The Curse of Camp Locke

The cabin in the woods had been abandoned for years, but one night, a candle burned in the window. This wasn't the first time a candle could be seen, nor was it the first time chains could be heard dragging somberly across the wooden floor. There is a legend here in Camp Locke, but for most people, it is just a wild ghost story. A tale told by camp counselors to scare little kids into not sneaking out of their cabins at night. For them, the only reason that cabin 4A isn't used anymore is because of an old black mold issue caused by a storm that blew through and ruined the cabin to the point it wasn't fixable. For those who know the truth, it's the curse that rides on the back of the legend spoken at the beginning of summer.

It all started with Robert Locke and his wife Esmerelda purchasing the land, complete with the cabins, fifty years ago. It had previously been owned by a coven of witches that lived peacefully until the nearby town hunted them down. Local residents had told the Lockes about the land's history and warned them not to buy it. They said the ground was still haunted by the witches executed there, but the Lockes didn't listen despite the warning. They had an extraordinary idea when they purchased the land that involved a summer camp for mentally and socially ill children. At the time, kids considered not appropriate or healthy were being disowned by their families and sent to institutions. Robert Locke wanted to change that, so he started planning a summer camp that would allow parents to send their children for mental help and social skills classes.

It was a very generous and humble goal, and people were willing to pay more than the asking price to send their children away for help. Robert and Esmerelda Locke were passionate about their dream. When they saw the property for the first time, it wouldn't have mattered how many witches burned that fateful day. It was their property, and the witches could find a new home. The Locke's spent months cleaning the place and preparing it for their summer grand opening. When the families began showing up, the Lockes were enthusiastic and hopeful. All the kids were running into their cabins to make themselves cozy, the counselors were tending to their tasks, and the Lockes' children were chipping in for the summer.

James Locke, the oldest of the children, was only helping out until his courses started in the fall. Then it was off to college for him. Their other child, Andrew, was just thirteen years old. He would be one of the children attending the camp with the other kids. Robert and Esmerelda looked around at everything they had accomplished in such a short time with smiles on their faces. Robert's arm gracefully lay around his wife's shoulders as they silently cheered each other on with their eyes and facial expressions. For the two of them, they were sure it would be a fantastic summer, and it was, until the last morning.

Two months later, everyone in the camp appeared in the mess hall for a good breakfast before the parents arrived. Everyone except those from cabin 4A, James, and Andrew. No one knows what happened the night before except for what the newspapers released. According to Robert Locke, he felt slightly worried by the absence of his children and the inhabitants of cabin 4A. He requested that his wife check on them to ensure everything was alright. He was convinced that they were. Sometimes they would skip things to make out in the woods or swim in the lake. Indeed this would have been one of those times.

After a few minutes of Esmerelda being gone, everyone heard a blood-curdling scream from outside. Robert went running toward it immediately, recognizing his wife’s wail. The others followed. Esmerelda Locke stood in the doorway of cabin 4A, shaking as if she were about to explode. When Robert squeezed past her to see what she was looking at, his heart sank into his stomach. The scene before him was more horrible than words could describe. As I said before, no one knows what happened, and the papers didn't give a whole lot of details, but we know the story that is told every summer here at Camp Locke. This is it.

The children and the counselor were bound with rope by their hands and feet. Their fingers and toes were cut off, and they each had a single hole punched into the middle of their throat. They were laid side by side as if they'd just fought a war together, and their bodies were being recovered from the damage. Small pools of blood littered the floor between them from where they'd been amputated. But that wasn't the worst part. According to Esmerelda Locke, the worst part was their faces. Each face still had the ghost of fear written all over it, and their eyes were frozen in terror. It was as if they'd been petrified just moments before their deaths.

Then they heard a noise and turned to find little Andrew crawling out from under one of the beds, looking disheveled. When Andrew was questioned about what happened and what he was doing in a cabin full of murdered children, all he could say was his brother's name: James. James Locke was the one accused of these horrible murders, and he was still missing. For hours after the bodies were found, no one was permitted to leave. Every officer in the nearby town was at Camp Locke collecting evidence, questioning everyone that attended the camp, and taking statements.

The victims' parents were in disarray and demanding justice for their now-dead children that they hadn't seen all summer and would never see again. Of course, the officers didn't have any answers for them until the suspect was caught, James Locke. Nearby towns quickly caught wind of this story and didn't hesitate to share the news. Many claimed that the Lockes were asking for it by opening a camp on haunted land. They blamed the ghosts of the witches and said the Locke's had no right to buy a property that was already owned. Others demonized James calling for a public execution the same way he executed the children in cabin 4A. They called him Killer Locke and the Cabin 4A Killer, but it didn't matter which name they chose. One thing is for sure: everyone knew exactly who they were talking about.

No matter how many theories the media concocted for the outside world's dark entertainment, the parents were still out for blood. When they heard that the Lockes' youngest son witnessed his older brother kill their children in cold blood, they went on a manhunt of their own. The parents spent three days searching the woods around the camp, looking for justice. They didn't eat. They didn't sleep. All they did was search day and night. They finally found him hungry and dehydrated on the third day, hiding inside a tree. He was covered in dirt and blood, and there was a single pinkie finger hanging out of the pocket of his Camp Locke Counselor shirt.

The parents dragged him back to the camp as he kicked and screamed, begging them not to hurt him. Pleading for them to let him explain. See, James claims that he remembers watching the kids die but that it wasn't him that did it. He said that he was walking back to his cabin after dinner and heard a soft voice whisper in his ear. Then the next thing he knew, he was waking up in the cabin surrounded by the children’s bodies. James Locke considered that maybe he’d been possessed by one of the witches that died there. Of course, the parents didn't believe him and thought he was just trying to avoid accountability like an average teenager.

However, it is said that the Locke parents never told their children of the camp's history, nor did they hear about it from anyone outside the camp. So, how would James have known about the witches in the first place? The parents never stopped to seek answers to that question. They were so filled with sadness and rage that they decided to take justice into their own hands. The parents carried him back to cabin 4A, which had already been cleaned up. Seeing it look like their babies hadn't just been brutally tortured and murdered by this killer broke their hearts.

One of the fathers found a long chain in the cabin that held all the belongings that the Locke's found on the property as they were preparing for summer camp. He brought it into the cabin and wrapped it around James's neck like a noose. When they asked for his last words, James became angry. He was mad that they didn't believe him and were about to condemn him to an eternity of torture. James Locke knew what happened when one died on the property. The witches wouldn't let them go.

So he told the parents that he would never be gone even if they killed him at that moment. His ghost would haunt the camp, and every ten years, he would return to take more victims as punishment for their disbelief. The witches may have plagued the land, but James Locke cursed it for eternity. The parents listened intently to his claims before laughing and stringing him from the ceiling. They each watched as he struggled to let any air into his lungs before the chains took his fight out of him.

Even after his death, the parents stood watching. They realized that even though what they just did brought a little relief, it didn't change the fact that they would never see their beloved children again. A few of the fathers took James's body down, and they all helped bury him deep within the loose floorboards of the cabin. By the time they were done, the sun was setting, and no one could tell they had moved a single piece of wood. A candle was lit on the table by the window to honor their children and celebrate the justice they served on the Cabin 4A Killer.

Then they made a pact, agreeing to never speak of the events of that day ever again, not even to each other. The candle was blown out, and they all went their separate ways. The police never located James, nor any evidence of his murder. Eventually, with no leads and their prime suspect seemingly gone forever, the case went cold. Robert and Esmerelda Locke temporarily closed the camp down so they could put their efforts into finding their son. The family even hired a private investigator, but he quit after three years because the Locke family ran out of money.

Soon after, Camp Locke was reopened with a new and improved approach. Of course, cabin 4A was closed off and left alone. Several of the victim's parents divorced, lived alone, or remarried. I guess once one loses a child, a marriage is never the same. Robert and Esmerelda Locke never gave up hope that their son was still alive, somewhere happy and healthy. Maybe he'd even found a wife of his own and had children. Neither could believe that James could have done something as heinous as Andrew accused him of. Of course, Andrew lost faith in his parents because they disbelieved him and ended up moving away, never speaking to them again. He just couldn't get past what they said and did to him for his accusation.

After some time, people forgot about the murders, James Locke, and the abandoned cabin. Summers at Camp Locke resumed as expected, and everyone had a great time. As the years went on, the camp became more popular and brought in a lot more counselors, kids, and staff. The activities blossomed, and many papers and TV news reporters were now giving the camp the attention it deserved for all the excellent work it's accomplished. The cabin 4A murders were a small stain in the camp's history book. However, ten years did pass, and just like James Locke had promised, he returned to take four more kids and one counselor.

Their bodies were found in cabin 4A the same way the other victims had been. Lined in a straight row side by side like they’d been recovered from war. Blood surrounded them like the backdrop to a piece of art. Their fingers and toes littered the floor around them, and their faces were frozen in terror as if they were petrified. The only difference is that a message was written on the wall above them: James Locke has Returned.

They were found the last morning of camp when they were supposed to go home, except this time there were no witnesses, no suspects, and no leads. After a long time of searching, the case went cold. From that point on, James Locke made good on his promise every ten years. Sometimes only taking five, and other times taking more. Eventually, the camp decided to stay closed every tenth year to avoid James Locke's return, which still holds to this day. Robert and Esmerelda Locke are long gone now. Esmerelda died of a broken heart after her son's first return. The note on the wall validated her instinct that her son was dead, and shortly after, Robert joined her in paradise. Neither ever learned the truth that it was Andrew who committed the murders and framed his brother by drugging his food that night so he wouldn’t remember what happened.

The camp continues to live under the supervision of Andrew Locke. Due to its gruesome history, he is now fighting off hordes of people wanting to buy the property. However, Andrew is insistent that it stays within the family so that they can prevent future deaths. So many people have forgotten the curse that rests in the soil, and the floorboards, of Camp Locke. However, some nights when one is all alone in the dark, you can hear the faint sounds of chains dragging across a wooden floor somberly. The only light allowing them to see is the glow of the full moon and a single candle illuminating the window of Cabin 4A.