Chapter Text
“Now that everyone is here, we can begin the party!” Juliana exclaimed, taking her phone out to record a video, but Miriam takes the phone away.
“Now, now, dearie, we’re here to treasure what we have, and we can treasure the moments better without technology,” she handed Juliana her phone back, walking over to the table of desserts that Jake whipped up.
Jake was standing behind the table, looking proud of what he could achieve.
“Hey Miriam,” he waved.
“Hi, Jake. What are you up to, son?” Miriam asked.
“Oh, nothing. Just adding finishing touches to the desserts table and making sure Fiore doesn’t take any beforehand,” Jake explained.
“Wonderful, dear!” Miriam exclaimed.
Fiore runs up to the table and snags a cookie, running away when Jake wasn’t paying attention. Miriam sighs.
“She took a cookie, Jake,” she said.
“Goddamn!” Jake yelled.
Miriam chuckled, “It’s alright,” she took a cookie and bit into it, “They’re really good, after all.”
Jake smiled and gave a thumbs up, and Miriam went over to see some of the other invites, maybe to check on Ellie or Dan or someone, but someone’s crying interrupts the peaceful silence of nature.
“Shh… shh… Danielle… it’s okay,” Lill said, comforting a crying and shaking Danielle.
“What’s up with you two?” Miriam asked, unintentionally sounding bitter.
“I-I saw something… I saw something,” Danielle repeated, her gaze blank and numb.
“Shh…” Lill comforted, “We were walking together, and we spotted Will’s dead body.”
Miriam saw as Lill tried hard to not cry herself, to be strong for Danielle.
“I’m sorry, dear. Do you know who killed him?” Miriam asked.
“No, but the smell of copper was strong,” Lill said.
“Blood…” Danielle mumbled.
Lill looked concerned, “She’s so out of it,” she picked up Danielle, who didn’t seem fazed at all, “We’ll head back.”
Lill walked away, taking Danielle with her as Miriam processed the bit of information. Someone killed Will. But why would anyone do such a thing?
~~
Ashley was with the rest of the campers, noticing the missing presence of her boyfriend now.
“Pardon me, but have you seen Will?” She asked Tom.
“I’m sorry, but I haven’t,” he answered, “Why are you asking?”
“I haven’t seen him for a while, and it’s concerning,” she said, “He usually can’t spend too long outdoors on his own.”
Tom thought for a second, “Hmm… maybe he’s with Miriam and Jake?”
“Why didn’t I think of that?” She responded, “Thanks!”
She left without waiting for a response.
Ashley was in the woods, not too far away. A bush rustled some feet away from her.
“Howdy?” She asked, carefully approaching the bush.
The bush stopped rustling, but Ashley kept approaching. And then, Ashley heard screams, her own screams as she saw Will’s dead body. There was so much blood, and he was almost unrecognizable. She stared in horror at his face, which had branches sticking out of his eyes and mouth. The sight made the normally strong stomached woman feel like she was going to throw up. But she didn’t, and instead sat next to Will, observing all of his injuries. Ashley Graham wasn’t one to cry, but the sight of her lover dead was enough to get her sobbing.
~~
Tom had been following Ashley in case she needed help, and when he heard her screams he immediately bolted to where she was. He saw Ashley in the bush and heard faint sounds of crying.
“Ashley? Are you alright?” He asked.
She tried to compose herself, and without turning around to face Tom she said, “It’s Will, he’s…”
She didn’t even have to finish, because Tom had already looked inside the bush. He saw the horrifying scene.
I-I… I… I am scared… wh-what does th-th-this mean? What will h-happen? Wh-wh-why will
“He’s dead, isn’t he?” Tom asked. Ashley nodded and stood up.
“We’ve got to go, now,” she demanded.
Tom nodded and went back with Ashley to tell the others.
.
.
.
.
.
.
But once Alec went to see at that exact same bush, the body was gone. Nick found it near a tree.