The King's Chief

Chapter 1

Personalities can be quite mesmerizing, aren't they? Keanu thought as he hiked up Mount Shepard. There were six other tourists with him.

Right behind Keanu was 35-year-old Abe Fitzgerald. Abe was a fat man who had blonde hair. While Keanu intentionally fell behind to be able to observe everyone, Abe fell behind because he was slow. Abe had a hard time carrying his hiking gear. He couldn't even walk long stretches without sweating too much and walking like an old man.

This heat is so merciless. And Global Warming proposes to make it hotter each year? I can't live anymore, Abe whimpered as he struggled to keep up.

Keanu can't relate to the man. Abe liked to spend his free time back in the hotel eating and remarking about how horrible life was.

Abe was recently divorced from his wife. He said that she had been blaming him for the death of their 4-year-old son. He had never climbed a mountain before but had decided to join this group to forget his wife and get over his grief.

Ahead of Keanu was 6-year-old Benjamin Marcus. Young Bennie couldn't walk as fast as the adults. And his uncle won’t help him. His uncle was 23-year-old Mark Benin, who was walking right beside their tour guide far ahead.

This is just so breath-taking, Bennie said as he paused to marvel at the view of the lake to their left. It's like it came straight out of a Tolkien book!

Mark had told Keanu that he hated the boy's noise and far-out ideas.

Mark was a young, agile traveler. He had been to many places and was an adventurer 100%. Yet this one summer was proving to be the worst for him. His older sister had asked him to look after her son, Bennie.

Between Mark and Bennie were 21-year-old Joel Silvestre, Myrtle, and Sean.

Myrtle was just a nickname; her formal name was Charlotte Silvestre. She was Joel’s 6-year-old sister. Joel had to look after Myrtle since their parents died. He worked as a restaurant manager, earning only enough to support them both.

27-year-old Sean was the quietest tourist in the whole group. Sean was a businessman and was out for only a little vacation from work.

Keanu learned all these from observing them back below the mountain. They all stayed in the same hotel. He had sneaked into the hotel records and had read their details. He had spoken to some of them.

The unfriendly ones he just observed. Observing was no problem for him anyway. He had spent the past two years observing people like his life depended on it. Well, his life did depend on it. And his colleagues’ lives.

As he followed the group while the straps of his heavy backpack bit into the skin of his muscular shoulders and summer winds blew on his hair, he thought about his own personality. Who was he among these people?

Hurt and trying to get a second chance in life. He'd figured that he couldn't go over the guilt because he was always in the same place with the same people. So this summer, he was joining strangers on a hike to a brand new location. Maybe he will find what he really wanted in this way. That was who he was.

*****

Are you ready, buddies?

Shaun turned to the group of tourists when they finally reached their destination: a gigantic yellow oak tree. We have finally reached our destination, my friends. This is the tree where I have invited you to a picnic. A yellow oak tree. It is 100-years-old. It was planted by Harke Fitzgerald, an Irish hiker. Makes me think of you, Abe.

For a change, someone from my bloodline has lived quite a life, Abe remarked and chuckled.

The whole group was quiet and just stared at him. His awkward chuckles quickly faded into nervous laughter, which also quickly trailed off. Only Bennie and Shaun politely smiled.

Behind Shaun was a truck. Near the truck was a metal structure with eight pairs of ropes attached to it. The other ends of the ropes were clinging to something up in the tree. Men in uniform fixed the screws of the structure to make it more stable.

Well, travelers, Shaun said as he brought out a small notepad and a ball pen from the pocket of his denim waistcoat. You can opt out of this trip if you find it too dangerous. Because this time, we will be climbing up this tree. We will sit on its largest and strongest branch to eat like we are on an ordinary picnic. It is the final day of this vacation! You can choose to leave and go on to your jobs, or schools. But I discourage you from leaving because this is a treat of a lifetime. You can spend the time just taking pictures up there, he pointed to the tree. You will have photographs to show to your friends, put in a frame at home for decoration, or upload to Facebook. This time, it's not just a Photoshopped wallpaper, but a REAL location. Or you can simply admire the beauty of our surroundings. This final trip will surely make your summer extremely memorable for you. So you won't be leaving, will you?

Of course, I won't, Mark responded, checking if his Canon was ready.

It's gonna be beautiful, Bennie told Myrtle. The two kids had become friends back in the hotel.

It's daring, but it's worth the climb, Sean said, almost to himself.

Then let's go, Keanu said enthusiastically.

As long as there is no tour guide murderer up there, the whole group turned to see Abe saying. We can't survive this trip without a tour guide.

Chapter 2

Bennie asked, Why? Does he climb up the trees in this area?

Mark suddenly exclaimed, Man, you're so weird, Bennie. You're scaring Shaun!

It's okay, Shaun smiled warmly. Tourists love these stories and they become legends.

As the men in uniform and Shaun helped the tourists into their harnesses, Myrtle chimed in, It can't be a legend if it happened only two months ago.

You're right! It is still news. I bet that one of these tour guides will retire one day and tell his grandchildren the story of the murdered tour guide. It might be a book one day, Bennie said as he waited for his harness to be fixed.

I don't want to be a murdered tour guide, Abe said, making sure that his own harness was secure. People around me just keep dying, God. I feel like a bad luck to humankind.

Keanu fixed his own harness. Although he was already ready to climb, Keanu waited for the others to go first. He turned to Abe and asked, What did you hear about the tour guide?

Slit throat. Left naked in his cabin. Police didn't find any traces of the killer. The place was just splattered with blood. All blood. Do you read the Shepard Times? The local newspaper from the area surrounding Mount Shepard? You should read it. Their reporters have been exclusively focused on the issue. I got my first newspaper from Bennie.

Who's the tour guide?

Brandon Weasley, Bennie replied.

He would've been our tour guide right now if he wasn't murdered, Abe added.

Keanu glanced at Shaun, who was helping the workers arrange their apparatus nearby. Almost instinctively, Shaun glanced back at him.

Blue that peered from deep-set eyes. The hooked nose on a huge skull of a huge man. Shaun's silhouette was that of a king: strong, silent with powerful shoulders and a tough torso.

Shaun had blonde hair. The hair strands were stiff and the ones at the top of his head pointed down toward his face in a messy way. But he did not behave like a king. Just like any other tour guide, he was always moving around, checking things and looking at notes on his little notepad.

Keanu rarely saw Shaun look straight at him, but when he did that afternoon, Keanu was surprised by the deep intelligence in his eyes.

Who is this man? Keanu thought as he watched Shaun turn away and pick up another harness with his brawny hands.

Shaun carried the extra harness back to the truck. Who is that man? He tried to hide his puzzlement about Keanu's stare. Keanu was one of the late-comers in the tour. He came in almost at the same time as Sean. Both Keanu and Sean were barely on time for the first trip of their group. Keanu had unusually long arms and legs. He would have had a funny appearance, if not for his build. He was athletic.

Friendly and fun with a good sense of humor, Keanu spent most of his time checking if everyone was okay. He liked to get to know everyone. He liked to ask stuff about his fellow tourists, but he rarely talked about himself. Shaun found that last trait of Keanu’s most puzzling.

The wind blowing on his raven-colored hair, Keanu looked up the tree. He saw Sean. Sean had climbed a few feet up ahead of everybody else. Shaun saw Keanu bite his full lips as he thought quietly.

Keanu had spent the past two months observing everyone in this group, but there was one important thing that he missed: the local newspaper. He should've known about that murder. He couldn't believe he actually went past that one detail. Such an important detail.

A feeling of strong self-awareness quickly spread through him. A kind of self-awareness that felt so