Prep camp

We took off the journey to the summer camp house at exactly 2:00pm. There was some unavoidable delay, and so we left an hour after the decided time. Some students didn't arrive early, including two of our counselors--Uncle Robinson, Mrs Amanda. They arrived an hour later because as they claimed, there was traffic on the way down to school. Besides, our flights were delayed for one and a half hour more. We had two airplanes booked for the journey but they were both delayed for reasons unknown to us.
These two teachers, Uncle Robinson and Aunty Amanda, alongside Miss Veronica were going to be our camp counselors. Reports had it that we were going to have one or a couple more counselors to attend to us at the camp. It wasn't surprising when Uncle Robinson arrived with Mrs Amanda tagging along, one hour later. They were always together, or near each other even they didn't like each other. It was ironical and confusing.
As soon as they arrived, the rest of the other students arrived too. We were 114 in total who attended the camp. I looked around for Vera, but she was nowhere to be found. Amy, Peter, Lily and a couple of other brats in my class were also present. They all held each other's hands, talked in low tones and giggled. It looked like they were very eager about the year's camp. I heard them talk about the previous year's. I heard both bad and good stories about the camps. They talked about how low the cabins were, and how it was so hot at night, and warm in the day, they talked about the other day when a snake had crawled in through a hole in the kitchen cabin and had eaten all their packaged food and fruits and left without harming anyone. They said the snakes were very hungry and didn't harm humans. They also discussed how Uncle Robinson ran a race round the field with the students wearing only a pair of shorts because it was so hot, and he won the race but was badly sunburned because he didn't wear enough sunscreen. That moment, i checked my bag to see if mom packed some suncream for me. Sun made my skin itch apart from the sunburn it gave. I preferred being warm, or slightly cold, not the freezing kind of cold though. Thankfully, mom packed some, she also added some local portable fans, and a torch in case the heat was too much in the cabin and there was no power.
I continued to listen to my classmates. They also discussed how a friend of theirs, whom they called Melinda got missing on the third day of the camp, and was not found until the last day, and she was found lifeless and gored by a shark at the seaside. It was sad to hear. That was the first time I was hearing that kind of story and I didn't know whether to believe it or not.
Well, we were going to a different place this time, so hopefully stuff like those wouldn't happen, and it'd be a smooth experience God-willing. I hated snakes and death and heat and darkness. I eavesdropped as they talked and I hoped I would not feel lonely in the camp. No one was talking to me , so even though they weren't, it felt like they were talking about me. At a corner near the front of my classroom though, I saw Marie standing alone, leaning on the pillar. She was going with us after all. She seemed to be very quiet. Perhaps she was still mourning her sister's death. But something was obvious and critical about her expression and quietness--She was quiet but looked like she had something planned in mind.
I went up to her to initiate a conversation because it was starting to get embarrassing being alone and not being talked to. "Hey Marie"
She turned to look at me. I could see she was itching her skin and rubbing a spot constantly. "Are you okay?" I asked.
"Yeah thank you" she said looking away quickly. She looked confident but withdrawn. I don't know how to explain it but she looked like she had something all figured out and was waiting for a time to execute her plan.
"But you don't look okay. Did you get bitten by a bug?"
"No. I itch my skin when I am nervous or scared. Like this" she said rubbing that spot for the hundredth time, and wincing in what seemed to be pain. "I can't stop it, it's a reflex sorry" she said glaring at me. She looked so innocent. I had never seen her like that. I mean, I've never seen her rub her body that much.
"Do you need some cold compress or a gel or something?"
"No I'm fine, it'll go when I get over my fear" she said and half-smiled. "Thank you" she added and turned her whole body away from me. She was so sweet but that moment, she just wanted to be left alone, I figured.
"Why are you scared?" I asked, willing to keep the conversation going. It was cool to finally find someone to chat with.
"The plane. I lost my dad in a chopper last two years, so I hate anything flying in the sky. Even birds irk me" she said and half-winced
Before I could say anything back, she added, "Sorry I have to run along" and then she ran off to another class room.
Now I was left all alone again. I felt so sorry for the little girl. She must be feeling just as miserable as I was feeling. I felt sorry for her for having to go through grief at such a young age. She had no mother, and now she told me she has also lost her father. She's been living with Anita and her mother but now that Anita was gone, it was going to be really hard on them both. Things little children went through that got them withdrawn from the society. More so, I felt more sorry for myself. I felt alone. Uncle Robinson was giving me attention but I didn't want it. I had made up my mind not to talk to him anymore or meet his gaze after realizing what he wanted but I knew I couldn't do that for long. He was going to prepare me for the competition that night. We might possibly be alone together, and he'd use the opportunity to let his wolf out in my presence and ask for the umpteenth time that I be his mate.
I loathed that thought. I missed Joe that moment. If he were alive and at the school ground with me, he'd bully me and call me fat in my two piece denim and track shorts because my stomach popped out of my top and my arms filled every space in the armholes. But at least I'd have someone my age-rank give me attention. Or maybe he would be nice to me and told me I looked good.
Miss Veronica gathered everyone of us after a while that everyone answered present, and then said some prayers about protection and peace, we all said "Amen" with our hands clasped together in respect towards heaven, and afterwards, we all went into the buses available, about six buses available to convey us to the airport because we were flying. And our flights would be ready in thirty minutes.
The next day was the competition with the Bright Boys, that's what they were called. Bright Boys, were the boys from another school, Daffodils College whom I was going to be competing with. Actually only one of them--Nick.
I was going to meet this Nick for the first time and compete with him. Maybe Vera felt bad because she was not the one to win the award, and so was too ashamed to face Nick whom she liked. I wouldn't know, but i knew that they were both vampires. Did vampires fall in love with each other? Did Nick like Vera? If he did, then they were going to gang up against me. Vera did promise to get back to me in full force for 'rigging the scores'. That didn't sound good. I wasn't prepared to be harmed. And for many reasons, I was very scared of vampires. I could still cope with werewolves but vampires irked me because they sucked blood, and because they were immortal. They would definitely kill me. I thought about all these things as we flew to the States for our holiday camping. And I made a decision in my heart to not get on the nerves of any vampire, Nick or Vera or whoever.
We were so tired when we arrived at the States that most of us slept off outside on the spread tents on the ground. The air was warm but it was hot in the cabins. When we got to our campground, everyone went into their cabins and tents and dumped their stuff there, their backpack, boxes and stuff and then undressed and went outside to sleep. Most of them did not undress. We were really tired out. I was, in fact feeling very sleepy but I wanted to scrutinize my environment first. It was dark, so I didn't know if the cabins looked nice. I could only feel them because my torch was not even helping that much. There was no power for the night. We were told that a terrible hurricane happened, many houses away about nine days before, and so there hasn't been power since then. I hoped it'd be restored too because I hated darkness.
I wanted to enjoy my experience at the camp, but with bright light everywhere. I did not only hate darkness; I dreaded it. Moonlight shone brightly outside where every one was sprawled on the ground, asleep but I was uncomfortable sleeping among many tired bodies. Our counselors went to bring food for us after telling us that we could not stay outside for long. That it was not so safe out there.
They didn't leave us alone. They asked for help from other counselors and two of them stayed and watched over us. I got up and told one of them that I was going to check out the beds in the cabin and unpack my stuff. He was a young man who seemed to have lost an eye. He looked like he had been a warrior in his previous life. He was hefty and cool, calm and collected but he looked so young, yet confident.
He said I could go in after checking out my torch. His eyes trailed me as I walked towards the cabin. There were several long cabins and tents, too many that I was rest assured each of us could have a bed to ourselves.
There were four beds in a cabin. I wanted to pick out a comfortable bed, to ease my experience in the camp. I needed to at least sleep well every night. There was a door and two small windows in each cabin. Each room had a door that led to another. I heard it was made that way in case anyone had to escape from a room to another for emergency reasons. The floor was hard and cold and the ceiling was rough but the rooms looked good. The beds were in good condition as well. I could live there forever if there was power, as long as it was safe. But still, I preferred my bed back at home, my big, gorgeous,modern bed. Either ways, it was cool.
I chose the bed nearer to the second window and farther to the door. I sat on the soft, mushy bed and the wood at the sides creaked. The bed sank under my weight. I sighed, stretched and sighed again, and finally opened my first bag. I picked out my diary but changed my mind because there was not enough light to write.
I was about pushing it back into the other bag where I had some change of clothes when power was restored. The bright light almost blinded me. Bright white light illuminated the room and flattered its contents. Now I looked around the cabin more carefully. It looked good indeed. But I noticed there were paintings on the wall everywhere. Paintings of animals of the cat family--Fox, tiger, leopard, cat and--wolf. It looked beautiful and scary at the same time-- it depended on how you chose to view it. I wondered if it was a coincidence to find something like this here at the camp. I stood up and felt the paintings with my hands. A voice stopped me from touching much.
"What are you doing inside all alone?"
I looked up. It was Uncle Robinson. He was holding something that looked like a tray of food. Actually it was.
I could smell it even-- Fried Chicken breast and chips plus ketchup and toppings.
"I was looking around" I said, avoiding his gaze
"Join us outside. It's quite safer now that there's power. It's hot in here, come out quick" he said and left, hoping that I followed him. I hesitated for a while and then followed him. The aroma of the food already made my intestines dance.
Outside, everyone was sitting on the spread tents munching chicken and chips, and sipping from a bottle. Everyone had a bottle of water with him. Some were struggling with sleep but the counselors tried to keep them awake, because "Tomorrow, we're having a race after the competition, we need strength"
He gave me a bottle of water and instructed everyone to stay hydrated. I sat on the space left on the ground and ate silently. The chicken tasted real good but I didn't like the chips. They didn't taste as good as mom's. All the while I ate, I felt Uncle Robinson's gaze on me. I knew he was looking at me even though my head was buried in my plate, and I wasn't looking at him, and there, immediately I looked up, he looked away.
After eating, we were all instructed to wake up as soon as we heard the bell. We saw the bell; it was a local bed that made a sound that was so eerie that you'd think some ghosts were swishing by. The competition/Award night was going to begin the next day , there'd be one in the morning, and the final one where the results would be announced and awards/prizes would be given in the evening.
We were shown the food house(as they called it), where we'd have breakfast, lunch and dinner everyday. It was the young man with an eye who coached us. Even though we did not see what he pointed at, we all nodded. All I wanted to do was sleep but they were still talking until half past 9. After he was sure everyone heard him, our counselors led us into our rooms, carefully making sure everyone got a space to sleep. We all fitted in our beds and then, they went out, shutting our doors when everything fell quiet.
I was turning around in the bed because I was uncomfortable. It was so hot and besides that, I didn't like the person sleeping above my bed. It was Vicky. She was a nutcase, and a grade higher than mine. She had eyes that were supposed to be pretty except that it looked bloody instead. Red-blue pupils over whites. I could swear she was a vampire, but don't judge a book by its cover, huh?
She was so tall that her legs stretched down her bed and I could see them. They would look scary if the lights were turned off for sure, so I was uncomfortable. I was also uncomfortable with the eerie silence. And also the fact that I was close to a window. How did people even fall asleep in these situations? I imagined the stalker figure appearing there and frightening me again, but I was not alone, would he still come?
All these thoughts were in my head when I felt the door open with a creak. I quickly lay in a position and shut my eyes. I wonder who it was. It would be one of our counselors because they were still outside, guarding the night but I couldn't be so sure. There was some security at the end of the campground too. It seemed that it was a place known for its notoriety in maybe crimes or paranormal maiming and stuff.
The environment bred some fearful imaginations already. It looked like I was stuck in a place where I was the only human present. I actually felt like everyone else there wasn't human. Because how could anyone be comfortable with so much silence and heat, and sleeping by the window with a door shut from outside in a strange land?
Would I actually live here for the next seven days? I thought.
I thought about my mom. She'd probably be cuddling up in Jack's bed, and he whispering into her ears how much he loved her, and the twin babies would be somewhere in their cots playing with their feet and laughing or probably sleeping. Or probably in my room back there in Kangaroo Estate, staying awake with two babies to watch over. Whichever way, I just hoped she was fine. I touched my pockets and felt it. My phone was still there.
' I should call her' i thought but I was scared to hear my own voice in that silent night. Besides, she might probably be fast asleep. It was already past 10pm.
Like I said, someone opened the door and walked in.
"Your mom is fine, stop worrying and go to sleep" i heard someone say. It was his voice- Uncle Robinson. He was here again. How did he know I was just thinking about her?
I didn't say a word. I just moved and listened. He was moving closer now, I heard his feet. No one woke up. I was the only one awake in this room. I stiffened when I felt his breath on my neck. He was by my bedside so quick? I wondered how. The door was far from the beds and uncle Robinson didn't walk quickly when he walked. So I was stupefied
"Don't worry, I'm here. Nobody will frighten you" he said, touching my hair. I quitened down immediately.
After a while, he got up, carried Vicky from the upper bunk bed and dumped her beside me. Still she didn't wake up
He then asked me to climb the upper bed instead and sleep there. I was grateful. I wouldn't see the windows and besides, it felt a little warm there. It was so soothing and I was grateful to him.
Still, I wondered how he heard me because I didn't even speak about my grievances.
That night, I slept so peacefully well not until midnight that i had a very disturbing dream which in fact if you ask me, made no sense. It was disorganized and preoccupied your thoughts, your whole senses. I saw vampires fighting against werewolves in this same camp and killing them. Some vampires turned some humans to vampires but others killed them. I saw it happening from my window side. I was awake and yawning and stretching my limbs because I had slept in a fetal position, and my thighs and joints were hurting as hell now. I looked down at the other beds but none of my camp roomies were there. I thought they had all gone out to maybe have a bath or look at the morning sun or just look around the cabins or around the whole of Meteors Contention Camp, as the place was called, weird name but who cares? People named their children Rock, and Rice. The house where I lived actually was called Kangaroo Estate. I said to myself. I actually saw the reflection of the name of the signpost outside the cabin. We all hadn't noticed it because it was dark when we arrived the camp. And maybe we were told about this camp in school and it probably skipped my mind, I couldn't tell.
I looked through the window which was now open again, and saw strange huge creatures in a hot battle. In fact, the whole campground was shaking with their bouts of anger. Werewolves, vampires and strange creatures and few that looked normal.
I screamed.
I jumped down my bed to search for others or at least go out of the cabin to see what the fight was all about. Maybe it was not what I thought. Maybe it was just a show of battle between some animals that my camp counselors and other students watched. Maybe they weren't the ones who turned into these beasts themselves. I had to go confirm or I'd be encompassed by too much fear. So I jumped down, I had only the top of my pajamas on--someone had taken off my trousers in the midnight for sure. I had been really hot and sweaty but I didn't want to take off my clothes or wear the lingeries mom got me. (They showed too much skin and I didn't want anyone to even see my skin that much). I didn't know what exactly I felt, but I feared being touched on my naked bare skin. Even if someone touched me, let me be touched on my clothes; I'd endure it better, wake up and slap such person hard on the face. Ever since what happened to me at Mike's, I've always slept with one eye open, or with two eyes closed and my body clasped in many clothing.
Whoever took off my trousers in the middle of the night must have done it to make me feel warm instead of steaming hot. It actually helped because I could remember I slept peacefully well, but still, the thought of having my trousers yanked off my body, or maybe let me put it gently(of course the person must have been kind and gentle with it), having my trousers carefully pulled off my body without me knowing unnerved the hell out of me. I had slept too much. That means I had fallen asleep even before I got cooler, even in the steaming heat.
What came over me? I hated heat and couldn't close my eyes if I felt hot. Couldn't even do anything properly. It was why I had multiple baths at home, maybe three to six times a day if it was hot, and sometimes I even stayed in the tub with cold water for several hours, just to cool off. Mom once said I already had the skin of a fish because of my incessant cold water baths . Very cold and smooth skin.. I went to the door of the cabin to open it but before I got there, it opened on its own accord. I didn't want to believe that there was some kind of magic in the camp. Therefore, I tried to make myself believe that it was maybe controlled by a remote, or maybe someone noticed I was coming out or opened it from outside. Either ways, It didn't make me feel better about the door opening without me touching it because when I got out, no one was there. I was left to wonder who took off my skirt, and left it beside my bed, and where everybody had gone to. No one was outside the cabins, not even the beasts I saw in the window fighting one another. Not even the night guards. Not even the one-eyed young man. Not a soul.
The morning sun shone brightly and I shielded my face from it.
What's going on? Where's everyone? I thought. I walked towards the tents on the ground which we had all taken supper the previous night but nobody was there either.
Wasn't it supposed to be the Competition day? Where did everyone go without telling me? I thought. Several thoughts were already crawling around my mind. They possibly couldn't leave me here in the camp since I was to represent my school in the competition, or had someone else been chosen? Why was that?
I was alone. I didn't know anybody or anywhere around the camp and in every room of every cabin I went to check, I saw emptiness. Nobody was there but I saw backpacks and items that other students brought to the camp. So , that means they were still very much around, but why would they leave the camp without me?
Why would they do this to me? Fine, I knew they didn't like me but at least one or two teachers did. At least they liked me enough to choose me to represent the school. One of them could at least have waited behind so we could walk together to wherever others went to. At least. Or they could have thrown water on my face to wake me up since I was still sleeping. But they all left me alone!
I looked around the campground and saw the signpost clearly. It read "Meteors Contention Camp" What did the hell did that mean? As if Kangaroo, the name Cameron's estate bore, back at home was not weird enough. What the hell was Meteors Contention.
So much for thinking this camp was going to make me feel better. No! It was creeping me out! And what was even more disturbing was, nobody thought so! They all were acting normal, as if the camp didn't scare the beejeebies out of them.
Nothing has to happen before you believe that this camp looked haunted. No one was talking about it, or maybe they knew , and maybe that was why Uncle Robinson asked us to go to bed last night before power was restored. They might have known this place was haunted after all.
What could have happened to warrant me being left alone? Was I too small to be noticed? Possibly not. My whole body leveled up my bed, and I was wearing only a top of my pajamas plus a panty, while my trouser laid beside me. So, at least my smooth skin or big body at least should have called for attention.
I didn't see anyone outside and everywhere looked peaceful. It was oddly calm, so that was unsettling. Since nobody was around to explain what was going on, I had to call my mom to ask her to come fetch me immediately. I was tempted to call her immediately.
So, I made to go back into the cabin to fetch my phone which was most probably in the pockets of my pajamas that had been taken off my body at midnight but as I moved closer to the cabin, I saw other students surrounding the cabin, playing chess and eating frankfurters which was baking on a grill near the fire they had made. Who made a big fire in summer? Whatever, that didn't bother me much. What bothered me was the fact that everyone was now here. Didn't I not see them when I jumped out of my cabin?
I tried to talk to one of them at least, but it seemed they didn't see me or maybe they were ignoring me as usual. Well, I still had to call my mom to come pick me up immediately then. I ran towards the front of my cabin but, just then, I saw fire coming over the whole camp, the cabins were on fire but nobody seemed to care..The fire overpowered everyone but no one was burning...when I looked down at my dress, the top of my pajamas that I had on, it had caught fire and was burning but other people walked freely or avoided the places where the fire was intense , but nobody made an attempt to quench it.
The fire on my dress began to burn so much and I tried to scream at the other people so they could help me but I found that when I opened my mouth, nothing came out of it, nothing except a little hissing sound that could not even be heard if there was total silence. I ran all over the place trying to get help, and maybe some water to quench the fire as it was starting to get scary. But all through this time, I didn't get water or help. Every container was dry, every person was quiet or maybe they were just ignoring me, including Uncle Robinson. I saw everyone of them but they were not looking my way. My phone! I needed to call Mom urgently! She said to call her if I couldn't talk to my counselors.
But the cabin was burning! My phone was in ruins! All my stuff! I screamed but no sound came out. I ran around, holding my hair and wondering how my hair hadn't caught fire. Only my dress did.
When I grew tired of trying to scream and seeking water , I sat on the floor and took off my dress. I watched it on the floor burn to ashes. I checked my skin; it was not affected in any way, only my dress was.
And at that moment, I looked around me to see if other people noticed my despair and situation but nobody was around me. I didn't know how they disappeared so quickly. I looked around and all I saw was fire and cabins. All the cabins were empty. I ran around everywhere, searching for everyone of them but it was futile. Still, I kept running until I got to a spot where there was water. Ocean water.
I bent down to have a drink since my throat was very dry; I had already got myself dehydrated from all the sniffling smoke and running around the campground.
I bent down to drink water but I couldn't because a person popped up its head from underwater and scared the hell out of me. It seemed to me that the person was either dead or dying because when I looked around the rest of the water, it was starting to darken. With blood. Not red blood but dark blood. It was starting to turn the water to a sea of blood. And not so appealing--dark thick blood.
Her head popped up again and I watched the expression on her face closely. Dying, not dead.
It was a girl, and when I did look at her closely, it was then I realized that she was not trying to scare me but that she was trying to stay alive, and maybe call for help.
"Are you okay?" I suddenly realized that I had found my voice. Despite myself, I was still concerned for the dying girl who looked like a helpless teenager. A damsel in distress because of course, she was very beautiful. She looked surreal even.
She stretched out her hands and seemed to ask that I lift her out of the water. "He's eating me up" she said.
"You can hear me?" I asked. Because no one at the campground heard my plea for help, I thought maybe I was a woosh of air. But this girl heard and saw me. I wonder what she was talking about. Maybe a sea creature was eating her up from her feet underwater. It was scary and I began to wonder how I was going to pull someone older and maybe bigger than I was, out of the water, without falling into it.
"C'mon, you can do it" she said, as if reading my mind. "You got the power. Please pull me out, my leg is stuck in its teeth. Please help me" she winced in pain.
Apart from the blood splatters on the water, everything else around the water side looked pretty normal to me but I was skeptical about helping her. I screamed around for Uncle Robinson's name and other students but the area was as quiet as the grave. Maybe if I helped this girl, we could find every other person together. At least, I wouldn't be alone out there, freaked out by the ominous silence and strange fire.
What did she mean by "i can do it", I was heavy myself and couldn't do much of anything pulling. She stretched her hands towards me and pleaded. I was naked, except for the panty I had on. I'd be fresh meat for the sea creatures if I fell into the water.
Suddenly, I heard rush of waters and waves come above the water. After a while, the noise died down and I realized that the girl was gone. The water was now very black. I started to feel bad for not helping her up. I started to feel alone again. I was stuck in that area since there was nobody around and I couldn't call Mom. Suddenly, as if she heard my thoughts, her head popped up again. She was gasping for air , as water rushed into her mouth. Her hair was black and very long.
"Now please" she pleaded. I hurriedly went to the middle of the water and pulled her up. Before I knew it, she was onshore and safe. I didn't know how I was able to pull her up; I didn't even feel any pain or pressure pulling her, and she was about twice my size. And behold when I turned back to look at her, I realized...
Wait, what? She didn't have legs. Where her legs were supposed to be, there was a fish's tail. She was a real life mermaid! No she wasn't wearing a costume because I saw how her half human body connected to the tail underneath. Skin of a fish underneath and skin of human upwards. And she was so huge I felt so small near her. Her tail was badly severed. That was what the sea creature had been eating when she cried, "He's eating me up". I was sure scared but she looked harmless and beautiful. She didn't have to try; she wasn't scary. She looked like she needed help. She looked like she was crying and she just stared at me. She looked innocent. Still I ran
I ran and ran not knowing where I was going to. She didn't follow me but I kept running. I ran until my legs began to hurt. I ran and screamed. Into reality.
I slowly opened my eyes expecting to find myself in a deserted site, running but I was on my bed. No, not at home but in the same cabin I slept last night. So, it had been another nightmare. The panic terrors again. That was what Dr Brown called them. They have followed me to the camp again, and this time, it was even more intense. I started to think staying back at home could have been much better.
At least the nightmares weren't as long and scary at home.
Beads of sweat broke out on my face and I stiffened before slowly sitting up. I could hear some noise around the cabin. I could hear water splashing. The other students were definitely around thanks Goodness. Maybe they were having their baths already. It was still so dark outside, but it looked like the day was starting to break already. I sat up slowly and felt my forehead. It was burning up, and when I looked up, I saw the tall girl towering above me. The girl whose bed I had taken, well, whose bed I was given.
She cupped her hands under her breasts and stared at me with a expression I couldn't read. She was the only one in my room. I didn't like her but still I was glad I was not alone.
"Are you okay?" She asked and it sounded sarcastic. Maybe she hadn't expected it to sound that way anyway
"Yes thank you" I managed to say even though I was burning up. And for some reason, when I looked at her face, I found it familiar. Eerily familiar.