Demetri Howell
Location: Camp Lava Lake Trail Head
Skills: Singing
Demi had been wandering the grounds after lunch was had. Zeke and the Heteros had all gone off together, Nancy and Aster were off doing who cares, and so here he was left to his own devices. His hands were laced behind his head, walking around the dirt path of the camp as his Docs crunched into the soil beneath him. Hearing what could only be described as old man noises, Demi decided to take a turn and see what exactly Dobbs had been up to. Maybe he'd have more insight into the mysterious killer of Lava Lake, or maybe he could show him the best way to use a saw. Either way he was certain he'd get something out of this if not at least the enjoyment of pestering the old man.
Dobbs was loading a wheelbarrow with stacks of roof tiles. He had almost finished the roof he was currently working on. He was actually thankful for the group of kids. Their work on other parts of the camp saved him a lot of time. There was no way alone he could get all this work done. He wiped at his brow, spotting Demi coming around the building. He hoped that the kid was
doing something and not wasting time.
”Thought I heard the sounds of a Dobbs in need of help.” Demi grabbed a stack of tiles himself, carefully placing them into the wheelbarrow the same way Dobbs had. He wasn't Canada's Strongman, but he was younger and a fair deal fitter than Dobbs was. He could clear this quicker than the old man, and that sounded like easy help to him.
Dobbs gave a slight nod and grunt. He wasn’t a verbose man as far as Demi and the others had seen so far. Unless he was explaining something. He picked up stacks and loaded them into the wheelbarrow with Demi until it was full. “Thank you,” he said. He started pushing the wheelbarrow toward the building. He had a couple of two-by-fours and a section of plywood screwed together and set up on a winch system. He started loading the roof tiles onto the plywood.
Demi followed alongside him, hands in his pockets as he watched the old man push the barrow. He would've done it himself, but he hadn't expected Dobbs to go straight for it, and offering after the fact felt too awkward and ageist.
”Sooo…this whole supernatural killer thing. Any gory details you might know? Or information on what to look out for should our camp become the target at night?” He grabbed a few tiles and followed behind, placing them on the odd wooden system Dobbs had seemed to have made. He was pretty handy, then again he figured with age came a lot of interesting tidbits of knowledge.
Dobbs grunted approval as Demi helped him move tiles from wheelbarrow to the winch system. “Heh, did I spook you a bit with that? Well there’s a few stories about it. If you hear the sound of a shovel on stone, run. You need to get inside A.S.A.P.” He said each letter of ASAP, popping a little with the ‘P.’
”Spook? No. But I'm also not stupid enough not to listen when there might be danger. I'll laugh it off, sure, pretending it's a joke. But I'll still listen in the event it's real. There's people I care about here and I'm not losin’ that. So, why shovel on stone? I mean you mentioned buried bodies before but, what's the deal?” “
I didn’t bury bodies. Elias was a grave digger. He’s got a shovel with him apparently. And if you hear a shovel on stone that means he is near, that he’s stalkin’ you,” he explained. Still carrying piles of tiles over to the platform.
”I know you didn't. I just meant you mentioned there being some. Grave digger with a shovel. Makes sense. The stalking …not so much. Does he not enter buildings then? Or is this a hide and seek sort of scenario?” Demi had continued to aid in the transfer of tiles, but he was clearly focused on what Dobbs was saying.
“The stories go that he stays in touch with the land. That he is part of the land itself. He could theoretically enter a building, but he isn’t likely to. That’s ‘cause if he’s off the land he won’t heal, and he can travel fast if he disappears into the soil and then appears elsewhere quickly. That’s if you listen to all the stories. Mind you I’ve heard three or so stories about Elias and they’re all a bit different.”
”Well that's right fucked. If he can travel via soil how am I supposed to run when I hear his shovel? Seems like a shite deal. But good to know, any inkling of ‘the land' is likely to be scrubbed away by Aster today. No dirt will set foot within the cabin I assume, which may keep us safer.”“I don’t think he can travel like that. It has to be deep soil. Like I said, the shovel thing means he is stalking you. I can’t say if any part of this is actually how he would operate if he were real or not. Just tellin’ ya what I’ve heard.”
Demi waved away the concerns of whether or not there was any truth to these stories. Every story carried a kernel of truth inside, so any amount of information was helpful.
”Deep soil. Got it. Maybe what they should've done was pave over the land with concrete before fixing up the buildings.” He tried to joke.
Dobbs grunted at the joke. It wasn’t clear if he was laughing or not. “The other thing I’ve heard is watch the water. If it bubbles, those are nights Elias is active. If the water is calm you should be fine.”
”And here I thought jumping into the Lake would be safe since its water not soil.” Demi sighed, shaking his head before grabbing another pile of tiles to move.
”Hopefully the waters calm tonight then.”“Hope so,” Dobbs said. They were almost done taking all the stacks from the wheelbarrow to the platform. “Thank you,” he said, then climbed up the ladder and started to winch the platform up to the roof so he could start installing them.
”Least I could do for a spot of information. Thanks Dobbs.”Dobbs poked his head over the edge of the roof. “Oh last bit that I know. If you find fresh dirt piled in the woods, don’t touch it. He’s already chosen who’s going in it.”
Demi halted in his steps back towards the other campers, turning to look at Dobbs as he handed out his final bit of advice.
”Hate that Dobbs. I truly truly hate that thought.” His tone was flat and dead inside as he looked up at Dobbs.
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