Two Sides to Every Murder

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Two Sides to Every Murder by Danielle Valentine

June 13, 2008, 7:17pm

Gia North is running hard through the woods, obviously tripping and falling. She picks up her fallen camera, the police need to see what’s on it, but first she needs to hide it in her usual spot, a faulty bit of trim near the camp director's office. Before Gia can leave though, she notices the camp keycard she’s been carrying on the ground, not realizing she must have dropped it. As she stands from picking it up, Gia sees two figures in the distance. They look like they're arguing. One is definitely Jacob Knight, the camp archery instructor, the other could be a woman but the face is wrong, it’s haggard and misshaped. It’s a mask! The masked woman pulls an arrow from the nearest target and stabs Jacob through the throat. Gia screams. The psycho masked killer sees her. It’s too late, Gia is shot in the face by an arrow. 

Now

Olivia D’Angeli first heard about The Witch of Lost Lake at a sleepover from Maeve Lewis when she was ten. Her family owned the once-beloved Lost Lake camp until the murderers. Olivia never got to experience the camp because it’s been closed since 2008, but her (much) older sister Andie told her about it. The Witch is your typical kidnapping murderous hag but she has a name: Lori Knight. She supposedly killed her cheating husband Jacob and nosy highschooler Gia for witnessing it. She’s also supposed to have killed her seventeen year old son Matthew, too, but his body has never been found. Lori has never been caught. Everyone knows all this, but what Olivia didn’t know is that Miranda, her mom and the then camp director, witnessed the murders and went into early labor with Olivia. 

Olivia talked to her mom after the sleepover and thought she knew everything about her birth story, except now, she’s looking at DNA ancestry results which says she has 0% probability of paternity with her father. What she thought would be a fun school assignment about tracing family history in Italy comes crashing down. Does he know he isn’t her real father? Does she know who her mom is? Olivia has some unsavory thoughts about her mom being a liar and stomps around the house in frustration. Well, she needs to think about this later because now, Olivia needs to get ready. Andie is taking over the old Camp Lost Lake grounds to open a wellness retreat and Olivia and their mom are going to help out. As Olivia is leaving the house, she notices someone in the picture of her parents' engagement, Jacob Knight, the notorious cheater, angrily looking at her mom. They never did find out who he was cheating with. 

Reagan is barrelling down the road to pick up her bestie Jack and then they are going to solve three murders. Reagan has snuck away from her alleged-murderer and legendary fugitive mom and “borrowed” her car. Said alleged murderer and legendary fugitive mom is now calling Reagan’s ancient Nokia and threatening to follow Reagan on the bus to Lost Lake. Oh snap, she guessed exactly where Reagan is heading. They’ve only been on the run properly for the last year, ever since an amateur podcast, How to Be a Final Girl, did a season on the Camp Lost Lake murders and their neighbors started to give them the side-eye. Reagan doesn’t believe her mom is a murderer, but she got curious and started to dig around and found out she doesn’t have a birth certificate which is just weird, and is now out to prove her mom's innocence. 

Close to the Camp Lost Lake, they drive past a cop, Jack says it’s only Karly, she’s cool, but Reagan is paranoid. With a final turn, they pull off into the Camp which is filled with cars and teenagers. It was supposed to be abandoned. Reagan listened to the whole season of How to Be a Final Girl and became a Camp Lost Lake obsessive complete with going deep in the true crime internet forums. One thing in all the evidence and witness statements stood out to Reagan, one single mention of a keycard in the name of M. EDWARDS. Online records show only Miranda D’Angeli, Lori Knight, and a few other counselors were there that day but no one is named M. EDWARDS. Reagan’s theory is an old counselor was using that card to sneak around, they are the killer and Gia found the card and had it as evidence. Lori is the prime suspect because she’s a great archer and her family were two of the victims. 

June 12, 2008

Karly Knight is in the Lost Lake Diner at her usual stool looking through her Key West brochure. In a few weeks, she’ll be out of Lost Lake and in Florida. She can’t wait and has been talking Johnny D’Angeli’s ear off about it for weeks. Since she was seventeen, Karly has been looking after her mom who was diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer’s. Now, by mutual agreement, it’s time for her brother Jacob to take over their mom's care. As Karly is talking about the constant heat in Key West, her nephew Matthew comes into the diner. He off-handedly mentions Andie to Miranda D’Angeli who is also behind the counter, and Karly notices Miranda seems a little put out, possibly because she doesn’t want her ex-boyfriend’s son dating her daughter. Matthew is oblivious, he also doesn’t notice when a Camp Lost Lake keycard with the name M. EDWARDS falls out of his wallet. Karly does though. 

Now

Olivia and Andie don’t have a close sisterly relationship, there is a big gap in their ages and Andie has lived somewhere else for most of Olivia’s life. Now she’s back and here to stay. Olivia tries to ask Andie about their mom and Jacob Knight, and what their mom was like when she was younger. Unfortunately, Andie is not paying attention to either Olivia or the road, only her beeping phone, and runs a stop sign at the same intersection Karly Knight is parked in her patrol car, so they’re pulled over. Andie hands over her license and registration and offers Karly condolences for her mom's recent passing. Karly lets Andie off with a warning but is shocked to see Olivia in the car with her, even though she swears she just saw her drive by… Must be déjà vu. 

Soon Olivia and Andie reach Camp Lost Lake. It has been left pretty much abandoned since the murders 16 years ago so all the old trash and stuff is still there in the buildings. Nearly half Olivia’s school is on Andie’s payroll this summer giving the place some much needed TLC. Olivia’s BFF Hazel is there too. Hazel is into tarot and pulls a card every morning and today, she pulled the Lovers… Does this mean she’ll finally ask Brianna out? Not likely, Brianna hates all bread. Who wants to be with someone who hates joy? Hazel says the Lovers were in reverse which means a strained relationship, miscommunication, or lies. This makes Olivia’s eye twitch, but Hazel goes on to say it doesn’t necessarily mean a romantic relationship, it could be twins… 

Anyway, what should Hazel do with this expensive, new-looking sleeping bag she found? Olivia is putting it to one side when Eric, her bio lab partner last year, comes over with some sports equipment and camp things. He’s surprised to see her over here so quickly. Ignoring this comment, Olivia tries to get into her mom's old office but it’s locked so she'll just have to break in. She'll need to avoid Andie’s college-age intern, Sawyer, who is the holder of all the keys and will tell Andie. Luckily he’s actually acting as a distraction telling the workers to watch out for people lurking in the woods, so Olivia takes the opportunity to carefully sneak up the squeaky stairs. 

From the balcony, Olivia can see the archery field and is standing where Gia was murdered. She cracks open a window - literally - not only does the glass panel break, but also the frame, and then the crack extends into the wall, but the crack reveals Gia’s hiding spot and inside is a High School Musical lunch box. Olivia reaches for it but unfortunately the rotten wood gives way and the box tumbles over the edge of the balcony and the video camera inside falls out. 

Reagan is walking past the office when Gia’s video camera drops out of the sky. Unfortunately, Reagan isn’t the only person to see it and some rando purple haired kid picks it up. Everyone knows it’s Gia’s infamous missing camera and a debate starts about contacting the police or watching the recordings. The rando is Sawyer who is going to lock the camera away in the lodge as someone else heads to the lighthouse, the only place with service, to contact the police. Reagan is determined to get that camera and follows Sawyer.

The day before the murders

Gossip was Gia’s thing and she lived on her video camera. She’s desperate to be a real life gossip girl, she just needs the right story. As she’s making a video in the high school, she sees Matthew Knight getting into someone else's car. Semi-interesting. Her nosiness is interrupted by Office Karly Knight looking for Matthew to return a Camp Lost Lake keycard. Gia snatches it out of Karly’s hand and sees the name M. EDWARDS printed on it. Interest piqued. 

Now

Olivia sneaks back down the stairs as everyone is distracted by the video camera, but they don’t notice the papers that also fell out of the lunchbox, so Olivia picks them up. Amongst the papers is an ultrasound with the name MIRANDA D’ANGELI printed on it from March 18, 2008, and a note saying the pregnancy is SIX WEEKS along. That can’t be right, Olivia was born three months later, she wouldn’t be that blobby looking. Gia might have known something, she might have made a video, so Olivia needs that camera. She follows Sawyer to the lodge but the woods creep Olivia out, sure she can sense movement in the trees. When she spots an equipment shed, Olivia investigates. It looks like someone has been sleeping in it. Her imagination is running wild and she tries to dismiss it, but there are fresh footprints… and then a figure… who is distractingly attractive and seems to know Olivia. Olivia walks away from the hot creepy stranger and makes her way to the lodge. 

Meanwhile, Reagan is inspecting the lodge's windows for an open one to sneak in, but instead she just breaks one. It’s dank and creepy inside, like the air is still from 2008. As she walks down the corridor, Reagan spots a photo of camp counselors, conveniently with name tags. A white woman with an arrow nocked in her bow about to shoot has M. EDWARDS on her tag. Reagan slips the photo out of the frame as she hears someone sneaking into the lodge. Reagan spots the figure, a teen girl, who isn’t trying to be sneaky. Reagan steps out as the girl is fumbling for her phone light which suddenly comes on illuminating her face. Reagan’s face. What the actual hell?!

Olivia meet Reagan, Reagan meet Olivia. You have the same face. Olivia feels faint, Reagan feels like she wants to punch something. Their shock is interrupted by someone and the vibe from them is off. The figure has a haggard green face, hooked nose, is covered in warts, and has stringy grey hair… it’s the Witch of Lost Lake and they have an arrow nocked in a bow! Sawyer comes out of a side room and the witch shoots him. They run. As they race toward the front entrance, stalked by the witch, they notice Gia’s camera. Olivia snatches it before Reagan can and they race outside. 

Olivia and Reagan run through the trees getting close to the clearing with the cabins and offices and the people. Reagan tries to pull Olivia to hide in the trees, but Olivia is determined to get to the clearing where she can see Andie’s car. The witch steps out in front of them. Reagan dives into the trees first, Olivia following when it’s the only option. She reaches the barn where she finds a pitchfork next to a bale of hay. Olivia sits in wait for the witch. 

Reagan, meanwhile, runs into a clearing where everyone is having dinner. Her cries of “There’s a killer!” just garner funny looks. Andie steps forward and tells Olivia she isn’t being funny and needs to calm down. Reagan can’t and tells Andie that she saw the killer shoot Sawyer and points at his blood spray on her jeans. Andie believes her and tells her to remain calm. Within fifteen minutes, Andie has everyone in the cabin and has sent Eric to the lighthouse to call for help. There are a lot of questions about what the heck is actually going on. Reagan is having a panic attack about abandoning Olivia, leaving Jack in her truck, and wanting to get the hell out of the Camp. Hazel has been trying to comfort Reagan/Olivia, which she shrugs off. Doing the only thing she can though, Reagan takes the photo of M. EDWARDS from her pocket and asks the comforting stranger who she is. Hazel points out it’s her mom, Miranda, maiden name Edwards, obviously. 

2008, the day of the murders

Gia heads to Mrs. D’Angeli’s office at the Camp Lost Lake with the M. EDWARDS keycard in hand, ready to ask a few uncomfortable questions and leap to wrong conclusions. Miranda is busy on the phone and Lori Knight, her assistant, makes her wait. Miranda comes out of her office, having an intense conversation on her cordless phone. She sends Gia into her office to wait before finishing her call outside, so Gia takes the opportunity to snoop. She finds an ultrasound, Miranda’s pregnancy is showing and isn’t a secret, but then she looks closer at it. Oooooh! 

Olivia has been hiding for ages and is impatient. Peeking outside, she sees the rain but feels someone is wandering outside. Before ducking back inside, Olivia spots the hot creepy stranger, Jack. He calls out to Reagan and comes closer. As Olivia dithers, Jack plucks the pitchfork from her hands. In a jumble of words, Olivia tells him about Sawyer being killed and needing the cops. Jack tells Reagan he knew something like this would happen if they came here to clear Reagan’s mom's name. Olivia realizes he means Lori Knight and he thinks she looks exactly like Reagan. Olivia has an existential crisis as all the (mis)information crashes into her. She needs to call the police and starts heading to the lighthouse, Jack following. As they make their way through the trees, Olivia trips on Eric’s dead body, he’s been strangled. Olivia doesn’t know Jack and can’t trust him, so she blurts out that she isn’t Reagan and, brandishing a stick from the ground, tells Jack to back off and not follow her. 

Reagan puts some of the puzzle pieces together, and though some may or may not be correct, she realizes Olivia is her twin, but a lot of things just don’t make sense. Deciding to fake confidence, Reagan walks outside of the lodge and spots a lovely note carved into the wood, I KNOW WHO YOU ARE, LEAVE NOW, OR THEY ALL DIE. The witch followed her! In fact, the Witch is right there and nocking an arrow. Instinctively Reagan picks up a rock and throws it, hitting the witch’s wrist before booking it and hiding by a half-collapsed bridge. Turns out it’s not a great hiding spot because Hazel has found her and wants to know why she’s pretending to be Olivia. After some bickering and a moment they thought the witch was hunting them but turns out to be a bird, Hazel wants to go back to the lodge and talk to Andie and Reagan wants to find Jack. Reagan notices a blood smear on Hazel’s wrist then, and thinking Hazel is the witch, she tries to escape, but steps into a bear trap instead.

Olivia sees the bear trap close on Reagan’s ankle and rushes to help. Creepy stranger Jack then stumbles out of the woods and manages to open the trap, freeing Reagan. Once free, Olivia and Reagan start sniping at each other and accusing each other's best friend of being the Witch. It’s a useless conversation. Deciding the nearby nurse's office is their best option over the lighthouse, Jack carries Reagan and they all head to the cabin where hopefully they will find a phone and painkillers. 

They have to break in, but thankfully it’s dry and there are painkillers and other medical supplies. As Hazel dresses Reagan’s wound, they discuss who could be the murderer and flirt outrageously with each other. Meanwhile, Olivia and Jack find a working phone and call 9-1-1 but the nearest cruiser is twenty minutes away. While they wait, between outrageous flirting, Jack mentions that the bear trap isn’t the Witch's typical weapon, and it wasn’t old-old looking like lots of the stuff around the camp. He also suggests he run for their truck and bring it back so they can go together to the lodge and the others. Reagan protests when Jack tells her, but Olivia tells him to just go. It should only take him a few minutes.

While they wait for Jack to get back, Hazel addresses the double elephant in the room - how are Olivia and Reagan twins? The question goes unanswered because Reagan is standoffish and pulls Gia’s camera out. While Olivia and Reagan bicker, Hazel finds a power cord and they watch the video… Gia is panicking in the video having just seen Jacob’s murder when Andie comes up behind her. Andie shouts to turn the camera off and grabs for it; the camera is dropped and only records their feet shuffling. Suddenly Andie screams and Gia, panicking still, picks up the camera, her hand covered in blood.

Reagan instantly believes that Andie is the killer. Olivia believes Andie, her sister mind you, confronted Gia and they don’t know anything else. They start fighting. Loudly. In a cabin in the woods with a killer stalking them. A snap outside finally shuts them up. Olivia takes the opportunity to grab Gia’s camera and runs off. She needs to talk to Andie. Olivia runs through the trees until she reaches a clearing with the populated cabins in the distance. Suddenly Jack clamps a hand over her mouth and pulls Olivia down, the Witch is prowling in the shadows of the cabins, watching the woods. 

The Witch seems to know someone is in the woods, alert to the small sounds Olivia and Jack are making, and a squirrel who nearly reveals their hiding spot. Eventually the Witch seems to move on. Thunder rumbles overhead spurring them into action, Jack will continue with his plan of getting the truck and picking up Reagan and Hazel. Olivia tells him to go without her, he’ll be faster, neglecting to tell him about the video camera in her pocket and intention of confronting Andie. 

You know what passes the time when you’re waiting to be picked up by your BFF in a truck while being hunted by a psycho in a witch’s mask with a bow and arrow after finding out you are in fact an identical twin and potentially have evidence proving your mom's innocence of double homicide and also have been horrifically wounded by a literal bear trap? Solitaire. When that stops working, Reagan and Hazel start talking about oatmeal cookies then oatmeal turns into a metaphor for liking girls and it takes Reagan a really long time to realize Hazel is hitting on her. Because Reagan constantly jumps to conclusions, they start bickering but stop when they hear movement outside the cabin. 

Olivia is nearly at the cabin when Andie opens the door. Olivia starts internally questioning how much she actually knows about her sister, but all Andie wants to know is if Eric got through to the cops. Olivia tells her Eric is dead but says she called the cops from the nurse's cabin. Andie asks about Gia’s camera then and Olivia is fully suspicious of Andie being the Witch, what with her black boots being muddy, like her own no doubt. As Olivia admits she has the camera, lightning flashes and the lights go out. 

Hazel and Reagan are silent as they hide in a small closet before the Witch stalks in. After slowly walking around the space, the Witch leaves. When they leave the closet, Hazel finds a crutch hidden inside, perfect, so now Reagan is partially mobile and ready to leave, much to Hazel’s shock. Reagan needs to find Jack and her truck. Hazel will go with her but Reagan rudely tells her ‘no’. Eventually, painfully, Reagan reaches her truck. But, what if there is a killer hiding in the truck bed like in all the urban legends? There isn’t, but the front tire is completely flat. Reagan starts to change the tire but she really hasn’t thought the whole situation through. That’s when she hears someone coming… It’s only Hazel, not a masked killer. Hazel comforts Reagan who was in near panic, and the comfort turns into making out which Jack sees. Jack confronts Reagan. She knew he had feelings for her and he outright asked her about them which she ducked out of being honest with him. That’s when the arrow shoots through the trees and into Jack’s shoulder. 

Olivia and Andie head down into the basement where the breaker is, Olivia is convincing herself Andie is dangerous. As Andie is trying to fix the electricity, she explains that Gia found her giving birth not murdering someone. 

Jack tells Reagan to run. Hazel pulls at Reagan, more arrows flying at them as they duck into the trees. One hits Reagan’s calf and Reagan crumples, but at least she got hit in the bear-trap leg? She tries to hide, to make herself small, but then a red-and-blue light flashes through the trees, the police! Reagan comes out of her hiding spot and stumbles to the cop next to her patrol car, it’s Karly Knight. Karly ushers Reagan into the back of her patrol car and radios for backup and an ambulance. Reagan realizes Karly is her aunt. 

Olivia doesn’t believe Andie, their mom was the one who was pregnant, but Andie tells her she miscarried and hadn’t told anyone yet so it was easy to pretend and hide Andie’s pregnancy. At first Andie didn’t even tell her mom and dad, pretending she had an internship in New York and was going to give the babies up for adoption but in the end she wanted to keep them. Gia had run off to find Miranda but never came back, and then Lori came across Andie giving birth. Matthew had told her about the pregnancy the night before. Reagan came first and wasn’t breathing, so Lori was taking her to the hospital when she was seen running covered in blood. Andie didn’t say anything because it meant admitting she’d been pregnant, so Lori was falsely accused of murder after being seen running through the woods covered in blood. Andie was going to come clean, but then she got a postcard from Lori who said not to look for them, she’ll make a new life with the baby. Olivia is sure Andie is still hiding something, something about Matthew. 

Olivia and Andie leave the cabin and find an abandoned truck with a flat tire. Reagan’s truck? They hear a sound and see Jack. He’s still alive, thank goodness. Then there are a series of cracks coming through the trees. Someone is coming fast. Hazel falls into the clearing. Then they see flashing red and blue lights by the lighthouse. Hazel will stay with Jack and fix the tire while Olivia and Andie will investigate the lighthouse. 

Reagan is in the back of the patrol car as she and Karly cruise around the woods. Karly mentions her brother died in these woods. She’s been thinking about Jacob a lot lately, especially with their mom just dying and her will being read. At one point, Karly says “Olivia’s sister, Andie” and Reagan goes on full alert and tries the door, but of course it doesn’t open. Karly talks about looking after their mom for years and all the sacrifices she’s made. She expected to be left everything in the will, being the last one left, but the will stipulated everything would be given to Matthew’s twin daughters. This is when Karly pulls off the road toward the lighthouse. Karly worked it all out that morning when she saw Olivia and Reagan shortly after each other in different cars. Reagan realizes she had everything wrong. They reach the lighthouse and Karly forces Reagan to the top, gun to her head. At the top, Karly picks up her bow and arrow, gotta make it look right. 

The day of the murders

The Witch of Lost Lake was born when Karly snapped because her brother’s son knocked up a classmate and Jacob refused to take over care of their mother like he agreed to. Jacob tells his sister about his son and needing to take care of him and his babies and says everyone, excluding Karly of course, agreed that it would be too much for him to take care of their mother in addition to his son and the babies. Karly is pissed. She gave up her entire life to care for their mother while Jacob got to fall in love and get married and have the life he always wanted while she was stuck in their small town alone with their mother.

Karly and Jacob were talking at the Camp on the archery field, a box of lost and found next to them, which is where the witch’s mask came from. She put it on, thinking to joke with her brother instead of losing her shit since she wasn’t part of the “we talked about it and all agreed.” She thinks about how the whole situation could escalate and leave her trapped. Karly doesn’t remember stabbing her brother with an arrow in the throat. She doesn’t even think when she hears a girl scream from the camp director's office, she takes the bow and arrow, aims and shoots. 

At the lighthouse, Olivia and Andie find Karly’s patrol car. Together they sneak up the stairs. At the top, Reagan challenges Karly on the petty reasons why she murdered all those people and is now threatening her. Frankly, Reagan is pissed off. Reagan decides to try some reverse psychology, her mom can’t be blamed, Lori has severe arthritis now and can’t hold the bow and arrow, so instead, they should set up Andie. Olivia and Andie hear Reagan, they are not very well hidden crouched at the top of the stairs, and Reagan points them out to Karly. Karly swings her bow and arrow toward them and ushers them out of hiding. 

Andie offers to take the fall for everything, but Karly doesn’t want any witnesses. As they’re talking, Olivia and Reagan are silently communicating with facial expressions - they have the same tells. Reagan steps forward and tells Karly to shake on their deal, she then tries to overpower Karly and knock her out the window of the lighthouse, but Karly is sturdy and Olivia needs to dive over to help her twin unbalance the Witch.

After calling the police again, they leave the lighthouse and pass Karly’s dead body on the ground. A car approaches then, Jack’s dad's car, and inside is… Lori. Lori wants to grab Reagan and run, but the truth needs to come out. Lori tells Reagan she was on the way to the hospital with her when she came across Karly holding Jacob’s bow. Karly asked Lori “what did you do?” and she knew then that Karly was going to accuse her of murder since she was covered in blood. Luckily Reagan started crying then, so instead of going to the hospital, Lori ran away with Reagan, hoping for a fresh start. Andie tells Lori she’s going to make things right. 

Three months later

Reagan is trying on Olivia’s clothes for her first day of school. They’re still finding how they fit together. Lori is still fighting the Camp Lost Lake murders, but with a good lawyer, witness statements, and Gia’s camera, it’s looking good. There are still some unanswered questions though, about the bear trap, the sleeping bag, Andie’s furtiveness, and some holes in Gia’s recording. Everyone’s relationships with each other are a little strained and weird because they all have a lot to figure out. 

September 3, 2024 

Andie treks to where Matthew died - the lighthouse. She remembers them fighting about how he was still going to get to go to NYU while she was expected to give up her future at Berkley for the babies. He was involved in making the babies just as much as her! When he told her to “calm down,” Andie saw red, and she pushed Matthew. He fell through the window and into the lake below, but his body was gone when she got to the bottom. Matthew’s death would have brought up too many questions which is why she never pushed the accusations against Lori or even about Lori taking Reagan. As she turns, a dirty, strong looking feral man stands behind her, Matthew?!, with a bear trap on a chain. He doesn’t like it when people come out here, he wants to be left alone. He doesn’t say anything as he swings the metal trap toward her face.