AN: Hey, just wanted to assure y'all that I'm alive. This was my entry for an inter-school writing competition. I changed some names. Hope you like it.

Camp Light Outcast

By: Kitskune Miyake

It was an innocent idea: a few Smashers camping out for a night or two. The only reason we invited Riley, the new kid, was that this was the perfect chance to torment her. The torment started when we arrived at the camp site. It was located on a low bluff with a gorgeous view of the lake. We were all wearing shorts and ugly khaki vests... except for Riley. Since she had "violated traditional camping dress code", we threw her into the lake. Samus apologetically tossed her an itchy, woolen blanket to warm up with as she came out. We set up the tents and started the fire as the sunset drew closer. Once Fox got a spark & the fire was deemed decent enough, we sat down and told jokes as the smell of burnt marshmallow wafted around us.

As a whole, the group was boisterous, but not Riley. After the jokes became pointless, we told lame scary stories that made us laugh. At one point in time, Riley shifted and cleared her throat, drawing our attention to her, as if we were moths near a dangerous flame. She pulled out a dusty, leather book and opened it up. She began to read.

"One day, a young girl started high school after homeschooling. She wanted to make friends and was very nice, but the kids rejected her and made her an outcast." I recognized her simile, describing Smash Mansion like high school.

"One day, she met a strange man in a black cloak. He sympathized her and offered a solution to her social awkwardness...in exchange for her soul. He granted her powers beyond her imagination." All of a sudden, the moon wasn't so bright, and the fire wasn't so warm.

We shifted uneasily. The moon seemed to shift with unrest as well. She stopped looking at the book, and seemed to speak from memory. Her voice seemed to grow and mature to that of a crone's voice, but it retained a silky, alluring tone that kept us wanting more, despite our terror. Time melted as she continued. "The girl allowed her abuse to continue, knowing that the time would come when she could take revenge." The moon and the fire's light was snuffed out and replaced by an eerie, purple glow emitted from the book. Riley dropped it and stood up, figuratively towering over us, seeing as she was less than five feet tall. "She waited until there was a class camping trip to tell a story and make her classmates," she paused, looking for a word, "...empathetic." She disappeared in a sudden flash of light which left lingering shadows dancing around the camp site. A mad, cackling laugh echoed through-out the woods and scared off the mallards in the lake.

There was also a message scratched into the hard turf.

Greetings, Smashers. Kitskune sends his best regards. Riley also said to finish the book. You'll love the ending.

I shakily picked up the book and read the ending. "That night, twelve adolescents disappeared. They were never seen again, but twelve new tombstones mysteriously appeared in the local graveyard."

I dropped the book and counted heads. Without Riley, there were twelve of us in all. We stared at the smoldering fire pit. No one picked up the book. No one looked at the book. No one thought of the book. The book closed.

N: Short and sweet. Don't ya love it. Review, please

TTFN (Ta Ta For Now)