Bottle 10: Revelations

The time stretched on as the group combed through the cabin, searching for anything that could provide clarity. The oppressive atmosphere of the cabin grew heavier with every passing minute. Shadows seemed to deepen, and the howling wind outside carried an almost taunting rhythm. Abby sat alone in the living room, turning the shard of green glass over in her hands, its edges catching the dim glow of the firelight. Her thoughts swirled chaotically, replaying every detail of the past day.

Abby looked at the other bottles found in the kitchen. One bottle stated ‘Psycho.’ She turned the bottle upside-down and very similar to the first bottle which pointed at Eve, she found the word…… “Sara?” She questioned out loud. “Uh, Sara, can you come in here?”

Sara darted around the corner, what’s up?”

“This label says you are a psycho” Abby explained.

“A psycho? Me?” questioned Sara. “Jamie and I have had our disagreements, but to call me a psycho is a bit dramatic. How about the other bottle? Does it call someone else psycho?”

“Well, this label says Cat People” Abby stated.

“Gee, let me guess that one. Bet it says Abby” Sara said with an attitude.

Abby turned the bottle upside-down and sure enough, almost disappointingly, Abby said “yes, yes it does say me.”

“But you are a cat person, Abby. Does that really mean he thought I was a psycho?” Sara said quite upset.

The faint sound of footsteps broke her concentration. She looked up sharply, her heart pounding. Lori stood in the doorway, her expression hesitant and almost afraid.

"Hey Abby, can I talk to you?" Lori asked softly.

Abby nodded, motioning for her to sit. "What’s on your mind?" as she left Sara and went to speak with Lori.

Lori hesitated, her hands twisting in her lap. "I’ve been thinking a lot about what happened."

Abby leaned forward, studying Lori’s face intently. "We all have, what are you talking about?"

Lori’s voice dropped to a whisper, as though afraid someone might overhear. "What if...I mean; I know what Jamie said to us ‘It wasn’t an accident’ but with all these clues, I am really concerned that Jamie knew what was going to happen and we are next. What if he was right and it wasn’t an accident?"

Abby’s brow furrowed. "You think someone did this on purpose, Jamie knew, and they may be after us?"

Lori nodded slowly, her gaze darting to the floor. "I don’t know who would do this, but... the bottles, the messages, the blood. It’s all too much to be a coincidence."

“I agree Lori, I mean, this bottle does seem to tell us that Eve is also hiding something. Then, we find out Nina and Traci had their run-ins with Jamie as well.”

“Exactly! In the last 45 minutes, we have learned so much about one another and the skeletons we may have.” Lori reaffirmed Abby’s thinking.

Abby’s grip tightened on the shard of glass. "Then we need to figure out who did this and why."

Lori hesitated, biting her lip. "But what if... what if it’s one of us?"

Abby’s stomach twisted. The possibility had crossed her mind (all their minds), but hearing Lori voice it made it feel disturbingly real. "I don’t want to believe that" she said carefully. "But we can’t rule anything out."

“But I mean the bottle, what if Eve was hiding something that Jamie knew about, and she decided to take him out for it?” Lori explained

The crackling fire filled the silence between them, a stark contrast to the tension in the room. Abby reached out, placing a hand on Lori’s arm. "Eve is good people, she would never, and I am not sure it means anything because this bottle basically states I like cats.”

“Which is true!” Lori stated. “So, if that is true, then the others must be.”

“So, Sara is a psycho?” Abby questioned.

Lori met Abby’s gaze, her eyes glistening with unshed tears. "I swear, I don’t know anything. I just... I feel like we are missing something. Like there’s something Jamie wanted us to find."

Abby nodded, her mind racing. "We’ll find it," she said firmly. "We have to."

Meanwhile, Traci and Sara were back in the dining room, their search continuing with mounting frustration. Sara sifted through a pile of papers they’d found in a drawer, her hands trembling slightly. "This is useless," she muttered. "Receipts, takeout menus... nothing that explains any of this."

Traci, who had been inspecting the underside of the dining table, straightened abruptly. "Wait," she said, her voice sharp. "What if we’re not looking for something obvious? We already searched his phone, so, what if more clues are in his suitcase?"

Sara frowned. "You mean the duffel he brought?"

“It is upstairs next to the blood” Lori added.

The group hesitantly but collectively rushed upstairs to the blood-stained room. The bag lay on the bed where it was originally placed by Jamie less than an hour ago. Unfortunately, the team realized there was a combination lock on it.

Sara’s breath caught. "Do you think? Why would he have a lock on it?"

“He travelled a lot” Nina added. “He was always heading to some place so maybe he had a lock for TSA or maybe just to keep his kids out.”

“Or to keep secrets hidden” Eve said mysteriously.

Sara leaned in closer, inspecting it. "We’ll need a code. It is a 3-digit lock.

Traci’s mind raced. "Jamie loved puzzles. He wouldn’t make it obvious.”

Sara pulled his phone from her pocket that for some reason she was still carrying around.

“Hey! Why do you still have that?” Nina called out.

Anxious and surprised, Sara “uhhh, in case more messages came in.” Sara then scrolled and scrolled but found nothing. She suddenly and without a question screamed “911. Could that be it? The number he always wrote on the whiteboard. ‘In Case of Emergency don’t call us, call 911!’”

Traci quickly rolled the numbers into the lock. The lock opened, and sitting on top of all his clothes was a single envelope, sealed and marked with Jamie’s handwriting: "To my friends."

Sara and Traci exchanged a look, their hearts pounding. Traci reached for the envelope, her hands shaking as she opened it. Inside was a single sheet of paper, covered in Jamie’s familiar scrawl.

"To all of my friends on this ominous night – A night of horror is upon you."

To be continued November 30th, 2025.