Almost a month had passed since Sirius' suicide. On the Earth, in his hometown, it was the middle of August.

The one particular girl, the one that Sirius loved, was sitting on the porch of her parent's house. A photo of herself with Sirius was held in her hands as she stared off into the distance, watching as the sun disappeared below the horizon.

She remembered an extraordinary event that happened in July. Sirius' house was burned to the ground, and a day later police visited her. Since she lived pretty close to him, she was questioned if she knew anything about the destruction of his house. She was away from the town when it happened, so she had nothing to say about the event itself. She wished to know how and why it happened, however.

"...And the last thing, ma'am." the policeman said, and then handed her a photograph. "A body was found under the debris. Most of it is burned, so we can't find out whom it belongs to. Since you claim you knew the owner of the house for many years, maybe a photo of the arm would help."

"I'm not sure..." the girl said, taking the photo. She looked closer at it, trying to see anything of importance. The arm was slightly red but skin was still intact, although there were some nasty cracks along it. The back side of the hand was facing the viewer. "Oh, wait..." she looked at the hand. She remembered Sirius having a scar on the outer side of his right hand. "Is it the right hand?"

"I believe so." the policeman confirmed with a nod.

"It's... definitely not Stas." the girl said. "It must be someone else." she handed the photo back. "Um, he had a scar on the outer side. Maybe... maybe it'll help."

"Thank you, ma'am." the policeman nodded politely. "Have a nice day."

Since that visit, her mind was troubled. If it wasn't Stas, then who was it? She hadn't talked to him in almost two years. In fact, she hadn't even seen him anywhere but at his own house that was passed from his deceased mother. And even then, he was almost never there as if he was hiding from someone.

Stas had abandoned the school when he was slightly older than sixteen. She couldn't understand why he did it. Sure, he had some enemies but it wasn't that bad, at least to her knowledge. He wasn't exactly the friendliest type, but he was still a nice person even despite his issues.

Ever since she rejected him, the two grew apart at an alarming rate. He rarely talked to her after his failed confession, and it reached the peak when he stopped showing up at the school altogether. She tried to call him but he never answered. She also tried to get to him by coming to his house but he seemed to disappear instantaneously as soon as she was nearby.

A week after the fire, she ventured into the remnants of his house to look around for clues of his complete disappearance. The house itself used to consist of one floor and a basement. Since the house was mostly made of wood, its top burned down almost completely, leaving only the basement more or less intact.

She spent a few hours digging to the entrance. She even had to put on a gas mask — she didn't want the dust to get into her lungs. After all, she didn't know what kind of stuff burned in the fire. For all she knew, the dust could be poisonous. The land on which the house stood hadn't been bought yet, and thus the charred remains stood still.

Finally, the girl managed to find the entrance to the basement. Unfortunately, only the main part could be accessible — the door that led further inside was locked. Since it was made of metal, there was no way she could get in without instruments.

In the first room, she found a couple of rusty knives, a box of bullets, and a sword, as well as some miscellaneous things that weren't of importance. The sword's blade was slightly melted, leaving the point flat and unsuitable for thrusting but was still good for cutting and slashing.

The girl remembered he took fencing lessons ever since he moved into this town and attended the school. However, he stored not only practice blunt weapons but sharp swords that were ready for combat. She couldn't quite understand why Stas would ever need one.

In the end, she found nothing else in the house, but the box worried her — Stas never owned a gun, at least to her knowledge. With his anger issues, she saw how it could go wrong. The box wasn't completely full, too.

It was very strange. He was missing, a body that wasn't his own was found under the debris, and... that was it. The girl just couldn't figure out what happened to her friend.

Even after she rejected him, she was still supportive of him and wanted to remain friends with him. Though, he told her a few nasty words about her friends, he hurt them, and all of it caused her to stop talking to him just as he did to her. It might've been a wrong decision, however they were just teenagers. She regretted her decision but there was nothing that could be done at that point. She realized she shouldn't have abandoned him in his time of need, she should've worked things out with him. Alas, it was too late.

A few days after her search, the girlvisited his fencing club and tried to get the answers there. Since Stas kept his training away from school, no one from his club knew he was missing the school.

"You see Anastasia, Stanislav hasn't showed up since last month." the trainer explained to her. "I can only say that he became less talkative just when you say he stopped attending the school. Though, he devoted more time and effort to the training process. However, I don't know where he might've gone. Maybe to another city? I wish I knew — he is a good swordsman, and all of us miss him."

Anastasia could do nothing but leave. There were no answers to be found at the fencing club, even his own house had nothing to give her.

As days passed, she tried to dig up as much information as possible. Stas had a car, and thus him leaving wouldn't be unnoticeable. She checked the surveillance footage she had in her own house. The only road there was from his house to the town and other places of interest went right by Anastasia's house, and thus the cameras could've recorded him leaving in that direction in the car or otherwise.

During the course of July, Stanislav had driven off only a couple of times. The last time he drove was right before the arson, and he was driving back to his house. Unfortunately, car burned along with his house, leaving no evidence behind.

Anastasia came to a conclusion that he must be somewhere around. Since she had many things to do, she couldn't find the time to look for any more clues or just look around the town for him. But finally, it was the weekend when she was completely free, and thus she decided to venture into the nearest forest. If anything, he could be there, otherwise the police wouldn't have to search for him. There were still posters with Stas' face on them, and it meant he wasn't found neither dead or alive.

She put the photo into the pocket and stood up from the porch. It was time to move.

First of all, she decided to visit his house again. She left his sword there, and she figured it might be useful in some way. Something told her she might need it.

In truth, Anastasia wasn't into fencing much, but she admitted there was beauty in swords. While most girls like her weren't interested in weaponry much, she was fascinated by the looks of swords. It was something she couldn't express and she shared this fascination with Stanislav as well.

As soon as she retrieved the sword and attached it to the backpack she brought, she went to the forest. As far as she knew, Stas liked it a lot, and especially a lake in it was what he liked the most.

There wasn't a clear path through the forest since rarely anyone ventured there. It was a dense forest, and getting lost in it was pretty easy. However, Anastasia knew a way through it, one Stas had showed her.

When she came to it, she noticed that the bushes had broken sticks as if someone forced their way through it. She suspected it could be her friend that did it. She decided to follow the path and see if it led where she thought it led.

It was pretty noticeable that someone walked there some time ago. The broken sticks were dry, making it clear that it happened some time ago. Could be a week, could be two or even a month. Anastasia wasn't much of a trapper or hunter, so she didn't know for sure. However, she was certain it was Stas who made that path.

As she made her way through the bushes and over the fallen trees, she realized the path indeed led to the lake Stas liked so much. He told her that he always liked ponds and even back when he lived in another town he was used to spend a lot of his free time near a local lake.

Anastasia didn't know what made him like lakes. There was quiet and serenity near it, and even obnoxious bands of teenagers never visited it to drink alcohol. Indeed, that lake was a quiet place. Stanislav was an easily angered person who didn't hesitate to fight, and him liking such a calm place was a striking contrast. Maybe it was why he liked it.

Soon, she finally came to a lake. It wasn't very large but it had steep shores, making it easy to fall in if not looking where to step.

A very interesting thing immediately caught her eye — there was a strange plant growing at the base of a large boulder. That plant was red in color and featured pretty big leaves. It encompassed one side and the top of the rock. Anastasia wasn't a botanist but she wasn't sure such a plant existed.

With interest, she walked up to the plant and looked at it. It was full of life and energy, and something made it very attractive to a touch.

Suddenly, Anastasia noticed something even more interesting. It seemed like there was some sort of a paper bag underneath the plant. Was it the plant that looked like a bag or was the bag being consumed by the plant?

Something made the girl look at the lake's surface. There was a mirror image, but it didn't match with what was surrounding the lake. It was both interesting and creepy at the same time.

Anastasia heard a crack behind her. She turned around and saw... nothing. However, there was a sound. The sound of soft steps against the grass. Sometimes, another twig broke under the steps, but it didn't stop whoever was walking.

She didn't know what it was but she pulled out the sword. She wasn't much of a fighter but she knew how to use long and sharp things to her advantage. Stas had showed her some tricks that would make her fight better, and thus she took a defensive stance. She was right-handed, and thus she turned her body so that her right arm was in front. She placed her legs about one and a half foot length away from each-other and bent them slightly. She was ready to take whatever was coming to her.

The steps sounded closer and closer but there was nothing to be seen. Frankly, Anastasia was confused. The forest wasn't too dense to hide someone that close to her. She must've been able to see that person at that moment. The steps continued, getting closer. However, they turned to her left, and then she heard the sounds of someone climbing the boulder.

She looked up at its top but still could see nothing. She was puzzled and confused. Was she hearing things? She didn't know if the plant she encountered was intoxicating her and twisting her mind and besides, she wasn't even thinking about the weird red plant.

The steps stopped, some rustling sounded, and then the silence came. Something soft hit the ground, rustled a bit, and then settled.

Anastasia tensed. She had a feeling that it wasn't over. She prepared for the worst yet she didn't know what was coming. She felt as if she was blind. She held the sword out, trying to look as tough as possible. She also had a pepper spray in her pocket, it could probably help her as well.

*BLAM!*

Anastasia let out a yelp as the loud gunshot made her ears ring, and then she lost her balance and fell into the lake. She tried to grab onto something but only managed to catch a red leaf and tear it from the boulder. She was swallowed by the lake, her hand still clutching the leaf she tore out.

A few moments later, the surface of the lake became still again. Its clear water didn't show any sign of Anastasia's body. The bottom was clear, but it was devoid of fish or any plants.

The girl was consumed by the lake, as well as everything with her.

Later that day, a search was conducted to find her. The parents, the police, and many other people that knew Anastasia searched for her around the town and the forest.

Somehow, none of them ever came to the lake.

Author's Notes:

Dun dun DUUUUN!

I must thank one of the readers for giving this amazing idea. They know who they are.

Just to clarify: Sirius' real name is Stas which is short for Stanislav. I can only tell you that this name is of Russian origin and that it's not my name. Anastasia is also of Russian origin (which originated from Greek, but that's not the point).

What do you think about what would happen next?