Note: This story was dynamically reformatted for online reading convenience.
 
 My Sisters and Me by Drew

   Jordan had decided to take a nap after our wakeboarding morning.  But I
didn't feel too tired.  I wanted to explore the area some more and went
back downstairs to see who and what I could find.

   Frank and Kevin had moved out onto the deck that sat against the opening
of the woods.  Uncles Jim and Greg - Nancy's husband - had now joined them.
I gathered a plate of food and went out there myself.

   "Anything interesting going on out here?" I said.

   "Lotta deer.  Not much else," Kevin answered.  "So, who were those two
other chicks you guys were playing grab ass with earlier?"

   "Ara and Kenzie - Maddy's friends," I said.  I had ordered a bourbon. 
Mainly because I wanted to fit in with the older men.

   "Ahhh.  Your date already realize she's out of your league?" He smirked.

   "Ha.  She went to that yoga thing with all the other women," I said. 
Kevin and Jim nodded and rolled their eyes.

   "So, you're going for younger and dumber," Jim began.  "Not a bad
decision!" He and the other men started howling.

   "Yeah, they had stolen her bikini and everything!" Kevin said.  "Lifting
up her towel - but she didn't seem to mind!"

   "Haha," Jim chortled.  "Little pissed I missed that."

   "Yeah man, you got forty-eight more hours to enjoy summin' like that," I
said.

   "What are you talking about," Kevin said showing off his own wedding
ring.  "I still enjoyed it!" The others roared again.  "But seriously,
Drew, ya gotta be careful fooling around and playing games with girls that
age," he sipped his whiskey.  "Amira could tell you stories for days about
some crazy shit she and her friends did in high school.  Constantly trying
to strip each other.  If it's all true, I can't believe people didn't get
arrested..." his voice trailed off and he puffed on a cigar.

   "Yeah, Emily was in a Girls Gone Wild video back in the day," Jim said.
I'm positive she wouldn't appreciate him telling us this but I kept quiet.
Kevin nodded at him, but didn't look too impressed.

   "No shit?" Greg was more interested.

   "Don't get too excited boys, I haven't been able to track it down - not
for lack of trying," Jim laughed.  "But don't listen to Kev, Drew.  Have
your fun!  Just make sure they're 18 and ain't crazy!" He guffawed again.

   "Well, they're all a little crazy," Frank said to collective agreement.

   I finished my lunch with the men and then headed off.  I walked back
down to the beach, but didn't see Katie or Kelly anywhere.  I did spot
Allison and some other cute, mousy girl who had brown curly hair, short
legs, and a bubble butt.  They were walking back up to the resort.  I
didn't know Allison too well and just gave her a shy smile.

   "Hey Drew," she smiled back.  Her friend gave me a smile as well.

   I turned along the beach and headed into the trails through the woods.
It was quiet in here.  No people around, and the only noises I heard were
those of small animals rustling in the leaves.  The trail split into a
couple different directions and I ended up climbing some elevation and then
descending back down along the river.  The water was fast here, with some
whitewater - much in contrast to the motionless lake.

   I crossed a bridge and the trail split again.  Not wanting to get lost,
I kept along the river, and then I finally heard some other humans.

   "That's all I'm doing," a girl's voice said.  It sounded vaguely
familiar, but I couldn't hear her that well.

   I walked toward the voices with caution.

   "C'mon!  You gotta do the lower half!" A whiny boy pleaded.  I
recognized his voice immediately.

   "No, Brian!" The girl said.

   "We've already seen it!  Do you still shave it?" Brian said.

   "Gross!" She said.

   "I'm putting the picture on the wedding slideshow, then," Brian
continued.

   "NO, you're not!" The girl said, and I had a decent idea who she was by
now.  I crept closer.

   "Then show us the lower part!"

   "NO!"

   "How bout a longer boobs flash, then?" A second boy, who I recognized as
Phillip, pitched in.

   "Uggghhh!" The girl said.  "FIVE seconds."

   "Fine." The boys said excitedly.

   "And then I'm done!"

   "K."

   I ducked behind a tree trying to see exactly what was going on.  But it
was nearly impossible to be quiet with all the leaves and sticks around.  I
stayed as immobile as I could and peaked my head out.

   I heard some clothes being ruffled and then.....

   "NICE!" Brian exclaimed.

   "WHOAAAAH!!!" Phillip cried out.

   Other voices perked up as well.  "DUDE!" "HOLY SHIT!" "QUIET"

   "ONE.....TWO....THREE...." The girl counted down.

   I couldn't see anything, and figured no adults were around, so I walked
out into the little open area to get a better idea of what was happening.
Then I spotted them.

   Alex was standing in front of a group of my younger cousins, with her t
shirt lifted up, her big, pale rack exposed.

   "FOUR....AHHHHH!!!!" Alex spotted me and immediately pulled her shirt
down.  Her face turned beet red.

   "What the hell, that's only four!" Brian protested.  He turned around to
see what had startled Alex.  "Drew!" He said.  "It's just Drew, Alex,
c'mon!"

   Alex shook her head no, looking at me.  She didn't say anything, and
then looked at the ground.

   "He was there too!  Alex who cares?!" Brian said.  He waved his phone
around and I pieced together what was going on.

   Brian had sneaked a picture of Alex during her Thanksgiving exposure.  I
don't know how the little twerp managed it, but it seemed he captured her
face...and everything else...in one shot.  I couldn't tell how blurry the
pic was from my distance.

   "Drew, c'mon!  Alex is showing us her tits!" He beamed with pride.

   "Am not!" Alex snapped.

   I gave it about 2 seconds thought.  I've crossed A LOT of lines over the
past year.  Invading people's privacy, voyeur....incest.  But helping my
younger cousins blackmail my other cousin - who was still in high school -
was NOT going to be one of them.

   "Nope!" I announced and turned to walk away.  "Nope, nope nope!"

   "Drew!" Brian cried out.  I ignored him, and didn't turn around.  "You
better not tell on us!" He shouted.  "PUSSY!"

   I just kept on walking.  Over the bridge, through the woods, onto the
beach, and back to the resort.  Before I knew it, I looked up, and saw Aunt
Nancy standing in the lobby.

   "Oh!" I said, startled.  "Errr...Hey Nancy," I blurted out, nervously.

   "Andrew," was all she said.

   I scurried past her before she could ask me where I was, or if I'd seen
Alex.







   When I got back to my room, music was playing, and Katie and Kelly were
there.  They were dressed to a T and had already applied their makeup.

   "Drew!" Kelly said.  She gave me a hug.

   "Where have you been?" Katie asked with curiosity.

   "Was looking for y'all...then went for a hike." I left out where I went
hiking.  "Where were you guys all day?"

   "Exactly where I told you we'd be?" Katie said. 
"Yoga....beach....chilling."

   "Ahh well, I didn't see you at the beach when I was there."

   "Whatevvss.  You turning up tonight, or what?" Katie asked.

   "For sure, you guys eat already?" I looked around the room.

   "Yeah, we brought some stuff up from the buffet, it's still warm," Katie
said.

   "Better hurry up though," Kelly said.  "You're already two shots
behind!"

   "Ohhh shit," I said sarcastically.  "I'm gonna grab some food, shower,
and get dressed.  Give me thirty minutes."

   I walked over and began scarfing down a chicken breast and vegetables. I
needed something relatively healthy in me before I punished my liver. 
Jordan had awoken from his nap and was hanging out in a pair of shorts,
without a shirt on.  He was on his phone, likely texting Kenzie, and was
ignoring Katie and Kelly.

   I finished my dinner and hopped into the shower.  As I washed myself, I
heard our door open and shut and many more female voices filled the room.

   "Where's Drew?" I heard Maddy ask.

   "Shower," Katie said.

   "Ahhh."

   The next thing I knew I heard a bunch of giggling and tugging on out
bathroom door as the girls tried to break in.

   "Drewwwww!" Kelly called out.  "We all wanna see your peeeeeeeen!"

   Unfortunately for them, the bathroom lock was secure.  Unfortunately for
me, I forgot to bring clothes into the bathroom.  After I dried myself off,
I put my ear to the door, and most the voices seemed distant.  I burst out
of the bathroom in only a towel and hurried into my room.

   "What're you doing, dude, no one wants to see you," Katie said in a
dismissive manner.  I shook it off - because I knew it was lies.

   I got dressed and rejoined the party.  I took a few shots to catch up.
Maddy and her friends were dressed up and looking sexy as well.  The seven
of us played some drinking games and got decently drunk before we decided
to explore the town.

   Heads turned as we walked through the lobby.  Emily was down at the bar
with some of her friends, dressed more casually, sipping on a glass of
wine. Amira was also with them.

   "Well, look at you guys!" Amira called out.

   "Ow Ow!" Michaela, Emily's younger sister cat-called.  She was drunk
again.

   "Don't have too much fun," Amira said.

   "Yeah, be careful, guys!" Emily said.  She turned to me.  "Drew
and....Drew's friend," she laughed.

   "Jordan," Jordan smiled.

   "Jordan.  Look after the girls, please!" Emily asked of us.

   "Will do," Jordan said, with a charming smile.  The group of young women
smile back at us.  The cute mousy girl from earlier whispered something,
and they all laughed.

   Once we got through the lobby, we saw a bonfire had been lit again, but
tonight it was located on the edge of the forest.  And there was only a
small group surrounding it.

   "You guys come here!" Brian waved us over with excitement.

   "Should we head into town, or you wanna hang by the fire a bit?" I
asked.

   "We'll get all smoky," Maddy said.

   "But it is only 9PM.  Prolly no one at the bars yet anyway," Katie said.
"And who are you trying to impress in this backwoods town anyway?"

   "True," Maddy agreed.  We walked over to the fire.

   "Grandpa Frank's about to tell us a story about this town!" Brian could
barely catch his breath.

   "What kind of story," Katie asked, as she strutted casually past Brian
and found a seat.

   Frank, Jim, and Kevin were around the fire with Brian and Phillip.  I
don't know where the other boys were.  Alex was there was well.  She was
staring at me, but quickly looked away when I noticed her.  Her
straw-blonde hair was worn down.  I wasn't used to seeing her without her
ponytail.

   "A true story." Frank's deep, husky voice made it more dramatic.

   "Let me grab us some beers, first," I said.

   "Aye," Frank said.

   I strolled up to the bar with Jordan and we brought back a bucket of
bottles for those of us out of high school.  Frank nodded at us, snapped
his beer top off using the edge of his chair, and began.

   "I was a young man, around yer age, Drew, when I worked here in the
mines."

   "Here?  In this town?" Katie cut him off.

   "Yes, young lady.  How do ya think Jim found the place?" Frank and Jim
raised their eyebrows at Katie.

   "Kinda figured it was Emily who found it," Katie laughed.  "The venue is
gorgeous," she peered out into the lake.

   "Well, it wasn't always like this," Frank said.  "I moved here after the
war.  Eloise grew up nearby.  When we were living here, it was a working
town," he spat.  "Not this yuppy, tourist trap it's become," he looked at
Katie.  "No offense."

   "None taken," she said.  "I didn't pick it," she smirked at Jim.

   "There were some good people here.  Salt of the earth.  They didn't
deserve what happened," Frank took a long pause, and I noticed a few
audience members lean forward in their chairs.  "Folks were friendlier back
then.  More trusting.  Kids would be out horsin' around from sun-up till
midnight.  You'd just walk on in yer neighbor's front door without warning
and have dinner or a beer with `em.  And if ya got into a spat with anyone,
you'd settle it.  Right then and there.  And it'd be done.  There was none
of this pulling out yer phone, filming people and running to post it on the
Twitter."

   Maddy and her friends laughed.  Frank looked at them curiously.

   "How old are ya now, Maddy?" He croaked.

   "18, bout to be 19!" Maddy smiled.  I caught Brian - and Jordan -
staring at her.

   "Right.  First one was yer age," Frank said.

   "First....what?" Maddy asked.

   "Girl who went missing," Frank said.

   "Dad!  C'mon," Jim protested.

   "What?  Ya'll wanted a ghost story!" Frank said.

   "Yeah, dad, a GHOST story.  Not some true crime podcast," Jim argued.

   "Ain't nothin scarier than real life," Frank said.

   "Yeah, that's the point, you're gonna give em nightmares and then I'll
be up all night before my wedding trying to convince them that Ted Bundy's
long gone."

   "No, dad!  Let him tell it!  We wanna hear it!" Brian whined.

   "Yeah!  C'mom!" Phillip said.

   "I'd like to hear it to, Uncle Jim," Katie gave him a big, pretty smile.
He laughed and rolled his eyes at her.

   "Alright, fine.  But don't go telling Emily I was out here when you boys
can't sleep tonight!"

   "Yeah!" Phillip called out, triumphantly.

   Frank looked at his son, who shook is head and nodded with reluctant
approval.  The rest of the group quieted down.

   "Alright, anyway, back to the first one.  Maji Blackrock.  18 years old,
beautiful girl - much like the lot of you," Frank looked around
nonchalantly, but didn't single out anyone in particular.  "She was a
native.  Ancestors were part of the Mohican tribe.  And at that time,
racism was alive and well."

   "So much for being `friendly folk'," Katie laughed.  Frank ignored her.

   "Parents reported it the day she went missing.  She was walking home
from school, just like she did every other day.  She'd just started her
last year of high school.  By 5pm her momma knew.  Mothers always know. 
All of Maji's friends were home, safe and sound.  None of the other girls
knew of any boyfriend or anywhere else Maji might've ran off to.  One of em
had even walked the first half of the trail with Maji, before they split
off.  Anyway...took the police 4 days to take the Blackrocks seriously."

   "FOUR DAYS!?" Maddy exasperated.

   "You betcha.  And when they did, it was only `cause they couldn't ignore
it any longer.  Another kid from school found a girl's pair of underwear
hanging from a branch on the same path Maji would've taken.  There was a
big smiley face drawn on the fabric in black permanent marker.  Cops tried
to keep that a secret, at the time."

   The girls looked disgusted.

   "Couple a weeks later, another girl went missing.  This one was white -
and a local restaurant owner's daughter.  You bet your ass the cops didn't
waste anytime looking for her.  She'd last been seen at a Friday night
football game.  Was a cheerleader.  The next weekend's game, which was the
homecoming game, there was a pair of panties found hanging from the
goalpost.  Same creepy smiley drawn on them."

   "What the fuck," Kenzie blurted out.  She was a cheerleader herself.

   "There had been rumors around the town regarding the smiley face, but
now everyone knew it was true.  And everyone knew this wasn't some accident
that happened to Maji.  This was something sinister."

   Frank paused and took a long swig of his beer and looked around. 
Everyone remained captivated, their faces illuminated by the fire. "The
town began to change over the next couple of weeks.  Kids were no longer
outside late, and they were hanging out in larger groups.  The men began to
boast about catching the bastard - and what they would do to him if they
did.  I got caught up in that myself.  I was young and full of aggression.
We'd drive around in our pickups, and anyone that looked even slightly off
would be harassed.  No one had the slightest clue what we were looking for.
There wasn't a single witness for either girl's disappearance.  But when
the third girl vanished, a target had formed."

   "Did someone see him?" Brian asked.

   "Nope, but the latest victim was Maji's younger sister, Aiyana."

   Some of the girls gasped.

   "And she was taken right from her home - well, presumably.  She was last
seen as she went into her room at night, and was gone in the morning. 
Naturally, the first person everyone looked at was Mr.  Blackrock.  But he
had rock-solid alibies.  He worked at the fire station, and had been on
duty for 2 of the 3 disappearances."

   "What about other family members?" Katie asked.  "Uncles, cousins,
whatever?  This shit's always family members."

   "You've always been quick, Katie!" Frank chuckled.  "The Blackrocks' son
- Maji and Aiyana's brother - Paco became public enemy number 1 overnight.
He lived and worked in Evansville.  10 miles down route 7.  He was a few
years out of school, bit of a loner, wasn't married or nothin'.  Cops
brought him in for questioning, but I guess there wasn't enough to arrest
him."

   "Did they search his car?  His house?" Kelly asked.

   "Nope."

   "Oh my God!"

   "And, as you can imagine, the disappearances continued.  Two more girls
within the next week.  Both of `em white, but with features similar to the
Blackrock girls.  In fact, all five girls looked pretty similar."

   "What about the underwear?!" Phillip asked.

   "The smileys continued as well, Phillip.  The cops also had another
clue, now.  The fifth girl was taken on Halloween.  She was heading home
from a party when she vanished.  But a neighbor had reported seeing a
larger person - definitely not a kid - wearing one of those creepy plague
doctor bird masks."

   "Waiiiiiit a second.  Five girls?!  How come I've never heard about
this, Frank?" Katie questioned.  "Feel like one or two, okay it was a crazy
time and serial killers were everywhere, but FIVE?!"

   "Well, that's just the strangest thing innit?  Folks started moving
their families out.  Businesses were folding, people had lost trust in the
police, and everyone became suspicious of one another.  Then the Puldridge
family,"

   Frank stopped and noticed his audience looking up at the resort sign.

   "Yep, same name you see on all these buildings around here.  They
swooped in and bought up all the mines, mills, and land.  They didn't need
any local patronage.  Even brought in their own labor.  Decades passed, and
people just kind of...forgot."

   "Did they ever catch him!" Maddy asked.

   "Why do you assume it was a him?" Frank asked.

   "Well....c'mon, I mean," Maddy and the other girls giggled.

   Frank laughed as well.  "I'm just kidding, No...technically they never
caught him.  He stopped after the fifth girl.  Probably didn't wanna push
his luck.  But he did lay out pictures of all five girls in the front lawn
of the school."

   "Whaaaa?" Katie asked.

   "The girls were bound and stripped nude in the pictures, but alive and
healthy looking.  He laid out five giant pictures in the form of a smiley
face."

   "What a freak," Maddy said.

   "And that was the last of it - and the last of Paco as well."

   "Let me guess, he killed himself?  They always take the easy way out."
Katie said, with disgust.

   "He didn't, as a matter of fact," Frank said.  "But he disappeared. 
Cops finally got a warrant for his apartment but when they arrived to
search, he was gone."

   "Probably went out in the woods and offed himself there." Katie said.

   "Maybe.  But the cops did find enough evidence to pin it on ol' Paco."

   "The girls' underwear?" Maddy asked.

   "More pictures of the girls?" Kelly added.

   "Close," Frank said.  "They found a couple old tape recordings hidden in
his closet.  Since Paco and the girls were long gone, they wanted to close
the case so they released what was on the tapes."

   "What was on them?!" Brian asked.

   "They were hidden videos of his sisters naked.  Peeping Tom stuff.  Paco
had filmed them coming out of the shower, changing clothes, and what not."

   "Ew!" Ara let out.  "His sisters?!"

   I went pale and looked at Ara, before quickly looking away.  Suddenly, I
felt a bit nauseous and light headed.  This Paco creep sounded an awful lot
like....myself.