The Acadia Killer

Chapter 5

There had been a second murder in Acadia. My ears heard the words, but my brain didn't want to believe the horrifying news. My thoughts automatically went to Blake, and I wondered how the park rangers were handling the situation.

The headline on T.V. made my skin crawl and I hurried to double check every single window and door lock in the beach house. I knew everything was locked, but I suddenly needed a visual confirmation after hearing that the second murder had taken place in an Airbnb. Michelle rented out this house on Airbnb and Vrbo. I knew that was just a coincidence and probably had nothing to do with anything, but it didn't make me feel any safer to be in a rental house when some other young woman had just been murdered in one nearby.

I peered out the window over the kitchen sink. It overlooked the western half of the driveway and beyond into the trees. The forest was a dark, gloomy shade of green, with a thick mist still encasing nearly every branch. The morning fog wouldn't lift until the storm clouds finally moved on. The view made me feel like a character in one of those horror movies where you can't see anything in the foggy woods and then some ax murderer chases you down.

I retrieved my key fob off the island and watched through the window as my truck lights blinked. I knew it was already locked. I was very diligent about locking everything. But it made me feel better to lock it a second time anyway.

"Well, that settles that," I said to myself as I made my way over to my laptop. "I won't be going out today."

Part of me wanted to blame it on the weather, but I knew I could've gotten some good photos of the misty forest and ocean anyway. I just didn't want to go out into the park and worry about looking over my shoulder constantly while trying to snap pictures. I hoped the police would catch this homicidal asshole today and then I could safely and comfortably proceed with my work. But for now, I'd made up my mind that it would be a day to stay in, try to relax while downing too much coffee, and continue editing all my photos from yesterday. I still had about fifty left to go through.

My phone buzzed with a text from Michelle asking if I'd heard the news. I typed back a quick "yes" and opened my laptop to the photo I'd left off on before going to bed last night. I'd been combing through the images from my trek down Beehive Trail when I'd decided to turn in for the night.

Tapping away at my keyboard, I adjusted brightness, contrast, saturation, and definition on nearly every photo. There were a few deletions, but most of the images I was skimming through I was happy with. Seeing my captures on my computer made me itch to get back out there and shoot more. I hoped all this murder chaos would be over with today so I could safely head back out on the trail.

As I was clicking through the last few photos taken along Beehive Trail, something made me stop. At first, I thought I'd captured a bear in the distance, but upon closer inspection, the dark fleeting shadow in the trees appeared to be a person running in the opposite direction. Could it be the woman who had been murdered moments later? I zoomed into the far left spot on my screen and saw what looked like a tall man wearing all black or a very dark green. The lighting made it hard to tell. He seemed to be leaping over a downed tree trunk as he ran in the direction I was pointing my camera.

"Oh my God," I murmured to myself, covering my mouth with my hand.

Had I accidentally taken a photo of the murderer right before he killed that woman?

The realization hit me like a ton of bricks landing on top of my body and my heart rate kicked into high gear when it occurred to me that I could've been the victim, as close as he'd gotten to me.

Shocked and beginning to shake, I struggled to pick up my phone and dial 911. Normally, I would've called the non-emergency number, but if this was the murderer, it seemed like an emergency to me.