The Game at Carousel: A Horror Movie LitRPG

The trek across town was uneventful by design. My estimate is that we probably walked about 7 miles. We purposefully avoided most neighborhoods, the downtown square, and the local college campus. Most of what I saw was ordinary-looking buildings from afar. If you had seen the way that Arthur marched us forward you would think that we were walking through a war zone. Maybe we were.

All I know is that the needle on the Plot Cycle jumped to Omen a dozen times on the trip. I could never see why. Every time it did, Arthur would make us run in a different direction or hide in a ditch.

Patcher's Family Farm had been on the east side of town. We were headed to Dyer’s Lake on the west side. By the time we arrived, there was no trace of daylight and even the stars had not come out.

I finally got the joke. When Todd had laughed at the description of Chris's house as being a lake house, I figured out why.

Our destination was the faculty lodge at a children's summer camp next to the lake. Not quite the lake house that we had been sold on, but not too far off. The summer camp was right out of a dozen different scary movies from throughout the decades.

Its name? Camp Dyer.

Wonderful.

The first thing I saw when we arrived at camp was a paper flyer. I managed to grab a peek at one on our way in.

WELCOME TO CAMP DYER

Camp Dyer is the perfect place to make memories that will last a lifetime. This summer, we have a range of exciting activities for you to enjoy, including:

- Swimming in Dyer Lake

- Boating

- Fishing

- Hiking

- Horseback Riding

- Arts & Crafts

- Campfires & S'mores

Come explore and have fun at Camp Dyer this summer!

Counselors, please report to Dyer’s Lodge.

Safety Note: At the end of the season, Dyer’s Lake will be closed down and drained in order to repair the Carousel Dam. Please observe caution in the proximity of the dam and obey all posted warnings.

It just dawned on me that this part of Carousel was warm. Like, summer-time warm. It had been autumn on Patcher’s Family Farm, but here it was summer.

Noted.

As we approached an area with lots of cabins and recreational buildings, I heard giggles that seemed to have been coming from the bushes. Arthur cursed under his breath.

Further down the forest trail, there was a wooden arrow pointing left with the words “Dyer’s Lodge” written on it.

As we walked, the giggles followed us along with little footsteps. Janette began freaking out. “We need to leave now.”

“We’re fine,” Arthur said.

After he said that, a choir of high-pitched voices began singing:

“Suzy Snyder, six foot five,

Haunts Camp Dyer, still alive.

She went missing long ago,

Leaving campers in—”

Arthur raised his voice, “Go to bed!” he screamed.

He brandished a revolver that had been concealed on his person and fired it into the air three times.

Bang!

Bang!

Bang!

Suddenly, half a dozen young girls dressed in pajamas jumped out of the bushes and from behind the trees screaming in terror. They took off running back down the path toward the cabins we had passed.

“The campers should not be out at night. I hate those girls,” Arthur said. He stomped up ahead the rest of the way to Dyer’s Lodge and entered without us. He slammed the door behind him.

Todd turned to us. “Arthur doesn’t do well around creepy children. It’s his thing. And that sucks because there are a boatload of creepy children in Carousel.”

I bet.

The lodge was big. The walls were made of giant logs. It had dozens of rooms and the entire west side was made of glass to give a good view of the lake. When we entered, I saw that there was a huge lounge in the center with couches and tables and a fireplace. Twin staircases led up to a second level that had more couches and bookshelves and the like.

And around four dozen people.

Holy crap.

All of them were players. For some reason the number of people trapped here really made it hit home how much trouble we were in. If all these people couldn’t find a way out… What hope was there?

Walking through the door was like a cloudburst. The people began clapping and cheering the moment we entered. Someone handed me a drink. The atmosphere in here was far different than we had seen so far in Carousel. These were normal people. There was no danger here.

I think I breathed out for the first time in hours.

“How did ol’ Benny treat you?” Someone in the crowd called out.

“They got a Film Buff,” another said. In fact, several people stared at me.

A woman stood in the center of the lounge. She was in her early forties and from the way everyone looked at her, I knew she was in charge. I looked at her poster.

“Adaline Winter is The Final Girl.” Plot Armor: 64.

How many final girls were there?

After we had all made our way in and closed the door behind us, Adaline began speaking.

“Welcome to Dyer’s Lodge. As you probably already know, my name is Adaline. I wish that we could have met under different circumstance-“

“No!” a voice rang out. It was from upstairs. “Fuck no!”

The room went silent. Confusion grew on the faces of the crowd as they looked for the source of the scream.

A man began running down the stairs. A man that looked like an older version of Antoine.

“Christian Stone is The Athlete.” Plot Armor: 58.

An athlete. Just like his brother.

Antoine dropped his luggage. Chris ran to him and embraced him.

“Not my brother. Not my brother.”

Both of them were crying. Kimberly and Anna were getting teary-eyed. I was too.

The rage and sorrow that I saw in that moment was more sobering than anything I had seen so far. We were tricked. Was Carousel going to start calling Camden’s siblings now, tempting them to come? How about Anna’s parents? I’m pretty sure Kimberly has an army of Instagram followers that would be here in a few hours if asked.

This was insidious.

In this way, I was lucky. The only people I cared about were already here with me. My parents died when I was little. My grandparents who raised me passed within months of each other two years ago. I had no one to worry about and no one to worry about me.

“We’re going to find a way out,” Antoine promised Chris. “We’ll figure it out.”

All of the players who heard him say that dropped their gaze. They didn’t think they were going to leave. They had lost hope.

After Chris let go of Antoine, Valerie took us over to a circle of couches to talk. Most of the other players dispersed. Most went to bed. Some groups stayed up planning their next storyline quests. They hunched over maps and thumbed through binders of tickets, deciding which builds they would need for which strategies. The tables were covered with weapons and items that must have been usable in storylines.

A group of four went out into the night to “hunt” and I don’t think they meant for food.

The conversation was light. Valerie told us that we should stick around the lodge for a few days. Then we needed to start leveling up.

“You can’t really go into town with your current Plot Armor. There are some good starter storylines we can show you. Relatively safe ones.”

Kimberly, who had been quiet since we got here, said “I saw a sign for a mall on the way-“

“Don’t go to the mall,” Valerie blurted out.

Several players heard Valerie’s warning and then agreed with her.

“Stay away from the mall.”

“Mall’s dangerous.”

“Don’t step foot in there.”

They said it in such a comically serious tone.

Kind of sounded like they didn’t want us to go to the mall. Kimberly looked deflated.

It was getting really late. Time to go to bed.

That pretty much catches you up to where I am now. Camden and I were assigned this little room. Lakeside. One of our entire walls is glass. It’s really freaky actually.

I stared out into the lake. A gray movie poster formed in my mind. I don’t know what it is. It’s something I can’t see yet.

As I write this, I am scared but excited too. In a couple of days, we’re supposed to go on our first storyline to the north. We have a whole route planned out for us.

Camp Dyer was an ideal place for the players to call home. A secluded area with great lodgings.

I get that. I do.

But there was something that no one said out loud. When those little girls started singing their nursery rhyme, the needle on the Plot Cycle flipped to Omen. It had settled down now, but I got the sense that we weren’t truly safe.

But then again, you’re never safe in Carousel.