Karen Hopple drives through the night until she reaches Camp Redwood. She gets out and checks the map of the camp, and then goes to a cabin and knocks at the door. There's no answer, and Karen looks in but finds no one there. She calls, saying that she's looking for Margaret. Margaret steps out and Karen explains that she's been trying to call but got a busy signal. Karen explains who she is and that she is the Chief of Psychiatry at Red Meadows Asylum. When she says that Jingles has escaped, Margaret tells her that she knows who he is and that's the reason she opened the camp. She refuses to shut down the camp, and Hopple warns that Jingles has a fantasy of getting revenge on Margaret. Margaret refuses to let Jingles take her power away again, and advises Hopple to call the police.
Margaret takes out a gun and says that if Jingles shows up, he won't survive her. Karen goes to her and drives off through the woods. One of her car tires goes out, and a truck pulls up behind Karen and honks its horn. Karen rolls down the window and asks the driver if he can fix the flat. The driver approaches, keys jingling, and Karen sees him in the rearview mirror removing a piece of sharp metal from the tire. He goes back to his truck, and Karen rolls up her window. The driver comes back over and tells Karen that he knows she followed him there, breaks the car window, drags Karen out, and throws her onto the road. He stomps on her wrist and tells her that she was right, and stabs her in the head with the piece of metal. He admits that he is a monster and pulls out a knife.
Later at Redwood, Brooke sits in the cabin and watches the news while the others drink. The news plays a report about a murder at the gas station, and the sheriff says that he has no comment on whether the Night Stalker--Richard--was involved. Brooke tells the others about the murder and worries Richard is after her. Xavier wonders if Richard is the killer Brooke claims she saw earlier, Jingles. Margaret comes in and complains that there are boy and girls together after dark, and says that she refuses to let fear dictate her life or stop her from reopening the camp. She tells them that it's lights out in 20 minutes and the boys will leave immediately. When Xavier snipes at her, Margaret tells him to go shower and wash the "filth" off.
Once the others leave, Montana gets herself a beer and tries to reassure Brooke. She says that she understands trauma but assures her friend that she's imagining things. Brooke says that the worst has already happened.
Last Summer
Brooke's father leads her down the aisle and gives her away to her groom, Joseph Cavanaugh. Joseph stares at Brooke's hand and the best man, Sam, tells Joseph that he wants her. The groom asks Sam if that's what he said to Brooke, and explains that he went to Brooke's place the night before and saw Sam go inside and not come out until morning. Sam insists that he crashed on the couch, and Brooke says that nothing happened. Joseph squeezes her hand and says that they were saving themselves. Brooke says that she loves him, but Joseph tells her that he doesn't believe her, pulls out a gun and shoots Sam and then Brooke's father as Brooke breaks into tears. Joseph grabs her and tells her she made him do it and doesn't deserve to wear white, and then shoots himself... covering Brooke's white wedding dress in red.
Now
Brooke tells Montana that Sam was just being nice and she never would have cheated on Joseph, but he didn't believe her and nobody else does. Montana says that she believes her and gives her a kiss. Brooke hastily draws away and then goes outside.
Chet, Ray, and Trevor go back to the shower cabin and talk about the girls. There are no towels or soap, and the guys prepare to shower.
Margaret shuts off the power to the lights. Brooke is outside walking alone when the lights go out. Elsewhere, Xavier is walking and Blake grabs him and shoves him into a car. Blake says that his boys never call him Blake, and offers Xavier a cigarette. Xavier calls him Daddy, and Blake says that Xavier is a Rembrandt and would never give him up. He reminds him that he cleaned him up when he found him on drugs, and takes out a gay porn video. Xavier insists that he's not gay and refuses to do another video. He gets out and Blake throws him to the ground and says that Xavier will do what he says or he'll send the video to all of Xavier's family and friends. Xavier offers to find someone to replace him, and Blake tells him to show him.
Chet, Ray, and Trevor are in the shower soaping up. They talk about their jobs, and Blake sneaks up to the peephole and stares at them. He's impressed, and Xavier slips away while Blake is distracted. Behind him, a man impales Blake through the head, impaling him to the wall. The three men inside don't notice.
Brooke sits down on the dock. A corpse drifts by and her foot brushes it. She gets up and screams, and she finds Richard cutting off her escape. She says that Satan led him to her and slashes at her with a knife. He embeds it in the dock, and Brooke hits him with an oar and runs off. Richard goes after her, chasing her through the woods. As he comes up to her, the Hiker slams into him. Brooke continues running and the hiker says that Richard isn't supposed to be there. Richard guts him and then cuts his throat.
Rita is in the infirmary cabin, unpacking medical supplies. Jingles watches her from the window, and Rita hears his keys jingling. She turns to see him staring at her, a knife in his hand.
Brooke runs to the phone and discovers that the line is dead. Montana comes up behind her, and Brooke says that Richard is there.
The Hiker appears again, unharmed, and insists that Richard isn't supposed to be there. Richard wonders how he's still alive and cuts his throat.
Montana doesn't believe Richard is there.
Richard looks away for a moment, and the Hiker disappears.
Montana and Brooke hear Ray yelling. Meanwhile, Ray, Chet, and Trevor stare in shock at Blake's body. They poke him with a stick and then Ray checks his pulse. Ray confirms that he's dead, and Blake's body falls over. Brooke, Montana, and Xavier arrive. Xavier says that they have to call ambulance, and Trevor tells him not to touch him. Montana figures that Richard is responsible, but they hear keys jingling in the distance and run.
Margaret goes to her cabin and finds Richard sitting in the darkness. He says that he's a servant of Satan and wants Margaret to tell him about the Hiker, showing her a badge that he took from the Hiker's neck. Margaret notices that Richard is hurt and gets her first aid kit. Richard introduces himself and Margaret tends to his injury. He says that he killed the Hiker and it's not the first person he had to kill someone... but it's the first time he did it twice. Margaret says that Jesus is responsible and explains that she saw the Hiker's dead body 14 years ago. Richard doesn't believe her, and Margaret asks him what the worst to happen to him is. He finally says that pain is all that he's ever known, so he talks back using pain.
Richard explains that his mother worked in a boot factory and breathed in chemicals while she was pregnant. After a swing hit a young Richard, he started having seizures. His cousin Mike lived with them, and he was a Green Beret in Vietnam. Mike showed Richard pictures of the girls he killed, and Mike shot his wife when she objected.
Margaret tells Richard that it all had to happen to Richard so he'd become the man who came to her. Richard says that a girl brought him there but he likes Margaret because she listens to him. He asks to see her feet, and Margaret tells him that he can use God to explain why he did something horrible. Richard figures that he doesn't have to bad if he's doing God's work… or Satan's. Margaret says that all he needs to be free is God and trauma, and Richard figures that she's the first person who really sees him. She tells him that the camp must be a haven for children, and Richard needs to find Jingles and make him leave. Margaret says that she'll look for the Hiker but he can't kill anyone while she does.
The group gets into their van and Xavier tries to start the engine. Chet confesses that he did steroids, and Xavier finally gets the engine going. As they pull out, Rita jumps in front of them and when Xavier swerves to avoid her, he slams into a car.
The teenagers get out and help Rita up. They realize that they smashed Margaret's car, and Rita says that Jingle is in the infirmary. Xavier can't get the van started, and Rita suggests that they take her car. Trevor has a motorcycle but his keys are in his cabin. Montana and Xavier go with Trevor, and the others go with Rita to the infirmary.
Margaret finds the Hiker, who is unharmed. He says that she's not supposed to be there, and Margaret calls the man Jonas and wonders how he can be there. Jonas remembers Margaret and says that he thought she might be dead, and Margaret says that he's dead. The last thing Jonas remembers is running in 170, fleeing from blood. Jonas remembers seeing Margaret in the cabin in 1970, then running off and being hit by a truck driven by Jingles.
Jonas says that he heard Jingles' keys, and wonders if he's a ghost. She says that there are ghosts in the road, and Jonas would still be on the road if the teenagers hadn't brought him to the camp. Jonas wonders what he's supposed to do now.
Rita takes Brooke, Chet, and Ray to the infirmary cabin. Rita refuses to go inside, and Brooke doesn't hear anyone. Ray suggests that Chet go in first, but he refuses and Brooke goes in to get the keys. The others go in behind her, and Brooke searches the desk and realizes that Rita's keys aren't outside.
Jingles is outside and watches them, then walks away.
Trevor finds his keys, and Xavier says that he just wanted to get away and shouldn't have come there. He says that he knew Blake and he came there because of Xavier, and now he's dead.
As Rita continues searching for the keys, Chet tells Brooke that it will be okay. She tells him to stay away from her, warning that everyone who gets close to her gets hurt.
Richard approaches the cabins.
Brooke hears someone outside, and locks the outside door. Someone starts pounding on the door.
Xavier tells Montana and Trevor that he saved Blake, and now it's his punishment. Someone pounds on the walls and Xavier says that they're all going to die.
Written by Gadfly on Sep 26, 2019