What the River Demands

Summary

There's a saying that circulates among anglers:

"If a dead fish still takes the bait… reel in and leave."

The day I went fishing with my dad, we ran into exactly that.

What unsettled me was not the fish.

It was the look on my dad's face: an excitement that felt completely wrong.

Then a message flashed across my livestream, and a chill ran down my spine.

[Get out. Now. Your dad is about to trade your life for the one who died in this river a year ago.]