Chapter 90: Chapter 090: Evil Spirit in the Lake?
Kelly had been gone for a while before Roger managed to calm his restless heart.
There was no reason to turn down a girl who had literally shown up at his door, besides, as a qualified Demon Hunter, he was far behind Henrik in this regard.
There simply wasn’t time.
He flipped through the files.
After that Allen, the fourth victim was named Jonathan, and it was his death that linked the previous three cases together and drew the attention of the Hunters Guild.
The reason was there were many witnesses to Jonathan’s death.
Glancing through the statements at the time, Roger frowned. According to the bystander’s recollections, Jonathan appeared to have hallucinations, shouting things that nobody else could understand.
Many people around him had gone into the water to rescue him, but Jonathan not only failed to cooperate, he also desperately dragged the rescuers under the water.
The students around were terrified, and even two of them nearly lost their lives. By the time the lakeside rescue team arrived, the drowned Jonathan had already floated up from the bottom of the lake.
This incident had a significant impact, and together with the previous three drowning incidents, stories about the spirits of Crystal Lake started to spread among the students.
All four victims were high school seniors, and two of them had even been accepted into State University in advance.
Since all the victims were of similar ages, no one believed the police who repeatedly clarified it was merely a coincidence.
In recent days, except for special work needs, nobody dared to get close to Crystal Lake anymore.
“Could it really be Jason’s ghost?”
Of course, he was just joking. On the entire Federal West Coast, there are no fewer than eight places named Crystal Lake for every ten.
Continuing to review the files, he took down the personal information of each victim. Since advancing to the second level of meditation, Roger’s memory had improved a lot.
Roger quickly discovered something odd.
“All four victims are male!”
“Is there any correlation between them?”
He carefully looked through the data and found that the four individuals came from very different backgrounds.
Judd was a typical Caucasian, while Travis had a Caucasian name but was actually African American.
Allen was a Sunrise citizen.
Jonathan was also Caucasian, but his family was from the ordinary working class, a far cry from Judd’s.
Although he, Allen, and Judd studied at the same school, they didn’t really have any interactions with each other.
“It indeed looks like an ordinary act of an Evil Spirit, all the victims were male. Could it be a female ghost who dwells in the water, just like last time?”
Considering this possibility, Roger felt somewhat overwhelmed for a moment.
He unlocked his phone and entered search terms like “Swamp Town Crystal Lake drowning” into the web browser.
Sure enough, the news stories filled the entire screen.
Almost every year, people died accidentally at Crystal Lake. If he followed this clue to investigate, the few days he had would not be enough.
“Alright, I’ll just wait until I get there and then check the police records,” he decided.
Rubbing his temples, he put away the files, leaned back in his seat, and quietly began his meditation.
Unknown to him, although he had only appeared at the school for a few days, because of his actions, he had become a prominent figure throughout Baytown high school.
And the provocateur Nick had become the butt of jokes, rumored to have transferred to another place.
The bus came to a smooth stop in the school parking lot.
Roger did not hurry to leave. This school was where Judd and the two others had studied, and it was a good opportunity for him to gather some information.
The school had arranged temporary accommodations for everyone, and the performance wouldn’t start until the next day, leaving the entire afternoon free as their rest time.
Although they couldn’t leave the school, they could visit the school’s various buildings and learn about their history under teacher supervision.
“This wall is in honor of students who have achieved distinction in our school,” explained a beautiful girl with fair skin and long legs.
Roger casually glanced over but saw Judd’s photo on the wall.
“Isn’t that Judd?” he asked, feigning confusion.
“You know him?” a student from Swamp Town High asked.
“What a pity,” the student sighed before Roger could reply, “He drowned in Crystal Lake not long ago.”
“What?” Roger expressed surprise, “Wasn’t he a strong swimmer in the swim team?”
“That was before he met Danielle.”
“She was Judd’s girlfriend. Ever since he met that woman, Judd lost interest in training and his grades started to slip.”
“Rumors say, Danielle had something to do with Judd’s death,” someone added from the side.
“Heh, with a girlfriend like Danielle, anyone’s legs would turn to jelly. Who knows what the two were up to in the lake?” a sour voice chimed in.
Roger lagged half a step behind, drawing closer to the one who had spoken.
“Is there something secretive going on here?”
Interested by the question, the scholarly-looking student perked up, “Before he knew Danielle, Judd was always top in the swim team, with extraordinary stamina; he won many awards in city-level competitions.”
“But after he started dating Danielle, his physical condition deteriorated. We all guessed that Danielle drained him.”
The male student said with a suggestive smile on his face.
“Is this Danielle still at school?”
The other shook his head.
“After Judd’s incident, she took a leave of absence; she’s probably at home now.”
Roger pulled out his phone, pretending to look up information.
“Goodness, so much has happened at Crystal Lake recently. Were the other two students who died also from your school?”
“Allen probably just drank too much and accidentally fell in, but as for Jonathan…”
The student adopted a mysterious tone.
“That involves the legend of the spirits of Crystal Lake.”
Roger showed a suitably intrigued focus.
“It’s said that many years ago, a female student swimming in the lake was accosted by a passing traveler… Afterward, her body was tied to a rock and thrown into the waters.”
“After so many years, her soul still lingers in the water. She became an evil spirit, pulling people under to find her body and remove the rocks so she can see the sun once again.”
“It’s believed that around this time is her death anniversary, and her soul becomes incredibly active. Only by finding her body can her resentment be appeased.”
The male student was deadly serious.
“Does someone die in Crystal Lake every year around this time?” Roger asked, almost instinctively.
The student blinked, “How would I know that?”
As for the credibility of this story, Roger was immediately skeptical. If it were true as he said, the Hunters Guild would have surely noticed.
If several people were killed each year, the spirit probably would have evolved into a monster spirit by now.
However… that Danielle, perhaps she’s worth a try.