Chapter 10: Communications Down
The majority has selected option 2.
PATH UPDATED
Separation: (Y/N) split ways with Jacob in favour of going with the rest of the group. - ...and then went with Dylan and Ryan to find a landline.
PATH UPDATED
Out of Hand: (Y/N) went after Jacob. - Jacob and (Y/N) went swimming in the lake. - ...but left when they heard Abi scream - ...and Jacob got caught in a booby trap. - A hunter poured some sort of substance on (Y/N)'s face. - (Y/N) washed the liquid off.
22.00 | August 22nd - (Y/N)
Lodge Entrance
I'll go find Dylan and Ryan after I get dressed. As much as I want to help Nick, there's Kaitlyn to tend to his injuries and Abi for moral support. I should work on contacting the authorities.
With your clothes in hand, you ducked into the kitchen. Abi would come in here a little later to get a snack for Nick but you'd be able to get dressed before that. It would barely take you a minute.
But first the substance still all over your face. Going over to the sink, you turned on the tap and let the water pool in your cupped hands before splashing it all over your face. You repeated the action multiple times and the blood washed away down the drain. Using the kitchen towel nearby, you dried your face.
Great, now clothes.
Getting behind one of the kitchen islands; you took of Kaitlyn's hoodie. She'd been so nice to offer it to you but that's just the way Kaitlyn was. Then came off your undergarments and you quickly slipped on the dry ones Ryan had retrieved for you. The lake water had dried on you by now, except for your hair but there wasn't really a hairdryer you could use right now. You put on the leggings, then the shirt and the jacket over that. The socks followed and then finally your hiking shoes. Warming back up at last, you smiled a little.
Well that feels significantly better. Next stop Mr H's office.
You secured your phone into your pocket, silently thanking Ryan that he'd chosen leggings with pockets. The pocket knife that had proven quite useful tonight also met the same fate. With everything secured, you went to leave the room.
Then for the first time in an hour, you found a tarot card by the frame of the door.
I'm too tired and worried to question it at this point.
You removed it from its spot. On the card, there were a few animals but the main focuses were the sun and moon, more prominently the moon frowning down at the animals below.
Tarot Card Found
The Moon
(Y/N) pulls open a door, screams and slams the door shut as they return into the building they came from.
When you finally left the room; the main hall was dark, empty and unbelievably silent. The full moon cast a glossy layer of light on certain tables but it only amplified the creepy atmosphere. You almost didn't want to go on but it was just a little darkness.
A little darkness never killed anyone, right?
Every step you took through the hall echoed and made you want to turn back but you powered on. Halfway through the way to Mr H's office, however, you felt your breath hitch in your throat as your own name was whispered into the air around you. You whipped around immediately to see who it was but there wasn't anyone in the corridor. You turned back around, confused and creeped out, before just pausing and listening. Nothing followed except for silence.
"Creepy..."
You muttered before continuing on your way.
My mind's playing tricks on me. I had a night, Nick got hurt...I'm just tired.
Clue Found
Creepy Whispers
When you made it to the right door, you heard voices you recognized as Dylan and Ryan's coming from inside. Knocking as to not scare them, you pulled open the door and entered. They both turned to you. Dylan was standing in front of the gun on the wall, Mr H always loved that thing, while Ryan was by the telephone on the desk.
"Hey."
"Hi."
"Have you two called for help yet?
You asked, joining Ryan behind the desk.
"We were just about to."
Ryan took the handset and looked from you to Dylan.
"Uh...Mr H?"
Dylan turned around to come over. You shook your head.
"Won't work. This phone is the only number we have of his."
"Okay then, ninety-one-one."
You furrowed your burrows at the unfamiliar wording before you finally understood what he meant.
"Dylan, did you mean nine one one?"
He looked at you as if that were obvious and normal.
"Yeah, ninety-one-one."
"Who says ninety-one-one?"
Your other companion asked. The brunette looked down at his feet.
"I dunno..."
"Anyway, yeah, but like what should I ask for? Like police? Ambulance?"
"Huh...Never thought of that. Ambulance for Nick, obviously, and..."
"Do we have to be specific? Can't you just say 'Help! Help!'"
"Yeah uh...That's one of the number one thing's you're not supposed to do on a 911 call. Just say 'Help! Help!'" You put a hand on Dylan's shoulder. "But you do have a point. Just say something like 'Our friends got attacked in the woods by some animal, one of them is hurt, and two of our other friends got attacked by some mystery guy.'"
Ryan nodded slowly.
"So they'll say: '911, what's your emergency?' and I'll say 'Help, help, my friends may have been attacked by a bear, or maybe not a bear but definitely an animal with teeth and we're not sure how many there are out there right now- or how smart they are so they may be mounting an attack on us right now. Oh and also there's this psycho guy setting off traps in the woods and dousing people in blood so just like send a whole bunch of ambulances just to be sure.'?"
"Yeah, yeah- That's- That's good."
Dylan affirmed you sighed.
"Whatever you're gonna say just please say it clearly and calmly, otherwise this is gonna come off like a drunk teenage prank."
"Okay."
Ryan dialed in the number and put the handset up to his ear. It didn't even take a minute for his face to turn into one of worry and confusion.
"What's wrong?"
"Dead."
Ryan said.
"Dead? How's it dead?"
You questioned, not understanding how this could happen. This place had a landline and the lodge still had running electricity (Evident by the dim lights over your heads) so there was no reason for the line to go dead.
"That's weird..."
"Phones go dead...sometimes out here."
"It really shouldn't though. I mean, nothing ever did all summer and now it suddenly goes dead when we need it?"
"Yeah and right when you're about to call the cops?"
"It's a coincidence."
Ryan pushed.
"Did you try the...hang up thingy?"
Dylan asked.
"What?"
"Here."
He took the phone from Ryan as you leaned in before balancing it between his shoulder and ear. His hand worked at pushing the buttons on the phone, much to your and Ryan's confusion.
"What are you doing?"
Ryan sounded quite exasperated as Dylan continued.
"I dunno, it's what they do in movies when the phone goes dead. Tap on the little thingy."
"We're not in a movie."
"Okay, well, you know, how do you know that? Maybe that's just what they want us to think."
"Pretty sure that's not it Dyl."
He put the phone back down into its proper spot after your words.
"Okay so this phone's a no-go. No one has signal. Is there anywhere else in the camp that has a landline?"
There's one place but I don't know if it has a landline...I've only ever been in there like...thrice.
"Dylan, does the radio hut have a landline?"
"Well...Not a landline..."
"So there's something?"
You pushed on eagerly.
"It has some old broadcast gear."
"Where- Where you do your announcements?"
"Where I curate my sweet summer jams, yeah- and where I do the PA announcements. It has some old equipment there. I think we could probably rig something up, and get a message out."
"Definitely worth a try." You got ready to leave. Dylan wandered back to the gun on the wall as you talked. "Let's go."
"Alright yeah- Let's head over and see if we can contact somebody." Ryan gave an exasperated look at Dylan. "Put that back Dylan."
He'd now removed the gun from its holding on the wall.
"I will put it back...when we're good and safe and help is on the way."
Honestly, that sounded reasonable to you. Anything could happen at any moment, as you'd clearly seen.
"Okay, if it makes you feel better, take it. It's better we have it anyway."
Dylan smiled at you.
"See, they get it."
Dylan appreciates it.
Ryan sighed.
"Can't argue with that logic. Just be careful with it." He paused. "You know what, I changed my mind. Just give it to (Y/N)."
"What? Why? No offence, (Y/N)."
"Yeah, none taken. Why?"
"Cause Kaitlyn told me you were pretty good around that shotgun back when you oversaw that shootout. It'd probably be safer with you than with him, no offence Dylan."
"Oh, yeah, sure, none taken."
You weighed the option in your head. You'd never shot a gun but you'd seen that demonstration.
"I'll take it, if that's alright Dyl."
He seemed to think for a moment before handing it to you.
"Not gonna lie, kinda trust you more with it than myself. Shame too, I wanted to have my own time of being the awesome guy who saves the day with the gun and-"
The world went dark in one swift motion as the lights suddenly went out. You flinched a little.
"Okay..."
"Shit..."
"Uh, it's probably the weather..?"
"What weather Ryan?"
"Maybe- Maybe it was the bears."
You tried to give Ryan an incredulous look through the darkness.
"Bears? Those aren't fucking bears...Not from what you guys told me anyway." Now even more on edge with the lights off, you continued. The gun weighed heavy on the sling around your shoulder. "I saw the bite on Nick's leg. No bear could've done that. Plus a bear would've crushed him."
"Yeah, why'd does everyone blame everything on bears..? Okay, for the sake of argument, what if that bear...animal...thing...uh...cut our phone line and just cut out all the power. What if that bear is waiting for us out in the hallway?"
"Don't say shit like that."
"Fair point though."
"Thank you."
You pulled your phone from your pocket and turned on the flashlight to make some more light for you. Your group of three left the room quickly, gun still in tact with you.
"We should probably tell Kaitlyn we're going to the radio hut. They're probably freaked."
Ryan said out in the corridor.
"Yeah. Okay, yeah, let's go."
Dylan suddenly pulled at your arm, more specifically the gun over your shoulder, and you let him remove it. He put on the light at the front and proceeded to maneuver it around all over the place until you put a firm hand on his wrist and gently took the gun from him. You slung it back over your shoulder.
"Dylan, please."
"Yeah, we should probably leave that with Kaitlyn."
"Yeah, good call. Sorry Dylan."
You replied as you speed walked through the corridor, your phone in your free hand.
"It's okay. We still have Ryan's gun."
"Which you're definitely never touching unless you absolutely have to."
Ryan said without even turning back. He opened a door and held it so you could go first. Dylan stopped.
"Do you think she really needs it, though?"
"Uh, she needs it just as much as we do."
"And we already have one so..."
"She's staying in the lodge, we're going out there."
Dylan reasoned.
"You literally just said there might be something dangerous in the lodge."
Ryan reminded him.
"When?"
"Give or take 30 seconds ago."
You replied.
"Okay, sure, but that's only because I really wanted a gun."
"Glad you're admitting to your own gaslighting."
"Just...We're giving her the gun, man."
"Yeah, as much as I like the idea of a second gun, Kaitlyn might need it and we already have one. Plus, I have a pocket knife on me."
"Whoa, where'd you get that?"
Dylan asked.
"That little tent by the fire pit when I was putting down the kindling. It's been coming in handy quite a bit tonight."
"Well, there's that at least. Ah, alright, give it to her (Y/N)."
"Thank you for your cooperation."
"Hey and we'll still have mine." A small grin spread on Ryan's face. "If you're extra nice to me, I'll- I might let you hold it."
"Don't write a check that your ass can't cash."
Dylan joked.
"My ass has got quite the bank account."
Dylan scoffed playfully.
"Right...You two done with that? We should probably-" Suddenly footsteps were heard and Kaitlyn came down the hallway. "Oh great, Kaitlyn we were just about to come find you."
"Well here I am."
"Uh okay, first of all, thanks for the hoodie. It's in the kitchen right now."
"Oh okay, great. And you're welcome (Y/N)." She looked away briefly. "On another note...Uh...Nick's been asking for you. Like it's kinda creeping me out how desperately he's been asking."
You were both a little surprised and worried to hear that.
"What? Is he okay?"
"Oh yeah, don't worry, he's fine. Like surprisingly fine. It was hard to even find wounds to clean, though maybe that was because he was moving around so much. He was just squirming around so I probably missed a bunch of them."
"That's weird..."
"Well; the three of us were about to head out to the radio hut to try and contact emergency services since the phone here's a bust, especially with the electricity gone."
Ryan said, cutting in.
"Oh yeah, that was weird. Don't know what's up with that."
"Yeah, but (Y/N) if you wanna stay and check on Nick that's fine too. Dylan and I can go on our own."
"Yeah; don't worry about it, though you coming with us is admittedly sounding sweeter by the second."
Dylan said.
"Uh..."
Option 1: Stay and check on Nick.
Option 2: Go to the radio hut with Ryan and Dylan.
End of chapter stats:
(Y/N) (L/N)
Physical health: 9/10
Mental health: 7/10
Relationships:
Laura Kearney thinks of you as a close friend.
Max Brinly thinks of you as a close friend.
Emma Mountebank is not currently present.
Jacob Custos is off finding Emma.
Abigail Blyg is helping Nick.
Nick Furcillo wants to see you.
Kaitlyn Ka is awaiting your decision.
Dylan Lenivy wants for you to come with them.
Ryan Erzahler is awaiting your decision.
Clues:
Freakshow Fire Clues:
-Creepy Whispers
Hackett History Clues:
-Old Camp Photo
-Open Book
Camp History Clues:
-Trail Camera
-Camp Plaque
-No Swimming Sign
-North Kill Gazette
-Boat with Oars
-Shadow in the Window
Tarot Cards:
Queen of Swords
(Y/N) examines a pocket knife on a table and decides to take it with them.
Knight of Pentacles
(Y/N) holds their breath as they hide pushed up against a wall in the lodge, a man searching for them in the background.
King of Cups
Nick calls out to (Y/N) in the woods and finds them in a clearing.
The Tower
(Y/N) falls down from a tree and lays limply as some sort of monster mauls them.
Ace of Swords
(Y/N) places their hand down and uses a knife to sever their finger from their hand.
The Moon
(Y/N) pulls open a door, screams and slams the door shut as they return into the building they came from.
Evidence:
-Ranger's Box
-Bloated Corpse
Paths:
Friend's Journey: (Y/N) turned down Max and Laura's offer to head down to the camp early. - (Y/N) did not know what happened to the two when they didn't turn up to camp.
Tip of The Iceberg: (Y/N) headed inside the lodge to talk to Nick and Dylan. - (Y/N) brought their guitar out themselves - (Y/N) remembered their guitar and asked Kaitlyn to bring the guitar to the fire pit for later.
Preparations: (Y/N) went with Nick and Abi to get firewood. - (Y/N) oversaw Nick and Jacob's shootout alongside Kaitlyn. - (Y/N) recognized the sound of the boar thanks to the walk with Nick and Abi.
Something For Later: (Y/N) took the knife. - They had something to help free Jacob from the booby trap.
Actions Speak Louder Than Words: (Y/N) chose dare during the truth or dare game. - (Y/N) kissed Nick as a result of their dare. - Nick was reluctant to kiss Emma. - (Y/N) was upset about Emma kissing Nick and went to comfort Jacob.
Out of Hand: (Y/N) went after Jacob. - Jacob and (Y/N) went swimming in the lake. - ...but left when they heard Abi scream - ...and Jacob got caught in a booby trap. - A hunter poured some sort of substance on (Y/N)'s face. - (Y/N) washed the liquid off.
Separation: (Y/N) split ways with Jacob in favour of going with the rest of the group. - ...and then went with Dylan and Ryan to find a landline.