Murder in the woods

Chapter 4

I wake up to the sunlight bursting into the room, a tangle of pinks, reds and oranges intertwining in a flowing pattern that absorbs the sky.

I pick up a hoodie and wrestle it over my head, in a hurry to watch the rest of the sunrise. Tiptoeing outside, I jog quietly to the lake. A girl sits at the end of the pontoon and I call out before joining her. "Hey, mind if I join you?" The girl turns around and I see that it's Ruby. But something's wrong. She scrambles to her feet, shoving something into her pocket hastily. Her face is pale and her eyes are wide. "What are you doing here?" She asks.
"Umm, I just came to see the- are you ok?"
"Why wouldn't I be?"
"Well, you look, I don't know. Are you ill?"
"Oh, it's just that I didn't sleep too well last night. How are you?"
"I'm alright."

We sit down on the pontoon together, watching the sun come up. But despite the extravagant view, I can't cast aside my worries for the sweet girl I met yesterday.  I hope she's ok. Whatever it is that's wrong, she definitely doesn't want to tell me. Maybe it's personal.

After a while, a lazy orange sun rose fully out of the bed and cast golden hues over the lake. The world is so beautiful, how do we deserve this view? I ask myself as the embers of the sunrise fade away. I feel like I'm in a utopian world, nothing can go wrong here, not really. As long as the sun keeps rising and setting, and the earth keeps spinning, the flowers blooming, nothing can truly be that bad in this gorgeous world we live in.

It seems like Ruby is thinking the same thing, as I see a tiny flicker of a smile touch her lips before she stands up and tells me that she is going back to bed. "Thank you." she whispers as we head back to our cabins. "I didn't do anything." I tell her.
"It may not seem like it now, but one day, you will know how much you have helped me."

What a strange thing to say! I don't know how to respond, so I laugh awkwardly before heading back inside.

Lara is up now and in the shower, but Chloe is still asleep so I make sure to be quiet while heading back to bed. I pull the duvet back over me and embrace the warmth as I drift back off to sleep.

"Sky! Earth to Sky! Oy, lazy bones, get up!" Chloe is calling, while Lara shakes me.
"The bell has gone and we need to be at breakfast in ten minutes."
"Huh?" I mumble, stretching my arms and accidently punching Chloe in the nose.
"Hey!"
"Mmmyeahsorrygimmeasecond."

The sun is up and the curtains are pulled back, letting the sunlight in. Did I dream everything about watching the sunrise with Ruby? I don't think I did.

I get out of bed then and hop in the shower. Hot jets of water stream down and I savour the warmth before I realise that I didn't take my medicines last night, no wonder it took me so long to fall asleep! And it's probably why I woke up so early this morning as well, I guess it wasn't a dream after all. I have sleeping pills for insomnia as I used to really struggle falling asleep at night.

When I'm out of the shower, I look at my bedside table where I keep my pills and see that it's empty. "Uh, guys, have you seen my medicine?"
"No, where did you keep it?"
"Just there." I gesture to my bedside table. That starts a lecture from Lara about how I should keep my part of the room tidy to prevent losing things. Yes mum, I think sulkily. Then she realises the time and herds us out of the room, just like my mum would do.

We get to breakfast a few minutes late and everyone is already tucking in while checking their timetables for today. I join the queue behind Lara and Chloe, helping myself to a bowl of fruit and a croissant with a strong glass of orange juice. Ruby catches my eye from her table and waves at me, smiling. I smile and wave back, before turning around and joining my friends at our table. "So, what's the plan for today, Jonny?" I ask.
"Let's see..." he whips out his already tattered timetable and reads out loud, "Fitness camp in the morning, followed by an afternoon of team challenges, whatever they are."
"Dunno, sounds good, though!" I smile, buttering my croissant, "So, what do you guys have planned?"

Chloe's day involves zip lining and kayaking; Lara and Brad have orienteering, then the fitness camp. Brad protests that he's in the most boring group and that Chloe is "So lucky, it's clearly favouritism."
"Aww, don't worry Brad, you can just accept that I'm in the best team as I'm better than you." Chloe smirks.
"Shut up, Chlo! It's obvious that Brad and I are in the best team here!"
"Woah, woah, woah! Hold up, it's clear that your teams are fighting for second and third place for bet teams. The winner is obviously water, you can't live without it!"

For the rest of breakfast, everyone is claiming that their team is clearly best (but it's definitely Team Water, hands down). I guess we'll just find out on the last day, also known as the Games Day which is where all the teams compete to be crowned the champions of the week.

After breakfast Ruby finds me and she seems her usual chirpy self. We chat on our way to the sports centre where we're going to be doing our fitness camp. "I hope it's good...like not too boring or anything." Ruby says as we approach Sophie who is waiting outside for us.

"Hey guys! Ready for day two?"
"Yeah, thanks." Ruby smiles, following me inside.
We have a morning filled with sweat, laughter and surprisingly fun exercises. Ruby and I pair up for the activities where you need a partner, collapsing in fits of laughter when we make mistakes. I gasp, hardly able to breathe because I'm laughing so much! Somehow, we manage to stagger into the Dining Hall for lunch, weak in the knees and clutching our stomachs. "I'm smiling so much it hurts!" Ruby exclaims.
"Same, but I just can't stop!"

Then I see my subdued friends at the table and realise that something is seriously wrong. "What's wrong? Are you all ok?" I ask. Everyone looks at Chloe and I ask her, "What is it, Chlo? Did something happen with you and Bryan this morning?"
"It's nothing, I don't know why they're making such a fuss: I couldn't care less." But still, I see her picking at her fingernails and fidgeting, barely touching her lunch.

I manage to get Lara alone and ask her what happened to Chloe. "Chloe's dad called her mum's work as she'd apparently gone abroad with her colleagues for some kind of job. And they said that there wasn't a trip at the moment and that she hadn't showed up to work for weeks. Nobody knows where she is."
"I hate her mum, how could she do this to her?"
"God knows, I'm surprised Chloe isn't that mad."
"I guess she's used to it now."
"She shouldn't have to be."
"I know." Lara smiles, sympathy etched across her face.