Restless Nightmare- a Hermitcraft Murder Mystery

Chapter 12

"Cub, Iskall, Impulse, Grian, and now Scar." Bdubs muttered quietly, trying to hide his trembling voice.

"What's the point of trying to make the best of this horrible camping trip, everything's going wrong!" Tango cried.

"Tango, everything's gonna be alright." Cleo began, "I know everyone's literally dying, but we'll catch the killer and everything will be fine."

"We have to catch them fast, though. You guys look like you're losing hope real quick." Stress said. "First, theories. Anyone have any theories, accusations, evidence or anything? Just let it out, we won't get mad if you tell us the truth."

Keralis opened his mouth to speak but immediately closed it, fearing the group would turn on him. However, he was determined to catch the killer, so he pushed away those thoughts.

"Look, bubbles, I mean no offense to you, well I actually do," Keralis began, everyone turning his direction. "You've been acting a bit out of the ordinary, I honestly think you're the one we're looking for."

Bdubs, who was sewing his red headband together, froze. He looked up at Keralis, one of the closest people to him.

Silence filled the campsite, aside from False, Cleo, and Stress munching on popcorn as they enjoyed the show.

The boy in a black top, Bdubs, stared at his friend in shock. Out of all the people who could've accused him, it had to be Keralis. That was a twist no one saw coming, not even the hermits, not even me, the writer, narrator or something. Alright maybe I did see it coming-

Bdubs was betrayed, shook how Keralis could do such a thing. But he got over it pretty soon and got ready to reflect the suspicions back onto the person who accused him.

"Alright, alright Keralis." Bdubs spoke quietly, causing Keralis to begin regretting his life decisions. "I really didn't wanna spill all the evidence I have against you in case our friendship went south, but I mean you've left me with no choice."

"Wha- what do you mean-"

"Okay. First of all, care to explain why you always insist on helping with dinner, you wanna poison someone else?" Bdubs continued, spinning around on the log he was sitting on and standing up in style.

"This is getting heated-" Mumbo whispered to Xisuma, who replied, "Yup, Keralis is gonna be toast in a few minutes."

"Dunno about you," Bdubs began, "but it's kinda sus how you always go to the room where we put our bags and stuff right after we find someone dead, probably returning your knife."

"I mean- I mean he has a point..." mumbled Zedaph, slightly nodding.

"Can I have some popcorn?" asked Tango to Cleo as she passed him some. "I'm enjoying this show."

As the two were in a heated argument, a few hermits munched on popcorn and watched the show, and the rest were matching the puzzle pieces together. Bdubs was making some really good points.

"I'm not done yet. Remember the two notes we found? I recognize the notebook paper as yours, and it's a rare type. Here, I'll go get it, wherever you hid it now."

Bdubs left the campfire and disappeared into the cabin. Everyone waited for him in silence, with Keralis looking awfully nervous. Exchanging glances, no one dared to say a word. Bdubs finally returned five minutes later with an orange notebook in hand.

"Who has the notes?" Bdubs asked. Xisuma took them out and passed them to him.

Bdubs began flipping through the pages and eventually found a half ripped page. He took one note and lined it up with the other half of the ripped notebook paper.

"It's a match." Bdubs smirked, showing Keralis how the note and his notebook paper matched perfectly, meaning the killer ripped that page of paper and wrote down the note that Xisuma found.

"I- I didn't write that I swear!" Keralis testified, worry filling his expression.

"Wait wait wait, can I say something?" Tango spoke up, all eyes on him now. "Yesterday, I saw Keralis pulling out, like, twenty chargers out of his bag, maybe it's for the device that turns off the lights? It happened twice already, it can't be a coincidence."

The group began taking everything into consideration. The majority of the hermits were convinced, but the evidence didn't stop there. Oh no, there was a lot more coming.

"What?! No I-" Keralis attempted, sighing as he was stopped by Tango once more.

"If that isn't enough, ever look at how he acts when someone is found dead?" Tango continued, "You just look like you don't know how to act, your expression is just kinda blank for a bit, like you don't care, until all of us start having reactions."

Tango spoke again before Keralis could defend himself.

"Remember that time when we found a red cloth after Iskall got killed? I remember you wearing a red and white striped shirt one day, maybe you wore it the day Iskall was found dead but your jacket hid the shirt?" Tango explained. "Does anyone remember Keralis wearing a red shirt that day?"

No one really pays attention to that type of stuff, meaning nobody could remember.

"No I- I was wearing my usual teal shirt!" Keralis stuttered. Nobody could confirm what he said because no one really remembered what he was actually wearing.

"Anyways, you think that's all the proof we got? Well It's not." Bdubs broke the silence, turning to face Keralis. He pointed at the black bookbag leaning against the log Keralis was sitting on. "Empty it."

"What, why?" asked Keralis, not sure where this was going.

"Empty it if you have nothing to hide."

"Okay, okay, I'll do it. Chill."

"You chill! I am completely chill!" Bdubs snarled back.

Keralis rolled his eyes, grabbing his bag from the floor. He began taking various random items out of it and placing them on the picnic table, knowing he had nothing important inside. "See?"

Bdubs analyzed the books, pencils, and candy wrappers set on the table, completely ignoring the fact there was a giant frog stuffie in there for some reason.

"Really?" Bdubs smirked, raising an eyebrow and walking over to him. He snatched Keralis' bag and unzipped the last zipper, then reached into it. He grabbed something and pulled it out.

"Keralis? What the..." Bdubs muttered, visibly horrified. He was holding a sharp, bloody kitchen knife in his hand. Keralis' heart dropped. He looked just as shocked as the hermits were, he sure was gonna have a hard time defending himself.

"See, I knew it! Good luck explaining why there was a knife in there~" Bdubs winked, giggling as he sat back down proudly. Keralis couldn't even talk over everyone's gasps and whispering.

"But... why?" Ren muttered, staring the suspected murderer dead in the eye. He looked truly betrayed.

"You have to trust me, this is all coincidental! I swear I'm not the murderer!" Keralis cried, but no one wanted to hear it. You know how fast people can believe things and make up their minds.