[Part 1] Six of us arrived at Loch Kaille.
[Part 2] First blood.
[Part 3] Was there a monster in the trees?
*
I wish to share more of last summer. The following events took place during and just after our second night at Loch Kaille.
Trigger Warning: suicide references.
*
Back at the campsite we built a fire and everyone except Mona gathered around it as day turned to night.
We ate what little we could stomach and watched the moon slowly rise over the clearing. All whilst Max steadily made his way through the leftover vodka, finally passing out against a log bench.
Around midnight I tossed our last branch onto the campfire and it seemed to spark some conversation.
Leon: “What about using a rope to get down the north face? I know Aaron had some cord in his rucksack.”
Coll: “That cord was for a washing line. It’s not long enough to get us down.”
Me: “We’re just going to have to check the river in the morning. Hope it’s low enough for us to cross.”
A few minutes later we heard the sound of a zipper and Mona emerged from her tent. She was still swathed in her blanket.
Coll: “Mona, come and sit by the fire.”
Coll helped Mona over to the benches and they both sat in front of the fire. The commotion caused Max to stir.
Leon: “Would you like some food, Mona? We saved you some.”
Mona didn’t answer. She seemed entranced by the flames. By his bench, a drunk Max had fully awoken.
Max: “Awake are you? You gonna tell us why you murdered Aaron now?”
Me: “Max, shut up. Mona’s been through enough without your stupid accusations.”
Mona: “It was our last camping trip before Aaron left for university.”
Coll: “Mona, you don’t have to explain yourself.”
Mona didn’t seem to hear him.
Mona: “I went into Aaron’s tent on the final night. I gave him my…”
Mona pulled her blanket tight around herself.
Mona: “I loved him. But he didn’t want a long-distance relationship. And missing out on university was never an option. I had to look at pictures of him having the time of his life without me, I had to see him with other girls.”
Mona went quiet and I wondered whether she’d lost her train of thought. But eventually she continued.
Mona: “Then he didn’t come home after graduating like I’d always hoped he would. He moved to London. But he said that he wanted to have his twenty-fifth birthday here. With us. With me. This morning, I went to his tent to see if he wanted to…”
A tear trickled down Mona’s cheek, glinting in the firelight.
Mona: “But I – I’d already lost him. All over again.”
The clearing fell silent.
*
We didn’t stay up long after Mona’s story. The fire died down and we all retired to our tents.
I slept in fits and starts. Never for more than an hour, never far from an anxious dream.
Sometime in the early hours I gave up. I turned on my phone and examined my Hag Stone in the paltry light from the screen. I couldn’t decide whether the Stone was a danger to me, or whether it was something I needed to keep close.
That’s when I heard footsteps in the darkness outside. I clasped the Stone in my hand and held my breath as the sound drew closer.
I watched in horror as a shape passed by my tent canvas. Then as my tent zipper slowly opened…
…and Leon entered my tent.
Me: “Jesus, Leon. You scared the crap out of me.”
Leon: “Keep your voice down. I need to show you something.”
As Leon re-zipped my tent I realised that he was carrying Aaron’s action camera.
Me: “Where did you get that camera?”
Leon: “I took it from Aaron’s tent.”
Me: “What the hell, Leon? That tent is a crime scene.”
Leon: “That’s exactly why I had to do it. Aaron recorded the entire night before he died on this camera. I wanted to see if it captured anything suspicious.”
Me: “For heaven’s sake Leon this isn’t some click-bait listicle we’re working on, this is a serious real life situation that the police need to investigate. Not a pair of clueless entertainment journalists.”
Leon: “Listen, this is important. I started by checking who went into Aaron’s tent to see if someone drugged his water or something. But we all go in at some point, I forgot that there was a load of booze in there.”
Me: “So taking it was pointless.”
Leon: “No. During the party, the footage shows that Coll disappeared into the woods on his own for half an hour. He only just gets back in time for midnight.”
Me: “That doesn’t make him a killer, Leon.”
Leon: “But you’ve got to admit that it’s pretty suspicious. He doesn’t go towards the loch, or take the trail back towards the river crossing, he goes in a different direction.”
Me: “Which direction?”
Leon pointed over my shoulder, through the back of my tent.
Leon: “That way.”
Me: “And, let me guess, you want us to go and see what’s over there.”
Leon: “If we do it now, whilst everyone’s asleep, no one will see us go.”
I gave Leon a disapproving look.
Leon: “Please, Kate. It might be nothing, but I still think we should go and look. Just so we have all the facts.”
Leon gave me the puppy-dog eyes and, stupidly, I conceded.
Me: “Fine. As long as we make sure we’re back by sunrise.”
I squirmed out of my sleeping bag and pulled a thick hoodie over my pyjamas.
I slipped on my trainers and then Leon led me out of my tent.
*
Slowly, we wandered the dark forest behind my tent using our phone torches to light the way.
As we passed a crooked broad-leaf the sudden sound of a spooked bird taking flight made us jump. The wound on my side stung as I jolted.
The fright seemed to jog Leon’s memory.
Leon: “Almost forgot, I found this in Aaron’s tent as well.”
Leon reached into his pocket and pulled out a camping knife with a closed switchblade. He held it out to me.
Me: “What do I want that for?”
Leon: “Protection. It has a pretty decent blade.”
I hesitated.
Leon: “It would make me feel a lot better knowing you had it.”
I reached out and took the knife.
Me: “Whatever. Just hope I don’t poke my eye out with it or you’ll feel terrible.”
I pocketed the knife and we carried on searching the forest.
Me: “So how much longer are we going to look around before we give up and go back? It can’t be long until dawn now.”
Leon: “Until we know — wait, what’s that?”
Leon’s torch light had fallen upon a small cairn; a stack of stones with something resting on top.
Me: “Is that…”
We approached the cairn and I shined my light on the feather doll wedged between the topmost stones.
Me: “It’s the doll Aaron took from that cave.”
Leon: “Coll could have taken it from Aaron’s tent before he came out here. He could have built this stack of rocks and left the doll on top.”
Me: “Why?”
Leon: “Your guess is as good as mine.”
I crouched down and examined the little structure more closely.
Me: “You don’t think this is for some sort of curse?”
Leon: “What? Like from a ghoul?”
There was ridicule in Leon’s tone but I wasn’t so dismissive.
Me: “I don’t think we should leave this here.”
I plucked the doll from the cairn and slipped it into the front pocket of my hoodie. I stood straight.
Me: “Let’s get back before the others wake up.”
Leon nodded in agreement and we made our way back in the direction we had come.
*
We arrived at the campsite just as day began to break.
With the sun peeking over the horizon we crept back towards our tents. As we neared the log benches the front of Mona and Coll’s tent unzipped. Leon and I both froze.
Coll emerged fully dressed, a concerned expression on his face.
Coll: “Have either of you seen Mona?”
Me: “She’s not in there with you?”
Coll: “No. I woke up and she was gone. Didn’t you see her leave our tent?”
Leon: “No, we’ve only just got up too.”
As Coll eyed Leon suspiciously, Max’s tent unzipped and Max appeared looking badly hungover.
Max: “What’s happened now?”
Me: “Mona’s gone.”
Coll: “I need to find her.”
Coll moved off towards the pines.
Me: “Wait, we’ll help.”
Leon and I followed after Coll. Max stayed put.
First, we searched among the trees leading to the lochshore. Then we searched the lochshore itself. No sign of Mona.
Then we made for the trail leading to the river crossing. No sign of Mona near the trailhead, so we started down the path, all three of us shouting “Mona!” as we went.
As we searched around a pair of felled pine trees near to the trail Leon suddenly stopped and gave me a concerned look.
Leon: “Kate, your hand.”
I looked down. My hand was red and sticky with blood, blood that had run down from my forearm. I realised my arm was hurting more than the usual dull ache as well. I hadn’t noticed until now because of the soreness along my side.
Before I could say anything to Leon, Coll suddenly cried out.
Coll: “No…”
Coll rushed off into the forest. We clocked his diversion and chased after him.
Coll led us to a large broad-leaf and sank to his knees. Mona was hanging from a thick branch, a length of cord tied around her neck was her noose.
Coll: “Mona…”
Leon: “God. Because of Aaron?”
Coll: “She loved him.”
Leon: “Is that – is that Aaron’s washing line?”
Coll: “I should have seen this coming, I should have been more vigilant.”
Me: “It’s not your fault. You couldn’t have known this would happen.”
Leon: “Should we … cut her down?”
I was looking at scratch marks around Mona’s neck. Had Mona changed her mind during the attempt? Could the noose have been forced upon her?
Me: “No. We have to leave her like we left Aaron. No one can touch her.”
As Leon tried to console Coll I turned away and pulled up my sleeve. As I’d feared, one of my Marks, the second from the right, was raised and bleeding.
It was just as the antler creature had foretold; Mona had died and my Mark had inflamed. Mona had started to decay and my corresponding scar had started to bleed.
As they fall, your scars will rise. So too will you rise.
I closed my eyes and silently promised myself that we weren’t going to lose anyone else up here.
Deep down I think I already knew it was a promise I wasn’t going to be able to keep.