Chapter 88: Camping (4)

Everly hoped that Misha could persuade her companions to leave together. On one hand, she wanted to take the opportunity to save a few other innocent people. On the other hand, according to the usual rules of horror movies, traveling in a larger group was safer than leaving with just three people.

Especially considering that this movie was only a prequel. Gary hadn’t killed many people yet, and his abilities hadn’t evolved as quickly as they did in the later installments. At this stage, moving together with more people would provide a greater sense of security.

However, whether the plan would succeed still depended on Misha’s persuasive skills.

After hanging up the phone, they drove along the road for a while longer. Finally, as the woods on both sides of the road suddenly thinned out, the vast Red Oak Camp appeared before them.

It was 8:10 in the morning. The two campsite managers were already awake. One of them, an older man, was standing at the door of the manager’s office smoking. The other was very young, looking barely in his early twenties. He had rolled up his sleeves and was clumsily chopping firewood beside a wooden stump.

When they saw an unfamiliar jeep drive into the campground, the smoking manager gave the man chopping wood a look. The young manager set down his axe and walked over to the jeep, slightly out of breath, then bent his fingers and knocked on the window.

“Hey, hello. We’re the managers of Red Oak Camp. My name’s Andy, and that’s my colleague Benjamin. Sorry to stop you, but we don’t seem to have received any new camping reservations recently.”

Everly felt the sunlight flash across her eyes.

The manager who called himself Andy had a face rarely seen among Westerners—one that still carried a boyish innocence. His hair was light flaxen, soft and fluffy, like bread just out of the oven. His brown eyes were clear and bright, his eyelashes long and curled. When he smiled, he gave off a light, carefree feeling—like bubble gum—somewhat silly and completely untroubled.

With looks like that, even that famous someone-or-other in his youth probably wouldn’t have been any better.

Everly couldn’t help but suspect that this person might be the protagonist of the Blood Camp prequel—assuming that the unlucky group at the end of the prequel hadn’t all been killed by Gary.

However, finding the protagonist now was of little use, because she would soon be leaving with Misha.

With that thought, Everly composed herself, gestured to the manager Andy, parked the car in the open space ahead, and then got out with Old John—one from each side of the jeep—to introduce themselves.

“Hello. We’re relatives of Misha Burns. We came to pick her up and take her home.”

“Misha Burns? Oh, yes, she’s one of the participants in this batch of campers.” The manager named Andy clearly had a deep impression of the strange girl who had just arrived at the campsite and immediately started shouting that there was a killer nearby, even calling the police with a false report. Because of that, the way he looked at Everly and Old John carried a subtle hint of curiosity.

“Misha needs to return home for something, so we came to pick her up,” Everly said as she took out her phone and showed the manager a photo of herself with Misha.

“Oh, then you might have to wait a bit. They’re staying in those cabins over there. See? None of the doors have opened yet.” He paused, then added casually, “By the way, even if someone withdraws at the last minute, the camping fee isn’t refundable.”

Old John nodded. “That’s fine. We’re the ones who had something come up suddenly anyway. By the way, while we wait for them to wake up, can we take a walk around nearby?”

“Sure,” Andy said with an indifferent shrug before walking back to continue chopping firewood.

Everly and Old John exchanged a glance. The two of them returned to the jeep, each taking several portable weapons and hiding them on their person. After locking the car doors, they headed toward the cabins Andy had just pointed out.

Since Everly had already communicated with Misha beforehand, she quickly identified which of the five cabins the group of nine had stayed in the night before. Together with Old John, she circled around to the bathroom window and leaned closer to examine the traces on the ground.

“Two people left together,” Old John said. He crouched down by the footprints beneath the window and used his fingers to measure the width and depth. “One is a male about 182 centimeters tall, weighing over 180 pounds. The other is a young woman about 175 centimeters tall, around 130 pounds.”

Everly knew Paula and Malin, and their physical characteristics generally matched the footprints. Judging from the direction the tracks led, Malin and Paula had probably wanted to find somewhere private to be alone. After climbing out through the window, they had headed straight into the forest behind the cabins.

Everly and Old John drew their pistols and held them in their hands, remaining on guard as they followed the footprints one after the other, walking a short distance into the woods. At the edge of the campground, the red oak forest was still rather sparse. But after moving three or four meters deeper, the trees grew denser, the layer of fallen leaves on the ground thickened, and the footprints gradually became less distinct.

But by then, they no longer needed the footprints to guide them.

Everly sniffed the air. Beneath the sour, decaying smell of rotting leaves, she caught a strong scent of blood.

Following that smell, she and Old John continued forward. Before long, they saw the bodies of a man and a woman lying in the forest, their clothes in disarray.

At that moment, the ominous premonition became reality—Misha really had encountered the Blood Camp prequel.

Beep, beep, beep. The satellite phone on Everly’s back suddenly emitted a series of alert tones. Surrounded by the dangerous forest, Everly didn’t dare answer immediately. Instead, she and Old John stood back-to-back, pistols raised, becoming even more cautious as they scanned their surroundings while quickly retreating from the woods.

By the time the two of them finally withdrew from the forest, there was no longer any need to answer the call.

The door of the cabin had already been opened from the inside. The seven people inside were now all standing at the doorway, gathered around Misha and speaking to her excitedly about something. From where they stood, they could clearly see Everly and her grandfather emerging from the forest.

When the first sharp-eyed person noticed the two of them, the group quickly stopped talking and all turned their curious gazes toward Everly and Old John.

“Who are they? Are they backup for this killer-hunt game?” a red-haired boy asked.

The organizer of this camping trip wasn’t Misha’s friend, but rather a “friend of a friend” from a neighboring school. This red-haired boy was probably one of the organizers, and neither he nor Everly recognized each other.

Misha quickly spoke up. “Yes, that’s right. These two are the detectives we invited to play roles in this game—Everly and her grandfather, John. Next, the exciting search phase will be led by the two of them!”

“Wow, she’s really pretty, and that outfit is so cool—she looks just like a female secret agent from a movie!”

“If I’d known this game was so interesting, I wouldn’t have resisted it so much earlier!”

After hearing Misha’s explanation, the group all looked eager to try.

A killer-hunting game? Detectives? Misha seemed to have made up a rather strange story. Everly was full of question marks listening to it, but as long as Misha could persuade everyone to go into the forest and see the bodies with her, what excuse she used didn’t really matter.

Exchanging a glance with her friend, and receiving a subtle signal from her, Everly cleared her throat and solemnly explained their purpose.

“I believe Misha already mentioned that the area around here is dangerous. A bloodthirsty killer has set his sights on you. And at such a critical moment, Malin and Paula have gone missing. Next, we’ll lead you along the footprints to trace where those two went. Let’s all pray that they haven’t been harmed yet.”

With that said, Everly and Old John split up to the front and back of the group. Old John took the lead, guiding everyone toward the forest they had just explored.

As they walked, Misha deliberately slowed down and fell to the back of the group.

“Everly, how is it? Did that killer really attack Malin and Paula?”

Everly nodded. “Yes. My grandfather and I just went into the woods to check and found their bodies… Misha, this isn’t your fault. You already warned everyone in advance and did everything you could. Don’t put too much burden on yourself. Later, when everyone sees the bodies, we’ll still need you to comfort Lily and the others and persuade them to leave as soon as possible.”

“Mm, I know…” Misha took a deep breath, forcing back her tears. Her mood was unusually low.

Hopefully, after seeing the reality clearly, their classmates would listen and not become a burden.

Otherwise, if they refused to cooperate, given Everly’s personality, she would definitely turn around without hesitation, grab Misha, and run. So when it came to persuading everyone later, Misha would have to do her best herself.

“Ahhhhhh!”

In the middle of their conversation, a piercing scream suddenly rang out from ahead.

Everly immediately stopped talking and raised her gun, standing guard where she was, while Misha followed the crowd toward the source of the scream.

It was a small clearing in the woods.

In the center of the clearing, several pieces of clothing were carelessly spread across the fallen leaves. Two people lay on top of them, frozen in a position with the woman on top of the man. Their eyes were wide open, and their faces still held strong expressions of shock and terror. After a whole night, the bodies had already grown stiff.

Paula and Malin had been killed in the middle of their “intimate moment.” The murder weapon was a thick tree branch sharpened at the end. It had been driven diagonally through the girl’s back, piercing through her abdomen. The force didn’t stop there—it continued downward, penetrating the boy’s chest beneath her, pinning the two of them to the ground like pieces of meat on a skewer.

The heavy smell of blood had attracted insects from the forest. Swarms of black ants crawled along their bodies onto the bloodstained skin, while large green-headed flies and beetles with glossy shells moved among them. Together they formed countless dense black specks, creating a scene so disturbing it was enough to give anyone nightmares.

“F-fake… This has to be fake, right?”

“The makeup looks so realistic… Ahhh! It’s real—it’s a real corpse!”

Misled by Misha’s earlier explanation about a “killer-hunt game,” one of the boys thought Malin and Paula’s appearance was just special effects makeup. Gathering his courage, he stepped forward and tried to pull out the wooden branch, assuming it had been glued onto Paula’s back. But when he pulled, with a wet, sticky sound, the sharp end of the branch—clinging with bits of flesh—was yanked straight out of Malin’s chest.

A surge of dark red blood welled out. When the blood receded, a hole as thick as a person’s arm could be seen in the dead boy’s chest. The morning sunlight filtered through the gaps in the leaves above, and in the golden beams of light, the heart below—pierced and shredded into a mangled mass—could be clearly seen.

“Ugh… ugh—blegh…”

“Help! Malin—Malin is dead! They’re both dead!”

“Misha, didn’t you say this was a game? Why is this happening…?”

At last, they could no longer deceive themselves with the idea that it was “just a game.” For a moment, everyone in the forest became like headless flies, panicking and falling into chaos.

“Everyone, quiet!” Everly picked up a stick and knocked it against a tree, drawing everyone’s attention to her. “Yes, that’s right. What you see in front of you are two dead bodies, not some kind of prank prop. Misha already told you last night that a roaming killer was nearby and urged you to leave as soon as possible, but you didn’t believe her. Now the killer has begun hunting, and anyone here could become his next target. My grandfather and I came here to take Misha away. For your own safety, I suggest that you leave this campsite with us.”

As soon as Everly finished speaking, another wave of frightened and doubtful chatter broke out among them.

“Is it true, Misha? Is there really a killer here?”

“We need to call the police—notify them right away!”

“Let’s go! I don’t want to stay here for another minute!”

The forest had too many places to hide—it was the perfect spot for an ambush. Everly had no patience to linger in such a place. After explaining the situation, she didn’t give the others time to react. She grabbed Misha and immediately followed Old John out of the woods.

With the most calm and decisive person already leaving, the remaining six looked at each other, then glanced again at the horribly mangled corpses nearby. Instantly, none of them dared hesitate any longer. Scrambling and stumbling, they hurried after the three of them and ran out of the forest together.

“Two of you come with us to find the campsite manager and have him call the police. The rest go get the cars. The killer likes to target people who are alone, so remember—don’t act by yourselves. We’ll meet at the entrance of the manager’s office in a moment.”

Everly stopped beside the cabins and said this to the six who had followed them.

However, the red-haired boy among the six didn’t buy it. He and another boy and girl were from a different school and didn’t know Everly, so it was only natural for them to find someone who had suddenly appeared like her suspicious.

“Why should we believe you? You keep saying there’s a killer, but you have no solid proof. Maybe this whole thing is just something you and Misha staged yourselves. Maybe you’re the ones who killed Malin and Paula!” he shouted angrily.

“Then don’t believe me,” Everly shrugged. “As long as I can take Misha away, that’s enough.”

She didn’t have a particularly strong savior complex. In a horror-movie world like this, trying to save everyone would only get you killed.

Yet the result turned out well by accident.

Everly’s indifferent attitude actually made her seem more credible. In addition, three of the remaining six were from the same school as Everly and had long known her character and reputation. After a brief argument, they finally split themselves into two groups. One group followed Everly and the others to find the campsite manager, while the other group headed to the parking area to get the cars. Each group had more than three people, so technically no one was “alone.”