"Max, hey Max!" Neil waved a hand in front of the pissed off camper's face and when the addressed camper snapped his head towards his friend angrily he continued, "I can fashion us a raft if we gather up enough branches and vines." he stated and Max eased. The leader looked to Nikki who happily scavenged for materials, "This had BETTER work, Neil! We can't afford to waste any time with David on the loose."
All three campers gathered up materials, Neil attempting to form a raft out of them when there was a familiar call across the lake. "Hey! What are you guys doing over there?" it was Harrison and Nerris who'd spotted them during one of their 'my magic's better than yours' fights. Harrison had called out to them which made the elf girl look the same direction. Max felt a wave of relief when he knew they could get help before calling back, "Our canoe got a hole in it, mind coming to get us?" before they hurried to the piles.
"Why didn't you tell them David abandoned us here?" Neil asked, "You could've had them spread warning" the raven gave his brunette friend a look of annoyance, "No way they'd believe us right now, we need evidence first" Neil nodded in reply as they waited for the two magic kids to get there.
David was practicing his persona in the mirror as he waited for Gwen, she was in town buying some stuff to make homemade pizza for lunch today so the campers could learn good team building skills and have something delicious for lunch. Too bad Max Neil and Nikki couldn't join them, but they went and stuck their noses where they didn't belong… the worst thing to deal with in this sense would be a bunch of kids meddling with his plans for camp Campbell. Unfortunately, Campbell was said to be 'released' from prison a few days ago which would put a strain on things… he'd have to find a way to make things work around it.
Knock knock knock! Three sharp knocks dragged David's attention to the front door of the cabin, clearing his throat before opening it. "And what can I-wah!" 'help you with this fine camp Campbell day?' would have been the completed remark if he hadn't been tackled down by Nikki and Neil, "Nikki? Neil? How did you-" "A little help from the magic kids, but we just said our canoe was damaged." Max walked over and stood above the redhead's head. The counselor glared as he attempted sitting up to push the two off of him, but there was a strike of luck on his side when a voice sounded in the doorway.
"Max, Neil, Nikki?" it was Gwen, she'd dropped off the supplies for lunch in the mess hall when she spotted David's cabin door thrown open with no one in it. Gwen hurried over to get the two campers pining her co-counselor, picking them up off of him and glaring to the 'ringleader' of the group. "Where the hell have you been ya little shit? You scared David half to death yesterday" she scowled in his direction as she help the redhead to his feet.
"Trapped on Spooky Island with a broken canoe" he said half-truthfully and Gwen dropped the others, "Nice try, David checked Spooky Island for you three last night and he said you weren't there." Max rolled his eyes, "We pranked him, okay? There. He left us to think about what we did" though it still clashed with the story David told her, she had too much of a headache from going to town to question it further. "Whatever. Don't scare him like that again. I'm going to take a nap before lunch" and with that she left, closing the door behind her.
David watched as Gwen closed the door to her own cabin through his own window before asking Neil and Nikki to leave. Not wanting to cause trouble, the two left for their tent. The redhead locked the exits, closing the blinds and looked Max dead in the eye. "...You haven't told anybody? Why not?" he said, "You always jump to conclusions that turn out true half the time…" he approached the boy, backing him into the wall as he closed him into a corner. His usually bright, forest green eyes now a dim mossy shade under hooded lids, no shine to them but his pupils almost shrank. "And I want the truth, Max." The atmosphere grew cold and expectant of the camper's reply to be valid.
Max-only a little frightened at being so small compared to him-swallowed his fear and said, "No one's gonna believe me without proof," he pointed out, "you fooled even ME up to this point… so just saying it won't change anything but it'll make me look crazy. Neil and Nikki doubt me, still, even after you trapped us on Spooky Island. No use making a laughing stalk of myself" Max's seafoam eyes gave their usual glint of annoyance, but the way he averted his gaze from the man before him clearly stated even HE was getting scared. This somewhat amused David to the point he smiled cockily at the boy before placing a hand on his shoulder and kneeling down to his level.
"Let's put it this way Max," he began, "you stop trying to get involved or find me out to expose me, I'll go back to my usual act and we'll both pretend none of this ever happened… got it?" Max knew he had to be cautious, to not let David get away with… whatever the hell he was planning. He decided to play along with the closeted psycho's deal. "Alright David, you win. I'll pretend yesterday never happened." he stuck out his hand, shaking David's in agreement. The grin that formed from the sealed deal made a chill shoot up the camper's spine, only getting worse when David whispered, "Let's hope I can believe you, you clever little shit…" he stood back from the boy, giving him plenty room to leave as a sign the conversation was over and watched the raven head through the door.
"Lunch is a team building exercise today, Max!" the redhead called after him in his usual cheery tone, "I trust you'll behave today!" he emphasized the words he wanted Max to focus on the most from their little exchange: 'trust'-keep the secret, 'behave'-stop getting involved. David was smirking cockily as there was a faint ringing on his bedside table, picking up his cell phone to answer it and closing the door. "Hey babe," he leaned against the door when he answered, "everything okay? Good. I had a bit of an issue on my end, but it's all taken care of now… yes, Max and his friends won't be a problem anymore- wait, what?" David pushed off the door with a scowl on his face as his boyfriend explained something to him on the line.
"The police found my cult's church, they've arrested nearly everybody here. I barely got away! David, maybe we should... push the date?" the blonde sounded frightened to even be considering asking his boss this, but if he were caught the plan would suffer. They were going to put it into motion in a week but this was trouble, "...You want to push the date? Well, you being imprisoned would hurt our chances of success." he mulled over the information and request for a moment, "Tell you what: I'll talk to the police if you get caught and tell them you were forced to participate. If they believe you were unwilling to do such things then they'll let you go free"
After their exchange, David finally got to heading over to the mess hall for breakfast so he could fool the rest of the camp. Neil and Nikki made it a point to Max that based on his behavior David seemed as innocent as ever, but the little troublemaker still knew the truth… he'd have to work around him somehow. The redhead's phone rang-effectively jumping him-and he picked up answering, "Heeeeeeeeeeeello! And what can I help you with this fine day?" his act was still on which confused the blonde on the other end, "Uh-huh… oh, I see! I will definitely be there! Bye now!" he hung up and smiled to Gwen who'd appeared outside the mess hall for a second, "Gotta go, Gwen! Bye!" the redhead ran to the camp mobile before driving deeper into the woods.
The freckled counselor made it to a small clearing in the woods as he stepped out of the car, locking it before he walked further into the woods and stopped. "...I'm here, what is it?" he called into the trees then waited… silence. "Daniel? You out there?" nothing… he took a few steps forward, now on high alert for possible problems. He felt something snap beneath him before falling into a pit, "Ahh-oof! Ouch…" David rubbed his left arm which he'd landed on, cupping his free hand by his mouth to call out, "Hello? Daniel? Anybody up there?" everything went quiet before he groaned, perfect, stuck in a trap by likely hunters with no one to help out. Heaving a sigh the redhead released his arm before grabbing onto a small divot in the wall of the hole, hoisting his body upward as best he could only for the tightly packed dirt to give way under his body weight.
"Ack! Ugh… climbing's no use." he pulled out his cell phone to check the signal… two bars are better than none he figured as he quickly dialed Gwen's number.
"Hello?" she answered with her usual annoyed tone of voice, "David? Where did you run off to? ...You're what? "Wrapped tin a mole"? "Strapped in a goal"? You're breaking up, I can't hear you… slow down! Okay… you're 'trapped' 'in a' 'hole'? How did you get-ugh, nevermind! Stay put, I'll be right there" Gwen hung up the phone and left Quartermaster in charge before running the direction she remembered David drove.
David waited for his co-counselor to show up, the water works act always drained his energy to the point he couldn't immediately bounce back to his 'usual happy self' so he leaned against the wall of the hole to relax a bit. Gwen shouldn't be too long… right? She saw which way he drove and was quick on her feet, so she should be here soon… BRIIIING! The freckled counselor's cell phone rang but when he answered his service prevented decent conversation. "Gwen, I'm going to text you directions… follow them precisely, okay?" he then hung up and sent the directions to… fuck. He clicked Max's number. The redhead had gotten him a phone before yesterday's incident so he'd stop stealing his own. He could only keep the signal for one more text, so he messaged the directions to Gwen… if Max followed the then it was on him.
The redead checked his phone's clock after a while-3:37pm-he'd left around 9am… where was Gwen? He'd sent her directions four hours ago! Go figure camp counseling wasn't her ideal work choice, she was probably horrible at following directions… if not for him she'd more than likely have gotten the campers lost in the woods or worse: stuck them with Quartermaster. He Was about to make sure the text went through before he lost the signal when footsteps sounded above him. "Finally…" he muttered then called up in his worried tone act, "Gweeeen? That you? I'm down heeeeere!"
His hopes were immediately squashed, however, when Max poked his ead to look down the hole. "Not quite, asshole. Drop the act already" the camper was unamused, much like his counselor below who quickly soured his expression. "Those directions were ment for Gwen, Max, get out of here before she shows up" David called to which the raven haired boy replied, "She came back to camp two hours ago saying you were probably dead by now. I'm your only chance of escape and I'm not sure I wanna help you out"
Damnit, he had to rely on a ten year old to help him out of here… and said ten year old has hated him mildly until yesterday;now he hates him with a passion. "C'mon Max," he said, "we agreed to put it behind us and pretend it never happened." he reminded the camper of their morning talk and the deal they struck, but Max sat on the edge of the hole and refused to bury the hatchet now that David was trapped.
"How about this, camp man?" he started, "Tell me your 'big plan' for the camp and maybe I'll consider even helping you out." tell the sociopathic camper that wants the place shut down his plan? David couldn't do that! That would also involve telling him about his relationship with Daniel… but Max really would leave him out here by himself. Maybe he could just… tell him the least important parts that were more-or-less 'expendable knowledge'? That was a good plan.
"Fine Max, I was planning to take the camp from Mr. Campbell and making it better. Improving the camps that we cover here and maybe adding ones that are more-or-less good for the camp to have." vague enough to keep most of it at bay but hopefully just enough information to please the one withholding his freedom. Max gave a look of skepticism, as if he were processing the intel he got. Improve the camp? Seemed like a stretch-but this was David we were talking about. He may be evil but he definitely still love camp Campbell with all his heart, this glimmer of hope that David might have good intentions for the camp drove the camper to climb off the edge. "Wait here" he said and walked off, hearing a call of, "Where can I wander off to?" before reaching into his backpack he'd brought along and pulling out a rope.
He tied one end to a tree closest to the hole then dropped it down to the counselor, "Grab on, David!" he called down to him. It actually worked? Max believed him? That was a small relief. It's not like he was lying anyway, his big plan DID involve improving the camp. He snatched up his end of the rope and tugged twice, testing the strength before finding solidity on the wall and starting to climb out. The second David got out he picked Max up and held him outstretched in front of him like when they were waiting for Neil and Nikki on their first day, "Thanks for getting me out of there, Max!" he said and put the boy back on the ground, "Now let's get back to camp before Gwen thinks you're dead, too." they picked up everything they used and made their way back to the camp mobile.
Max was in the passenger's seat not too long after they started walking, but a familiar pale hand clasped the redhead's shoulder-opting him to turn and see Daniel. "What are you doing? Max is in the car." he spoke sternly despite his own warning, "He already knows I'm up to something involving the camp, this better be important" the blonde flinched away when his lover spun around aggravated before rubbing the back of his neck. "I-I really needed to talk to you about the plan…" David's demeanor altered to a slightly more calm standpoint before he gave Max the 'one minute' gesture and walking a little ways into the woods with the cultist to talk.
(Chapter 2 complete! I'm a dick for leaving you in suspense of the conversation, ain't I? XD just kidding. Hope you liked chapter 2! See you in chapter 3!)