Chapter 2: A Story

It was night, and all of us, minus the adults, who decided to go to bed early seeing as they're always so "mature" and all, were seated in a ring around the campfire. We were telling scary stories... Okay, DIL was telling scary stories, and we were listening. It was pretty good, but I could tell a better one. I didn't, of course; why should I stoop to that level? It was bad enough I had to be here.

"That was pretty good, Dil; but I know the secret behind Pioneer Rock! Think you can handle it, guys?" Serenity challenged.

"Sure, go ahead, make a fool of yourself, too," I muttered. No one seemed to hear me.

"Of course we can handle it! At least, I can. Lil might not,"

"PHILIP!"

"Come on, Serenity! Tell us!"

"Yeah, tell us!"

"Tell us!" It became a chant... "Tell us, tell us, tell us!" I admit, even I wanted to know the story behind the big, smooth rock shaped like a man's head. I just wasn't sure if I wanted to hear it from Serenity.

"Okay, well, it all began with the beginning of the world..."

Long, long ago, when ghosts, vampires, werewolves, dragons, and other things still lived among the humans, there lived a small girl with the gift of sculpting. At the age of 5, she could create perfect, life sized versions of the people in her village.

The "mythical" creatures took note of her abilities, and asked her to create figurines for them. This she did gladly. She quickly became close friends with a young vampire boy who loved to paint, and together they would sit, she sculpting new statues and figurines, he painted the ones she had already finished. One day, a new creature took form. A man who hated, but was able to sense vampires, he was very vain, and had the power to shift into any animal form. He came to the girl, and threatened to kill her friend if she did not sculpt a statue in the likes of his face, bigger than any she had made previously.

For the sake of her friend, she agreed readily. She set to work with clay, and though it took months, she finally finished it. It was perfect, huge, and smooth, but too soft. In anger, the man drove a stake through the young boy's heart, killing him. In grief, the girl buried her friend beneath the figure, and as she wept, her tears were soaked up by the head. She finally took a knife and drove it through her own heart, ultimately joining her friend in the afterlife.

The great head soaked up both tears and blood, and as a result, the clay became hard, unbreakable rock, harder even than diamond. The creatures blamed the humans for the boy's death. The humans blamed the creatures for the girl's death. And both groups waged war on the other until the creatures went into hiding, and the humans, still hungry for blood and gold, turned on themselves.

Separated, the groups lived. Together, they thrived. But they couldn't think of one another without thinking of war, hatred, and bloodshed. A fine line developed, and eventually, the humans forgot, and deemed what they did remember about the rock and the creatures as myth, and fantasy. Never again could they live together in peace and harmony. The age of prosperity had come and gone with the lives of two very special children.

"...And THAT is the secret behind Pioneer Rock!" Silence.

"Wow,"

"DOUBLE wow!"

"That was awesome!"

"Way to go, sister Serenity!" Dil gave her a high five.

"Yeah, I've got goosebumps!"

"Tell us another story!"

"Sorry; only one at a time," Serenity winked, earning her a round of disappointed groans. She chuckled. "Tell you what. Maybe, just maybe, I'll tell you another story tomorrow night. How's that sound?"

"Great!"

"Perfect!"

"Hey instead of maybe, can we get a definitely?"

"Oh, yeah, everybody just can't wait to hear a lame story from the weirdo. What are you, stupid? You don't actually believe that all that's true, do you?" I huffed.

"I don't know, seemed pretty convincing to me," Dil shrugged. The others all murmured their agreement. In disbelief, I stood up angrily.

"Fine; you all just stay out here and be idiots while I go get some much needed rest. I need my beauty sleep," With that, I stormed back to the cabin. She was NOT making this any easier! I lay in my bed, tossing and turning, unable to sleep. After a long while, the other girls joined me, talking and laughing. No way! They had enjoyed themselves without me?

"Wow, Serenity sure is a great story teller!"

"Yeah!" Susie chimed in. "It was as if it were all true! Like she believed it all herself!" That set me thinking. What if the nutcase really did believe her hair brained story? She didn't right?

"Really, you guys are embarrassing me! I know lots of stories like that! You met Bean before, right? He had way cooler stories to tell!" The story teller herself climbed into bed, and I clenched my teeth. She was putting her filthy feet on my blankets! Maybe a boy wouldn't mind, but I sure did. I didn't say anything, though.

"Wait a minute! Bean was a ghost, wasn't he?" Lil asked, saying his name dreamily.

"Lil! You don't still LIKE him after what happened, do you?" Kimi scolded. Yes! Way to go, Kimi! Bad Lil! Bad!

"Actually," Serenity interrupted. "Bean told me a lot about both you, AND Dil; guess he liked you back. Too bad. He's gone now,"

"You just know EVERYTHING don't you?" I growled.

"What, ME?" Serenity looked shocked, hanging over the edge of the bunk bed to look down at me upside down.

"Yes, YOU! You think you're just so perfect, don't you? Little Miss Wilderness, huh?" Instead of looking hurt, she brightened.

"Hey! I like the sound of that! Thanks, Angelica!"

I mentally slapped myself.

Rule #1 in Serenity's mind: All insults are compliments in disguise. I had to remember that. Rule #2: Clean beds must be repeatedly stepped on after walking outside. How could I get her to stop? Maybe sleeping on the floor is an honor in Serenity World.

"You know, aren't beds wonderful? Soft, comfortable, warm, and pillows are SO much better than rocks, trust me, I'm a voice of experience over here," She just had to talk again, didn't she. Maybe she'd get bored and go home...

~~~~~Serenity's POV~~~~~~

I could tell by the look on Angelica's face that she wasn't happy with me. Was it something I'd said? Funny. Her name would imply that she was an angel, but having spent the day around her, I knew for a fact that she was no angel. Far from it. Try, hateful-widow-living-in-an-old-mansion-who-likes-to-beat-kids-over-the-head-with-a-broomstick. Still, I tried to be optimistic.

She could be working with "him." Now THAT would entitle me to some hatred for sure. But if he didn't know where I was, which I really hoped he didn't, he couldn't send a spy after me. Besides, she'd been here last year, with the others. I knew more about them then they were aware of, yet. Before Dil, Bean had been MY best friend. But I was more intrigued than jealous.

I pulled myself back up to my own bed, and just lay there, staring at the ceiling. Underneath me, I knew, Angelica was thinking of something smart to tell me off with. I don't think she thought of anything. After everyone was asleep, I heard my stomach growl.

Startled, I looked around the room. No one seemed to have heard. Feeling relieved, I rolled onto my side, and drifted into a taunting dream, filled with enticing scents and delicious delicacies, all of which remained stubbornly out of reach.

~~~~~Angelica's POV~~~~~

Above me, I heard Serenity's stomach growl. Strange. She'd eaten a lot of smores and sugary treats, and wolfed down more food at dinner than I'd normally eat in a week. Either she was thin from anorexia, or something was very, very wrong. Maybe both, on second thought.

Rule #3: All decent folk must prove themselves to be very strange at camp. Was there no end to it all? Finally, with a sigh I was sure nobody had heard, I rolled over and went to sleep. Tomorrow, I was going to start keeping a close eye on little Miss Wilderness. And if I found something, I'd unmask her and show everyone just how weird she was.

Huh. I used to rate weirdness on a scale of one to Dil... But Serenity just broke that scale. Give the insane girl a prize. Look out, Serenity...

Angelica is on the case.

(Yeah, it's gets a little dramatic sometimes, but this is Angelica speaking! By the way, this is my first 1st person view story, so it's new ground for me. Thanks to MoetEtCadaver and Roliet for being the first to review! I believe chapter four of this story is best so far, I'll try to post everyday even if not on this particular story!)