Restless Nightmare- a Hermitcraft Murder Mystery

Chapter 23

The silence couldn't last forever, however, but the one who broke it wasn't who anyone expected.

"Hey guys."

Everyone looked up, watching Zedaph take a seat on a picnic table across from theirs. He looked down at the grass, not saying a word as a few hermits mumbled a 'hi' or 'hey'.

All of a sudden, Mumbo spoke up.

"Zedaph, what got into you? I tried to cheer you up after Tango's death, then you just screamed at me to get away and ran away."

All eyes were on Zedaph now. Rolling his eyes and sighing, he snatched a crumpled piece of paper and unfolded it, turning it into a paper airplane.

"What? I was just making sure I wasn't getting killed." The blonde casually replied as he began whistling.

"What do you mean?" Cleo asked.

"I didn't want Mumbo to kill me," Zedaph began, his mind racing back through the events of the night. "When the sun was rising, I got up and went outside my room and saw Mumbo opening the door of the room Bdubs and Tango were sleeping in. And then he took something out of his pocket that I didn't see, I just ran back to my room and locked it."

"oooh-"

"Mumbo? Care to explain???"

"EXPOSED!!"

"THIS IS GETTING HELLA CONFUSING-"

Zedaph was really not letting go of his history of telling important information way later than he should have, it was just a habit he couldn't break. Anyways, the suspicions turned once again. It's unbelievable how quick the suspect chart changes in a few hours.

Xisuma and Cleo were left speechless, and Ren huffed with anger, mad that everyone probably forgot about Doc and how they were just suspecting him.

False was expecting this, knowing Mumbo was bound to get accused sooner or later because it happens to everyone at least once. But she was still surprised because she had been suspecting him for a while now. Bdubs was choking on a pinecone out of surprise, and don't ask me why he was chewing a pinecone in the first place.

Stress was jotting down notes the entire time. There was so much new information she couldn't keep up with, and in the end she just ended up yeeting the notebook away into the forest.

False whispered an "oooh," and nudged Ren a little too hard, making him lose balance and fall back. He got back up with a big stain of mud on the back of his shirt. False laughed nervously and quickly switched spots.

"Care to explain?" Cleo smirked.

Mumbo stuttered uncontrollably, his voice filled with visible worry and fear. Biting his lip, he began theorising if his friends would believe his not-so-believable version of the tale. But of course, he couldn't just keep quiet, that would make him look even more sus than he already was.

"I- I was just checking on them- I was afraid Bdubs would be dead with Tango in the same room..."

"You mean the opposite?" Doc laughed, getting shut up by Bdubs' glare.

False almost laughed but held it in, believing that was the worst excuse she'd ever heard. She must've giggled a bit because Mumbo looked at her for a second before rolling his eyes.

"I know it sounds fake, but trust me, that's what happened."

Squinting his eyes, Bdubs questioned, "Yeah, but even if you are telling the truth, why didn't you tell us earlier?"

"I didn't want you guys thinking I woke up to kill Tango! Y'all accuse at everything!" Mumbo replied hesitantly, his eyes meeting up with multiple people as he tried to avoid the contact.

"At least you aren't wrong about the accusing part." Stress laughed quietly, her smile fading away after seeing how serious her friends were about the situation. Not even Cleo would crack a joke right now.

Everyone kept their thoughts to themselves after what Zedaph had revealed, no one really said a word after the short explanation.

A sudden rush of cold wind hit the campsite. The ocean waves increased in size, crickets chirped in the background, all as the camp remained silent.

Ren glanced up, noticing Doc leaning close to Xisuma and whispering a sentence or two, an estimate from the duration of the whispers. Next thing he saw was Xisuma slowly moving away from his friend and staring at him suspiciously.

After that, the admin was the first to get up and head into the cabin, taking a few extra seconds to kick a pile of woodchips out of his way.

Two minutes later of silence, Cleo entered the cabin, shivering from the wind which was breezing harder as the time went on.

False decided to leave as well. Stress and Doc followed, and finally Mumbo entered.

Ren and Zedaph stayed behind, they seemed to be enjoying the silence and nature scenes around them. Ren started a conversation by asking a few questions. They began discussing how one of their own could turn against them, considering that they were all close friends. Was it a case of revenge? Certain hatred? Blackmailing? Nobody knew.

The conversation somehow turned to Ren and Zed imagining how their friends back at Hermitcraft were doing, and if Joe would forget that he had to pick them up in two weeks. Zed then changed the subject to asking if they would make it out alive, or if the traitor would win. Ren tried to assure Zed it was gonna be okay, but honestly, neither of the two believed it.