As I pulled up to a Starbucks drive thru window, my phone buzzed from a series of texts my friends sent in a group chat of a local murder suspect that was recently found guilty of the death of a 20 something year old. I replied: “I’m shocked they finally found something to peg Mack Kelley to and pray Hope will finally have justice for what was done to her.”
“Thank you”, I said to the Starbucks cashier as she handed me a pumpkin spice latte.
I live and work on the coast of South Carolina and my friends that live in the upstate planned a “fall glamping trip” in the Appalachian Mountains. Since I was driving from the coast to the mountains, I had some time to kill and decided to listen to the latest episode of a podcast that had been covering the murder investigation for Hope. The podcast host sounded a bit cocky, but I credited him for his commitment to a small-town murder.
The podcast was coming to an end with the host wrapping up an interview with the local sheriff as I was pulling up to my destination. I parked in the gravel lot that tucked away the trailhead leading to our “glamp” site. As I was shuffling my things around in the passenger seat of my Prius, I heard a knock, knock, knock which shocked me. I turned to see that the startlers were some of my favorite people.
I opened my car door to squeeze Tanya and Penelope tightly while squealing from pure excitement. Since I moved down to the coast, I rarely saw them but maybe twice a year if I was lucky.
“I’ve missed you both so much!”
“We have, too, Hayden,” Tanya said with sincerity.
“Where are the others?” I asked.
“Oh, you know how Jamie and Alex like to get a head start on things. They’re at the campsite prepping the tents, hammocks, fire pit and whatever else they feel the need to burden the campsite with.”
“How am I not surprised,” I said with a grin.
“Let’s pack up and start heading towards camp. We have about a mile hike to the site and we don’t want them drinking all the good champagne without us,” Penelope stated.
“Then what are we waiting for! Let’s head out!”
As we were putting on our boots and backpacks, Tanya asked “Did you hear about Hope’s murder case?”
“Yeah, I can’t believe they finally found Mack Kelley guilty. It’s still unsettling that they haven’t found Hope’s body though,” I said to Tanya.
“There’s rumor going around that the body moves in the night from forest to forest and won’t rest until Mack is found guilty for Hope’s murder,” Penelope asserted.
“Oh Penelope, you’re just saying that because you want us to get freaked out tonight,” I claimed.
“Or just a heads-up in case any of us sees Hope walking around in the woods,” Penelope said with a bit of jest in her voice.
The mile hike was a breeze since we talked the entire way about our love lives, school, and work. The weather was perfect with blue skies hanging over us and the temperature in the low 70s. It was a quintessential mid-fall trip right before the season became too frigid for my liking.
I could see about a tenth of the mile away Jamie and Alex assembling what appeared to be a campsite designed by Barbie and Tim Gunn. I shouted to them “Ladies! Are we in the Blue Ridge Mountains or Project Runway: Mountain Edition?”
“You’re welcome!” Alex shouted confidently with a grin.
We arrived at our tents, dropped our bags, and started the festivities as Jamie and Alex poured champagne in our plastic flutes. We toasted, danced, snacked and talked well into the evening with a Y2K soundtrack. Before we knew it, the sun had been down for at least a few hours or so. Lucky for us, Jamie is a serial organizer and already accumulated kindling and wood prior to our arrival. The campsite turned from a moody darkness with only fairy lights twinkling the scene to a magnanimous roar of firelight revealing our faces. We sat on logs that lay close enough to the fire for warmth but far enough to avoid our arm hairs from getting burnt.
“Ladies, have you ever heard of the app ‘Randonautica’?” Alex asked.
“Didn’t it lead some people to a dead body?” I implored.
“Yes, it was in a suitcase. Some people think a demon controls the app,” Tanya stated.
“How does it work?” Penelope asked.
“Do we really want to know how this ‘demon app’ works in the middle of the woods with little to no protection?” Jamie interjected.
“Oh, nothing’s going to happen, Jamie. You’re such a worrier,” Tanya exclaimed.
“Y’all need to chill. Nothing bad is going to happen to us. Anyways, this ‘Randonautica’ app is a quantumly generated adventure app that lets you discover what you ask for,” Alex confirmed.
“What do you mean, Alex? Are you getting sponsored for the app or something?” I posed to which everyone laughed.
“Whatever you say, this app will lead you to it,” Alex retorted.
“Okay, let’s give it a try,” Tanya said.
“This is a bad idea,” Jamie remarked with a worried tone.
“We’ll be fine.” I said with a cool voice. I’m not sure if it was the champagne or the fact that I was in the presence of good company that led me to feeling adventurous.
“Okay, let me open the app. Got it. What do we want to search for? Anyone have any ideas?” Alex said.
“I got it, how about Hope’s body?” Penelope asked with a mischievous grin. The entire group paused for several seconds. As I sat, I debated whether this was the type of adventure I signed up for.
“That sounds like the worst idea ever,” Jamie said.
“We’ll be fine, Jamie! Let’s do it! I’ll put in the radius for a mile and generate the point it leads us to. We all need to think of ‘Hope’s Body’ right now until we get the results.” Alex commanded.
We five all sat in silence while thinking of Hope’s remains. I thought of her buried corpse animating somewhere underneath the forest floor and digging her way to the surface. After several minutes of silence, Alex broke it with “This app must be broken. It says we can find what we’re looking for 30 feet away from our campsite.”
“There’s no way Hope’s body is that close! We’ve been here for several hours, and we haven’t seen any indication of newly dug graves. I knew this app was a gimmick,” Penelope said.
“Perhaps because it wasn’t on our radar until now, Penelope,” Alex retorted.
Whether the app worked or not, I didn’t care. I just wanted to keep the peace, so I recommended “Even if it doesn’t work, let’s humor ourselves and walk towards the origination point to see if we find any evidence of someone’s remains.” Everyone agreed so we all walked at and around the origination point to find nothing out of the ordinary.
“I told y’all,” Penelope playfully taunted.
We talked for another hour or so before we all retired in our tents with each containing a blow-up mattress and enough blankets to warm the entire population to warm a small village.
I was in a deep sleep when mother nature called and woke me from my slumber. I checked my phone which read 3:32 AM before I unzipped the tent to use the restroom.
I’m a private individual and made sure to walk far enough away from the campsite so that no one would see me take a leak. As I approached what I registered to be the perfect place, I relieved myself as quickly as I could while collecting information on my surroundings. The bright moon showcased mountain laurel and dirt. Something else caught my eye…is that a leaf? No, it’s composition seemed to be of ivory…bone? What on earth is that? I approached this bony leaf and leaned down to touch it. It was the bones of someone’s hand. Oh my God!
I sprinted back to the campsite and woke the person from their slumber I knew who would be the least pissed-off, Tanya. I shook her tent and after no response, I unzipped it just enough for my lips to exclaim inside “Wake up! Please wake up, Tanya!”.
My plea to Tanya was loud, so loud that it woke the entire campsite. Their eyes went from half asleep to wide open when I informed them of what I witnessed. I presented them the evidence and we promptly called the police.
The police arrived within less than a half hour. After they listened to my discovery and recovered what appeared to be the right number of bones to construct a human skeleton, they briefed us “We’re glad you called us when you did. We just arrested the individual who was an accomplice of Mack Kelley’s a half an hour ago whom we believe buried Hope’s body near your campsite. He’s been digging her remains and burying her anywhere he could so that police enforcement could never recover her body. Her family will be happy to know she can finally be put to rest.”