Forlot: Forgotten Forest - Book Eight {Completed}

Chapter Twenty

I slowly stood back up and held onto the sides of the doorframe, hoping to not faint. If I did, I definitely did not want to fall on Sheila's body. From the corner of my eye, I noticed the girls crowding right behind me.

"Ari?" Debbie said my name. "Is everything alright?"

I was unable to respond to her question with a clear conscience, for I had been pricked with fear and nervousness. I finally found my voice and screamed for my sister and the other counselors.

The girls must have looked over my shoulders and noticed the dead body because they cried out Sheila's name and followed my lead, causing a screaming fest.

All of the boys rushed out of their cabin and over to ours.

"What is wrong?!" Ethan demanded. "What is going on?!" Usually, Ethan would not take screaming girls seriously, but after Valerie was confirmed dead, he and the other boys were worried about us girls.

Before any of the girls or I could confess what we were seeing, Melinda and the other counselors dashed to our cabin.

"What is with the screaming?" David asked. His voice was calm. "Do not tell me that there has been another death."

"Sheila is dead!" Debra and Debbie admitted in unison.

We did not have to tell David where Sheila's body was. He eyed the dead body that was on our porch and did not seem surprised.

"This is unfortunate," he said.

Belinda climbed on the porch and ushered me and the other girls out of the cabin as she stared hard at the girl who was once alive.

Careful to not step on the dead corpse or get blood on our shoes, we hurried to the others, and the girls hugged the boys. I ran to Melinda, wrapped my arms around her waist, and hugged her ever so tightly.

She hugged me back and rested her chin on top of my head. "Are you okay, Ari? Are you hurt?"

"No. Just...traumatized."

Garcia shook his head sadly as he went into the counselors' cabin. He came back with an old, white blanket, stepped up onto the porch, and covered Sheila's body. He and Belinda then lifted up the body, tucking the ends of the blanket underneath, and carried it to the back of the counselors's cabin.

David was wiping sweat off his forehead. "Great. Just great!" he said. "Josh gets cut, and Valerie and Sheila were in ice blocks and are dead." He glared at Melinda. "You know what this means? Valerie's and Sheila's parents could sue us, the camp, for their deaths. Heck, all the kids' parents can!"

"I tried to tell you that Valerie was pushed in the lake," Melinda scolded him. "But you guys would not listen to me."

"What should we do now?" Belinda asked as she and Garcia returned to the group. "I suggest that we let Paul take them home. We certainly do not want anyone else to die."

"Speaking of Paul...where is he?" one of the boys said.

David facepalmed. "Do not tell me that he is missing or dead!" He groaned. "Nobody is going home until we discover who murdered Valerie and Sheila."

My sister kept me close to her. "So now you believe that there is a murderer out there."

David frowned at her. "Shut up, Melinda. No one needs your smart mouth. I am too frustrated right now. We all are!"

"If only we had some clues that could identify the killer," Garcia said.

Melinda pulled a photo of the footprints from her pocket. "I already showed you the first clue. Footprints. Someone was wearing shoes with a specific pattern."

"Let me see!" David snatched the picture out of her hand and examined it. "Hmm...looks like that we will need to see the bottom of everyone's shoes."

"And search your suitcases and bags," Belinda added. "I know that some of you brought more than one pair of shoes."

Neither the boys nor the girls had a problem with that. They had nothing to hide, so the killer was not one of my classmates.

I was still holding the tag and showed it to my own sister without saying anything. She took it and read it word for word, and I heard her gasp.

"Ari? Where did you get this?" She rubbed my back. "From a present? Did somebody give you a present?"

"Yes," I responded without looking at her. "And the present was Sheila."

"...what?"

I decided to face her and tilted my head up. "Sheila's lifeless body was my gift. The murderer thought that I desired to have her killed."

"Oh my gosh." She hugged me tighter and teared up. "So...whoever did this...whoever killed Valerie and Sheila...apparently did it for you."

"I would never want them dead. I swear."

"I believe you, sis. However, he probably did it because Sheila and Valerie loved to bully you. This killer...is obsessed with you. My gosh. Obsessed with my sister."

I remembered Josh. "But if that is the case...then why would the murderer cut Josh's neck and leave him bleeding out? Josh has done nothing bad to me. He is a nice and funny guy."

"Are you sure?"

"I am positive."

"So we have come close to this mystery," Garcia declared. "It is a boy who owns shoes that have patterns shaped like zigzags. He also has a thing for Ari Samson."

"We should interrogate all the boys to figure out who did it," Belinda suggested. "And probably the girls in case that we miss something."

While they had talked, the boys were examining one another's shoes and pointed at Collin.

"He did it!" one of the boys declared. "Collin is the killer!" He lifted up one of Collin's shoes.

Everybody glared at the bottom of the shoe - and it all came together.

Well, not for me. But they were convinced that Collin was the murderer.