((AN:Hi guys! It's Leesh here, so this is my first ever published fanfiction (woo) It's 1am here so please forgive me if there is any spelling mistakes, i will fix them as soon as possible if you point them out to me. I'd really appreicate feedback as i've never actually showed anyone else my writing before so i was kind of on the fence about posting this. This chapter was almost like an introduction, the next chapter will actually include mermaids! (yaaay) and will focas mainly on Courtneys side of the story and then after thats out of the way the fic will be in full swing with interactions from both parties (woohoo!) Thankyou for taking your time to read this and i hope you enjoy!))
Chapter 1
For after what seemed like hours,the boat finally pulled up at the dock and Gwen, along with the other 30 or so people that were on the boat with her had arrived at camp wawanakwa. Finally! The teenager didn't have to stand any more hours of staring out of tiny car windows listening to her brother complain about how long the drive was taking. Nor did she have to endure sitting on a rickety boat uncomfortably close to an elderly couple raving about how beautiful and tranquil the camp ground was as they shared stories from there past experiences going there.
Gwen recalled back to the first time her mother mentioned said holiday a couple of months ago and in all honesty she wasn't the slightest bit thrilled unlike her mother when addressing the news. Gwen didn't like change, and never had - she would have preferred to stay in her bedroom catching up with homework and sketches. However her perception of the holiday changed when she decided to do a little research on the venue, Gwen quickly learned as a child that behind every sweet word was the ugly truth and nothing ever was as peachy keen as people said it would be. After hours of looking at boring reviews and images of the resort they would be staying at Gwen came across a bit of information that intrigued her. Hidden deep amongst the other far less interesting knowledge of camp wawanakwa Google had to offer she was able to find that the island had a secret that they were desperately trying to cover up. Reports of several teenagers going missing on the island in the past year had been shared on the internet in a brief panicked post but it lacked detail. Gwen searched and searched and from one post to another she finally found a website that held all the information she could ever wish or hope for. The website was one page, no explanation or anything, not even the URL wasn't readable, just a jumble of letters that would be difficult to remember. On the page however were the photographs and names of every teenager than had been reported and remained missing along with the date they had been missing since. The list of people went like this:
'Ezekiel Petinger - 28th February 2013
Katie Moreno - 4th April 2013
Sadie Austin - 6th april 2013
Lightning Archer - 18th june 2013
Leshawna Robinson - 4th July 2013
Cody Anderson - 30th August 2013
Scott Foxx - 2nd October 2013
Beth Adams - 18th November 2013
Tyler Stockwell - 3rd December 2013
Lindsay Tyson - 2nd January 2014'
Underneath the list were a few blurred photographs of the lake that bordered camp wawanakwa, in said photographs were dark blurred figures that Gwen couldn't quite figure out what they were. It proved even more difficult to Phaethon out what the said figures were when there was no caption, no description what so ever, just the photographs on their own. Gwen thought this website to be a reliable source of information as it was really the only source of information she could find, she saved it to a new tab of her internet browser. At least it would give her something remotely interesting to do while stuck on that island for four weeks.
As everyone exited the boat onto the dock they were greeted by two people, one boy and one girl - Gwen guessed that they were both around her age give or take a year or were dressed in tan shorts and purple polo neck t-shirts with the company logo stitched on the left hand side.
"Hi there everyone! My names Zoey and welcome to camp wawanakwa"
The girl that greeted them was sickeningly sweet,just a little too chipper for Gwen at this moment in time. The girl in question was unbelievably bright and cheery, and she reminded Gwen of one of those sugar coated berry girls with brightly coloured hair and ridiculous dress sense from cartoons. Her hair was a vibrant red and bunched into two pig tails. Her glossed lips cast a constantly wide smile almost like she was trying a bit too hard, but she seemed tolerable non the less.
"And I'm DJ, y'all are gonna have a great time trust me, here are Some brochures that will give you the details about everything happening on the island"
The boy handed out the leaflets to the people stood on the dock as he introduced himself. He was extremely tall and towered over most of the others around him, even the adults. He literally fit the definition of '6 foot tall 6 foot wide' but despite his large muscles and intimidating physique, the male had a relaxed expression on his face and his voice was calm and cool that it made even the grumpy goth feel at ease.
"In ten minutes our fellow rep Bridgette is holding a surfing class for beginners so if your interested in going then head over to that building over there and pick out a wetsuit and a board and Bridge will be right over"
The red head extended her arm and pointed to a building not to far off into the distance known as the surf shack as her parter finished the rest of the information off for her.
"Just look out for a girl a little taller than Zoey, blonde hair in a pony tail and the same uniform as us - you can't miss her"
Gwen's younger brother Gareth began to get extremely exited at the thought of free surfing lessons, finally he could go back home and show his friends something he could do but they couldn't!
"Awh mom please can I go, I'll unpack afterwards I promise"
The boy said as he clung to his mothers arm almost like a child as she rolled her eyes playfully in response.
"I don't see why not, alright then - you go and me and Gwen will find the cabin and get our bearings, I'll come get you in a couple of hours by the beach"
"okay! Thanks mom your awesome!"
They were the last words that escaped the boys mouth before he half ran half skipped away in the direction of the surf shack, to which the two females shared a light chuckle over.
Gwen and her mother had found the reception desk with the help of DJ's kind words and were given the key to the cabin they would be staying in for the next 4 weeks. The cabin was simple and large enough: a kitchen/dining space,a living room and three bedrooms and a bathroom upstairs but it was decent all the same.
"Gwen you can go unpack if you like, all the rooms are the same so help yourself to whichever one you want - I'll make some sandwiches and then we can explore the island a little more after I go fetch your brother"
Gwen smiled at her mother,she really did appreciate everything she did for her and Gareth, even if she didn't show it that often, but she knew her mother knew she did - they had they're own way of showing appreciation had they hardly had to say a word.
"Alright thanks, can we have Nutella sandwiches? Pleeeeassee"
Gwen sang the last part in a teasing sing song voice as there was always an unspoken rule in their house which was 'no sweet fillings for main meals' however that rule could always be broken under one condition.
"Fine, but only because we're on holiday"
"Thanks mom, you're the greatest"
Gwen ran the rest of the way up the stairs only to be greated by a small hallway decorated with blue paint that was slowly fading and peeling away and a lopsided painting of the view of the island from the dock. The girl walked down to the farthest end of the hallway and turned the door knob.
"I CALL THE ROOM FURTHEST FROM THE STAIRS"
Gwen shouted down to her mother as she entered the room.
"OKAY SWEETIE" was all she got in reply.
Yet again the room was nothing special, it was large enough and had the basics : bed,dresser, chest of draws,shelf with ridiculous knick-knacks related to the goth chucked her belongings onto the already made bed- 'I'll see to them later' she thought. Next to her bed was a small window framed by two ratty curtains that frayed at the bottom. The window was pretty low down starting just above where her knees were and finished at the tip of her nose. She had to bend slightly to peer through the window to try and figure out the view, her efforts however were futile as the glass was frosted and all she got to see were the dozen of flys buzzing around the corners of her window pain. She noticed that one of the pains of glass had been cracked, as she examined it she noticed a dull dent the size of a bullet hole with five straight cracks sprawling out in all directions to the edge of pain of glass. Gwen came to the conclusion that the damaged window had been caused by a dull object thrown at the window probably out of rage, heavy enough to crack the window but light enough to not smash it teen placed a slender pale finger on the pane of glass and brushed her finger over each crack of the window to test if the glass was sharp enough to cut through skin. Her results deemed that the glass wasn't sharp enough to be labeled as a hazard and then carried out another experiment by pushing the glass as hard as she could with the palms of her hands but it wouldn't budge. Damaged but not a huge hazard so the don't replace it? 'Typical cheapskates' she though to herself.
The goth then got bored of the thrilling window investigation and decided too pay attention to the rest of her accommodation for the next 4 weeks. She immediately flopped onto her bed and stared up at the stained ceiling,she came to the decision that the place wasn't that bad. Sure it was plain and a little broken here and there, it needed some touch ups but it had a humbleness to it,a sense of nostalgia if you will. What Gwen liked about the the cabin was that it was real - no fancy curtains or cushions to distract from the peeling paint on the walls or the slight damp near the edges of the skirting board. And honestly, it reminded her a lot of herself. What you saw was what you got, no false illusions or bent truths just her as plain as she was with all flaws presented to anyone and everyone who interacted with her. And she liked it that way. The teal haired teen suddenly started to feel the precious lack of sleep creep up on her as her eyes began to droop and her mind slowly started shutting down its thoughts ready for sleep. She didn't really care that it was only the middle of the afternoon, getting dragged out of bed at that ungodly hour of the morning was bad enough and she thought she deserved a little time to catch up on sleep, she was on holiday after all. And with that the girls eyes had fluttered shut, the only sound to be heard was the faint rise and fall of her breathing in every breath she took as she drifted into a well deserved peaceful sleep.
