Jonathan’s summer was only one day in when his parents sent him to sleepaway camp for the whole summer, right until the day before 6th grade started. He preferred staying home and playing video games rather than trying to catch fish in the middle of nowhere. He decided it couldn’t be so bad. Instead of trying to make excuses not to go, he went straight to the camping store called John’s Way To Nature. He brought the list, which his parents had given him before he left.
TentToothbrush and toothpasteAny hygiene productsSunglasses and a hatClothes for like two monthsThings you want to buy for thereSandalsSticksSleeping bagBooks or entertainment
After paying $300 for all of that, he started heading home, where there was a bus that had a big Camp Lyon logo that appeared right at his house. His parents rushed him to get inside the bus and gave him a bag with everything he had not gotten and a little card. Barely able to say goodbye, he entered the bus carefully, looking at all the new people he was gonna have to spend his summer with. Some of these people looked nice, and all the others seemed to be ready to kill you if they needed to. He examined the bus for a spot to sit. He found one next to Leo Maine, a boy at the camp. On the ride, there were movies, games, and even secrets being told, but on the 12th row to the right, the two boys made no conversation.
Finally, when they arrived, Jonathan had the courage to say, “See you around, Leo.”
“Mhm, see you around,” Leo responded. Then, the head of Camp Lyon made an announcement.
“Attention, all 10 and 11-year-olds, due to budget cuts there will only be 4 cabins for all boys this age. Sorry, but if you hear your name being called, go to the person calling you. They’ll be your counselor this summer!”
“This is gonna be a long summer,” Leo whispered to Jonathan. He nodded to show he agreed.
Soon enough, all kids were with their counselors, 10 in total. Jonathan ended up being with Leo, Nathaniel, Kai, and Lukey. He got top bunk and Leo got bottom. Nathaniel got top and Lukey got bottom. Kai got his single and so did the counselor, Mike. Most of that day was getting organized and unpacking. By the time dinner came, maybe even the duck in the pond was starving! He took a seat with Leo, then two other kids joined: Mika and Maya, twins who had been there for more than 5 years. They seemed quite normal, especially since they welcomed him kindly. Jonathan had noticed that Kai and Lukey had been watching him since he had sat down. They had a sinister look on their faces, almost enough to make a child run. Jonathan was a strong boy, so instead of getting all nervous, he ignored them and continued eating the rice and salmon on his plate calmly. When it got time to go back to their bunks, all the kids from Cabin Two noticed Mike was gone. Jonathan suggested they go back to the cabin, and if he was not there they’d get someone. Unfortunately, they found him, except he was on the floor with a dagger right in his heart. It didn’t take anybody long to realize that he was dead.
“Do we get someone?” asked Leo.
“No, we keep this to ourselves and we just figure out who did it alone. We’ll just say he had to leave for college sooner than we thought and boom, we find the killer!” Jonathan responded.
“I see what you mean, but we’re not professionals! We’re just kids, you know?” Kai added.
“They might accuse us! Is that what you want, Kai?” Jonathan said.
“OK, fine, but trust me, I still think telling the police is a better idea,” Kai responded. Only problem they had to face was who was gonna lie to the head about him leaving? They decided to ask Mika the twin to come over that night to tell him about their situation. He came happily and suggested that he tell the head which everybody agreed on quickly. They took Mike’s body out and gave him a little funeral before they buried the body so nobody would find it. When they were done with that, Mika left the cabin to tell the head, they all wished him good luck. About 5 minutes, later Mika came back.
“Well first of all, I’m getting transferred to this cabin and also she found a new counselor who won’t sleep with us but will help us with activities!” Mika said happily. Everybody sighed in relief and they agreed they’d start investigating in the morning but sleep that night.
Jonathan had a hard time sleeping because of the picture of Mike with a dagger in his body. Same thing with Mika, who wanted to be reassured that Maya wasn’t getting stabbed by a killer. Nobody could be reassured after finding a dead body with a killer on the loose able to kill anybody they love! When morning came, Kai said he thought the killer was somebody on the inside. How would they know dinner was then? Mika agreed, but Mika didn’t know who was on the inside. There were just so many options.
“Tomorrow, we’ll investigate. Today, we act like we… we know nothing. Just like normal campers, nothing out of the ordinary!” Jonathan told the group.
“True, but like — ” Nathaniel interrupted Jonathan. Bang!
“Guys… anybody else hear that overdramatic bang?” Mika asked.
“Yes, I did hear that overdramatic bang,” Jonathan responded.
“I think I’m gonna go and see what that was,” Kai said while opening the cabin door.
Then, as Kai entered the 4th cabin, he looked and he saw Mary dead. Mary was Mika’s twin sister’s counselor who Maya had told Mika all about. They saw a pan which they assumed had been used to kill Mary. It was bloody and so was her head where blood was dripping down her neck. It was a scary scene but mostly something nobody could forget. Kai was a strong boy but that didn’t stop him from shedding a small tear that dripped through his face. By the time he came back, he’d realized that this meant they had another body! Luckily, the ground had space for another funeral, to which Maya and the boys were invited.
“Great, we have another murder to solve! Mika, would you do the honors of telling the head again? I say we find this out now before worse things happen,” Jonathan said. They agreed, but they knew it was gonna be hard considering the fact they still had to do activities all day. Investigating a murder while making a fire isn’t normally how you’d do them.
“Ok, suggestion, we investigate at night?” Nathaniel said.
“Actually, that’s a pretty good idea. Even though we’ll be tired, we won’t have to worry about counselors and activities!” Mika responded.
“We are gonna be here for about 2 months. I think we can do this, right?” Jonathan asked.
“Yeah, I assume,” Nathaniel said.
“It’s been 20 days and we still have nothing,” Jonathan said.
“Guys, where are Kai and Nathaniel?” Mika asked, looking nervous. “I’ll go check the boy’s shower if you guys want!” Mika said while already running to the room. After about 3 minutes of waiting, he came back.
“Guys, I have bad news… ” Mika said with hesitation.
“Don’t tell me they’re dead, I can’t deal with it!” Lukey said while covering his ears.
“Yes…” Mika said, unable to finish his phrase. Knock Knock.
“Enter, please,” Jonathan said, carefully trying not to let a killer in.
“Hello, kids, I’m Mr. Brown and I’m here to help,” Mr. Brown said.
“Ok, but what type of help?” Jonathan replied.
“Backstory, a very long backstory. It all started with the Lyon, Grey, Stone, Maine, Ri, and Smith families. The Lyons had the idea of the camp so all families decided that Camp Lyon was an appropriate name for it. After years of success, I came along asking them about a murder, but they knew nothing about it. Only a few weeks later, the Lyons died by murder. After that, the Greys, Maines, and Stones decided to close it down, but the Ri and Smiths didn’t want to, so the Greys, Maines, and Stones left and never talked to the Ri and Smiths. So then, the Ri and Smiths took over Camp Lyon. Now, Kai Ri and Nathaniel Smith are dead, a little suspicious, you know?” Mr. Brown asked after taking a long breath after talking without stopping.
“Are you saying that our parents kill people?” Jonathan asked, scared for the answer.
“Yes, unfortunately, I think all of your parents have killed innocent people,” Mr. Brown said while fixing his brown hat.
“Are you gonna arrest them?” Leo asked.
“Well, I have to, they could kill again, which wouldn’t be good,” Mr. Brown responded.
“This past month has been fun, but it’s time to go home, meaning we won’t see each other anymore, so please don’t forget me until next summer,” Maya cried.
“Don’t worry, I won’t, but also don’t forget what happened this summer, like the events and people,” Jonathan said.
Epilogue
Jonathan was on the bus, his friends laughing while he softly chuckled. These two months had been a lot. He even said it felt like a long day, but that wasn’t the point. His orange shirt with Camp Lyon on it was wrinkled and dirty. He saw the camp and Mr. Brown slowly walking away, his face red like normal. Maya’s face suddenly went sad.
“Jonathan, I… will I ever… ever see you again?” Maya asked.
“I don’t know, but just promise me one thing: come back next year,” Jonathan responded.
“We’ll try our best!” Mika giggled. “Leo, so?” Mika asked.
“I don’t know, but I think I’ll be back,” Leo said slowly while putting his water bottle in his bag.
The End