This was not going well.
Max was stuck in the backstage with a detective hat and outfit on him, as he was starring as the main character in a murder mystery play. He would've liked to prevent this, but fate had other plans for him.
Two days ago, everything went well enough. Max got Ered, Nerris, and Harrison to sign the contract and got himself and Nikki washed up and cleansed of the horrible smell of tomatoes.
But the body parts perplexed him. When he got David and Gwen to come to the trunk, there was nothing, for all of them mysteriously disappeared. There wasn't even a trace of blood. The only thing that hinted the adults of their presence was a very faint smell. The boy could swear he heard muffled screams during the night of the past two days, yet he found nothing.
This day didn't go as planned however. Max had spent the past two days coming up with another plan. When Max attempted to tell Preston about the counterparts and his plan, he laughed directly at Max's face and called him a crazy bitch. Not only that, he was roped into his play as the main character.
Max despised the playwright. He was annoying and loud and wouldn't stop spitting out Shakespeare quotes for one minute, just the right amount of those to make the Indian lash out and wish he committed suicide earlier in his life. He also had a strange obsession with Max, as he put the boy as a main character in every performance, only putting him as a minor character in some and not in the play at all once.
Preston claimed that Max had a "fiery personality with the right amount of cynicism and cunning every main character should have". Max said that it was a "huge pile of bullshit".
"MAX, GET READY FOR THE PLAY! IT STARTS IN FIVE MINUTES!" Max was taken aback by the noise at first, but he returned to his usual state when he saw that Preston was the one who shouted in the megaphone.
He turned around and faced the taller boy. "With all due respect, suck a dick Preston."
"You can't say that to me! I am your superior!"
"You may be my superior in this play, but your sure as hell not outside of this."
"If it makes you feel better, I will be in the play as well."
"I didn't know that you're the victim and I'm the murderer."
"I cannot stand your venomous and disrespectful attitude! Get out of here!"
Max turned and went to the mirrors, hoping to see if he was good enough looking for the play. He was surprised to find Nikki there, reading some of Preston's transcripts.
"Hey Max, come read these! They're super funny," Nikki said as she passed a paper to her friend. She was giggling with both delight and humor.
Max skimmed through the transcript and chuckled at it. Preston was terrible at writing lines, but lines for his female characters? They were comedy gold levels of bad.
"Oh Marc, please validate me! I need to get onto the stage with my confidence and ego in check!" That was all the Indian needed to burst out laughing.
"Holy shit, Preston expects someone to read and say this?"
"I know right? He's so silly!"
Max got back on track and put the paper down. He was here for something else. He went to the drawers below the mirrors and started searching for anything incriminating.
He found masks, various props, makeup oddly, and sketches of settings. The only thing Max found to piece together this mystery was a small book titled 'IMPORTANT- DO NOT LET ANYONE READ'.
"What in Shakespeare's grave are you doing searching for my stuff, Max?"
Max turned around to face the older boy, an angry look on his face. He was about to ask Preston what the hell the book was about when a bell rang.
"Preston, the play is about to start. Is everybody ready?"
"Yes Priss, everyone is ready. Just gotta get this little cunt to do this."
Preston chuckled and turned back to Max. "Priss does that so everyone knows when it's time for the play. Like now, you flaming piece of monkey crap."
"I'm telling you, that guy is anything but good. Remember Daniel, you sack of horseshit?"
"Of course I do. That deranged maniac made Nurf drag me into that brainwashing machine!"
"But this guy, the guy that is literally a copy of you and wears white clothing ISN'T a deranged maniac? You really must have a clone boner."
"But he is the only one here that understands my passion for plays and the great writers of it besides Dolph. Do you simpletons understand it?"
"You know what? Fuck it. You are impossible to convince or to reason with. I'll figure out this mystery by myself."
Max stormed off to the front stage, waiting for the play to start and to get it over with as fast as possible. He adjusted his cap and his detective outfit while impatiently stamping his foot on the ground, arms crossed.
He almost let out a sigh of relief when the play started. He breezed through his lines as Preston made him memorize the lines and his actions three days ago. Everything went through in a flash, it seemed to Max. The only time the boy was actually focusing was during the intermission near the end of the play, as Priss called for it for a 'shit your pants scary reveal'.
Max went to the pile of boxes and slid down to the ground. He felt doozy, like he didn't sleep well. That was true, he slept with David for the past two days. He kept having nightmares about Micheal and the murdering of the campers and the strange body parts in the trunk of the Campmobile.
"Dude, are you ok? You look like your in shock."
Max jumped at the voice, immediately readying himself to go back onstage. Instead he looked up and saw Ered and Nerris, both with concerned looks on their faces and with a duffel bag in Nerris' hands.
"Oh, hey guys. What's with the bag? And why are you two here?"
"Well, we went poking through Preston's tent and Nerris found this bag buried below his bunk."
Nerris had a triumphant look in her face and posed in a manner a hero would after completing a dangerous quest. "It was nothing. I, Nerris The Cute, found it effortlessly."
Ered gave a laugh and ruffled the girls hair. "You are just too cute. I helped you with the shovel, but you did find it by yourself."
"Well, yeah you did help me with that..."
Max grew agitated with the two and demanded that they explain what they were doing around at Preston's tent and the duffel bag.
"Basically me and Nerris followed your advice and went around the others tents. This was buried recently, based on the fact the shovel was present and there were piles of dirt and stuff. You might wanna take a look at this."
The Indian opened the bag and dug through it. He found rope, a flint and steel, a first aid kit, and food. There was more stuff, mostly survival stuff and tools, but what interested him the most were two books.
He took out the first, a small book with the title 'Guide To Manipulation And Psychology'. He put this one aside and took out the other book, this one slightly larger and with a cover that read 'The Tales Of Kings And Wizards'.
Max wasn't fooled by this and ripped off the cover, revealing that it was one of the same books that Daniel pulled out during his stay at the Wood Scouts.
The boy, not interested in Daniel's crazy bullshit religion, put the book back in place and closed the duffel bag altogether. He turned around to Ered and Nerris and took a deep breath.
"Ered, take this back to the tent. Nerris you-"
The sound of footsteps were audible to the three with some whispering mixed in.
"But the bag is gone. Where could it have gone?"
"No one could have gotten it. I buried it below the poor boy's bunk Micheal."
"But what if someone found it and looked through the contents? We're screwed. They'll call the police on us and and god knows what they'll do to us."
"I assure you that one of us has got it. I heard that Dave wanted to go see if I had any art supplies for this horrid play."
Alerted, Max quickly put the bag behind a box and slid the books below it.
Micheal and Priss soon arrived and asked Max and Ered if they knew anything about 'something' of Priss that went missing. Of course, the two denied any knowledge of such a thing.
"But it's gone! I've checked everywhere for it and I still couldn't find it!"
"Nurf stole it. He's always stealing everyone's shit; it's not a surprise he came after you. Isn't that right Ered?" Max was met by a nod by the teenager.
Micheal said that they would look into it and see if Nurf took it. He also told the girls to get back to the audience and to his relief the two strolled back to their seats. Priss dragged Max from his position and told him that the final scene of the play was ready and it needed to be top notch.
He was ready for this abomination of a play to be over when the curtains were removed and he saw the audience. They appeared horrified, much to the confusion of Max, and that's when he looked behind him to the stage.
The Indian was met by bodies shackled to the wall, eyes gouged out with dried blood covering the bottom of them. They were naked, their penises, nipples, and hair seemingly cut off. Organs were strewn across the floor with patches of skin accompanying them. A strong stench of blood filled the air, nearly making Max throw up.
"What in fucking hell is this?! Is this what they were planning to do with the bodies? I knew they were crazy and assholes from the start, but this... this is to far," Max thought while he tried to not to embarrass himself. He drew in a deep breath and focused on getting this over with.
"Oh my sweet Gretchen, it appears your husband was killed by... a flock of ravens?"
'Gretchen', who was played by Nikki, started to cry crocodile tears and slumped down on the floor. "Oh my poor husband! Curse those damn birds!"
"Now, now, it seems that the birds were controlled by a man whose name was..."
On cue, the murder leaped out of the shadows and stabbed Max in the back. He gave a groan and fell face down on the ground, pretending to die on the spot.
"Ohohoho! It was me, the Raven Killer! I assigned these creatures to come and kill you! Now bathe in my pride and I might spare you."
Max muttered his lines, but something was bothering him. He felt like he really was stabbed. The pain was starting to blossom, and all Max could do was to try and endure the pain as the Raven Killer raved with pleasure.
Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, the play was over. Curtains were drawn and Max got himself up and took off his detective outfit. He put his hand over the part where the scar was. He was surprised to feel how deep it was, and he drew blood all over his fingers.
He knew what to do. He got Preston's attention by telling him that he wanted his help for a transcript he was writing. He was perplexed at first, but he caved in and went with Max. The boys went to Ered and Nerris, who were waiting by their tents.
The girls looked up from whatever they were doing and greeted them. Max explained everything the stabbing and showed them the scar.
"Woah dude, that looks rough. Are you sure you're ok?" Max smiled a little by Ered's discomfort. She was like a big sister to all.
"I'm fine. Where's the evidence?"
"Here." Nerris pulled the same book and handed it to Max. He took, made sure it was the right book, and handed it to the playwright.
He was surprised and distraught as looked at the cover and read through it, revealing that his fellow playwright was indeed a cultist.
"This can't be! This has to be a joke!"
"It isn't. Nerris found this buried under the ground in your tent. Why else do you think it would be buried?"
"Priss is shy about his possessions. There's a reason he would hide this."
"Are you shitting me right now?! This is proof that your fucking friend is insane and you're defending!"
The tall boy sighed and admitted defeat. Max felt satisfied with this as he knew that Preston could be a real cunt sometimes.
"Oh, and by the way..." The child said as he pulled out a dusty paper out of his pocket.
"We need you to sign this."
"What for?
"We'll work out the details later. Will you sign this anyway?"
Preston could see he didn't have much of a decision in this matter.