Chapter 2: Gurgle

"That's not true," Kikko said, eating a dumpling. "It can't be."
"Why do you think we're here?" Julie sobbed. "This old whack-job named Carmen here wants us all dead!"
"I do not! I'd do no such thing!" Carmen yelled in defense.

"Then why are we here?!" Ashley snapped.

"I…I don't know," Carmen sighed.

I looked at her. "What?!"

"I didn't invite you here."
"Then WHO did?" Nick asked.

"Ted," Carmen said.

"What…why…where is he?" Derek asked.

We all looked around. "Where'd he go?" I asked.

"Ted?!" Carmen called.

"He's the one who's killing us? Great." Ashley rolled her eyes.
"Well….there could be two…." Carmen trailed off.

My eyes widened in terror. "What do you mean?!"
"Is there a library here?" Michael asked.

Michelle rolled her eyes. "We're being slaughtered, and all you do is thinking about books? How self-centered!"
"No! I want to read about the island history. We might be able to tell if there IS a killer on the island."
I nodded. "We shouldn't go out except for in small groups. Let's stay in groups of 6 and 7. 7 people go to the library, 6 stay here."
"I'm staying!" Michelle cried. "Same," Julie chimed in.

It ended up being that Derek, Ashley, Kyle, Kevin, Michael, Kikko, and me going to the library. Michelle, Selena, Julie, Nick, and the other 2 stayed behind.

"Do you realize there might be 2 psychotic killers out here?" Kikko asked, sounding nervous.

"And do we even know how to get to the library?" Kevin asked.

"I have a map. And I'm very aware of the 2 killers," Michael said, flatly.

"Yeah," we'll be fine," I told Derek and Kikko.

A couple of minutes later, Kyle sighed. "We're lost."
"No! It's…right…here?" Michael said, pointing to a small old building, probably only 1.5 stories high.

We all walked in. The maybe only 100 books where divided into 2 parts: Island History and Genres

"M for murders?" I asked Michael.
He didn't sound confident. "I think so…"
We went to the M section. The dust on the books made Derek cough.
"Oh, your asthma!" I said. "Derek, go outside. Scream if there's anything."
He only nodded, and jogged outside.

"I found it!" Ashley said. "Murder History on Shelly Island. By… Ted Matthews." She gulped.

"I'll read it, you guys keep looking," Michael told us.
I looked all over Island History, A-Z. But that was the only book.
"That's the only book," I confirmed.

"There's…there are pages missing," Michael said.

"What?" Kikko asked, in fear.

"Well, it goes from "The most infamous killing spree award probably went to- and I didn't even think I'd live," Michael said, gulping.

"Then…who has them?" Kyle asked.

"Obvious. The killer. He's still on the island."
"Are you guys done yet?" Derek called, making us all jump.

"Yeah," I sighed. "Coming."
We walked out, all not happy.

"What's wrong?" Derek asked.
"There was a page missing. The page that would have helped us. I looked farther into the book, but it doesn't talk about the slaughters at all, except in that section," Michael sighed.

Derek made a face. "Slaughters?!"
"Mhm," Kyle said. "I think we should head back to the hotel. It's getting pretty dark."
We walked back, able to see our footprints in the dirt.

"Do you…do you smell something?" Ashley asked Kyle. "It smells like…"
"Blood…" he finished for her.

We went to look where it was coming from. Sadly, we saw Daisy's dead body in a garbage bin, blood stains all over her body, as well as dirt.

"Oh, my God!" Kikko screamed. "I cannot look!"

We ran back. We could see the lights on in the Hamilton.
"Did you find anything?" Selena asked as we ran through the door.
"Well, yeah, but a page was missing. Someone's here, on the island, besides us 15. I think the serial killer from the 80's is still here," Michael announced.

"David Kross?!" Carmen asked. "Oh, my! Why do you suppose that?"
"That's his name? I think I read about him before in a newspaper," I said, trailing off.

"Tell us about him!" Kikko cried.

"No," Nick said, getting up. "I'm out of here. I'm going swimming. I have a tournament when I get back, and I need all the practice I can get. I'm out."
When he left, Julie said, "Please tell us."
"David Kross," Carmen said. "Was one of my best friends in middle school. He was an outsider, but he was normal when I was around. If I wasn't… he went a little mad. He told people he'd shred them up. He'd rip their limbs apart. When he was 18, they had to send him to a mental hospital. He tried to kill me before he left. But that's the last I've ever heard of him.

"But one day, I was in my home in California, I read about him escaping the hospital. It was years later, and it caused me to move back to the now-deserted island, Shelly Island, to find him. I knew that'd be the first place to go.

"I couldn't find him. I left notes, I called his name, everything. I was about to give up, but then I found my cat, Snickers, ripped apart, limb by limb, in the kitchen, with a note that said "I'm back."
"Ever since then, I decided to run this hotel, and along the way I got some people to visit, and work here. But my main reason to stay is to find David."
All of us where in awe. "I think we should get Nick," Selena said after the awkward silence.

"Yeah, we need to all stick together," Ashley agreed.

Then we all heard a splash.

We ran out to the back, where the pool was, to see the pool cover closing on Nick, who was unaware.
"Nick!" We screamed.
"Carmen," Julie suddenly said. "How do you get the pool cover to come off?"
"We can't. It automatically closes at 10:30 and opens at 10:30 AM," she replied, and gulped.

"Nick's strong, he can get it opened," Michelle said. "Right?"
"Oh, stop talking!" Derek spat. "I hope your next!"
"Go to Hell!" Michelle snapped.

"No! I don't need to see you in the after-life, too!"
"Hey!"
"Guys!" Kyle yelled. "Stop!"
Gurgle…gurgle…gurgle…

"Nick!" I screamed. "Rip it opened!"
"We have to dive in! We could rip the cover and get him!"
"The pool is now getting chemicals poured into it from the bottom," Carmen sighed, when we heard a buzz.

"Get the cover off or not, he's still dead," Michael finished.

"Darn…." Kyle said sarcastically.

Gurgle…gurgle…gurgle…

"Doesn't the pool go off at 10:30?" Kevin asked.

"Yes, I said that already."

"It's only 9:00," Kevin replied, looking at his watch.

"Then…how…." Selena asked.

I took a deep breath. "David did it. Or Ted. Or…one of you guys," I looked at Carmen, to Michelle, to Selena, to Julie.
"We all stayed together," Carmen assured me. "Ted doesn't have access to the pool area. He'd need a key…"
"Then who has a key?" Julie asked.

"I gave one to Kross a couple years ago…."
No more gurgle's or splashes came from the water. Nick was gone.

We slowly walked inside, looking at each other from time-to-time.

When we got back in, we looked at the dining room table.

"There are only 10 little wood people now," Kyle nodded, and Ashley gasped.

"That means David was in here," I said, confident. "He IS in here."

"He doesn't have a key to our rooms, right?" Ashley asked.

"No. Only you have the only keys to your rooms. You will be safe, I am assured," Carmen answered her.

When we all got back to our rooms, mine now empty except for me, we heard an ear-piercing scream come from bellow.

I could tell, from the silence of the other rooms, no one went to check. But then I got a text from David:
WHERE IS DA COOK?