by Kevin Shea
“No!”
The words ripped through the gloomy silence of the room.
Tears streaked down the young woman’s face. Three sets of eyes stared at her; some in horror and some with no emotion at all.
“No, No, No!”
The final “no” stretched on relentlessly. Katherine, the woman closest to Taylor, wrapped her arms around her. The other two women, twins, looked at her apathetically from across the table.
“Shhh don’t worry, nothing’s been proven yet. They’ll probably find some psycho out there in the woods.”
This made the frizzy-haired woman wail even more. Realizing her mistake, Katherine added, “Not Danny though, someone else.”
“Danny wouldn’t hurt a fly.” Danny had hurt a fly though; they all had at some point or other. What a stupid thing to say, Katherine thought to herself.
Such statements did more harm than good, and right now this girl’s shrieks were doing irreparable damage to her eardrums. She wanted to hit her for being so naive and stupid, but she stopped herself. This was Taylor’s way of dealing with this, whatever this was. Right now everyone was unsure. The police would be here soon and then they would take care of It. Lifeless eyes staring into an absent horizon. The bobbing of a rigid body right next to the sailboats; one empty vessel among many.
“Those two think he did it!”
The accusation dragged Katherine from her thoughts and back into the bright arts and crafts room in the main lodge. Taylor’s finger jabbed at the twins. Both seemed unoffended by the gesture.
“Of course they don’t think that. Right guys?”
“Nope,” answered Nicole – the prettier of the two in Katherine’s point of view,
The twins stared blankly at her. Chills ran down along her spine. Nervously she focused her attention back on Taylor and ignored the four eyes watching her.
“I can’t believe this is happening!” The groan interrupted the sobs. “He made me a bracelet! How could anyone think someone as sweet as Danny could harm…” A storm of tears interrupted her and she buried her face into the sleeve of her hoodie. Katherine loved this young woman, but she could be incredibly childish at times.
“16 is too young to be in charge of kids” Katherine thought.
When she was a counselor, they knew to wait until kids had entered college before placing any responsibility in their hands. At this age they were corrupt by the onslaught of hormones and the desire to be popular; such a combination was dangerous, but was it lethal?
Silently, the twins got up from the wooden bench and headed to the stairs.
“Where are you two going?” The question was filled with fear and Katherine had to focus on keeping the stern mask on.
“We’re hungry,” responded Nicole, again. Claire, her doppelganger, stared emptily.
“Ok, fine, go,” she was relieved to have them leave. Now she could focus on Taylor, who refused to stop bawling. Tears smeared her mascara leaving a psychotic image on her face – the wild static hair didn’t help to push the image away.
“It’s ok, just stop crying please.” This was not what she needed right now. Nancy would need her help right now. Taylor was tougher than she looked; she could take care of herself.
“I have to go now. Just don’t go into the woods or near the sailboats, ok?” A renewed surge of weeping was her response.
“Ok, good.”
The younger woman was left in the dim, dark yellow glow of a ceiling light. Outside the wind was picking up. The smashing of the metal rowboats beat rhythmically into the night: ba-bom ba-bom ba-bom ba-bom. Ominous black clouds edged over the hills in the distance. The moon reigned brightly in the sky, unaware of the oncoming danger.
Ahead Katherine could see a cluster of counselors. Behind them stood the metal poles of the sailboats.
The crunch of sand and rocks thundered as she ran over to the group.
“If you aren’t older staff go to your cabins!” Katherine did her best to yell without waking the lakeside cabins.
“It’s alright dear, I told them they could stay,” the soothing hum of her husband melted away her frigidness.
Carefully, she skirted around the group and collapsed in his outstretched arms. Tears begged for release, but she forced them back; she couldn’t, not in front of the kids.
“Have you moved it?” she hoped they had, what if a camper came out and saw…
“No, the police said moving it would ruin any evidence there might be.” The groan leaped from her before she could stop it.
“If you want you can go wait in our hut. I have this all under control, Dear.”
“No, it’s too late anyways. All control we had before is gone now.” Her eyes connected with his, and for a moment they knew what each other was thinking.
“I want to see.” the statement surprised even herself, despite having said it.
“What? Why? No! trust me, this is something you shouldn’t see.”
His argument was unheard and unnecessary: she had already seen everything there was to see. Before he finished she was behind him and on the dock, and immediately she wished she wasn’t.
Directly beside the wooden poles which held the dock above the waves of the lake. Normally the lake was calm, and the water came nowhere near where she stood. But today the waves beat relentlessly against the rocks and trees, and as they did, the pale body of a young girl brushed against the side of the dock.
Click here to read Part 1!
