The Camp (12 page)

When we all
couldn’t take the exhaustion any more, we trundled back to our respective tents, except I planned on sleeping in the yurt with Steph since that’s where our sleeping bags were, and it felt marginally more secure than our tent. Liam grabbed his sleeping bag and pillow and met us inside the yurt.

Instead of a night filled with talking and laughter, it was filled with silence and
dread until we all could escape into our dreams before the next nightmare began.

I woke up to heavy pounding on the yurt’s door, and Dave yelling on the other side of it. I quickly reached for the flashlight
that I’d tucked under my pillow and turned it on, but Liam had already beat me up. He was at the door with a lantern blazing. I glanced behind me at Steph who was sitting upright, holding the edge of her sleeping bag tightly.

“What’s up?” Liam asked. His pa
jama bottoms were hanging on him and he was leaning against the doorframe.

“There’s been another incident,” Caleb answered. Dave was standing next to him, holding a flashlight.
Both were armed.

“H
ow could that be?” I questioned, grabbing a sweatshirt to slip over my head as I slid on my shoes.

Steph was instantly by my side
, and I wasn’t really sure if that was a good thing or not.

Liam slipped on his
boots and turned to look at me. I could tell he wanted to tell me to stay, but he recognized that I wouldn’t. He grabbed his rifle, and motioned for us to come.

Steph wrapped her fingers around my hand
, and we followed Liam out the door, none of us saying a word.

Dave and Caleb walk
ed cautiously through the tents, and we trailed behind them, winding our way to the lineup of washroom and shower tents. They stopped in front of the washroom tent that was unzipped, and shined their flashlights through to the back. I craned my neck to see what the light was exposing, scared at what I might find when all that was in front of me was a huge gash in the back of the tent fabric and a single leather boot, tipped on its side. My heart was thumping with fear as I realized the hole was large enough to pull a body through the back of the tent, without ever leaving a trail.

C
hapter
T
hirteen

“Who was it, and why didn’t they have a partner with them?” Liam demanded, his eyes blazing even in the darkness.

“It was Darryl, and he did,” D
ave said. “Sam’s missing too.”

Caleb shined his light along the tents. “It looks like
someone dragged whoever was standing outside the bathroom that way in front of the showers. I’m not sure, which one he took first. Possibly whoever was using the restroom?”

“Damn it.” Liam g
lanced at Steph and me before stepping in the tent.

“Maybe
, whoever was out here heard the commotion and unzipped the tent and the assailant came back around and grabbed him too,” Steph offered. I was stunned at her sudden amount of control and calmness.

“Could be. The
options are endless. If there are two somebodies doing this that could also explain it,” Caleb said grimly.

“What’s going on?”
Cory asked, walking up behind us with Brady.

“Darryl and Sam went missing,” Steph said.

“You’ve gotta be joking,” Brady said, his eyes wide. “We need to go find them.”

“Absolutely no way is that happening
. Not in the dark. We’re at a complete disadvantage, and that’s probably what the guy wants us to do,” Liam said, stepping out of the tent.

“We can’t just leave them out
there somewhere to die,” Brady protested.

Liam, Caleb and Dave all
shot glances at one another. I knew what they were thinking. We probably wouldn’t be able to find Sam or Darryl.

“As soon as the sun’s up we’ll search for them, but not a second before,” Liam said
. “Let’s wake everyone up and meet in the yurt. We’ve got a lot to talk about.”

“
Let’s go take a look at our tent,” I whispered to Liam, and he nodded as we all walked back toward the yurt.

On our walk back, we tapped on the tents softly and asked everyone to meet us in the yurt.
It was apparent the victims were being picked off the island one by one. When we got to our tent, I didn’t even need to open the door to see what was waiting for us, or maybe just me. I felt my soul chill with the eerie gift that had been left for me again.

Two more carved ravens were propped against the
exterior of the door, not on my pillow. Whoever left them thought we were sleeping in the tent so at least they didn’t know we were in the yurt. That possibly excluded most of the campers from being the person or people behind this, unless someone from the camp was just trying to trick us. I heard Liam’s presence behind me as he exhaled loudly. He placed his hand around my hip and guided me forward. We didn’t even bother to pick them up.

“What’s going on?”
Paul asked as he rubbed his eyes groggily, walking up the steps to the yurt.

“Sam’s missing,” Cory said quietly. “And Darryl.”

“What?” Paul stopped moving and Steph crashed into him.

“They’re missing. Now keep moving,” Steph replied.

Once everyone was settled, Liam closed the door and sat next to it. I scanned the crowd, and it looked like the news had already made its way completely around to everyone. I walked to one of the cots and sat down.

“What are we gonna do? We can’t j
ust do nothing and wait to be picked off one at a time,” Mark yelled.

“We won’t be picked off one at a time,” Caleb replied calmly. “Tomorrow morning
we’ll begin the search. Chores and learning sessions will be called off indefinitely until we solve what’s going on here.”

Liam began speaking from the back of the tent, his eyes canv
assing every person inside of it as if one might be a possible suspect. “We’re dividing into two groups of seven. We’ll begin searching on the trails that we began clearing last week and will regroup back at the camp by three in the afternoon.”

“What if we don’t want to go?
It sounds like a deathtrap,” Paul muttered, not looking up at anyone.

“You wanna stay here and wait for someone to come grab you? Have at it!” Mark said, shaking his head.

“Whoever it is probably expects us to go searching for everyone.” Paul threw his hands in the air and glared at Mark. “We’re probably just falling right into his hands.”

“We’re screwed either way we cut it. Two people went missing on a hike
, and two people went missing in the camp. Whoever it is will get us no matter what,” Vince said.

“You really think that?” Mark asked, raising his brow. “Maybe you’re so certain because it’s you. You’re the only
one fully clothed. The rest of us are in pajamas. It wouldn’t have been hard for you to do what you had to do.”

Vince’s face turned red as he hopped up off the floor, ready to lunge at Mark
. Liam stood up quickly and walked over to Vince, towering over him to ensure that he wouldn’t make a move, while Dave quickly moved next to Mark. The tension in the air was growing by the second, and I saw no end in sight, especially with the lack of help coming.

“Mark has a point,”
Fulton mumbled. He pulled his knit cap over his brows and crossed his arms.

“I totally understand that we’re all panicking, but it’s not going to help our chances. We need to work as a gro
up. We don’t have the luxury to allow our imagination to take over,” I said, hoping that somehow they’d put their testosterone in check and listen to me.

“If we are in an
y way fractured, that will be our downfall,” Steph continued.

I could feel the
uneasy tension slowly begin to dissipate, but the fear still ran through the air.

“I also don’t think two people should be sleeping at a time,” Steph said. “I think there should be sleeping shifts in each tent.”

“I think we each should have a rifle,” Fulton said, and several of the campers began nodding their heads in agreement.

“We can’t do th
at,” Caleb said, shaking his head. “But we can give you some of the machetes we use to knock down the tall grasses. We have enough to go around.”

A shudder moved through my spine as I thought about what his words implied. My eyes
scooted from one person to the next as I watched them swallow the news, and it didn’t take long before the objections began.

“So great. If it turns out to be someone in the camp we’re giving them an easy weapon so one of us can get hacked up,” Vince argued, crossing his arms in front of him.

“You’d rather we’re all unarmed?” Brady asked, standing up quickly. “I don’t want to die, and I’ll do anything it takes to survive.”

“I’ll go get the supplies out of the locked
shed,” Liam said, pushing his hands into his pocket and pulling out a set of keys.

Murmurs began softly churning through the tent as everyone analyzed their options.
Liam walked to the door, with Caleb right behind him, and turned around to glance at me. My stomach instantly knotted at the thought of him going outside. I hopped up and made my way through the maze of bodies sitting and standing on the floor. It didn’t matter to me that they would be armed. Whoever we were dealing with had made us all targets, and the only way we could stop being victims was to fight back.

“You’ll need help
carrying everything,” I offered, looking at Liam.

His lips broke into a smile and he shook his head at me. “You wouldn’t take no
for an answer anyway, would you?” he whispered, opening the door.

“
Not a chance,” I whispered back, feeling the chill of the night air as I walked underneath his arm.

Liam closed the door once
Caleb was outside. The stars in the sky were blazing for the first time since I’d arrived, and I thought about how isolated we really were.

“What do you make of all that
in there?” Caleb asked.

“I think it’s gonna be a big problem as time goes on
, and they realize help might not be coming as fast as we need it.” Liam scowled, reaching out for me to grab his hand.

“Do you think it’s someone in the camp?” I asked.

“It would be hard for me to believe that any of them could do this and not be caught somehow. Everyone’s been where they were supposed to be,” Caleb replied.

I
followed them behind the yurt, my pulse racing with every step as we headed to the shed that housed all of the work tools.

“Not trying to sound like a horrible person, but do you really think it’s a great idea to hand out machetes to everyone?” I asked.

“Not at all.” Liam laughed. “But I think we have no choice.”

Caleb flashed his light on the padlock of the shed, and Liam inserted his
key, giving it a twist. He opened the wooden door to reveal a tidy lineup of chainsaws, weed eaters, and other equipment I didn’t recognize. Along the wall hung several rows of screwdrivers, hammers, and blades. We all walked inside hurriedly as if standing outside in the dark would bring something else evil our way.

“We’re missing a hammer,” Liam said quietly, pointing at a vacant spot on the
pegboard.

“How could they get in here
?” Caleb asked, narrowing his eyes on Liam. “There are only a couple of keys to the shed.”

“You don’t really think it was the one used on Chelsea, do you.” My mouth felt like cotton as I tried to compute everything that was going on.

“I think it could be,” Liam said “We have so many types and brands, I doubt I’d recognize it one way or the other, but it makes sense.”

“Why’s the lock not busted?” I asked.

“I don’t have a clue unless one of us left it unlocked, and someone snuck in quickly. Let’s hurry and grab everything and get back to the yurt,” Liam said.

L
iam handed me as many sheathed machetes and knives as I could carry, with Caleb and Liam grabbing the rest. Caleb left the shed first, and I followed behind. Liam plopped the knives on the ground and secured the padlock. He picked up the knives, and we jogged quickly to the yurt, surprised to find a rather calm group of people waiting for us.

We spre
ad the assortment out on a table, and I immediately began feeling queasy. The thought of any one of us having to use one of these was absolutely horrifying. Steph came up behind me, and she still seemed far more stable than earlier.

“Whoever we’re dealing with has a mind that’s really warped. I don’t even know what to make of it,” Steph
said. Her hand slowly ran down one of the large blades and I glanced at her. Her eyes were unfocused and no longer seemed to hold the person I had met only a few days ago.

“I know,” I agreed, nodding my head.
“It’s driving us to match him in insanity, I think.”

“Okay, so come up and grab a
weapon you feel comfortable with, and let’s hope none of us ever have to use it,” Liam said.

I
nstantly the group descended on the table, picking up machetes and knives and placing them back down before analyzing the next one.

Once everyone had their weapon of choice, the group slowly disbanded into pairs as I heard each of them deciding who w
ould get the first and second watch for what was left of the night.

I
glanced over at Liam who appeared exhausted. He opened his arms up as if inviting me in. He was only a few feet away from me, and I couldn’t resist his offer. I wasn’t sure how I’d kept my composure for so long, but inside I felt like my strength was dwindling.

“Hey, baby,” Liam murmured. “You’re holding up really well.”

“It’s just a figment of your imagination mixed with some strong denial about the situation we’re facing on my end,” I said, craning my neck to look into his eyes. “It’ll wear off pretty soon.” I tried to smile, but my lips stopped cooperating. He squeezed me tightly, and I rested my head on his chest, watching as everyone began leaving the yurt for the long night ahead.

“Steph doesn’t seem herself,
” I whispered.

He shook his head and looked over at his cousin who was still standing at the table where the machetes and smaller knives had been spr
ead out. She was staring at the wall with a blank expression, and I was worried we were losing her.

“It’s gonna be tough on us all
, and whatever traumas we’ve had in our past will probably come back to haunt us the longer we’re out here,” he said softly, freeing me so that he could look me in the eyes.

I furrowed my brow at him and craned my neck to the side as I tried to figure out where that bit of news came from, which finally produced a
glimpse of a smile.

“Had to take Psych 101 in my first year of college. I just didn’t expect to need it
out here though.” He attempted a smile and pulled me back into his chest for which I was grateful.

“Any other tidbits of information on how to stay calm and not run through the trees and over a cliff would be welcome,” I told
him, tapping his chest lightly with my fingers.