Ahhh, understandable. ;) Thank you!

Sorry for the wait and the long spacings between the paragraphs! You would not beleive just how much time a badly formatted piece of writing can consume. Thankfully, the Admins helped me figure it out, and I hope to have the next part out before another week is up!

~~~

Day one, part two: (December 31'st, 2017)

After about an hour, everyone was done unpacking. Along with being completely identical on the outside (save for the signs), every Cabin was completely identical on the inside, with the exception of décor colors.

As the foursome Aspen, EG, Sho and Nugget stepped through the porch and into the Green Cabin, they saw that there was green welcome mat, there were green drapes on the front window, and, as they opened up the four doors leading from the narrow hallway, they saw that the bedspreads adorning the twin beds were also green.

Everyone else also found this out. In Red Cabin, they found everything red. In the Yellow Cabin, (after having the shield their faces from all it's neon glory) Clockwork Sparrow, Micearenice, Sorrel and Winterbranch found everything awash in sun-burst yellow. Mercifully, however, on the small side-table by the door they found four pairs of tinted sunglasses with a note bearing the words, For the preservation of your eyesight while enjoying your stay at Wylde Cabins
and Resorts. They all donned the shades a moment later.

In the Orange Cabin, after claiming his room, Catsclaw went on a frantic search.

The shout of “YAH-HOOOOOO!” filled the air after he discovered the personal bathroom and toilet installed into each and every Cabin.

For every CAPTCHA being accommodated into each separate cabin, a certain compartment with their name contained a plush bed and several toys, depending on the tastes of each CAPTCHA.

In the Indigo Cabin, there was a tense vibe floating through the air. Upon entry to the cabin, both Wren and Anna chose compartments as far away from each other as possible, slamming the doors as they went. Evergreen and Azkiel looked at each other despairingly.

With a sharp rap on the doorframe, Kyt stepped into the Cabin.

“Oh dear,” she said, mouth quirking to one side. “I roomed them together with no original knowledge of their....conflict. But now I was hoping that maybe it would be for the better; help straighten things out.”

Evergreen and Azkiel's neighbors in the Blue Cabin, Leeli, Legendria, Lydia and Watchgirl, walked across the small yard space to speak to Kyt.

Leeli addressed her first. “Who is that old man on the golf-cart who keeps driving back and forth?”

Aspen, Shoshannah, Elementgirl and Nugget, joined the group near the front of the Indigo Cabin, eager to understand who this person was, as they had also noticed his treks with the golf-cart.

“Ah,” said Kyt. “That's Ruben. He's the caretaker of the Resort.”

Everyone watched as this Ruben person -who had a grizzled face with scarce little hair on his head- drove over one of the parking speed bumps in the driveway, nocking off his battered hat, all the while muttering a sentence over and over about sandwiches.

Legendria was skeptical. “Is he.....okay?”

Kyt shrugged. “You could say that. He may have a few holes in the old computer database, but he does surprisingly good work, and he's my mother's cousin's father's dog-walker's haircutter's second-cousin's great-great-great-great grandfather, so I feel as though I have  to do something to help him. He lives in a trailer-house in the woods, and is not one for celebrations so he won't be coming to the party.”

While Kyt had been speaking, the other CBers from the last 3 cabins had trickled into their group, finished with their un-packing. Allie's stomach audibly growled.

“Not to be rude or anything, but is the party going to start soon?” she asked.

“I said as soon as you're done getting settled, so are you settled?”

“YES!” everyone chorused, Anna and Wren slowly joining them from their compartments.

“Alrighty! Follow me!”
~~~~~
Kyt led them around the back of the Head Lodge, where, unseen by the CBers earlier, there were lanterns strung across the streamers held up by large posts covered in lights. Many tables were set all around a larger table filled with food of all sorts; salads, desserts, appetizers and more. Right next to the table were two roaring campfires.

Even before Kyt could say, “Dig in!”, everyone had raced over to the food table and began filling plates, spearing hot-dogs and marshmallows on roasting sticks and holding them over the fire.

Conversation started in the hubbub, mostly catching up on everyday life. After all, a party's not party without food and conversation!

Kyt stepped over near the rear of the Lodge where there was a large square draped in black. She yanked off the fabric, revealing a large digital clock that was racing to count the time, from hours to minutes, to seconds to milliseconds.

Clockwork Sparrow, who looked up from squirting ketchup on her hot-dog, asked, “What's that for?”

“IT'S A COUNTDOWN 'TILL DOOMSDAY!!!!” shouted Reganam with a mouthful of food.

Kyt blinked. “Uh, no. I though we could-”

“That's a countdown for the New Year, right?” said Kate-the-Great.

“Yep. I started it this morning, before you all arrived. It's about 6 O' clock right now so only six more hours to go before the New Year!” She patted the side of the enormous clock affectionately. “Betty'll let us know right when it happens.”

Brian made a face, then said, “You named your clock?”

“You bet I did. How weird is that I named my clock, compared to your Chatterboxer over there who named you, her split emotion?”

“Fair enough,” said Brian.

The next five and a half hours blurred together into memories of people stuffing themselves silly with food, eating more, promising that they would stop now, then eating more.

Whenever some platter of food diminished to nothing, another platter took it's place. It seemed as though as long as there was food to be enjoyed, there was a CBer to enjoy it.

Dusk settled in, then nightfall. The hanging lamps were lit and more fuel was added to the fire. Conversation slowed to a lull, though the occasional slap-stick joke was heard.

“Aw, man,” said someone, as it was almost too dark to make out faces. “I just realized that I won't see any of you until next year!”

“Oh, no! We'll miss you!” wailed everyone, mixed with some giggles.

“That is”-snort-”a really-” -laugh- “really bad joke....such a bad joke...,” someone choked out.

“You think that's bad?” said another CBer. “I won't get to eat till next year!”

Everyone broke off into snickers and titters, until Kyt stood in front of the fire and clinked one of the plastic cups.

“Almost time, everyone. Almost time. Betty reads as less than 20 minutes, so I'm guessing that it's around 11:40. Here, someone, help me hand out these party hats and tooters-”

Everyone giggled.

“Yes, I call them tooters, 'cause that's what they do. And here. I have some
sparkling cider we can pour out for those who want some.”

People slowly stood, many almost overcome with the anticipation of the minutes ahead, many almost half-asleep and looking for something to wake them up. Everyone received a party hat and “tooter”, and had great trouble, it seemed, to restrain their lips from blowing on them. Several “toots” were heard scattered around, followed by more giggles or shushes.

Kyt stepped out of the firelight, then reappeared a moment later, after she flipped the switch for a huge spotlight.

Everyone groaned and blinked, letting their eyes adjust to the light. The large spotlight cast some eerie shadows in the far reaches of the eating area.

Kyt looked at the clock again.

“Two minutes, people! Two minutes!”

Circled around the fireplace, the CBers took their glasses of sparkling cider
in hand.

“One minute!”

Breaths were held, eyes clenched.

“30, 29, 28, 27, 26, 25, 24, 23,” began Kyt.

One by one, the CBers joined in on her chant.

“22, 21, 20, 19, 18, 17, 16, 15, 14, 13, 12, 11, 10, 9, 8, 7!”

They slowly got louder, excited grins breaking out on everyone's faces.

“6! 5! 4! 3! 2! ONE!!!”

“HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!” everyone screamed.

Then someone else screamed, and it was not an excited one.

Immediately, every person raced towards the sound, made by a visibly shaking Anna near the edge of the shadows, many shouting, “What's wrong?!”
“Why'd you scream?!”

With one trembling finger, she pointed.

There, barely visible in the moonlight, was Sorrel.

Arms splayed, she lay there, eyes closed, chest stilled, with the point of a roasting stick shoved deep into her ribs.

~~~~~~~~~

Chaos ensued. Everyone screamed.

Juniper fainted, Aspen looking very nearly like she might at any moment. Kyt ran a hand down her face, muttering to herself, “Oh come on. Not again,” then gingerly stepped over and picked up Sorrel's limp wrist, checking for a pulse. She stood and slowly shook her head.

“Near too many vital organs, probably dead before she hit the ground.”

Now Aspen fainted. Several people were huddled over, retching in the bushes.

Micearenice, who was still very pale, but was probably the most sane person there at that moment, asked, “W-what do you mean by “not again”?”

“A story for another time, Micearenice. I need you to help me right now. Get some people to help you wake up Aspen and Juniper. Take them back to Green Cabin -yes, both of them- and get them settled in. You'll have to move either Shoshannah or Elementgirl into the Yellow Cabin. The people who are more distraught will need someone strong like you near them. Organize it so that nobody's alone tonight.”

“O-okay,” said Micearenice.

She walked over to the group of puking CBers, handing them paper towels and bracing for what she guessed was a going to be along night.

Unseen and unnoticed by all, the murderer grinned.

Thank you! I'm very glad that you like my writing! I try, at least. :) Although, quick question, @Micearenice, that may or may not have anything to do with the story: Does your riding ostrich have a name?

Day Two, Part One (January 1'st, 2018)

The night faded into morning far too slowly in the opinions of the CBers .

Groggily, Shoshannah sat up in bed. The sunlight was streaming through the blinds she had forgotten to close in the frenzied hours of the night before. She groaned and reached out to shut them so that she could have just a few more minutes of sleep. Then she remembered.

She had been standing next to Anna and Nugget when midnight -the New Year- had struck. Behind her, almost right next to her ear, she had heard a deep-throated gasp, a small shriek. But before she could turn to see what had happened, one of the Chatterboxers in front of her stepped on her foot, sending Shoshannah toppling backwards and landing on the ground.

Anna had turned round to make sure that she was alright, then had caught sight of Sorrel's limp hand inches away from Shoshannah's face.

She had screamed and then the rest of the night had been one horrific, blurred memory.

It had been very obvious that this was no accident. Yet it seemed as though no one wanted to admit the startling and Soap-Opera-worthy truth.

That Sorrel had been murdered.

~~~

The ripping noise of a bugle -and one very badly out of tune at that- stirred the sleepy Chatterboxers from their beds.

Lydia was one of the first people to wake and greet the morning. She stepped off the last stair of the porch -with her 3 other cabin-mates trailing slowly behind her- and saw Kyt on the lawn in front of the Head Lodge, rusty bugle in hand.

She squeaked out one last jaw-clenching sound, then shook her head, stuffing the instrument back into her ever-present satchel.

Micearenice groaned as she came out of her cabin, only getting a total of 3 hours of sleep and feeling it. Kate-the-Great, who had been one of her most fervent helpers smiled sleepily and knowingly as she also exited her cabin. Kate-the-Great, along with Micearenice, Leeli and Shoshannah had spent most of the night calming people down and just trying to create some sense of order.

Cardinal yawned loudly from her perch upon Kate-the-Great's shoulder, slipping on her CAPTCHA Decoder as she did so, then said, <What was that for!?>

“Breakfast was getting cold, “Kyt said. “And I didn't want all that food to go to waste. Who knows how long you all might've slept had I not woke you up.”

“Yeah, but still,” muttered Wren to herself. “the torture device was unnecessary.”

Juniper and Aspen were the last people to emerge from their cabin. Aspen grinned brightly, trying to instill in everyone that she was alright, but the dark, bruise-like shadows beneath her eyes did not go unnoticed. Juniper was attempting to put on a brave face as well, though her weak smile was visibly hollow.

Kyt scanned the tops of their heads, her lips silently counting out numbers. As soon as she was done, she waved an arm in their general direction, signaling to the crowd of CBers to follow her to breakfast.

Everyone went without complaint, many stomachs already grumbling about their lack of food. Breakfast was held where last night's party had been -much to some people's inward chagrin. No one looked in the direction where Sorrel had been found and they all breathed a tiny sigh of relief when they saw that the party area and picnic tables had been moved out of the range and view of that particular section.

The more impatient people of the group -practically everyone from Orange Cabin- already began walking towards the buffet line until Kyt told them, “Wait, just a minute. We all need to talk.”

~~~
Kyt had them seat themselves at the picnic table, then said that they needed to make a plan. “This is your vacation time here, and I'm not the one making the rules -well, kinda. But anyways I'll just throw out what there is that you could do as far as activity-wise and you can make a rough outline of a plan. Keep in mind, though, that you'll need to make room for improvisation. Obviously, things didn't quite go as we had planned last night...what with...”

Everyone looked at the ground, not meeting people's eyes.

Kyt chewed her lip and watched them. “Okay, then. That's how it's going to be, I guess. And I know that I didn't know Sorrel very well, but I thought that since she loved the outdoors, we would bury her in the woods. There's this one special place. I'll take you out there after breakfast -and anyone else who wants to, of course- if that sounds alright to you.”

Aspen and Juniper both nodded, along with Micearenice, Shoshannah and Allie.

Evergreen cleared her throat, the asked, “So, what are those options you talked about?”

“Right. Here.” Kyt dug into her satchel once more, producing yet another purple piece of paper. The CBers gathered around and scanned the list full of all sorts of activities.

“What if we chose one thing to do everyday?” said Winterbranch.

“Yeah, so then no one feels pressured and we all have some time to regroup,” put in Elementgirl.

“What should we do today then?” Leeli asked. “There are lot's of things...”

“Well, weather probably has to factor in to some of them,” observed Kate-the-Great. “Like the tubing and horseback riding. I don't want to go swimming if it's raining.”

“Which makes Winterbranch's plan even more logical,” Anna told them. “I say we should go hiking while it's not too hot out.”

The weather was quite pleasant that day. Though a little cooler than the day before, the sun was still shining and the sky was cloudless. However, many of the outdoors people Chatterboxers expected the day the grow warmer as it progressed.

“Hiking sounds like a good idea,” Elementgirl told them.

“I agree,” said Shoshannah. “but we all need to be in agreement, or at least the majority of us.” She turned to the other CBers, who, up until that point, had remained quiet. “Who here thinks that today's a good day to go hiking and save tubing and riding and all the other stuff for some other day?”

“I do!” said Allie.

“Kind of like a commendation to...to Sorrel? To go hiking in the woods? I think she would have liked it.” Juniper said, and Shoshannah smiled warmly.

Catsclaw, Reganam, Brian and Bennet huddled for a moment, then turned and said, “That's cool with us.”

Cardinal, Clockwork Sparrow, Legendria, Lydia, Wren and Azkiel nodded their heads enthusiastically.

“Okay then! You've figured it out?” asked Kyt. “You can go right ahead and have breakfast.”

The Chatterboxers formed a receiving line and began filling their plates with the bacon, eggs, pancakes and oranges that were set out for them.

“And while I'm at it,” Kyt told them. “Breakfast will be served at this time every morning, as well as lunch at noon, a snack at midday and dinner at 5:30.”

Breakfast was a more quiet affair, most of them already using what conversation civility that they had due to lack of sleep when planning out their day. There were many yawns throughout, and they were all looking forward to getting some fresh air and exercise to help wake them up when they went hiking.

~~~
As soon as breakfast was over, Kyt led a small party of Chatterboxers through a trail where Sorrel was soon to be buried. Right before they started off, Kyt turned to the remaining group and said, “Oh, and if you're looking for something to do while we're gone, you could do me and Rueben a favor and maybe take down those party streamers and lights? If you do -not saying you have to- just set them in a pile on one of those tables.”

Then they were off. Some of the CBers were wary of the decorations, not wanting to go anywhere near where Sorrel had been found.

However, Leeli, Evergreen and Elementgirl set to the task eagerly.

Together, the three of them -soon joined by Winterbranch, Brian and Lydia- pushed one of the wood tables directly underneath the lights. They stood onto the tables, then began disconnecting the lights and streamers from the tree branches that had ensnared them.

It was slow going, filled with impossible knots and tangles, but they soon had a rapidly growing pile of decorations folded neatly onto one of the tables.

That is, all was going well, until Elementgirl came upon a large open wire in one of the lights. “Uh-oh. This one's broken, so we'd better not put it into the pile. Lemme just untangle it, then-”

Unexpectedly, a surge of electricity raced through the wire, meeting Elementgirl's bare fingers and sending thousands of volts of electricity coursing through her body.

She cried out once -hair standing on end with her skin and clothes blackened- then fell backwards off the table. Dead.

~~