1
"The Knight is Ours"
The scent of gasoline filled the air as Gabriel begrudgingly stepped out of his battered old sedan so he could have a smoke. He faced away from the car and dispensers of gas as he lit his cigarette. He breathed the smoke in deeply, holding it for a moment before exhaling. The hair-raising chill of the breeze encompassing the area made him recoil as he tapped his cigarette shakily. It was close to midnight in late spring, so the breeze could've been worse, Gabriel thought.
"It's dangerous to smoke so close, ya'know," a nasally voice from inside his sedan barked. Gabriel let out a gruff chuckle before taking another puff of his cigarette and blowing the smoke towards the voice as a sign of dissent.
"Bite me," he replied as the remaining smoke seeped from his mouth and nose. A group of motorcycles then raced by the gas station, creating a thunderous echo in their wake. "Loud motherfuckers," Gabriel hissed before putting out his cigarette and pulling his jacket tighter around his shoulders. He then turned and walked around the car to pay for the gas, he fished around in his pockets for his debit card and after finding it he slipped into the ancient machine. It beeped at him a few times before spitting out the plastic card.
"Shit, gotta pay inside," he grumbled and shoved the card back in his jacket. "Amarii give me a twenty from the glovebox," he ordered and turned to the passenger side window. The woman in the front seat gave him a bored side glance before snapping open the glovebox and shoving random debris aside and handing him a crumpled twenty-dollar bill.
"We can't keep relying on our stash, Gabe," Amarii relayed to him and repositioned her left leg over her right knee. Gabriel let out an annoyed sigh before meandering into the brightly lit convenience store. He looked about the aisles in a jaded manner before going up to the teller.
"Twenty on five," he told the teenage cashier and held out the bill.
"This twenty has seen better days," the cashier chuckled and flattened out the currency before putting it away. Gabriel just nodded. The teller obviously wasn't going to let him go that easily though. "So, what're you doing out at this time'a the night?" Gabriel eyed the teen with blatant irritation, the glare seemed to surprise the probably sixteen-year-old cashier, but they pressed on with an unaltered smile.
"Sorry that's classified information," Gabriel answered rudely and snatched the receipt. The clerk laughed somewhat awkwardly.
"All right then, have a good night," they said with a toothy smile. Gabriel just sneered at them before making his way out. As he walked back to the car, he ran a hand through his hair, trying to smooth down the dirty blonde strands that had escaped his man-bun, which he began to sport out of necessity because he had developed a case of permanent bed-head due to his current situation.
"What are you doing Bunny?" Gabriel asked as he passed the passenger side of his car. Amarii was leaned over doing or looking for something on the floor of the car. He then hopped into the driver's seat with a light slam of the door. Amarii slowly looked up at Gabriel then snapped her head to the window anxiously. "Hey, you okay?" he nudged her shoulder, now noticeably nervous.
"There was a cop," she whispered and straightened her bright aqua blue hair with a swipe of her hand. Just the word 'cop' made Gabriel tense, his eyes widened, and he surveyed the area apprehensively. "They're gone now, but I leaned over just in case," she mumbled. He reached over and rubbed her shoulder comfortingly, then turned his attention to the steering wheel as he started the car. The radio came to life with a scratchily annoying country song and Gabriel abruptly turned the volume down.
"Got the map?" he asked and pulled out onto the road. Amarii nodded and unfolded a large worn out piece of paper. She turned the paper every which way as she tried to read it in the dark.
"This is so stupid Gabe, if we had a phone or GPS this would be an absolute breeze," she huffed angrily.
"You know why we can't have a phone, Bunny," Gabriel answered calmly. The road was utterly empty, no car in sight. They saw the occasional semi-truck and SUV on the highway on the way here, but this tiny town was nearly vacant completely.
"What the hell even is this place? Did we travel back in time when we crossed the state line?" Amarii complained and tilted the map toward the window as they passed under a row of street lights.
"Sleepy Peak, apparently," Gabriel replied and eased onto the brake as they approached a stop sign. "The last place my father stayed before the crazy house."
"Sleepy is an understatement," the girl retorted with a throaty chuckle, "that must mean the camp isn't far from here, yeah?"
"About thirty miles out, so yeah, it's not too far,"
"Just one more night, and I get an actual bed!" she exclaimed and threw her arms up, dropping the map onto her lap. Gabriel flashed a smile as he turned onto a dirt road heading deeper in the woods.
"Probably not an actual bed, I think they sleep on cots," he said and smirked deviously at his friend. Amarii stuck her tongue out at him in reply.
"Better than the back seat or your chest," she retorted.
"I'm offended!" Gabriel feigned being hurt and covered his smiling mouth with hand dramatically. "I thought girls liked sleeping on their boyfriend's chest."
"You're not my boyfriend you dirty fuck," she hissed with a hint of sarcasm. She tried to hold a grossed out look but it quickly dissolved into a dopey grin and giggles. Gabriel laughed along with her, trying to keep his eyes on the road. "Besides, you snore like a hog and it's almost painful for me because I can feel it vibrate through your entire body," she added.
"I told you to get ear plugs," he retorted.
"I told you I needed that money for food, we can't live on gas station nachos and knock off cola you hobo."
"I think we've been doing okay,"
"Yeah, you're doing okay, your inhuman six feet nine inches ass can probably live just fine on unsalted crackers and rain water for a year, but me? My fat ass needs nutrients."
"You implying I'm not human?"
"I mean…" Amarii paused for dramatic effect, "your dad did murder over two hundred children and still managed to get released after spending only one year in a mental hospital."
"That was only because of insufficient evidence but okay,"
"Still, it wouldn't surprise me if he wasn't human, which would make you not human,"
"Wouldn't surprise me either honestly, but that's what we're gonna find out, right?"
The sun was almost a quarter way into the sky when Amarii woke up. She blinked sleepily and moved her arm from out under her head, it was dead asleep and would probably need a minute or two to regain feeling. She glanced around the car to see Gabriel inclined back in the passenger seat, he had his jacket draped over his head and his hair was down, which Amarii didn't see too often. It'd been a good few weeks since either of them had a shower, so his dirty blonde locks were greasy and thin. His tanned and freckled skin used to be so well taken care of, but now it was patchy and flakey. He bared some scars along both his arms Amarii would play with now and again, it seemed to calm him down. Subconsciously she reached out and ghosted her fingers down his hanging arm. When she reached his hand, she looked closely at how long his fingernails had gotten, without proper access to hygiene related items he appeared to just let everything go. Amarii tried to keep herself somewhat presentable, she brushed her hair out, tied it up nice and neat, washed her face and any exposed skin when they happened to find a tolerable bathroom. Some things couldn't seem to replace warm running water and soap though as she still reeked, and her hair still looked wet all the damn time.
Amarii let out a soft yawn and stretched her arms out in front of her, the car was muggy and thanks to the trees that surrounded them it was still faintly lit. They parked off the road behind a string of giant pine trees, hoping they were hidden enough from any cars or people on the road. She propped herself up on her elbows and aloofly looked outside through the window above her head. It was getting close to summer but since they were considerably high up in the mountains it still occasionally snowed lightly during the nights. The forest was picturesque; lightly covered in snow and glistening frost. Amarii could make out the slight breeze as it gently pushed the branches of the white tipped trees in an almost rhythmic way. The forest presented itself and moved differently than from those she had ever previously seen. Others were chaotic and had separate pockets that did not follow the same movement as others like it. This forest and everything around it moved in a rhythm with everything else, as if it were singing and dancing along to a long-forgotten song. She watched the silent symphony outside until shuffling startled her from her stupor. She looked over to see Gabriel now on his stomach with his forearm under his chin as he blinked repeatedly, trying to wake up.
"Morning, precious," she teased. He blew a raspberry at her before yawning, in the middle of his yawn though it turned into an exaggerated groan.
"I need a smoke," he growled and stretched, his hands gripping the headrest so tight his knuckles turned white.
"Your mom is going to kick your ass when she finds out you're smoking again," Amarii said offhandedly and sat up. She then bent down and grabbed one of her tank tops off the floor and slipped it on, not bothering with a bra. Gabriel made a noise of dismissal then popped the car door open, causing a sudden gust of absolutely freezing air to sweep through the humid car.
"Mom's gonna have to catch me first, and that's not gonna happen," Gabriel said and stepped out of the passenger seat with his box of cigarettes. He slammed the door and took in a deep breath of the woodsy air.
"Keep telling yourself that, momma's boy," Amarii said to herself and made her way into the passenger seat with a quiet huff. She then pulled out the tatty map and marked on it with an almost dried out sharpie. On the sheet of paper were several other marked areas, numerous circled and crossed out. Off to the side of the sheet were the names of summer camps and outdoor schools, all but one were crossed out. The last un-crossed out area was labeled 'Camp Campbell', and next to it was written 'caution – unfinished business'. Amarii eyed it with curiosity, as Gabriel had yet to tell her why he wrote that. She tried to get it out of him on the first few days of their trip but was only met with 'don't worry about it' or 'shut up'. She let out a breath she didn't know she was holding when Gabriel circled the car and pulled open the driver's side door. With a nicotine scented exhale, he turned the key in the ignition.
"You finally gonna tell me about this…Camp Campbell?" Amarii said with a twitch of her lip. Gabriel drummed his fingers on the steering wheel as he pressed on the gas, the car lurched forward, coming to an abrupt stop, then shooting forward again. The jerking of the car made Amarii slam her head on the headrest and forced her to grab the designated 'oh shit handle' to keep her sitting upright.
"If I have too, I suppose," he finally replied after a long silence when they were on the road at last. "Mom worked there in her twenties, ya'know it's your average dead-end, thankless job so you can save money for something better in a better town, right?"
"Yeah like when you worked at Hoagies that one summer," Amarii commented as she eyed the map. Gabriel shot her a hateful look she didn't see but knew he was giving her.
"We don't talk about Hoagies, so hush and let me tell the story," he snapped and swerved the car suddenly, so she'd smack her head on the window. She let out a shrill squeak and looked at him with her dull grey eyes. He met her eyes for a moment then turned back to the road. "Apparently while she worked there, she met my father—,"
"And she lived?" Amarii interrupted.
"Amarii I swear to fuck," Gabriel hissed and ground his teeth together, Amarii just gave him a smug look, "yes, she lived, obviously…Camp Campbell was the last camp my monster father tried to purify before being caught. One of the counselors there, an apparent friend of mom's, actually managed to stop Daniel's attack via song." He said, referring to his father by his real name.
"No fucking way! That's pretty cool," Amarii gushed and folded up the map. "Well, dare I say, campy, but cool," she added with a chuckle. Gabriel just rolled his eyes.
"Yeah apparently the guy was known for being a walking talking G-rated animated movie, but that's not what we're focusing on."
"Oh, since it's probably heading that way, you did never tell me how your parents got together. Your mom seems like a no-nonsense kinda chick, how did she fall for a mass murderer?"
"Love is blind they say, but unfortunately that can't be said for my parents," Gabriel took a deep breath then exhaled rather loudly. "I don't wanna get too much into it really, since I don't know everything, my mom is pretty sensitive about the whole thing understandably, but I got what I could from police reports, phone logs, and my mom's journals."
"You were a rape baby, I'm calling it now," Amarii blurted out. Gabriel's forehead met the steering wheel so fast it made his blue-haired friend jump slightly.
"I hate you Amarii," he whispered.
"You just hate me because I'm right all the time you big fucking baby,"
"That too but still,"
"So your dad, the big bad cult leader, thee Daniel Knight, raped your mom, probably because the fucking stars told him too or some crazy shit and because your mom gets attached to things too damn easily she kept you after beating your dad to death?" Amarii had a habit of making everything overly dramatic, Gabriel would say he hates it, but it's another reason he loves the bitch so much. He'd never admit that though.
"Not exactly, you really didn't do any research, did you? My parents actually had a consensual relationship for the most part, according to my mom's journals, but she did mention how forceful Daniel was," Gabriel continued in a more serious tone. Daniel Knight was the most notorious mass murderer that side of the rockies, and though Gabriel would occasionally say 'my father' when referring to him, he would mostly refer to him by his real name. Since he didn't want to actually give the monster credit for his creation. As of the police records and his official sentence, Daniel murdered 203 children and teens along with 14 adults, making him the second most proficient serial killer in American and Canadian history. He did all of his killing alone as well, having mastered manipulation on a stellar scale, he was able to dispatch camp after camp with ease. His motives remained unclear for the most part, some say he was following his cult's beliefs while others say the cult was an excuse to murder others because he enjoyed it. As Daniel didn't seem to follow the cult's 'laws' too strictly and would even blatantly break rules to do what he wanted.
"I did some research…your dad was a high priest or something in his sect, he was like their king pretty much," Amarii mumbled. "Weren't priests not allowed to have sexual relationships though?" Gabriel nodded.
"Although high priests, or whatever, were prohibited from pro-creating until they finished their reign, or something, Daniel thought he was above his idiotic religion's rules and since my mom matched the description of one of their goddesses he made it his goal to have her," Gabriel explained and spat some words like they were poison on his tongue. "Of course with his golden manipulation skills he won my mom over after returning from being released from the mental hospital. He worked at the shitty camp for a year or so before he convinced my mom to ditch the place. I think she was pregnant with me at that point, I'm not entirely sure, but of course mom and the sunshine counselor got into an argument and it only fueled my mom's fire to leave so blah, blah, blah, Romeo and Juliet shit, he's the bad boy and she's the painfully normal girl looking for an escape. Ya'know the usual rom-com bullshit."
"Except the bad boy quite fucking literally murdered children and maimed his own with zero remorse," Amarii added as she crossed her legs nonchalantly.
"Daniel had convinced mom that he was under some brainwashing spell from his cult and that he was, and I quote, 'back to who he originally was', and even though my mom had a fucking major in psychology how she still didn't catch his embarrassingly obvious red flags of him being a fucking sociopath is beyond me."
"Love is blind, like you said," Amarii laughed, "well, not really in this case, I guess, lust is blind? Infatuation is blind? Either would be sorta right." Gabriel nodded stoically. "It finally hit your mom like a bag of bricks labeled 'you fucked up', when she came home to find crazy altar boy carving a Z into his son's face, or was it before that?"
Gabriel let out a dry laugh, "It was before that surprisingly, she picked up some signs when I was around four I think? But she ignored them like the awesome mother she was." It actually hurt him a bit to say that, he loved his mom, he did, but given his pessimistic personality he couldn't help but dog on her obvious bad parenting skills in the past. She wasn't around to hear it, so he didn't regret it too much.
"And you know the Z incident didn't happen until I was six, so she had a good two years to get her shit together but didn't."
"You're glad I'm a good friend and not a fucking narc because I'd tell your mom everything you're fucking saying right now if I was," Amarii complacently chattered, turning her pale grey eyes in Gabriel's direction. He gave her a squinted glare in return.
"Good luck, payphones don't fucking exist anymore and you're too chickenshit to actually ask a stranger for a phone, so you're stuck with me baby, whether you like it or not," he sneered devilishly. Amarii just returned the grin happily.
"Maybe I do like it," she added almost in a whisper. "Oh, but as much as I enjoy your terrible back story what does this 'unfinished business' bit got to do with the camp?"
"Oh, from what I read off the pamphlets I got about the camp, the sunshine counselor still works there, name's David Atwood," Gabriel answered and turned the car down a sharp turn, "but he's supposedly the sunshine owner now, the previous owner who I'm assuming was Campbell, died some odd years ago."
"So this dude has been working at this place for twenty plus years? That's dedication if I've ever heard of it. You think this guy will know you? That's why there's a note of caution?"
"Ah…well, I wouldn't say know me, I'd say he might see my relations, he knew both my parents, one he hated with every fiber of his being and the other he was pretty close friends with. My mom once told me when she was drunk that she wished she'd gotten together with him instead."
"Ooh. Okay, I see, so you'll think he'll treat you unfairly because of your parents?"
"That…that would make sense, wouldn't it? I mean I was victimized all the time when I was a kid because I appeared on that dumb talk show that did a story on Daniel. They didn't even use my real name or show my face and I still got recognized."
"You never met the guy personally, right?"
"I don't think so, mom avoids the topic of my childhood, so I might've when I was a baby. She's actually never told me where exactly I was born, it might've been at the camp now that I think about it," Gabriel seemed to looked pained as he talked, he could just see his mother's face when he brought this topic up. Her brilliant violet eyes would dull and become half-closed. What little she told Gabriel about the camp and the counselor she refused to name aloud, he could tell it was quite the sour note for her. He was a pretty stubborn kid though, so he would pester and pester her about his dad, their past, and just everything she plainly didn't want to talk about. It wasn't until he was about thirteen that he could appropriately do research on his dad and learn all he could. Even when he participated in the daytime talk-show story on his dad, he didn't know much. Before then, all he knew was that his dad wasn't a good man and was not with them anymore. Gabriel's mom, Gwen Vega, couldn't avoid the topic of death though, as much as she tried, because her son witnessed his father's death at the young impressionable age of seven.
"Well he's gonna know who you are when he finds out your name,"
"You really think I'm gonna use my real name? We've been on the road running from dumbass cops, my mom, and your parents for six months using fake names and stolen cards. You really think I'm gonna use my real name when we finally reached the end of our search?"
"I'm not stupid, Gabriel," Amarii retorted with an angry glare, "you know damn well as I that if this guy has a history with your parents there's a good fucking chance he'll realize who you are, and all our hard work will go down the fucking drain!"
"Fuck, I know, but from what my mom wrote about this guy, he's stupidly dense. So we just gotta be careful going about our plan. Avoid as much contact as possible, tell no one our names, where we came from, anything! And for the love of god, Amarii, keep your damn story straight!"
"It's not my fault you changed details without telling me you dick!"
"It wouldn't have mattered if you didn't feel the need to flirt with anyone remotely your type you hoe!"
"Oh like you didn't melt when that rugged counselor from the Blackwood Valley camp so much as looked in your general direction!"
"AMARII I WILL THROW YOU OUT OF THIS CAR GOING EIGHTY DON'T FUCKING TEMPT ME!"
"FIGHT ME YOU GAY MOTHERFUCKER!" The two shrieked at each other for a good minute or so before a dilapidated wooden sign came into view from between the trees. It looked like it'd been repainted several times but the paint never correctly stuck or was washed off in one way or another. So the probably forty-year-old sign read 'CAMP CAMP'.
"All right, get out of my car," Gabriel growled and put the car in park. Amarii grabbed his wrist before he could get out though.
"We need to go over what we're going to do first, stupid," she snapped. He sighed and pulled his arm away from the door handle.
"Max!" Hana called into the mess hall, "where are the application papers?" the nineteen-year-old girl pushed the mess hall door shut as she looked around for her older brother. She swept a lock of her curly pinkish red hair behind her ear as she peeked into the kitchen from the serving window. No one was there but the pantry door was open. "Maximus!" she shouted again.
"What?" an agitated and very groggy voice replied from inside the pantry. "Don't fucking yell, I have a headache."
"You wouldn't have a headache if you didn't drink after midnight," Hana shot back with a crooked lip.
"I don't back down from a challenge, you know this," he answered sleepily. Hana sighed as she stepped into the kitchen and peered into the pantry to see her adopted brother sitting on the floor up against the shelf with cracker sheaths and three half empty water bottles scattered around him. He was shirtless and only had a pair of shorts on; his chin-length curly black hair was pulled back with a pink princess themed clip. Hana could see the sweat that lightly coated his brown skin and the dark rings under his usually lively bluish green eyes were more prominent that they usually were.
"You look like shit," Hana told him, trying not to smile.
"Really? I couldn't tell," he retorted then burped loudly, he lurched forward and was probably about to vomit but managed to stop himself and lean back again. His eyes squeezed shut and he held his shaking hands over his mouth.
"I'll get you a trashcan, don't die while I'm gone," she said and turned away from the pantry. He just hiccupped and then groaned in response. The second she was out of sight the biggest smile spread across her face and she tried her absolute best not to burst out laughing. Her brother was naturally reckless, but very rarely did he get quite thoroughly shitfaced. His girlfriend, Nikki, challenged him to a shot drinking contest and of course he lost pathetically after four shots, given he did have two full glasses of beer before that. But Nikki demolished him with ten shots after the same amount of beer as him and she was outside setting up tents like she wasn't affected at all. Hana swore since she was little that her brother's girlfriend wasn't human. She glanced around the kitchen then pulled open the cabinet under the sink, she grabbed a plastic bin and turned back to the pantry. She treaded into the dimly lit cold-room and set the bin next to her hungover brother. He rubbed his eyes before grabbing the can and setting it between his legs.
"Thanks," he grumbled and rested his head on the shelf behind him. Hana just shook her head disappointingly.
"Yeah, yeah. So where are the chef application sheets? I need to get them down to the Job Center before noon,"
"The wha—oh those, uh…" he hiccupped again, "I think they're in your dad's office, under the—," he burped suddenly, his eyes shot open and he threw his head into the trashcan and puked. The pink bejeweled clip in his hair drifted forward and strands of his shaggy black hair fell into his face. Reluctantly Hana knelt down beside him and fixed his hair away from the line of fire. She recoiled slightly at the feeling of his sweat drenched hair. When he was done spitting the remains of bile in his mouth he pulled his head away and swatted sluggishly at Hana's hand. She ignored him though and pulled his bangs back and fixed the clip over them. The clip belonged to his five-year-old daughter Xena, she was in the adorable kiddie phase where all she wanted to do was make everyone's hair pretty.
"You done?" Hana asked after she brushed Max's hair behind his ears and checking there wasn't any vomit in it. He just nodded, clearly not feeling like talking anymore. "All righty then, I'll tell Nikki where you are, so she can take care of your sorry hungover ass," she said and stood up, dusting off her jean shorts.
"Tell her I want orange juice and ty—tylenol," he said dryly as Hana turned away from him. She was tempted to tell him to tell her himself, but she gave him some slack, he was in pain and disoriented.
"Uh-huh," she mumbled with a wave of her hand. She trotted out of the kitchen and made her way out of the mess hall when a car driving up caught her eye from the bay window near the door. She cocked her head curiously before opening up the door and b-lining straight to the car. She thought they must be arriving for the counselors' position, she'd put up the ads yesterday but very rarely did they get applicants so quickly. She'd have to tell them to come tomorrow though because her dad conducts the interviews and he won't be back until then. It was an old looking white sedan, there was a big dent on the right side's backseat door and she could tell the car had been keyed more than once. Mud caked the undercarriage and the tires looked stained brown. She watched for a moment as the two people inside the car talked. When they caught her looking they shot each other serious looks before getting out.
"How can I help you?" She said in the most professional voice she could muster. The driver was a really tall thin man, probably no younger than she was, with bronzed skin and long dirty blonde almost light tan hair. He had it pulled into a lazy man-bun and his almost glazed over eyes were a pale lavender. Oddly enough he had a pretty nasty looking scar over his right eye in the shape of a Z.
"Yeah, you in charge here?" the driver asked. He wore a grey tank top under a plain black jacket, and tattered dark blue jeans with dirty brown boots.
"No, not technically, what do you need?"
"I need the person in charge," the man said, his tone a bit darker.
"He's not here, and the next best person is…unavailable," Hana answered tensely. The guy let out a gruff sigh and turned to the woman standing beside him. She was much shorter than him, even shorter than Hana, most likely just about five feet, give or take a few inches. She was somewhat overweight as well; with thick thighs, a pudgy belly, and large breasts. She wore a black tank top with the words "I'm not gay – but $20 is $20" in white, along with jean shorty shorts and pink dollar store flip flops.
"Who is the third best person then?" the woman asked pleasantly. Her skin was a touch tan with scattered freckles and her long wavy hair was a pretty aqua blue that faded into a pastel blue at the tips. She had it up in a high ponytail that still reached her mid back; along with straight-cut bangs with longer chin-length strands on both sides to frame her face. Hana thought for a moment as she studied the two strangers.
"Uh, my brother's girlfriend," she said, mostly to herself. Then craned her head around toward the activity field to see the tents beyond it already up and Nikki out of sight.
"Fetch her then, don'cha?" the man spat rudely. Hana gave him a stunned look then glanced to his friend as if attempting to confirm he actually said that. The woman just gave her a shrug and forced smile.
"Right…" she finally said after the speechless pause. "Wait here please," she uttered and dashed away past the mess hall and toward the counselor's cabin. She looked around aimlessly then swung the cabin door open.
"Nikki?" she called into the void of the cabin. None of the lights were on but the light from the rising sun kept it fairly well lit. Only silence answered her, so she proceeded to whip around melodramatically. "Nikki!" she shouted with her hands cupped around her mouth and walked slowly in direction of the mess hall again.
"What's up buttercup?" a calm voice greeted her from behind. Hana squeaked and whirled around to see the woman she was looking for. Nikki was stocky in stature, with visibly toned muscles, suntanned (but still considerably white) skin that was covered in scars and the occasional bruise. Her hair was a curly sea-green color that stretched to a little past her shoulders. She had two large logs resting on her left shoulder and appeared to be carrying them with ease.
"Oh, there you are, there's some people at the entrance asking for the person in charge," she tried to explain without sounding anxious. Nikki gave her a perplexed look as she dropped the logs. She wore the standard Camp Campbell green t-shirt with a pine tree on it along with brown shorts that she's ripped and repaired more than once.
"They say what they want?" she asked and brushed her hands together to clean them of debris. Hana shook her head.
"Nope, just that they wanted to talk to the boss,"
"The boss ain't here, hon,"
"I know, but just talk to them, will you?" Hana pled as they walked toward the entrance of the camp. Nikki just nodded and put on the best stern face she could muster. When the strangers came into view they saw the man sitting on the hood of his car while the woman was leaning against the passenger side door.
"What can I do ya for, kids?" Nikki asked and put her fists on her hips. The guy gave her a cold side glance that when Nikki caught it she swore she'd seen those eyes before. Half lidded and strikingly purple, they were almost like a nostalgic memory come to life for her.
"Yes, we're here for the counselors' job," the woman said with a faint smile. Nikki gave Hana a quick glance. Why did they ask for the person in charge if that's all they wanted? Hana thought with a slight scowl, she could've told them what Nikki was about too.
"Ah yes, usually we don't get people the day after putting up the ads but that's not a problem," Nikki chattered politely despite being startled. "Well, not too big'a problem, see the owner of this place does the interviews and processes the paperwork, he doesn't trust any of us to do it."
"You mean he doesn't trust you or Max to do it because you don't know how," Hana butted in with an offended voice. Nikki just let out a snort and put her hand on the girl's shoulder.
"Yup, I won't lie, but you can't do it either, can ya?"
"I can't because dad won't let me, I know how," she retorted with a pout.
"Right-o then, we can take your guys' names and numbers and call you tomorrow when the head honcho returns, yeah?" Nikki said happily and pulled out her phone. The two strangers were quick to look at each other with unsure faces. Nikki noticed this, "something wrong?"
"Ah…well, we don't have a phone," the man answered with a passive shrug of his shoulders.
"Aaaand we were hoping we could stay here…tonight," the woman added with pleading eyes. She clapped her hands together and puffed up her bottom lip as well. Nikki looked down at Hana with a quizzical expression, Hana just returned it with one of her own.
"Excuse us a minute, won't ya?" Nikki said, put both her hands on Hana's shoulders and guided her toward the mess hall. When they were safely inside and out of ear's reach, Nikki let out a soft sigh.
"You're not actually considering this are you?" Hana questioned disapprovingly. Nikki sighed again, but this time louder. "I don't trust them, Nik," she said and turned her head away toward the window.
"The boy…he seemed so familiar, like I've met him before," Nikki said and idly put her fingers to her mouth and her other arm around her chest. Hana looked over at her with a suspicious look; she'd never seen her this still before. Never really seen her stop and think about something either. Whatever she saw in that man's eyes really got to her. Hana turned her eyes to the wooden floor and thought; what was so special about him? Nothing came to her mind, no distant memory, no nostalgic flashback, nothing.
"What do you mean, Nik?" she finally asked. Nikki seemed to come out of her stupor with a sharp shake of her head.
"It's…it's nothing, why don't you call your dad and ask him what he thinks we should do?" she uttered and curved away from the teen, toward the kitchen door. Hana watched her for another moment, trying to decipher this change in demeanor. With no luck she grabbed her phone from her shorts pocket and called her dad.
"The employee cabins are this way," the lively redhead chirped and guided Gabriel and Amarii down a row of tall green tents. "You two are gonna wanna share a cabin, yeah?" she asked and gave them a backwards glance. Gabriel looked down at his friend.
"Of course," Amarii replied with a smile.
"What are your names, by the way? I'm Hana Atwood," she introduced with a friendly smile but kept walking. Gabriel swallowed the lump in his throat. So this was the sunshine counselor's daughter.
"Nice to meet you Miss Atwood! I'm Sam and this is my friend Sean," Amarii said and lightly grabbed Gabriel's arm. She was extraordinarily good at lying, like it came natural to her like eating and drinking did. It was honestly kind of scary, Gabriel thought.
"Miss? Please, just call me Hana," the redhead laughed and stopped as they entered a short row of adorable log cabins. There were four cabins, two on each side of the makeshift path, "It's nice to have you here, Sam, Sean. I hope you like it, my dad will be here tomorrow to do your interviews, but we don't get many applicants, so you don't need to worry too much about not getting the job."
"Oh I don't believe that! This place is absolutely beautiful, who wouldn't wanna be here?" Amarii gushed and put her hands on her cheeks in a display of admiration. Gabriel resisted the urge to gag. Hana just giggled agreeably.
"You sound like my dad, oh gosh," she snickered, "well, I'll leave you to your new digs, if you need me or Nikki, we'll be in the mess hall. It's the big building by the flagpole. Oh and dinner's at six too!" Hana explained and hopped on her toes before walking away. Gabriel watched her for a lingering moment, looking her up and down. He was nudged by Amarii just as Hana disappeared around the corner.
"Like what you see, lover boy?" she said and smiled ear to ear. Gabriel just put his palm to her forehead and pushed her away.
"Put your shit in the stupid cabin," he just mumbled with a resisted grimace. Amarii laughed loudly and hoisted her duffle bag on her shoulder and trotted into the cabin. They were surprised and elated to see actual beds. There were two bunkbeds on each side, with fitted sheets and two pillows on each mattress. It was almost like a studio set-up, the two bunkbeds were in the far corners and by the door was a circular rug, two arm chairs, a coffee table and a big backed tv. Just across from that was a small wooden desk with complementary blank papers and a plastic cup with pencils and pens. Between the two beds was a door, probably to the bathroom. Amarii was undeniably glowing.
"Oh I've never been so happy to see bunkbeds before in my life!" she squealed and flopped onto the bottom bunk of the right bunkbed. "And there's a bathroom holy shit! And tv! Ooh, Gabriel! This is heaven!" she cried and bounced around on the mattress before shooting up and dashing into the bathroom.
"SWEET TAP DANCING CHRIST THERE'S A SHOWER WITH A BATHTUB!" Amarii screamed practically at the top of her lungs. Gabriel put his duffle bag down on the opposite bottom bunk.
"Calm down, they'll think I'm murdering you," he told her and peeked his head into the bathroom. The small room was pretty quaint to tell the truth, it had a white tiled floor with the same log covered walls as the rest of the cabin, but cute little pictures of the forest and lake were hung on the wall. There was a small porcelain sink with a mirror/medicine cabinet just above it to the left when you walked in the room. The toilet was on the far end of the room with the shower next to the sink. Across from the shower was a towel rack and a tall storage cabinet. It was honestly better than most motel rooms they'd stayed at the past six months.
"It's just…so beautiful," Amarii prattled on, wiping a lone tear from her eye. She then quickly began to tear off her clothes and turn on the shower. "I'll be in here for the next two hours, don't bother me," she hissed and shut the door in Gabriel's face. He couldn't help but smile as a result.
I wrote this because I couldn't get the premise out of my head. So it'll probably get a little messy since I didn't think the whole thing through prior to writing. Enjoy it anyway I guess!