die near the house, though. There's a swimming area around the treeline that people used to go to, but it's been closed down for a few years." Good. Kara stands up to compose herself, eyes wet.

"Thank you for telling me this. I think I'm going to go back inside, now." She's got some things to think about. A lot of things, apparently.

"I noticed you walk with a limp," William says before she can go. Kara stops and looks at him in confusion. Why would he point that out now?

"I worked on my feet all day yesterday, I'm just a little sore."

"That so? Well, do an old man a kindness anyway, please. Be safe around that lake. It doesn't take long to drown." Somehow, Theo's demand yesterday makes more sense now.

"Don't worry, I'm actually a professional swimmer, sort of. I'll be careful." Kara leaves him there an heads back inside, the cheer of everyone socializing feeling wrong now.

They never found her. Fourteen years and she's in that lake, still. Kara steadies herself on the banister of the stairs and closes her eyes. She silently adds one more mission to her list.

Find Avery Gossman.