AN: Not much to say that wasn't said at the beginning of the character list chapter. Typically, I will list what characters are still alive at the start of chapters, but obviously, everyone is alive to begin with.
So this is the start of the story, hope you all enjoy.
Prolog
The killer was sitting at the desk looking over the photographs and the maps. So many possibilities! The killer just needed to make some final decisions and preparations. Notes were scattered around with different ideas of how each victim should die, and when, and where. There would be a lot of improvising, of course, but the killer got a thrill from planning all the same. The guest list had been easy to obtain, and the killer had started gathering information on all of the guests as soon as the wedding was announced. It had taken months, but everything was set. By the end of the weekend, the island would become known for one of the worst, most gruesome, massacres ever.
Chapter 1: Bzzzzz
Emily sat in the driver's seat of her car trying to get up her nerve. She hated water. Not like swimming pools or beaches and such, but certainly being on boats on large bodies of water. Getting to the wedding required a ferry ride, something that Emily did not prefer. She had been to the island a few times before, and this part was always difficult. She closed her eyes and began taking deep breaths.
KNOCK, KNOCK, KNOCK
Emily jumped in her seat, and let out a quiet shout. It was Vic. He had tapped his ring against her window, far harder then necessary. She took one last deep breath, then opened her door quickly, causing Vic to jump backwards.
"Easy killer!" Vic said. "Nerves getting the best of you?"
"Whatever. I was wondering when on this trip you would first piss me off. Surprising that it would be before we made it onto the boat."
"Well, you know me, I'm always surprising. Bet you want me to help you with your bags."
"The last thing the world I want is anything from you… I'd thought I had made that clear."
"Anyways, guess I'll see you on board," Vic said as he picked his bags up.
"Have you seen anyone else yet?" Emily asked. Emily hated Vic, but talking to him kept her mind off the water.
"Yup, been here for a while. Bobby and Bruce are here. And Chrissy, Alli, Mary, and Robin. Chrissy has been looking for you. Still waiting on Bobby's and Chrissy's familys, and a few others."
Emily grunted some acknowledgment that she had heard what Vic had said, she really wanted to be here sooner for Chrissy, being that she was the maid-of-honor, but she had to stop driving several times to calm herself. She continued to get luggage out of her car's trunk.
Vic continued, "Bruce, Adam, and I drove up last night and stayed at a hotel. We got so messed-up at the clubs that we barely woke up this morning. Still haven't seen Adam this morning."
"You didn't wake him up?" Emily asked reproachfully.
"I'm not his mommy," Vic said defensively. "If he's late for the boat, that's his problem."
Emily had finally loaded herself with all of her stuff. She really could have used help, but was too proud to ask. Vic certainly was not going to help, unless she begged. They began walking towards the boat with an awkward silence.
Hurbert pulled his car into the parking lot, and along with Pamela and Nicky. "Nicky… Nicky, turn off that music now and help me with the luggage will you," Pamela said to her daughter.
"OK mom."
They all exited the car and began unloading. "You two leave the heavier bags; I'll bring them up in a bit. I want to wait here until Amber gets here," Hurbert said.
"They'll be fine you know," Pamela said.
"There was nothing fine about how that boy was driving, and why aren't they here yet?" Hurbert had insisted that they all come together, but Amber had refused. At 18, Amber was going to have her independence, and she didn't care so much what her old man had to say about it. "If I'm going to give them a talking to, it's better here then up on the boat."
"Well I can't argue with that," Pamela said. "Come on Nicky, let's go track down Chrissy."
Pamela and Nicky were off, and Hurbert closed up his car. He stood there for several minutes before Casey, Amber's current no-good boyfriend, finally pulled up. Amber and Casey exited the car both smiling and laughing. "You two were supposed to stay just ahead of us. How the heck did you get behind us with how fast you tore out of the rental car agency?" Hurbert said angrily. Hurbert had hoped that the rental car place would put a stop to the idea of these two 18 year-olds being entrusted with a car, but they hadn't. Of course he had to pay, just like he had to pay for her twit boyfriend's plane ticket.
"Sorry daddy, I was hungry, so we stopped for some snacks," Amber said nonchalantly.
"Grandpa!" Hurbert's attention was pulled away by his grandchildren's screams as they came running to him. His attitude completely changed as he gave them both a big hug. He had been so mad that he had not seen his oldest daughter, Amy, and her family pull into the parking lot. Amy was walking towards them, while her husband, Daniel, began unpacking the large rental SUV. He, of course, didn't acknowledge Hurbert.
"What, no love for me?" Amber said. The children rushed over and hugged her. She kissed them both and said "You two are getting so big!"
"Hey Dad," Amy said as she gave her father a warm, long hug.
"Hey Sweatheart," Hurbert said, "how was you're trip here."
"OK, it took a little while to get the kids going this morning, but we made it." Amy had known better then to fly in the morning they needed to be here with two children, and instead they had flown in the previous night and stayed in a hotel.
"Hey Amber," Amy said as here and Amber exchanged a tepid hug. "It's been a while since we've seen you."
"Yup," was Amber's only response.
"I think I've got everything," Casey said. Casey was carrying both his and Amber's luggage.
"Casey, baby, this is my sister Amy, and… what were these twos names again?" Amber said inquisitively.
"Auntie Amber!" both children said in-between giggles.
"Oh yeah, this one is Melissa, and this one is Joseph," Amber said. Casey acknowledged all three with a brief nod.
"Sweeties, why don't you head up to the boat with Grandpa? Amber, would you come help Daniel and I with our luggage?" Amber didn't want to, but she did not want to earn the wrath of her oldest sister. She, with Amy, headed to Amy's car to get the luggage, while Hurbert, Casey, Lissa, and Joey headed to the boat.
Allen turned off the car. Lewis was about to open the door, when Allen stopped him. "Lewis, real quick, can we talk for a moment before we walk to the boat."
"Sure Dad, what's up?" Lewis asked, hesitantly.
"I just wanted to, you know, ask that you try really hard this weekend to talk to everyone," Allen said. It had been a pleasant drive over with Lewis, which had caused Allen to wait to the last moment to bring up the topic of his adopted son's shyness.
"I'll talk to people," Lewis said dismissively.
"You know what I mean. I'm sure all of Bobby's friends are really nice, and some of Chrissy's family members are around your age." Allen wasn't sure if this last admission helped or hurt the situation. Allen knew his youngest was a complete loner. Allen could not name one time when Lewis had mentioned a single friend, other then mentioning people he had worked with on school projects. Allen had seen his youngest in social situations, such as at his church, and it was simply painful to watch. Lewis just never initiated conversation with anyone, and usually looked like he wanted to bolt if anyone talked to him.
"I will," Lewis said quietly. It always hurt Lewis when this topic came up. He wanted his adopted father to be proud of him. Lewis didn't have a lot going for him, but this was what he knew was his greatest of shortcomings. Allen put a reassuring hand on Lewis' shoulder.
"Thank you Lewis. OK, we can go," Allen said hopefully.
"So you're sure you want to go? It's pretty much now or never. One word and we can pull this car out of here and not look back," Tom joked. He knew Julie wanted to go through with this, but just needed some reassurance from him.
Julie gave a soft laugh. It had been a difficult decision for her on whether to come or not. The falling out that she had with her friends almost a year ago had been painful. She had only really talked to Chrissy and Emily since, but had not even spoken to those two very much. She had felt, right or wrong, that her friends had chosen Mary's side over hers. Distance from her friends had made it increasing difficult to reconnect, even though the year had given her a different perspective on her fight with Mary.
Julie felt at her core that this might be the last time she saw any of her old friends. That this weekend would expose the fact that their friendship could not be rekindled. But she refused to have her friendship, with Chrissy and Emily at least, end because she wasn't there for Chrissy's big moment.
"Seriously, if you don't say were leaving, you are going to have to get out of the car."
"Huh," Julie said, being pulled out of her own thoughts. "No, were staying." She turned her head to Tom and gave him a long kiss, which he returned. "Thank you for being here for me, I don't think I could have come here without you. Let's go."
It had been a great day so far for Chrissy. Although she typically hated and avoided being the center of attention, she was loving every moment of everyone being here for her today. Most all of her friends were already here, and most of her family had arrived. She gave her parents big hugs. She did not get to see them very often these days, since the rest of her family lived across the country.
Her younger sisters had come over with her niece and nephew, who she rarely saw, to where her and her friends had gathered. She had introduced them, and they of course had gushed over how adorable her niece and nephew were. Lissa had loved every moment of being called "pretty" by the young women, while Joey blushed shyly at being called "cute". Chrissy had even talked to her oldest sister, Amy, and even that had been reasonably pleasant.
Julie had come over and said hello to everyone, which was awkward, but Chrissy knew how hard it was for her to do that. She had given Julie a big hug and thanked her so much for being here. She finally had a chance to meet Tom, which she had been looking forward to. He seemed nice, and Julie and Tom seemed happy together.
Her and her friends continued to talk as Julie and Tom slowly pulled away from the conversation to be by themselves. Chrissy saw that Emily still looked nervous, and she put her arm around her. "I can't believe with how many times you have been to this island that you still get scared over the boat ride," Chrissy said jokingly.
"I'm sorry, boats and I have just never gotten along."
"How did Vic ever convince you to come to this island the first time? I mean did he drug and kidnap you, or blindfold you or something?"
"It wasn't easy, but you know Vic, if he wants to do something he doesn't let it go," Emily said frankly.
"Well that will be two things in my life that I'll always be thankful to Vic for," Chrissy said, eliciting an unsure look from Emily. "One, if Vic hadn't known Bobby, I don't know if we would have ever met. And two, if he hadn't brought you to this island, you wouldn't have suggested that we all go for that weekend two years ago. And I would never have known that such a perfect place existed to have my wedding.
"So here's to Vic," Chrissy said, raising the wine glass in her hand, "he may not be good for anything else but these two things. But these two things were pretty important to me."
Emily gave her a warm smile, knowing that implicit in Chrissy's statement was a thank you to her. Emily, Alli, Mary, and Robin raised their wine glasses as well and clinked them with Chrissy's. "To Vic," they all said. This caused Vic to turn his head towards the women. Knowing that he was being talked about by Emily and her friends wiped the smile off his face, if only for a moment.
Chrissy scanned over the boat and saw that Denise had arrived with her husband. She set her wine glass down and excused herself and ran over to her older sister. Denise had already said hello to the rest of the family by the time Chrissy had noticed her. Chrissy and Denise gave each other a big, very long hug, made only slightly awkward by Denise's pregnant belly. When they both pulled away, they both had water in their eyes. Of all of her family, Chrissy was most excited to see Denise. Chrissy and Amy had never gotten along, with Amy always being the one who bossed everyone around. Amber and Nicky were close with each other, and although Chrissy got along with them she had never been exceptionally close to either. Denise got along very well with all of her sisters, even Amy, to an extent. But Chrissy and Denise had always been tight. Though they lived across the country from one-another, they talked all the time on the phone.
Chrissy gave Kyle a big hug, "I see you got her here safe."
"Of course," replied Kyle, "sorry I got her here a bit late."
"You two are fine, but I'm going to steal Denise away for a bit. Come on sis, I wanted to have you meet the rest of the girls here." They walked back to her friends.
Reverend Allen stood with his son, Lewis. He and Lewis had been introduced to all of Bobby's friends, and Allen had left Lewis with his brother while he had made the rounds of the boat introducing himself to everyone. Lewis had snuck away from Bobby and Bobby's friends, and was now back standing beside the reverend.
Allen was watching the entrance to the boat when Cortney arrived. Cortney had gained 75 pounds since Allen had last seen him, and aged significantly, so it took Allen a second to recognize his older brother. Allen looked to Lewis and told him to come with him as he made his way to Cort, who stood at the entrance of the boat uneasily.
"Hi Cort," Allen said warmly.
"Hey Allen, its great to see you. I'm happy I'm here," Cort answered a question that hadn't been asked. Cort had always been a bit strange, and Allen could tell that that had not changed.
"Cort it's good to see you to, and I am so happy you came. I wanted to introduce you to my son Lewis."
"Hi Lewis, good to meet you, call me Uncle Cort, or just Cort," Cort said shaking Lewis' hand briskly. "Where's Bobby?" Cort wouldn't recognize Bobby if they bumped into each other on the street. The last time Cort had seen Bobby was when Bobby was 9 years-old, at Bobby's mother and father's funeral. Cort had been devastated by his younger sister's death. He was an eccentric man before that, but Melinda's death had left him without any urge to engage with the world.
Allen had tried over the years to communicate with his brother. When Cort still had a phone, Allen would call, but Cort would not answer. Allen sent Cort letters, which Cort rarely replied to. Even when he did reply, Cort's letters were friendly, but brief. The one time Allen had tried to visit Cort, no one answered at his house, even though Allen suspected Cort was inside.
Allen had invited Cort to events, like Bobby's graduations, but Cort always declined to come. Allen had asked Bobby, as a special favor, to invite Cort to the wedding. Bobby was hesitant, since space would be limited and he didn't really know his uncle at all, but Bobby had agreed to invite him. Both he and Bobby were shocked when Cort RSVP that he would come.
"Well, that's Bobby over there, lets go say hi," Allen said.
"Actually, he looks busy," Cort said cautiously, "would you mind if I say hi to him a bit later. Can we just stay here and talk a bit."
"Sure, that would be alright." Allen and Cort's conversation continued, with many uneasy pauses, while Lewis remained with them mostly silent.
Troy, the boat driver, asked Bobby and Vic if everyone had finally arrived. Bobby and Vic scanned the crowd of people on the boat. Ray and his girlfriend Sara had arrived, and were standing with them. Sara was trying to extract Ray from his friends, but Ray was refusing to be pulled away. Theresa had also arrived, followed shortly by Eugene and Laura. Theresa was hanging out with Chrissy and her friends, while Eugene and Laura were off on their own. The caterer, Tina, had finished loading all of her supplies, and was now sitting by herself.
"That leaves only Adam," Bobby stated.
"So how long do you want to wait for him? Cause my vote is lazy gets left behind," replied Vic, causing Bruce and Ray to laugh.
"Dude, we can leave, I'll just text him and tell him to catch the boat tomorrow," Bruce said.
"What do you mean? There's no boat tomorrow," Bobby said.
"Nice one dumbass," Vic said to Bruce, then to Bobby, "Yes there is a boat tomorrow, and it will be carrying a very special surprise for you. But if you ask any questions, you won't get your surprise, and I'll be very angry."
"OK, OK. I guess that means we can go," Bobby said. Just then Adam bounded onto the boat.
"I'm so sorry I'm late guys," Adam said as he approached Vic, Bobby, and the others.
"You got here just in time," Vic said, "Bobby was just saying how we should leave your good-for-nothing ass behind."
"Hey," Bobby said, and then decided not to fight the point. "We're definitely all here now," he said to Troy.
Troy quickly unhooked the boat from the dock. He was very unhappy that they had been so delayed, and wanted very much to get out the island, get refueled, and back before sunset. He pulled the boat out of the harbor a bit too quickly, causing a jolt for all his passengers, but everyone was able to steady themselves.
The passengers remained in conversations with their various groups throughout the boat ride, with only a bit of intermixing of groups. It took about an hour to arrive at Sheppard's Island.
"I'm cleaning as fast as I can. It's not my fault that you did not schedule enough time to get all of the rooms clean," complained Kimberly to her boss, Janice.
"Just pick up the pace a bit. There's no chance we'll be ready by the time they get here, but I don't want to keep them waiting too long," Janice replied. "I'm going to head down to the dock to meet the boat, and will probably be back in about an hour. Just keep cleaning."
Janice quickly left, not wanting any more of the argument. She hated running this bed and breakfast, and was thankful that this was one of the final reservations that she had not been able to break. In fact, aside from this wedding, and a corporate group later this month that threatened to sue if there reservation was canceled, the Lighthouse Inn would be closed waiting on new management. Luckily there were some prospects on that end.
When her parents died in the boat accident a few months ago, she had taken over the inn. And what she had learned in the last few months was that she hated running an inn. The cleaning, the cooking, the tours, Janice had no idea how her parents had kept their sanity, just the two of them doing it all. Janice had hired Kimberly to help out over the summer getting the inn ready for the remaining reservations and to prospective buyers.
Janice got to her office and picked up the keys to the bus. She looked over the pictures of her husband and her children. Certainly the worst part was being half-way across the country from them, on some abandoned island. The telephone service on the island was intermittent, and she had not been able to convince the phone company to fix the issues, so it was never a sure thing when she wanted to talk to her family that she would be able to. And there certainly was no cell service. If it wasn't for the radio, they would have no consistent communication to the mainland.
The costs of services on the island were also horrible. Pool cleaning, repair of equipment and facilities, ect. all cost more because the boat ride and extra time the workers had to travel. She would never understand why her parents had such a passion for this place. Hopefully in a few months, this would be someone else's problem.
Janice boarded the old school bus. It had been painted white, and was what they used to get people from the dock to the inn and back. It was a bit to far to ask guests to walk. Janice turned the key and the engine turned but did not catch.
"Oh you better not do this to me," Janice said to the bus as she continues to turn the key. The engine finally fired, eliciting a sigh of relief from Janice. "Just a few more trips, that's all you have to give me. Just a few more trip."
Troy had made up significant time, but they were still half-an-hour later then expected. He had tried to radio Janice, but no one had answered, so Janice had been kept waiting at the dock for quite some time. When they docked, the passengers exited the boat in a much more efficient manner then they had boarded. It took a bit more time to actually load the bus with all of the passengers and their luggage.
Lissa had insisted on sitting with Nicky. Nicky loved her niece dearly, but when the girl started chattering on, she didn't stop. Amy, Daniel, and Joey sat in the seat in front of her, with Joey occasionally raising himself over his seat to make faces at Lissa, which Lissa returned. Nicky often babysat for her niece and nephew, as Amy's family only lived a few miles away from Nicky and their parents. This only began recently, though, as Amber had primarily had the duties before a few months ago. Nicky wasn't sure why Amber had stopped wanting to be a babysitter for Lissa and Joey, and as much as Nicky pressed, Amber wouldn't tell. Nicky knew something fairly serious had to have happened to cause the change, but she couldn't figure it out.
When Lissa would become distracted by her brother or something out the window of the bus, Nicky would take a chance to look around the bus. Nicky remembered the names of everyone she had been introduced to on the boat. Remembering names was a skill she was good at. Chrissy had reunited with her soon-to-be husband in a seat at the front of the bus. Nicky thought they looked so great together. Emily was sitting with Alli, and appeared much more relaxed now. Nicky had thought Emily was going to scream from her nerves on the boat, but she seemed better now. Nicky had instantly liked Alli, because she seemed really into sports.
A seat away from Emily and Alli were Ray and Sara. Ray seemed alright, but Sara seemed like she had no interest in being here. Nicky saw Vic and Bruce behind them. Bruce stood out because he looked like he was dressed for a night out on the town, instead of a boat ride. The seat next to them was Eugene and Laura, who reminded Nicky of kids in her high school who were all over each other.
Behind them were Mary and Robin. Robin was seemingly making a joke about something, which only she seemed to be laughing at, as Mary didn't seem to be in a laughing mood. Adam and Theresa were sitting across the aisle from Mary and Robin. Theresa was sitting by the window, but seemed to be trying to listen to what Robin was saying. She seemed angry to be sitting next to Adam, who looked asleep.
Behind Adam and Theresa was a very large man, who Nicky thought was related to Bobby. She had not been introduced to him. Behind the large man were Reverend Allen and Lewis. Reverend Allen seemed very nice, but Lewis seemed very shy. When she had heard that Bobby had a brother in high school, Nicky had hoped that he would be a bit less awkward. Nicky definitely got the impression that Lewis didn't want to hang out.
Nicky would normally hang out with Amber on a trip like this. Nicky looked to the seat behind her, where Amber and Casey were sitting. She could hang out with them all she wanted, but she doubted they would even know she was there. Amber was cool to hang out with. Even though Nicky knew her sister wasn't that into sports, she would go boogie boarding with her. And Amber could even make horrible things like shopping tolerable for her. Nicky had probably been the most angry in the family, even more then her father, when Amber insisted her boyfriend come on the trip.
Nicky's sister Denise and her husband were in the seat across the aisle from her. She was happy to see Denise, because she did not see her too often, but she imagined Denise would be with Chrissy a lot, and they wouldn't want her hanging out with them all the time.
Lissa continued to talk, telling Nicky about every animal that she had seen at the zoo the previous weekend. Nicky gave her a smile and a few affirmative grunts to let her niece know she was still listening.
Nicky stole a look to the back of the bus, where behind Amber sat their father and mother, who kept a watchful eye on her older sister and her boyfriend to make sure there was no inappropriate behavior. Then, oddly, she saw Julie and Tom sitting behind her mom and dad. That seemed odd because she thought they would have set in the front of the bus with their friends.
As they exited the bus and got, for some, their first look at the Lighthouse Inn, they were in awe of this large, majestic building in the middle of nowhere. The Lighthouse Inn was three stories tall, and although the name might make you think there was a lighthouse at the inn, it was too far inland for that.
Janice made an announcement in the lobby when they were all inside. "So I have a bit of bad news. I know you are all probably wanted to get to your rooms and freshen up, but not all of the rooms are ready yet. So four of you will need to come back here and pick up your keys in a couple of hours. Please feel free to use the bathroom down the hall here, or by the pool. The lounge area is to your right, and the doors in there lead to the back patio and the pool. To your left is the dining room and the kitchen.
"I believe you wanted dinner at 6:30 tonight," Janice looked to Chrissy and Bobby for reassurance, which they gave. "OK, also the kitchen is through the dining room. All of the food in there is yours, although the bride and groom will probably have your heads if you take anything meant for the wedding reception." A slight laugh went through the group. "There is an excellent selection of deli items and such, so feel free to make yourselves a sandwich."
Janice began handing out keys. Amy and Daniel receive theirs first, since they needed the "family" suite which was on the third floor. Since they were going to be on the third floor, the rest of the of the Evans family decided to be up there also. Nicky and Amber were going to share a room. Hurbert insisted that Casey's room be on the second floor, as if the stairs would act as a barrier from anything inappropriate happening between him and Amber. Hurbert and Pamela, and Denise and Kyle also had rooms on the third floor.
Chrissy was going to take the room that Bobby and she would share after the wedding. Out of respect for there parents; they decided to have separate rooms. This elicited laughs from Vic and Bruce, since it would be the first time in a long time since Chrissy and Bobby had slept apart. Emily, Alli, Mary, Theresa, and Robin would each have a room to themselves on the third floor, with Emily and Alli opting to take the two rooms on that floor that still needed to be cleaned.
Allen and Lewis would share a room on the second floor, with Cort in the room next to them. Bobby, Vic, Bruce, and Adam would have rooms to themselves on the second floor, with Ray and Sara, Eugene and Laura, and Julie and Tom each sharing rooms. Eugene made a joke about that being uncomfortable for the other couples, who were unwed, being that the Reverend would be on the same floor. A few laughed as a courtesy. Bruce opted to wait on his room, followed quickly by Cort, who gathered his bags and sat down in the lounge alone. More then a few people thought the weird smile that seemed painted on Cort's face was a bit creepy. Emily, Alli, and Bruce dug out there swimsuits from their luggage and headed for the pool, as everyone else headed for their rooms.
Adam went into his room and collapsed on the bed. He desperately needed a nap. He had hit it way to hard the night before trying to keep up with Bruce, and had learned that was a bad idea. He had barely had time to pack this morning, much less shower. Vic and Bruce had ridiculed him non-stop on the boat, since he was wearing the same clothes from the night before.
He looked to the bathroom and tried to decide whether he needed sleep more now or a bath. He laid there and pondered for a while.
"You have to admit, that wasn't so bad," Tom said as he wrapped his arms around Julie and gave the back of her neck a kiss.
"Nope, in my wildest dreams about how it would go, I certainly didn't think it would go nearly that well," Julie responded.
"So, are we heading down to the pool? I think that's where everyone else will be."
"Let's not push it. I think I just want to be alone with you right now. With maybe a relaxing bath."
Tom gave her neck another kiss, "That sounds good, I'm just going to head downstairs for a bit. I've been promised an excellent selection of sandwiches. I'll bring you back some if you promise to keep the water warm for me."
Julie turned around in his arm and gave him a long kiss. "It's a deal."
Eugene and Laura already had their clothes off, with Laura in bed and Eugene getting ready to hop in.
"Now, we do have to be a bit quite here. It cannot be like when we visited my parents," Eugene said in a mock stern voice. "There is a reverend here you know."
"What's he going to do to us, we're married? We can do whatever we want."
"I imagine he can use his powers of looking at us disapprovingly," Eugene said, causing both of them to laugh.
"Well, I think my noise level may depend a teeny-tiny bit on you."
"Well, that sounds like a challenge."
"Honey, do you mind getting the kids ready for the pool while I unpack a bit in here?" Amy asked Daniel.
"OK, but make sure to hang my dress clothes, I don't want them to be anymore wrinkled then they are." Daniel headed to the adjoining room of the suite.
Amy unzipped her bag and opened it. "What is this?" she thought. She opened the envelope, and pulled out the pictures. Her heart started beating very hard and very fast as she flipped through the pictures. Her hands shook as she unfolded the accompanying note. The note made her feel even worse.
"Joey wants his blow-up dolphin thing for the pool. Where is it?" Daniel said as he reentered the room. Amy quickly shoved the photos under some clothes in her suitcase.
"Oh, it's in that bag," she said, as cool as she could muster. She then remembered. "Oh, I'll get it."
"I'm perfectly capable of getting a toy out of a suitcase."
"I just packed everything right, and I don't want you to mess it up," she said, more sharply then she wanted to. Luckily, the deflated dolphin was near the top. She handed it to her husband, who went back to the children's room without a word.
Amy took a moment and calmed herself. She had to quickly find a hiding spot for the photos. She couldn't let her husband or children see them.
The worst part about the photos being in her suitcase was that, to her surprise, it meant that whoever had been sending her these things must have been on the boat. The thought sent a cold shiver through her and made her feel very alone.
The killer had checked both the second and the third floor. The killer wanted to make sure that the hallways were empty before proceeding to the target. The killer approached the door to the room.
The killer had a very special key. Traveling to the island when no one was here, and thanks to the fact that the inn owner did not lock all of the doors when she left the island, the killer had had time to duplicate all of the room keys. Studying the keys from similar locks, the killer had made a single key that would open all of the doors.
"With this," the killer thought, "I could butcher everyone here in their sleep tonight." It was an intoxicating feeling of power. The killer had no intension of doing that though. The killer wanted each death to be special. The killer wanted at least some time to appreciate the kills. The killer wanted to learn something from each one.
The killer opened the door to the room quietly, and stepped inside. The killer could hear the victim in the bathroom. Looking at the reflection in the mirror, the killer could see Adam standing naked in front of the mirror. The killer flattened against the wall. "That was close," the killer thought.
Adam did not seem to notice anything in the mirror. A number of people had mentioned to Adam that he needed a bath, on the boat and on the bus. The killer was very happy that Adam was going to take the advice.
The killer could hear the water splash a bit as Adam got into the bathtub. The killer's knife was left sheathed, as the killer pulled out what looked like a power cord. The killer's simple device was comprised of some innards from a power protector, an electric motor, and an extension chord. If the device works properly, it will draw power without shutting off, or knocking out the power to the hotel. The killer plugged the device in and stepped around the corner.
For a few moments, Adam was oblivious to the person who had entered the bathroom. When he did notice, all he was able to say was "whatcha got there…," before the killer soft tossed the devise on the end of the cord into the bathtub.
Adam's head shot backwards, hitting the bathtub rim hard enough to crack his skull and to start blood seeping out. "Damn," the killer thought, "I wanted this to be completely bloodless." A low buzzing noise could be heard. Adam convulsed a bit, but for the most part his body remained ridged. After a few minutes, the killer unplugged the device. The killer let the water out of the tub, cleaned the little bit of blood left on the rim, and pushed Adam's body deeper in the tub, so it wouldn't be so obvious. The killer rolled up the device and hid it in the room. The killer would come back later to move the body, when there was less chance of being seen.
Deaths:
Adam Nash - The Flake
AN: So, there's chapter one. I hope you enjoyed and want more. I know it was not the most graphic death scene, but please be patient as it will get more gruesome. I really hope that I got enough information across about the characters to give you an idea of who they are. I was certainly surprised by the length, but felt it was necessary to get all the information across that I wanted to.
Now, here's my plea for reviews: please review. Positive, negative, or other. I am particularly interested in whether you like how the characters are being developed. I am also interested in whether there are characters you're rooting for to survive, and characters you're rooting for to die. But any feedback would be highly appreciated.
I will probably update again over the weekend with Chapter 2: Wheeze.