Camp Stories

Chapter 11

*Atalia*

The plan was clear. We had to fight back, now. First, we have to go back to our tied up guest, then the rest will fall into place. We walked back towards the cabin, following the smoke. We stomped through the trees loud like a drum in battle. This was a battle, in fact. My heart pounded in beat with the drumming of our feet. I clutched onto Larissa's knife, ready for anything. We weren't going to hide anymore; no more running away. This was going to end one way or another.

We finally arrived to where we left Darren tied up, but he wasn't there. He left the rope in the grass next to the tree. "What the hell?" William gasped at the sight. "Shit, where did he go?" Kiera asked as she gathered the rope in her hands. The cabin was still burning so he couldn't be there. Maybe he went after the others; I hope he didn't. "We gotta go find him. C'mon," I said before turning towards the cabin, but something stopped me. I swear I saw people in the distance. "Tyler..?" I whispered cautiously. That had to be Tyler. I saw Alysa, Ruthie and Darien with him. There they were, alive and in sight. I was about to shout for them when out of nowhere, Darren came down on top of William. He must've been in the tree, waiting for us.

William grunted as Darren landed on him. It all happened so fast, we couldn't react. He pulled out a knife, about to stab William in the back when Kiera knocked him off of him, wrestling him onto the grass. I ran over to William to check on him. "Will, you okay?" I asked with wide eyes. His breathing was ragged. Darren landed right onto his spine, knocking the wind out of him. "C'mon, we need to help Kiera," I said as I grabbed his arm and helped him stand. He didn't say anything but nodded.

Kiera and Darren rolled around, one trying to gain control of the other. They each grunted as the other one tried to turn the knife on the other. "Knife! Knife!" Kiera yelled at me. My knife! I let go of William and ran towards them with my knife in my hand. Darren's eyes turned to me and, with great strength, rolled right under Kiera and began running in the opposite direction. "Hey!" I shouted and ran after him. I hopped over Kiera, leaving William to help her, to chase after him.

I followed at close distance to him as he and I ran. He looked back and ran faster. I used all my endurance in my legs and lungs, and pushed faster. I finally caught up to him in a fast sprint. I grabbed the collar of his coat and pulled him down. He fell into his back, inches from me. I fell as well, my legs giving out. We both laid still, trying to catch our breaths. I gripped the knife in my hand, feeling the cold metal against my skin. He huffed and puffed as he came to a kneeling position. He looked up at me and smirked. "You're not going to kill me," he said between breaths. I looked him in the eyes and said "Oh? Why's that," a little too out of breath sounding. He just shrugged as he continued to breathe heavily. "Because, that isn't your character. You're not the killer." I tilted my head at him, confused. "This isn't a damn book! You just killed half of my friends and you're next!" I yelled, feeling my face heating up. He just chuckled at me getting worked up. "You're a funny one. You really think you're going to kill me? You're nothing. You don't know me sweetie; the things I've done. We have done things together for years and no one has found the bodies in these woods. You really think I'm going to let a bunch of teenagers ruin that streak?" He growled back. I felt intimidated instantly, seeing the killer rage in his eyes. I really wished the others were here, now.

He gave me a wink then darted into the trees. It took me a second to believe he could run that fast. Footsteps approached and I turned to see Kiera and William slightly breathing heavily. "Where'd he go?" Kiera asked out of breath as she held her knife up like he could give another sneak attack. I stood up, brushing the dirt off of my pants. "He went that way. But, he said something weird. He said something about more 'bodies'." They gave each other a concerned glance. "So, they've killed more besides us, and they've been hiding in these woods?" William said with his arms crossed as he was thinking. I nodded. More victims? And they haven't been caught yet? Who are these people? "Doesn't matter. When we get out of here, we'll tell someone about this and they'll have the whole place searched." Kiera said with a confident nod and smile. I held onto that reassuring thought as we went after him.