Cabin 9

Chapter 8

"Avery, calm down" Cory told me.
I tried to slow my breathing so that I could explain everything I was trying to tell her.

After seeing the newspaper, I'd ran directly to the bathroom to tell Cory, too scared to even pick it up. Now, we were huddled in a corner of the bathroom, whispering, as the rest of the cabin brushed their teeth.

"Cory, Ryan is the killer, it's the only explanation" I said under my breath.
She shakes her head a little.
"Avery, what happened to you?" she said, looking worried.
I fill her in on Ryan's weird behaviour the night we snuck out, and how he stole the newspaper clipping from me.
"Okay, but he still doesn't seem capable of killing Amalia. And what is his motive?" she said slowly.
"But why else would he sneak away from me that night? And why would he take the clipping from me?" I countered.
"I don't know, Avery. I don't think he could kill someone" Cory said, biting her nails like she always does when she's nervous.

When we returned to the dining hall, I darted over to where Ryan had dropped the newspaper clipping and quickly grabbed it. Cory and I sat together on my mattress. The paper was old and yellowed, and the ink was faded in some places. But together, we read it.

Samson Family Estates Sold To YMCA

After the frightful shooting of Adam (37) and Joan (35) Samson on a Saturday night last month, it has been declared that their family cottage estate will be sold to the YMCA,

"We're delighted to have this land in our hands, and we have great plans for the camp we will build here" said a YMCA spokesperson.

"It's an ideal location, really"

An ideal location indeed. This 3-acre estate on the glittering shore of Georgian Bay has been in the family for many years.

However, after the tragic murder of it's owners, it was decided to be passed along --- for a high fee, we might add!

While YMCA is thrilled with the prospects of their new camp, we all can't help but think of how it's history might affect future campers.

You never know when a ghost from the past might make an appearance...

My head spun as I tried to make sense of what I had just read.
"So a ghost killed Amalia?" said Cory. I could tell she was trying to joke, but there was fear in her voice too.
"No, it was a person. But maybe they were somehow linked to this." I replied.
"And you still think that person is Ryan?" Cory said quietly. I nodded numbly.
"Come on, he wasn't even born when this happened" Cory scoffed.
"I don't know, Cory. It might nit make perfect sense right now, but it's all we've got" I said.

Without another word, I crawled into my sleeping bag, and closed my eyes. The newspaper clipping was still clutched tightly in my hand. But moments later, I was awakened by a hand on my mouth.

Adrenaline spiked through my body as I woke with a start. The killer had come for me! I was going to die! My fears were only confirmed as I looked up into Ryan's eyes.
"Come with me" he whispered roughly.
He grabbed my wrist and pulled me out of the dining hall.

Part of me was screaming that I should run away, call for help. It would 't take long for people to wake up. But the other part of me was burning with curiosity. If he really wanted to kill me, he would have done it when we were aline the night we snuck out. It might have been the only chance I would have to actually get some answers from him.

Moonlight streamed through the windows, allowing me to see him better. Even though I was so scared, I could see how bad he looked. There were bags under his eyes, and he kept looking around nervously.

"Avery, don't be scared" he started nervously.
"Why should 't I be? You killed Amalia, and now you're going to kill me!" I hissed, even though I'm terrorized.
He looked taken aback, a little hurt even.
"I didn't kill Amalia! Do you seriously think that's what's going on here? And I would never hurt you" he replied.
"Why did you take the newspaper clipping from me then?" I asked.
"So you have it then" he said, looking at his feet.
"Avery, I took it to protect you. Don't you know how dangerous it is to search for this killer?" he told me, starting to sound frustrated.
"Everybody keeps saying that, but the only way we can be left alone is if we give the killer what he wants, and nobody knows what that is" I said angrily.
"Ben isn't doing anything to find out, is he? Why can't I? What's so wrong with trying to help people?"

He shook his head a little, and faced me again.
"But you're looking in all the wrong places. The killer obviously just wants money, so let Ben take care of it" he said. Then, he spun around nervously, as though he'd heard something.
"Avery, we've gotta go"

He ran back into the dining hall, pulling me with him. I slipped into my sleeping bag, and pretended to be asleep, but moments later I heard footsteps near me. My heart pounded in my chest, as I squeezed my eyes shut and hoped for morning to come.

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The next morning, after clearing away our mattresses and eating breakfast, I looked for Ben. My counsellors directed me towards the camp office, where I found him hunched over the desk.
"Ben?" I said tentatively.
"I found the article."
I handed it to him, and he read it over.
"Wow, a shooting" he said after a while.
"Avery, I think you really found something" he told me.
Despite the dire situation, I couldn't help but feel a little pleased.
"Do you think it's the same killer?" I asked.
"Oh, I doubt it. But a murder on these grounds definitely could've provoked something, even all these years later" he replied.
"Are you going to find out about the shooting? It says that two people were killed" I said, referring to the newspaper.
"Well, all our Internet has been cut off, but there should be something in the camp records. I'll tell you what," he said turning to me.
"You've proved yourself to be a pretty reliable source. I'll let you know if I find anything, okay" he told me. I nodded, and left the office.

Later that day, he called me back to the camp office. There was another counsellor there with him.
"Avery, this is Cole. He's been helping me do some research." Ben told me. "Amalia was his girlfriend" he added quietly.
I supposed that Cole pretended not to hear this. Ben opened a file and handed it to me.
"We found these in the camp records. It's the police report from the murders of the former owners. It was probably part of the paperwork when the camp was purchased" he told me. I read it over quickly. It seemed that the couple I'd read about in the newspaper - Adam and Joan Samson - had been out for an evening walk when they'd both been shot. Their killer had never been found.
"Thanks for showing this to me" I told Ben, thrusting the file back at him.
"Is there anything else I can do?" I said hopefully.
"Avery, we don't want you do get too involved in this too much. I'm not going to lie it is dangerous" Ben began to say.
"But I do want you to stay alert. You have knowledge that nearly no one else has. Use this to your advantage. Kids stop talking when they see me, so I want you to listen and tell me anything important that you hear, okay" Ben told me.

And for the rest of the day, I listened. But I didn't hear anything that I thought could do with the killer. I'd already proved to myself with Ryan that the killer wasn't a camper.

I also couldn't shake the feeling that the name Samson was familiar to me. I couldn't remember what from, but I knew in my gut that it was important.