Max sighed, the humidity of summer provoking pearls of sweat to roll down his body. What was this? His fifth year at Camp Campbell? He'd forgotten. Though either way, it was still a miracle (or a curse) that the dingy, sketchy camp was still in operation.
Max was fifteen now. Almost as tall as the counselors themselves. He was more muscular than his previous incarnations, due to constant activity at the camp; his voice was slightly deeper; and his mess of dark, curly hair was longer, now sported in a "half ponytail" sort of thing. Though no matter how much his physical had altered, Max remained his usual violently cynical self.
His main victim: David
Their dynamic hadn't changed much over the years, and Max liked it that way. Though recently, David had been annoying him even more. He hadn't seemed to change, but their was something about his bright, unhealthily joyful smile that made Max's blood boil, as of late. If he heard that ridiculous laugh one more time...
The teen cringed.
And since David was bothering him more than usual for some reason, the boy decided to take his feelings out on the man who had inflicted them. David seemed to take the overexpression with grace, brushing off inflictions which would surely kill or atleast injure the average person.
Until...the day that it started.
David had began getting hurt from Max's schemes. It started off as a bruise, a cut. All minor things, but still...unusual, for David. Max brushed it off for the most part, but couldn't deny how unsettling the reality of harming David was, even a little.
Max watched the rickety, mossy green car pull into the campground, and was reminded of David's latest injury, which was undeniably his worst. For the most part, Max had blocked the memory out, but he could still see all of the blood, the screaming. He shuddered.
"David's back!!"
Nikki shouted, her blossoming figure darting across the camp and towards the man who was slowly getting out of the car with Gwen's assistance.
Nikki had surely changed in the last few years. She'd grown taller, like Max, but her most dramatic change was her figure, which now near mirrored her mothers.
The girl wrapped her arms tightly around the counselor, to which he winced, though still pat her back as affectionately as she could.
"I'm happy to see you too Nikki..."
David said, a pained smile at his lips.
Other campers soon clobbered the man as well, expressing how they'd missed him and even giving him little gifts. A "magic healing amulet" from Nerris, Ered's lucky skateboard, even a poem from Nurf, who had been meeting with Preston to learn literature and do who knows what. All that the other campers knew was that he always returned from their private sessions with the most uncharacteristic smile on his face.
But Max only looked on, narrowing his eyes at the scene. Why did this make him so mad...? As he watched the counselor hobble into his cabin on that bulky cast of his, he devised a plan.
