It was supposed to be just another morning on the water. The fishermen had done this a thousand times—rowing out at dawn, casting their nets, joking as they waited for the day’s haul. But this time, the lake gave them something they never expected.
When the net snagged on something heavy near the reeds, they assumed it was a log or a tangle of weeds. But as they pulled it up, the shape beneath the dripping fabric made their blood run cold.
The sack was tied shut, but not tightly enough to hide what was inside. The outline of a face pressed against the wet cloth, its features eerily distinct. One of the men staggered back, his voice trembling. “That’s not… that can’t be…”
The police arrived quickly, turning the peaceful lakeside into a crime scene. The victim was a missing man from a nearby village, his death as gruesome as it was deliberate. Investigators would later find more of his remains along the riverbank, each piece telling a story of unspeakable violence.
The discovery unraveled a dark mystery. A local man, long suspected of foul play but never charged, was finally brought to justice. The case even shed light on other disappearances that had gone unexplained for years.
For the fishermen, the memory of that morning lingered. Some couldn’t bring themselves to go back to the lake. Others tried but found themselves staring into the water, wondering what else might be hidden beneath the surface.
